The Fourth Millennium The Kingdom of Israel Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.—1 Samuel 8:5 David Rice The fourth millennium from Adam covered the period of Israel’s kingdom, through and including the period of the Maccabees in the second century BC when a measure of independence was briefly restored. The institution of kings was at the insistence of the Israelites and was contrary to the counsel of the Lord who said, "they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them" (1 Samuel 8:7). Samuel warned them of the dangers, conscription and taxation, and these grew so heavy on the people as time passed that they demanded relief of Solomon’s son Rehoboam. When he threatened to increase the burden, the kingdom was rent in two. The greater part formed the ten-tribe kingdom ruled from Tirzah, later Samaria. To the line of David ruling from Jerusalem were left only Judah and Benjamin, together with the Levites. Of course the Israelites had some legitimate concerns. Samuel had grown old and his sons who served as assistants "turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment." Then all the elders of Israel requested a king (1 Samuel 8:1-5). Also, Israel had recently experienced 40 years of oppression by the Philistines (Judges 13:1; 1 Samuel 7). Naturally they felt the need of a strong military leader such as a king. Although the pressure of these issues was strong, there is never a good reason to reject the counsel of the Lord. It was a test of faith for the Israelites which they failed. It would have been better had they come to Samuel with their concerns, and asked counsel of the Lord for a remedy. A recent documentary on state-sponsored gambling showed politician after politician acknowledging that state lotteries were probably "morally wrong, but" followed by reasons for having them anyway. Do we bow to lesser concerns when principles are at stake? Or do we take our stand on principle and faith, fully prepared to accept temporal disadvantage as a consequence? Among the brethren today, there is probably no greater threat than lack of reverent devotion to the Lord’s principles, and a rejection of the influence, false hopes, and empty rewards of worldliness. Many in their pursuit of earthly advantage sacrifice spiritual interests. Sometimes meeting becomes irregular, and others are induced to follow this poor example. Paul saw this tendency also, and counseled the brethren: "Let us not hold aloof from our church meetings, as some do. Let us do all we can to help one another’s faith" (Hebrews 10:25, Phillips). If followed, the Lord’s advice will correct this tendency: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness" (Matthew 6:33). The First Three Kings Saul, David, and Solomon, the only kings to rule a united Israel, each reigned 40 years. The number 40 is a symbol of trial, testing, judgment, and these reigns represent three ages of trial and judgment in God’s plan: the Jewish, Gospel, and Millennial ages. Saul’s reign represents the Jewish age and Saul represents the Israelites who were disobedient and cast off at our Lord’s first advent. David’s reign represents the Gospel age and his victories represent the victories of faith in the present time. Solomon, in glory and peace, represents the kingdom of Christ which will spread worldwide. The 120 years of the united kingdom parallels the 120 years of Moses life which was likewise divided into three periods of 40 years, each of which represents the same ages. It is possible that relics from Saul’s reign are extant today, in the form of correspondence with the king of Egypt. This suggestion is in Pharaohs and Kings, a 1995 book by David Rohl. A number of clay tablets from El-Amarna in Egypt were discovered by a peasant woman in 1887; this archive eventually produced over 380 tablets. There were diplomatic letters between Egypt and the "Great Kings" of Babylon, Assyria, Hatti (Turkey), Alashiya (Cyprus), and Mitanni (between Hatti and Assyria), and also with the lesser kings of Canaan. Among these is correspondence from and about one "Labayu" which is said to mean "the Lion of Yah"—King Saul. Rohl’s case for this seems compelling:
