Royalty and Ruin

Judgments Held Back for a Season

For a while God delayed these predicted judgments, and during the long reign of Jeroboam II the armies of Israel gained great victories. But this time of apparent prosperity brought no change in the hearts of the unrepentant ones, and it was finally decreed, “Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive from their own land.” Amos 7:11. RR 106.7

The boldness of this utterance was lost on the unrepentant king and people. Amaziah, a leader among the idol-worshiping priests at Bethel, was stirred to anger by the plain words spoken against the nation and their king. He said to Amos, “Go, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah. There eat bread, and there prophesy. But never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is the royal residence.” Verses 12, 13. RR 107.1

To this the prophet firmly responded: “Israel shall surely be led away captive.” Verses 17. RR 107.2

The words Amos spoke against the apostate tribes were fulfilled literally, yet the destruction of the kingdom came gradually. In judgment the Lord remembered mercy. When the “king of Assyria came against the land” (2 Kings 15:19), Menahem, then king of Israel, was permitted to remain on the throne as a vassal of the Assyrian realm. The Assyrians, having humbled the ten tribes, returned for a while to their own land. RR 107.3

Menahem, far from repenting of the evil that had brought ruin to his kingdom, continued in “the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin.” Verse 18. A little later, “in the days of Pekah” his successor (verse 29), Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, invaded Israel and carried away a multitude of captives living in Galilee and east of the Jordan. These he scattered among the heathen in lands far removed from Palestine. The northern kingdom never recovered from this terrible blow. Only one more ruler, Hoshea, was to follow Pekah. Soon the kingdom was to be swept away forever. RR 107.4

In that time of sorrow and distress God still remembered mercy. In the third year of Hoshea’s reign, good King Hezekiah began to rule in Judah and instituted important reforms in the temple service at Jerusalem. He arranged for a Passover celebration and invited not only Judah and Benjamin but the northern tribes as well. RR 107.5

“Then the runners went throughout all Israel and Judah” with the pressing invitation, “Children of Israel, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; then He will return to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. ... Now do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord; and enter His sanctuary. ... For if you return to the Lord, your brethren and your children will be treated with compassion by those who lead them captive, so that they may come back to this land; for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn His face from you if you return to Him.” 2 Chronicles 30:6-9. RR 107.6

From city to city Hezekiah’s couriers carried the message. But the remnant of the ten tribes who still lived within the once-flourishing northern kingdom treated the royal messengers with indifference and even contempt. “They laughed at them and mocked them.” A few, however, “from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem ... to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread.” Verses 10, 11-13. RR 107.7