74. Rehoboam's Great Loss

The Love Of Money

The weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold. 1 Kings 10:14.  Bible scholars do not agree as to whether this means, annually for many years, or if it means that it happened only one year.

• This seems to be what he got annually of bullion. Clarke's Commentary.  

On the other hand, we have this statement,

• Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year [probably one particular and exceptional year, probably also the year of the queen’s visit, not year by year]. Pulpit Commentary.  We will let that be as it may.

Six hundred threescore and six talents of gold.  In numbers, it looks like this, 666.  

• Taking the gold shekel at the value of £2, and 3000 shekels in one talent, the sum here spoken of would amount to nearly four millions of our money. This was written in 1886. Cambridge Commentary. 

• The weight of gold - was six hundred threescore and six talents - This would amount in our money to £4,683, 675 12s. Clarke's Commentary. (Almost 872,000,000 in today's Canadian dollars).

The correspondence with the number of the Beast (666) (Rev_13:18; cf. Ezr_2:13) is in all probability not altogether accidental. It is possible, i.e; that the number of the beast is a reminiscence of this number of talents. For we may surely see in this statement of Solomon’s prodigious wealth an indication of his worldliness, the turning point, perhaps, in his estrangement from God. "The love of money" may have been the root of all his evil. the Pulpit Commentary.

It must also be remembered that the Hebrews loved to have numbers represent ideas.  As we studied previously, number 6 represents evil, and 666 represents evil as wicked as evil can get.  So in relating the weight of the gold that Solomon got, perhaps it was not actually literal.  The 666 only meant that his love of riches turned him from following Jehovah.

And all King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house ... were of pure gold. None were of silver; it (silver) was counted nothing in the days of Solomon. And every man brought his presents, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and clothing and armor, and spices, horses and mules, so much year by year. And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen. And he had fourteen hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem. And the king made silver like (as plentiful as) stones in Jerusalem. 1 Kings 10:21+25- 27.

Shields of Bronze

After Solomon's death, five years after Rehoboam became king of Judah, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king's house. He took all. Everything that Solomon had amassed, Pharaoh carried away.  There seems to be some justice in this move.  When the Israelites left Egypt they asked articles of silver, and articles of gold, and clothing from the Egyptians ... and they plundered the Egyptians. Exodus 12:35-36.

And he carried away the shields of gold which Solomon had made.  In place of these King Rehoboam made shields of bronze. 2 Chron. 12:9-10.   In this last phrase, there is a simile of what Satan has done to the Christian church.

The church started off with shields of gold but when Greek ideologies and pagan practices infiltrated the Church when the Greek populace became Christians, Satan stole the shields of gold.  Since about the 2nd century C.E. the church limped along hoping that traditions would "carry the day".  Then, the leaders of the Reformation replaced tradition with shields of bronze in place of the shields of gold.  The Church is further ahead than it used to be, but it is still only a facade compared to what Christ had in mind when He endued the Church with victory because of the shields of gold. 

Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam, and ... said ..., So says Jehovah, You have forsaken Me, and therefore I also have left you in the hand of Shishak. And the rulers of Israel and the king humbled themselves.

Can the so-called Christian counties of North America and Europe not do the same?  And they said, Jehovah is righteous. And when Jehovah saw that they humbled themselves, the Word of Jehovah came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will give them some deliverance. And My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. 2 Ch 12:5-7.

If My people (the Christian church), who are called by My name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chron. 7:14.  This Bible verse is straight to the point and needs no other comment, but do take the time to read it a few more times.

And Rehoboam slept with his fathers ... and his son Abijam reigned in his place. 1 Kings 14:31.

73. Rehoboam's Great Sin

King Rehoboam

There was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only. 1 Kings 12:20.    We might insert here that this statement includes also the tribe of Benjamin as we notice in the next verse, he gathered all the house of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin. 12:21.

Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, reigned in Judah.  Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem. 14:21.