This connection has not been embraced by the scholarly world because the dates traditionally assigned to the kings of Egypt involved in this correspondence are earlier than the time of Saul and David. However, Rohl presents good evidence that Egyptian history for this period has been incorrectly dated. The Sure Mercies of David King David wanted to build a temple for the Lord. He consulted the prophet Nathan who encouraged him to proceed. But that night the Lord directed Nathan to change his counsel, and David was told that the honor of this building would be for his son: "He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: but my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever" (2 Samuel 7:13-16). This was a remarkable promise, later referred to in Psalm 89:27-37, and still later in Isaiah 55:3 where it is termed "the sure mercies of David." For Solomon’s sins the Lord rebuked him greatly, even rending his son Rehoboam’s kingdom in two. But God always preserved the throne in Jerusalem for a seed of David. In the northern kingdom several dynasties came and went, but in the southern kingdom the throne passed only to the descendants of David. Twice this kingly line was in peril, but the Lord preserved it on both occasions: once during the usurpation by Athaliah, daughter of Jezebel, when the priest Jehoiada preserved the child Joash for seven years (2 Chronicles 23), and again in the days of wicked king Ahaz when Isaiah assured him that his sins notwithstanding, God would preserve the kingly line from the conspirators (Isaiah 7:1-7). Ultimately the promise is secure through David’s son Jesus; those who are Christ’s are co-inheritors with him. Thus Revelation indicates the saints reign as kings with Christ during the kingdom. David and Melchizedek Melchizedek was the king of Salem—later called Jerusalem (Psalm 76:2)—to whom Abraham paid tithes and from whom he received bread and wine. About a thousand years later Melchizedek is mentioned in a psalm about David and Jesus, the son of David: "The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek" (Psalm 110:4). Whether the immediate successor of Melchizedek was a godly man we do not know, but in time the rulers of that city became ungodly, as evidenced in Adoni-zedek whom Joshua slew (Joshua 10:1). The first known godly ruler of the city thereafter was David who conquered the city and moved his capital there. Combining David the "king"—Melchi in Hebrew—and the priest of David’s time "Zadok," produces "Melchi-Zadok." Vowels did not exist in ancient Hebrew so this could as easily be rendered "Melchi-Zedek." Much later after the kingdom had ended and the Israelites returned from captivity under Zerubbabel (of royal seed) and Joshua (the priest), the theme of Melchizedek, though with out that name, reappeared. Joshua (Hebrew for Jesus) was made to picture the coming Jesus, who would unite both offices in himself. "Take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest . . . saying . . . Behold the man whose name is The Branch . . . he shall build the temple of the Lord . . . and he shall be a priest upon his throne" (Zechariah 6:11-13). Note that Zerubbabel, a descendant of David, appears in the genealogies of both Joseph (Matthew 1) and Mary (Luke 3), as though to mark him as a picture of the coming Messiah. Later, following the Maccabean revolt of 167 BC, the Maccabean rulers who were of the priestly line joined the offices again. Probably this also was a foreshadowing of the coming Messiah who would incorporate both offices. Zechariah 9:13 seems to be a prophetic reference to the Maccabean revolt, and it is embedded in a context which is prophetic of Messiah: "I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man" (verse 13). "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass" (verse 9). The Kingdom of Israel Falls The northern ten tribes of Israel fell to the Assyrians during the time of Hezekiah, and thesouthern two tribes of Judah fell to the Babylonians during the time of Nebuchadnezzar, more than a century later. We properly date the beginning of Israel’s seven times of national punishment, 2520 years, from the latter episode, as suggested by Leviticus 26:31-36. This terminated with World War I, which released the land of Israel from the Ottoman Empire and started it on the road to becoming a national homeland for the Jewish people. The last 1260 years of this span was approximately the time the land of Israel had been dominated by the Sunni Moslems. There is also a parallel period of 2520 years from the fall of the northern ten tribes. This period terminates about 1799, at the end of the 1260 years of Papal rule (Daniel 7:25; 12:7). Following this and as a result of the Napoleonic wars and the breaking up of old kingdoms, the Jewish people began to appreciate some increased liberties. The final downfall of Judah, the last remnant of the kingdom of Israel, was sealed as a result of the atrocities of King Manasseh. "[He] built again in the high places, which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them . . . he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God . . . Manasseh made Judah . . . do worse than the heathen, whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel" (2Chronicles 33:3-9). "Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another" (2 Kings 21:16). Manasseh was punished. He was bound and carried to Babylon where he repented and was subsequently restored. He tried to undo his mistakes, but after he died his son Amon reverted. Josiah his successor was a godly king, but the sins had risen too far