CHAPTER VI
THE BROKEN BROTHERHOOD
In the last chapter we gave much testimony from the
Scripture showing that the ten-tribed kingdom is dealt with, both in history
and prophecy -- much of which is yet unfulfilled -- as the house of Israel, and
other titles, some of which you will find quite prominent in this chapter;
while the three-tribed kingdom, which is composed of the Jewish people, is
dealt with as the house of Judah and the Jews.
If any of our readers are not yet satisfied on this point we promise that
they shall still have abundant opportunity to become thoroughly convinced. Prof. C. A. L. Totten, of Yale University,
says: "I can never be too thankful to the Almighty that in my youth he
used the late Professor Wilson to show me the difference between the two
houses. The very understanding of this difference is the KEY by which almost
the entire Bible becomes intelligible, and I cannot state too strongly that the
man who has not yet seen that Israel of the Scripture is totally distinct from
the Jewish people, is yet in the very infancy, the mere alphabet, of Biblical
study, and that to this day the meaning of seven-eighths of the Bible is shut
to his understanding." This will
become more and more apparent as we proceed with a few brief outlines of the
histories of these two kingdoms.
Israel displeased the Lord by her idolatry, but it is
quite evident that, for some time after the division, Judah pleased him by her
faithfulness; and it is also evident that, for a short period, fraternal
relations existed between the two kingdoms.
These evidences are found in the history of the war which occurred between
Israel and Moab in the days of Jehoram, the son of Ahab, king of Israel, and of
Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.
During the reign of Ahab he had conquered Moab, and
the king of Moab paid him a revenue of one hundred thousand lambs and one
hundred thousand rams, with the wool.
But upon the ascension of Ahab's son to the throne of Israel the king of
Moab rebelled against him; and so it is recorded that "King Jehoram went
out of Samaria at that same time, and numbered all Israel," 2 Kings 3:6.
Here the expression "all Israel" has
reference to all the region of country which was occupied by the ten tribes of
which the kingdom of Israel was composed. Samaria was their capital city and
the dwelling place of the king; but when the king of Moab rebelled against him
it was but natural, and also good generalship, that he should want to know the
fighting strength of the kingdom. So he
made a tour throughout the realm that he might know just how many fighting men
he had. But it seems that he returned
fully satisfied that he did not have an army of sufficient strength to insure
victory, for he sent a message to the king of Judah, saying:
"The king of Moab hath rebelled against me. Wilt thou go with me against Moab to
battle?" To this the king of Judah replied in the affirmative, saying:
"I will go up: I am as thou art, and my people as thy people."
As a matter of course he could say, "My people
are as thy people," for the people were brethren and subjects of brother
nations, all being seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Children of the
Promise. These two kings further
decided, while holding a council of war, to go up by the way of the wilderness
of Edom, and to ask the king of Edom to join with them against the
Moabites. For the Edomites were also
kinfolks of these two nations, they being the descendants of Esau, the brother
of Jacob, whose name was changed to Edom after he sold his birthright.
The king of Edom consented to go with them, and thus
the Children of the Flesh and the Children of the Promise made common cause,
and went up together against the king of Moab.
But when they had made a seven-days' journey they got into trouble, for
there was no water for that great army of men and the beasts of burden which
they were compelled to have with them.
At the beginning of the chapter which contains the
history of this war concerning the king of Israel, we have the following:
"Now Jehoram, the son of Ahab, began to reign over Israel in Samaria in
the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and he reigned twelve
years. And wrought evil in the sight of
the Lord, but not like his father and his mother; for he put away the image of
Baal that his father had made. Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of
Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not
therefrom."
But as soon as they were in trouble and the idolatrous
king of Israel found there was no water, then in startled fear he cried out,
saying: "The Lord hath brought us three kings out here to destroy
us."
Now quickly, when tortured with guilty fear, the
idolater knew there was a LORD who had power to destroy them, or at least to
destroy him, for he knew that he deserved it, and only said "us
three" because of a spirit of guilty cowardice which hoped to shift the
responsibility, or, if failing in that, to insist that others were fully as
much to blame as he-which is so often seen in frightened but impenitent men.