No self-respecting king would simply allow ten of his tribes slip away without at least trying to stop them, so when Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he gathered all the house of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.  So that Israel and Judah together would have only one king.

The Word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, ... so says Jehovah, You shall not go up, nor fight against your brothers the sons of Israel. 12:21-22.  

It was the Lord Himself who had promised this whole land to the one nation: Israel.  Why, then,  would Jehovah tell the grandson of David not to go and keep the promised land as one unit?  Jehovah continues, For this thing is from Me. And they listened to the Word of Jehovah and turned to go back, according to the Word of Jehovah. 12:21-24.  Rehoboam was still new to the throne and at this juncture, he was still open to the counsel of Jehovah.

The reason Rehoboam, and his army was not to attack Israel was because of a promise Jehovah had made Jeroboam.  Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon (Rehoboam was Solomon's son), and will give ten tribes to you, but he shall have one tribe for My servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, because they have forsaken Me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the goddess of the sons of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways, to do what is right in My eyes.   

Oh, Church of Christ, open your eyes!  Turn from your selfish pleasures and evil practices.   Jehovah is keeping track!

Judah, under the leadership of Rehoboam,  did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done. 14:22.   While we were studying the Book of Judges we noticed many of the inhumane atrocities that were committed in Israel, now we read that the people of Judah sinned above all that their fathers had done.  

How low can humanity sink?  Now they also built ... images, and Asherahs, (statues of licentious female gods), on every high hill and under every green tree. 14:23. 

They worshipped their selfish pleasures wherever they went.   So much like many who claim to be Christians but get divorced over the slightest provocation; and then remarry (Christ called this, adultery).

The Sodomites

And also the sodomite was in the land.14:24.  They were given up to vile affections (as those idolaters mentioned in Rom.1:26, Rom.1:27), for there were sodomites in the land (1Ki.14:24), men with men working that which is unseemly, and not to be thought of, much less mentioned, without abhorrence and indignation. They dishonoured God by one sin and then God left them to dishonour themselves by another. Matthew Henry.  

Judah was the nation that Jehovah had chosen to be His special people; a people who would honour His holy name.  In our own time, The Church of Christ is to be "that special people", but there are some among us, who call themselves Christians, who condone the wicked practice of sodomy.  They not only condone it, but they also push for worldwide acceptance of it.  

As little as a generation ago there were still sermons being preached against homosexuality, but now that so many people have "come out of the closet" preachers don't talk about it anymore, because it is not "politically correct".

Have preachers forgotten that the church is not to follow the waywardness of the public; her call is to lead the public to holy living.

Asa, the third King of Judah, after Solomon, did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah, as David his father did. And he took away the sodomites (homosexuals) out of the land. 1 Ki 15:11-12.  The leaders of the western world, today, have not got the "guts" or the wisdom needed to even preach against it.

The urgent call is for Christians of North America to humble themselves and to eradicate that cancerous sin that has invaded the Church.  Billy Graham once said words to this effect: If God doesn't punish America for its sexual perversions, He will need to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah for treating them unfairly.  Spaceship Theology by Ike Fehr: Abraham the Host.

72. The Demise of the Northern Tribes?

The Northern Tribes

After the death of Elisha, which is recorded in 2 Kings 13, the pictures painted of Israel, Judah and the surrounding nations continues on in the same vein as we have been studying.  Because of that, we will skip the last part of chapter 13 through to the last part of chapter 18, where we find the "supposed" end of the kingdom of Israel.

According to some scholars, Jeroboam became king of Israel in 931 BCE; some place it as early as 975 BCE.  Depending on which numbers one chooses, when Assyria captured Israel in 723 (or 721) BCE, The Northern Kingdom had lasted 240 years. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.  The kingdom's duration was 254 years, from 975 to 721 B.C. Fausset. 

In that time period, Israel had 20 kings, from 8 dynasties, and their average time on the throne was about 10 years.  This number, of course, is not exactly right because there were several times when two kings, from different dynasties, ruled Israel at the same time.