to be excused: "My wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched" (2 Kings 22:17). Josiah himself was spared by having the punishments take place after his death. Even then God would have preserved the kingdom though subject to Babylon had the last king Zedekiah cooperated with the Lord. But he would not, so God took them away. The remnant which were permitted to stay would not believe Jeremiah’s assurances and fled to Egypt, only to suffer again when Nebuchadnezzar invaded there. The kingdom was broken and the land desolated. Returning to the Land After Babylon’s power was broken God brought the Israelites back, though thereafter communities of Israelites continued for centuries in the various places they had been dispersed. The first part of the return was under Cyrus as a result of a decree in his first regnal year cited in Ezra 1:2-4. This decree was logged into the official records of the Persian Empire. Seventeen years later there was found "at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes" a decree specifying even the size of the temple to be restored in Jerusalem (Ezra 6:1-6). Because of this document the Israelites were allowed to complete their temple which had been stopped by accusations from Israel’s enemies shortly after the rebuilding had begun. More than six decades later Ezra returned to Jerusalem with a decree from Artaxerxes, but after some initial rebuilding work he also was stopped. Then 13 years later Nehemiah received a commission to proceed (Nehemiah 2:1-8). Nehemiah 5:14 contains a reference to Artaxerxes’ 32nd year, and records appended in Nehemiah 12:10-12 and 22 mention the priesthood through the days of Jaddua, evidently the high priest who greeted Alexander at the gates of Jerusalem in 332 BC. This mention of Jaddua is the latest historical record inthe Old Testament. "In that case his name must have been inserted by `the great Synagogue’ after the Scripture canon had been made up by Ezra (ca406 BC)" (McClintock and Strong, "Jaddua"). The Maccabean Revolt The intervening history to the next major episode is covered in Daniel 11. After Alexander’s death the kingdom was divided among his generals. Syria, governed by the Seleucids, and Egypt, governed by the Ptolemys, repeatedly impacted Israel, usually in devastating ways, until the rise of Anchious Epiphanes of Syria in 175 BC. About this time a group of renegade Jews encouraged the people to integrate themselves with the Gentile peoples about them, noting the calamities which had repeatedly come and suggesting they might escape further difficulties. This proposal was widely approved and pagan customs began to infuse Judea. In 169 BC Antiochus thought to invade Egypt, and on return from his successful venture he plundered the temple at Jerusalem. Two years later he determined to thoroughly Hellenize Judea. "Those of the people who were ready to betray the law all thronged to their side in large numbers. Their wicked conduct throughout the land drove Israel into hiding in every possible place of refuge" (1Maccabees 1:52,53). In 167 BC on the 15th day of Kislev (December 7, Julian calendar) Antiochus profaned the altar, built in its place an altar to Zeus, outlawed the practice of Jewish religious customs, and imposed a reign of terror in which many perished because of their faith. An elderly priest, Mattathias son of John, could desist no more. As an apostate approached the pagan altar with an offering, Mattathias "shaking with passion and in a fury of righteous anger, rushed forward and cut him down on the very altar. At the same time he killed the officer sent by the king to enforce sacrifice, and demolished the pagan altar" (1Maccabees 2:24,25). He challenged everyone to stand for the covenant and join him in organized resistance, which many did. Mattathias died the following year leaving his five sons to guide the revolt including Simeon as counselor and his brother Judas Maccabaeus as general of the forces. Against great odds they began to prevail evidently through the blessing of the Lord as intimated in Zechariah 9:13. "Early on the 25th day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev, in the year 148 [164 BC], sacrifice was offered, as laid down by the law, on the newly constructed altar of whole-offerings. On the anniversary of the day of its desecration by the Gentiles, on that very day it was dedicated by hymns of thanksgiving . . . All the people prostrated themselves in worship and gave praise to Heaven for prospering their cause. They celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days."—1 Maccabees 4:52-56 As time passed, the blessings of this reform lapsed into a further coldness. Nevertheless, this revival of Jewish hopes and Jewish prospects was no doubt providentially directed as a preparation for the blessings to come with the turn of the next Millennium and the advent of Messiah. |