| (Copyright 10-06-2024) by Jeffrey Caldwell (Arkansas) |
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| In His last sermon (Deuteronomy 1:1) Moses says to the nation of Israel, likely a few million at that time: “Choose some well-respected men from each tribe who are known for their wisdom and I will appoint them as your leaders. “Then you responded, ‘Your plan is a good one’. So I took the wise and respected men you had selected from your tribes and appointed them to serve as judges and officials over you. Some were responsible for a thousand people, some for a hundred, some for fifty, and some for ten. “At that time I instructed the judges, “You must hear the cases of your fellow Israelites and the foreigners living among you. Be perfectly fair in your decisions and impartial in your judgments. Hear the cases of those who are poor as well as those who are rich. Don’t be afraid of anyone’s anger, for the decision you make is God’s decision. Bring me any cases that are too difficult for you, and I will handle them.” (Deuteronomy 1:9-17 NLT). Then, several hundred years later, when David became king, for the first 7 years he ruled only over Judah (1 Samuel 2:4) and other elements that were closely allied with the tribe of Judah; but not over most of the tribes of Israel. After that first 7 years of ruling over Judah, all the tribes (their elders) went to him (2 Samuel 5:1) and “King David made a covenant before the LORD with all the elders of Israel. And they anointed him king of Israel” (2 Samuel 5:3). So, you see, it was an agreement with the representatives of the tribes of Israel that made David king over all of them. Chapter 12 of First Kings describes the revolt of Israel which left David’s grandson Rehoboam king only over Judah and closely allied elements; the ten tribes broke away. Rehoboam was a fool who would not listen to the will of the people and was very oppressive. “When all Israel realized that the king had refused to listen to them, they responded, “Down with the dynasty of David! We have no interest in the son of Jesse. Back to your homes, O Israel! Look out for your own house, O David!” So the people of Israel returned home.” (1 Kings 12:15-16). When all Israel is one, it is called “the united monarchy” — which existed under Saul, David, Solomon and for a little while under Rehoboam. After the division of the kingdom there are two separate and sometimes even warring monarchies, “the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel”–“the divided monarchy”. Very quickly, under her king, “the House of Israel” fell into false religion; and she had many dynasties, being conquered and removed from her territory in about 721 B.C. whereas Judah was conquered and exiled about 586 B.C. Judah was steady with the Davidic dynasty, some kings good, some bad, with Manasseh and his son Amon being very bad, and ironically, Josiah, Manasseh’s grandson, the best. There is considerable reason to believe that the prominent representative governments in prosperous nations where the Judeo-Christian scriptures are revered are today’s “lost tribes of Israel”. For kings after Christ’s return the nations of Israel will have Christ’s apostles for their kings (Luke 22:30) and David will be king over all Israelite nations (Ezekiel 34:23-24). Then there will be “showers of blessing” (Ezekiel 34:26 NLT)! ———————————————————————————————————– See Jeffry Caldwell’s other articles at: Caldwell, Jeffrey – Church of God, Bismarck (church-of-god-bismarck.org) ———————————————————————————————————– |
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