KINGDOM - OLOGY 4

DECLINE & WITHDRAWAL OF HISTORICAL KINGDOM SEEMED INEVITABLE

            From the moment that the children of Israel crossed the Jordan River under Joshua till the historical kingdom reached its peak of glory under Solomon, tragedy and triumph marked its ascending course. The walls of Jericho fell down before the onward march of this new nation under God (Josh. 6:20). God raised up judges who led the armies in triumph over its enemies in the land (Jud. 2:16). A man whose head rose up above the common lot of men became the first king (1 Sam. 9:2). Then a man after God's own heart came to the throne (1 Sam. 13:14; Acts 13:22), consolidated the tribes, established the seat of government and worship in Jerusalem, and routed the last of the enemies of Israel in the land. To his son Solomon was granted the privilege and responsibility of building the Temple and seeing God fill it with His glory (2 Chron. 7:1).

            But the seeds of sin present in this people were bound to develop and bring a harvest of woe. It is impossible to read the Book of Joshua without being reminded of the sin of Achan (Josh. 7:20), which in a larger sense was the sin of all the people (Josh. 7:1, 11). Under the rule of the Judges, repeatedly, the people did evil in the sight of the Lord and God sent judgment upon them (Jud. 2:11; 3:12; 4:1). "Every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Jud. 21:25). At last the people sought for a king to judge them like the nations (1 Sam. 8:5). When this king was installed in the person of Saul, he turned out to be one who rejected the word of the Lord and so God rejected him from being king (1 Sam. 15:23). Even David committed sin that would finally issue in a harvest of woe. He was guilty of murder, adultery, numbering the people, multiplication of wives.

            It was with Solomon that spiritual decline began. At that point in the history of the theocracy when it had reached its highest development, decline began. As great as were the excellences of Solomon, yet he turned aside from the rules that were to govern kings. These rules were clearly set forth in the Law of Moses (Deut. 17:14-17). Nevertheless Solomon deliberately ignored them. He multiplied horses and military equipment. He multiplied wives. And he multiplied silver and gold by laying a burden of taxation upon the people. The affluence of wealth produced moral deterioration and the many foreign wives turned his heart away after other gods (1 Kings 11:4).

            The division of the kingdom under Rehoboam was a senseless and tragic development and hastened the dissolution of the theocracy. At his coronation the people sought relief from grievous taxation (1 Kings 12:4). But Rehoboam ignored the cry of the people and the advice of elders and determined to increase the financial burden. The result was that under the leadership of Jeroboam, who had already demonstrated unusual ability (1 Kings 11:29-43), the ten tribes to the north rebelled (1 Kings 12:16-20). From this point on there was a sad, steady decline in lawlessness and apostasy, not only in the Northern kingdom, but also in the Southern kingdom (2 Kings 17:7-22). In judgment the Lord removed Israel out of his sight by permitting the King of Assyria to carry Israel away (2 Kings 17:6, 23).

            The steady moral and spiritual decline in the Southern Kingdom climaxed in the destruction of the kingdom by the Babylonians and the immediate departure of the glory from the temple. Through all this period of decline the voice of the prophets was the voice of God announcing the coming of judgment (2 Kings 17:13; Neh. 9:30). In that the people had hardened their necks and refused to hear the voice of God, meaning that God was no longer recognized as King in Israel, the one evidence that God was dwelling among His people departed. This evidence was the glory that appeared above the Ark of the Covenant and beneath the wings of the cherubim. This glory Moses saw on Mount Sinai at the giving of the law (Exod. 19:18; 24:15, 16). It was this glory that filled the tabernacle (Exod. 40:34)...and later the temple (2 Chron. 7:1). It was this glory that finally departed from Israel and signaled the end of the historical Kingdom (Ezek. 8:3-4; 9:3; 10:4, 18; 11:23).