Jeroboam had such a wonderful promise from Jehovah, but he blew it!

Ahijah (the prophet) caught hold of the new robe on him (Jeroboam), and tore it in twelve pieces. And he said to Jeroboam, Take ten pieces for yourself. For so says Jehovah, the God of Israel, Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon (Rehoboam was Solomon's son), and will give ten tribes to you, But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it to you, ten tribes. 1 Ki 11:30-35.  Jehovah's plan was that the Northern tribe was to be the real Israel and the Southern tribe would have only Judah and Benjamin.  However, Jeroboam, because of fear of losing his people, set up false gods and idols and consequently, the Northern Kingdom was destroyed even before the Southern kingdom was.

The prophets, extraordinarily raised up, were the only salt in Israel to counteract her desperate corruption: Ahijah, Elijah, Micaiah, Elisha, and Jonah, the earliest of the prophets who were writers of Holy Scripture. In the time of this last prophet (Jonah), God gave one last long season of prosperity, the long reign of Jeroboam II, if haply His goodness would lead the nation to repentance. Fausset Bible Dictionary.  The prophets could not persuade the people to return to Jehovah. 

Assyria Captures Israel

When the king of Assyria captured Israel in 721? BCE he took many of the people captive and led them to Assyria; some Israelites fled to Judah.  We noticed earlier that the priests and some of the more righteous people had already moved to Judah; they could not tolerate the paganism instituted by Jeroboam.  At the final captivity of Israel by Shalmaneser, we may conclude that the cities of Samaria were not merely partially, but wholly depopulated of their inhabitants in B.C. 721, and that they remained in this desolated state until, ... the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon ... and placed them in the cities of Samaria, instead of the children of Israel, and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof. Thus, the new Samaritans were Assyrians by birth or subjugation. Smith's Bible Dictionary.

The king of Assyria carried away Israel to Assyria, ... because they did not obey the voice of Jehovah their God, but transgressed His covenant, and all that Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded, and would not listen to them, nor do them.  2 Kings 18:10-12.

Was that the end of Israel?

Fausset's has much to say to answer the question, where is that nation now,   His list includes China ... the Aral mountains ... the Indian Caucasus ... The Afghans style themselves the Bani Israel, "the sons of Israel," and by universal tradition among themselves claim descent from (king) Saul. Faussets

However,  note, Many attempts have been made to discover the ten tribes existing as a distinct community; ... after the time of the Captivity.

• Some returned and mixed with the Jews. 
• Some were left in Samaria, mingled with the Samaritans, and became bitter enemies of the Jews.  

These people are the "mixed race" whom the Jews, at Christ's time, hated.  For example, if they were going from Jerusalem to Nazareth some Jews would cross the Jordan River twice rather than walk through the Samaritan territory.  They probably also had a problem fathoming Christ's story about a good Samaritan.

• Many remained in Assyria, and were recognized as an integral part of the Dispersion; 
• Most, probably, apostatized in Assyria, adopted the usages and idolatry of the nations among whom they were planted, and became wholly swallowed up in them. Smith's Bible Dictionary.

Some people believe that the white people of North America and The British Commonwealth are the "ten lost tribes" of Israel.  To me, it seems as if there is far too much religious wishful thinking involved in this theory.

Perhaps the "lost ten tribes" are not so easily dismissed.  Note these words by Amos, a prophet to Israel, Yet the number of the sons of Israel (here the word Israel does not include Judah, as we see in verse 11) shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered. And it shall be, in the place where it was said to them, You are not My people, there it shall be said to them, You are the sons of the living God.  Then the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel shall be gathered together, and shall set over themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land. Hos 1:10-11.

A little image of this union was seen after the captivity in Babylon, when some of the children of Israel, i. e., of the ten tribes, were united to Judah on his (their) return, and the great schism of the two kingdoms came to an end. Barnes Bible Commentary.