But it was not so with Jehoshaphat, the God-fearing king of Judah, for he at
once asked: "Is there not here a prophet of the Lord that we may inquire
of the Lord by him?"
No doubt, the thought of Jehoshaphat in asking this
question was that by making inquiry of the Lord they would receive such Divine
instruction as would enable them to escape the threatened danger; for when one
of the servants of the king of Israel, upon hearing this inquiry, stepped
forward and informed them that Elisha the prophet was with the company the king
of Judah rejoiced and said: "The word of the Lord is with him."
When Elisha
was found and these three kings were ushered into his presence he addressed
himself to the king of Israel, saying: "What have I to do with thee? Get
thee to the prophets of thy father and to the prophets of thy
mother." But to this the king,
still fearful, vouchsafed only the reply, "Nay: for the Lord hath called
these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab.
Then Elisha said: "As the Lord of Hosts liveth,
before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of
Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see
thee."
There are reasons given, and they are weighty ones,
why the prophet of God should regard the king of Judah and emphasize the fact
of his presence, in contrast to the king of Israel; for, through the prophet
Hosea the Lord declares: "Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the
house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful
with the saints."
Ah, yes; Judah is not only faithful among the saints,
but she yet has power and ruling influence with God. Here are reasons, abundant, for that honorable distinction which
was conferred upon Judah and her God-honoring king. It was because of them that the Lord sent water to that famishing
army and gave them victory over the Moabites.
But Israel and her king, although serving Jeroboam's calves, yet, in a
time of trouble, when moved by guilty fear, admitted the power of the God of
their fathers. Hence "lies and deceit" were in Ephraim-Israel, but
faithfulness -- as yet -- among the Jewish people.
But there came a time when Judah was not among the
faithful, and when she lost her power with God; and there also came a time when
the fraternal relations were broken between these brother nations. There are
many instances of the severance of brotherly harmony between these nations,
but the following instance, which occurred in the days of Amaziah, king of
Judah, and Joash, king of Israel, not only reveals the broken ties but
justifies the term Ephraim-Israel.
"Moreover, Amaziah gathered Judah together and
made them captains over thousands and over hundreds, according to the houses of
their fathers through all Judah and Benjamin [the Levites were priests, not
warriors], and he numbered them from twenty years old and above, and found them
three hundred thousand choice men, able to go forth to war, that could handle
spear and shield. He hired an hundred
thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel, for a hundred talents of
silver. But there came a man of God to
him, saying, 'O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee, for the Lord is
not with Israel, to wit, all the children of Ephraim. But if thou wilt go and do it, to be strong for the battle, God
shall make thee fall before the enemy; for God hath power to help and to cast
down.'
"And Amaziah said unto the man of God, But what
shall we do with the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel?
And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than
this. Then Amaziah separated them, to
wit, the army that was come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: wherefore
their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in great
anger. And . . . the soldiers of the army which Amaziah sent back, that they
should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria
even to Beth-boron, and smote three thousand of them, and took much
spoil."
Thus we see that the terms Israel and Ephraim are
used interchangeably, for at one time we read "the army out of
Israel," and at another, but concerning the same transaction, "the
army that is come out of Ephraim." Also the man of God told the king of
the Jews that, if he went into battle with the hundred thousand men that he had
hired out of Israel, the Lord would
defeat him, for God was not with Israel, to
wit, Ephraim. And further, when the
king of Judah sent the soldiers back home he sent them from the nation which
the sacred history calls "the Jews" to that which is called
"Israel."
There is one other point which must not be overlooked
at this juncture; that is, that Ephraim is the representative of the house of
Joseph; that Joseph represents the Birthright blessing, which carries with it
the promise of a multitude of children, which was originally given to Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, and that it sometimes occurs that the name of Joseph, the
father, instead of Ephraim, the son, is used when recording facts of history or
prophecy concerning the ten-tribed kingdom.
This does not often occur, but the following is an instance:
"And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I
will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I
have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for
I am the Lord their God, and will hear them.
And Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as
through wine," Zech. 10:6, 8.