71. Don't shoot the Messenger

If It Feels Good - Prophesy It

It is hard to believe that some people used to believe that if you stopped those who prophesied bad news the bad events they predicted would not happen.  One still gets glimpses of this way of thinking when the weatherman predicts bad weather; people make it sound as if the bad weather is the weatherman's fault.

1. At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa, the king of Judah, saying, ... "You have done foolishly in this; therefore from now on you shall have wars." And Asa was angry with the seer and put him in a prison-house. For he was in a rage with him because of this. 2 Chron. 16:7-10.

2. A similar thing happened to Jeremiah, the prophet.  The princes of Judah said to the king, "So says Jehovah: 'This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, and he shall capture it.'" And the rulers (princes) said to the king, "Please let this man, Jeremiah, be put to death. ... For this man does not seek the good of this people, but the hurt." Then Zedekiah the king said, "Behold, he is in your hand." Jer. 38:3-5.

Actually, they thought they had a good reason to silence him because he was discouraging the soldiers and the common folk by saying that they would lose the war in any case.  However, silencing him made no difference because the "die was cast", and Jehovah had decided to destroy Jerusalem at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.   With the king's supposed permission the princes put Jeremiah into a pit (a cistern), hoping that he would be forgotten there and consequently starve to death.

3. The king of Israel, Ahab, gathered four hundred men of the prophets and said to them, "Shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall I wait?" And they said, "Go up, for God will deliver it into the king's hand."  They said what he wanted to hear.  It is just that he wanted to hear it from the prophets because that way he could go to war under the guise of religion; like the Crusaders did during the dark ages.  They went out to pillage and murder with the blessing of the pope on them.

But Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, said, "Is there not a prophet of Jehovah here besides, so that we might ask of Him?"  And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Jehovah. But I hate him, for he never prophesied good to me, but always evil."  Do our priests and pastors also preach only those things we love to hear?  Do they never reproach us for our lifestyle; and if they do, do we change the church we attend?

Against his wishes the king of Israel sent a messenger to Micaiah, the prophet and the messenger said to him, "All the prophets prophesied so, saying, 'Go up to Ramoth-Gilead and be blessed. For Jehovah shall deliver it into the king's hand' ... please let your word be like one of theirs, and speak good."  Micaiah said, "As the Lord lives, even what my God says, that I will speak."

Or Prophesy The Truth

And he (Micaiah) came to the king. And the king said to him, "Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or shall I wait?" And he, Micaiah, said, "Go up and be blessed. And they shall be delivered into your hand."  Micaiah had a reputation of honesty and his reputation preceded him.  When Micaiah answered the king he agreed with the other prophets and immediately king Ahab was suspicious of him and said, "How many times shall I warn you that you say nothing but the truth to me in the name of Jehovah?" 

And he, Micaiah, said, "you want the truth, here it is, I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep that have no shepherd. And Jehovah said, 'These have no master.'"  The words, these have no master, of course, imply that Ahab, the king of Israel, the shepherd of the flock of Israelites, would die in the war.  Ahab felt it, like "the sentence of death" in him; The Pulpit Com.  

Many years before this, Moses, in his prayer, had painted a similar picture, saying, Let Jehovah, ... set a man over the congregation who ... may lead them out, and who may bring them in, so that the congregation of Jehovah may not be as sheep which have no shepherd. Num. 27:15-17.  Now Ahab, an unworthy leader of the northern tribes of Israel, stands face to face with the prediction that, because of his wicked lifestyle, he is about to die.  So what does he do?

 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, "Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?"  Then the king of Israel said, ... "Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction until I return in peace."   Just before the prophet was "hauled" away to prison he cried out to the king, "If you certainly return in peace, then Jehovah has not spoken by me."  2 Chron.18:5-27.

The fact that the prophet was in prison did not stop his prophecy from coming to pass.    And a certain man, a soldier, drew a bow at random, and struck the king of Israel ... and about the time of the sunset he died. 2 Chron. 18:33-34.