This text clearly shows that the names of Ephraim and
Joseph are titles of the ten-tribed kingdom, in contradistinction from Judah
and the Jews as titles of the three-tribed kingdom. And, since it is true that Judah and Joseph are the inheritors of
the two special promises which pertain to the two covenants, we need not be
surprised at this, but should rather expect that these two names would stand
thus contrasted. But all the more
should we expect this, when we see the fact so clearly revealed in the history
of the posterity of these two men that the Birthright name and people are
representatives of one nation, and that Judah's sceptre is swaying over the
other.
But these facts are still more clearly brought out in
one of Ezekiel's prophecies, as follows: "Moreover, thou son of man, take
thee one stick and write upon it, for Judah, and for the children of Israel his
companions: then take another stick, and write upon it for Joseph, the stick
of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions. And join them one to another into one stick,
and they shall become one in thine hand.
And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt
thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? say unto them, Thus saith the Lord
God: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim,
and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the
stick of Judah and make them one in my hand. And the sticks wherein thou
writest shall be in thy hand before their eyes. And say unto them, Thus saith
the Lord God: Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen,
whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side and bring them into
their own land. And I will make them
one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king
to them all, and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they he
divided into two kingdoms any more at all. Neither shall they defile themselves
any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of
their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places,
wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people,
and I will be their God," Ezekiel, 37:15-23.
Many things will need to be explained before we can
show the relative place in the history of these people of all the facts herein
mentioned. But this much is clear:
(1) That there
are two sticks, two nations, or kingdoms.
(2) That
Judah, who inherited the sceptre and crown, has one of those sticks, kingdoms,
or nations; while Joseph-Ephraim has the other.
(3) That Judah
has with him as companions some of "the children of Israel," and that
Ephraim has some of "the tribes of Israel," who are his fellows; and
his companions.
(4) That when
this prophecy was written they were divided; and that all the people belonging
to the race had gathered, either to Judah or Joseph, or in other words, either
to the Sceptre or to the Birthright.
(5) That at some
future time they are again to be united, become one kingdom, and then remain so
forever.
(6) That when
they are thus united, one king shall be king over them all, and when this takes
place the people will have been so lifted up by Divine power and so enriched by
grace that they will no more defile themselves, commit no transgressions, or
in any way displease the Lord, but shall be his accepted people, and he shall
be their God.
Evidently one of these sticks is the Sceptre and the
other the Birthright; for these and the promises connected with each are of
general interest to all the children of promise, but they are the exclusive property
of the two men, Judah and Joseph, who are the special subjects of the prophecy,
while the entire posterity of Jacob is the general subject. But this figure of the two sticks, or
staffs, is used in another prophecy, which pertains to the two houses and
which should be of profound interest to all.
Beginning in the midst of the seventh verse of the
eleventh chapter of Zachariah, we have the following: "I took unto me two
staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands . . . And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it
asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.
And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me
knew that it was the Word of the Lord. And I said unto them, If ye think good,
give me my price; and if not, forbear.
So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
"And the Lord said unto me, Cast it to the
potter: a goodly price that I was priced at of them. And I took thirty pieces of silver and cast them to the potter in
the house of the Lord. Then I cut
asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood
between Israel and Judah," Zech. 11:7-14.
So Israel and Judah are the two sticks or staves
which the Lord took unto himself. He first
cut asunder one stick or staff called Beauty, i.e., ten-tribed Israel. Then, after a certain transaction in which
their Lord was sold for thirty pieces of silver, he cut asunder his other
staff, called Bands (i.e., Judah, the Jews), that he might break the
brotherhood between Judah and Israel!
Just what a great and marvelously fulfilled truth is
herein declared we are not yet prepared to explain. At this juncture we can
only call your attention to the fact that Ezekiel's prophecy concerning the
putting together of the two sticks could not have been fulfilled until after
the transaction which concerns the thirty pieces of silver; and that when it
does take place it must be in harmony not only with those blessed results,
which we have already mentioned, but also with that which is contained in the
rest of that prophecy, a part of which is as follows:
"And they shall dwell in the land that I have
given to Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall
dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children
forever: and my servant David shall be their prince forever.
"Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with
them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them and
multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for
evermore."
The brotherhood is still broken, but it shall be mended.