Amaziah, son of Joash, reigned in Judah for 29 years. He was committed to Yahweh, like his father had been, but still the people offered sacrifices at places other than the temple. He killed those who assassinated his father, but spared their children as was written in the law given to Moses. He defeated the Edomites and then challenged Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, to battle. But Jehoash replied, “You are arrogant from your victory over Edom. Enjoy your victory, but stay at home. Why ask for trouble that will lead to the downfall of you and all the Jews?”
But Amaziah would not listen and when Israel attacked Judah they overwhelmed them and the Jewish army retreated. A large part of Jerusalem’s wall was destroyed and Jehoash took all the valuable artifacts from the temple and palace as well as hostages.
Jehoash reigned over Israel for 16 years and was succeeded by his son, Jeroboam II. Amaziah was succeeded by his son Azariah, who ruled Judah for 52 years and was committed to Yahweh, like his father had been. Yet still the people offered sacrifices at sites profaned by idol worship.
It was Azariah’s own cousin, Isaiah, whom Yahweh called to be prophet in those days. In his early days he went among the people and described to them this vision, “I saw Yahweh in heaven on a throne, wearing a robe that filled the entire chamber, surrounded by angels who sang, ‘Holy, holy, holy is God Almighty.’ Their voices shook the room and filled it with smoke.
“I cried out, ‘I am a man who speaks sinfully and I live among sinners. I have seen Yahweh, the only true king and now I am going to die.’
“But an angel took a burning coal and touched my lips with it and said, ‘You have been made clean and your sins are forgiven.’
“Then God spoke. ‘Whom shall I send as my messenger?’
“I replied, ‘Here I am, send me.’
“Yahweh told me to deliver this message to you, ‘Though you hear, you will not understand. Though you will see, you will not perceive. Your hearts have been made callous; your ears deafened, your eyes closed. If you were able to hear and see you would understand in your hearts and return to God to be healed.’
“I asked, ‘How long will this be true, God?’
“Yahweh replied, ‘Until your cities lie ruined and empty, until your fields are ruined and ravaged, until nearly all of you are exiled and the land desolate and deserted. But as an oak that is cut down leaves behind a stump, so too will a holy seed remain in this land.’
”Then Yahweh commanded me to say, ‘I raised you as my children but you have rebelled against me. Even an animal knows who cares for it, but my own people do not. You seem to be completely infected with evil from head to toe, beyond correction. You are under siege and if it was not for my protection you would have been destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah.
‘Listen to me you wicked rulers and take heed you sinful people. What good are your meaningless sacrifices anymore? They bring me no joy, in fact, they disgust me. I hate them! You keep our traditions, but in your heart they mean nothing. I am tired of your hypocrisy. When you pray, I no longer listen because I see the heart behind your words. Make yourselves clean again. Learn again what is right: carry out true justice; protect the weak; take care of the poor.
‘Even though you are stained with sin and blood I can make you white as snow. If you return to me, you will be blessed. Anything else will lead to your ruin when my anger comes down on you. But the day will come when you will once again be my righteous people.
’There will come a day when my temple will be lifted up as the highest of mountains and all nations will come to it to learn my ways. There, true justice will be found. They will hammer their swords into ploughshares and war no more.
‘But you act like you are no different from the nations that surround you. You worship your own greed as you amass wealth. You worship your own military might as you amass chariots. You worship gods made with your hands. The day is coming when the arrogance of humanity will be cut down like a tree, when every idol will be destroyed, and I alone will worshipped.
’But before that day I will remove my blessing from you. Food, water, warriors, prophets, judges, elders, craftsmen, everything you rely on and take for granted will be gone. When that time comes you will be ruled by mere children. You will turn on each other until all you have to rule over is a pile of rubble. Hungry, naked, and desperate, no one will even want to rule over you in those days.’
’Israel, you are like my beloved vineyard that I planted. I made sure the soil was good and free of rocks. I used the best seedlings and built a watchtower for its protection. Why, then, are the grapes that grow on its vine so terrible? What more could I have done to ensure a good harvest? So now I will destroy it and all that will grow there will be weeds.
‘Woe to you who pursue nothing but pleasure and have forgotten my commands. Woe to you who intentionally confuse what is good with what is evil. Woe to you who think your self-made wisdom means you no longer need my law. Woe to you who pervert justice. My judgement is coming. I have called for distant nations to rise against you. Listen! Here they come swiftly! They do not tire. Their arrows are sharp. Their chariots sound like a whirlwind. They roar like lions and seize their prey who have no hope of rescue.’”
Though some heeded the prophetic words of Isaiah and his contemporaries as he travelled through Israel and Judah, both countries were still sliding towards ruin. Azariah’s reign was spent rebuilding his land. He had a well-trained and well-supplied army and became very powerful. But he soon became arrogant and turned from the laws of Yahweh. He entered the temple and burned incense on the altar himself. The priests told him, “it isn’t right to do what was intended for the consecrated priests to do. Leave this temple.” He got angry and started yelling at the priests and in that moment Yahweh struck him with leprosy. He had leprosy the rest of his life so his son Jotham ruled as prince regent.
At this same time in Israel, the brutal reign of Jeroboam II had lasted for 41 years. The people of Israel suffered terribly under his reign. In those days, were there still any Samaria who remembered the words of Samuel spoken over 300 years ago when he warned the people against rejecting Yahweh’s kingship, “you will cry out to God for relief, but you will hear no answer because you have made this the fate of our nation.” When Jeroboam II died Israel went through a time of constant political upheaval. Jeroboam II’s son Zechariah, was assassinated after only sixth months by Shallum. Zechariah was the fourth generation since Jehu to be king and with his death the prophecy was fulfilled. But Shallum’s reign lasted only one month before he was assassinated by Manahem, who ruled for ten years. He was succeeded by his son Pekahiah, who was assassinated after only two years and replaced by Pekah.
Shortly after Pekah ascended the throne in Israel, Jotham officially began his reign in Judah. When he died he was succeeded by his son Ahaz who ruled for 16 years. But he was completely different from his ancestor David. He was as evil as any of the kings of Israel. He did unspeakably horrible things in his worship of false gods. During his reign, Rezin, who had succeeded Ben-Hadad III as king of Aram, along with Pekah tried to force Ahaz to ally with them against the impending invasion of Assyria. But when he chose to instead ally with Assyria, Aram and Israel prepared to go to war against Judah.
In those days Isaiah’s wife gave birth to a son and upon his birth God gave Isaiah a new warning for Israel. “Before my infant son is old enough to speak, the wealth of Damascus and Samaria will be in the hands of the king of Assyria. A mighty flood of Assyrians from the Northeast will fill this land until you are drowned. Raise up your armies, prepare for battle, devise your strategies, but you will be shattered.
”But there will come a time when there will be no more sadness. In that day, God will honor Galilee most among all the land. People walking in darkness will see a great light. The people will rejoice as though they are conquering army. Their oppression will end. For unto us a son is born and he will carry the government on his shoulders. He will be called a wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He will reign on David’s throne with justice and righteousness forever.
“You pridefully say, ‘Any brick that is destroyed we will replace with a polished stone. For every fig tree that is felled we will grow a cedar. But your enemies are strong and they will devour you like a fire. You have turned away from God. You make unjust laws that oppress the poor, prey upon the widow, and rob the fatherless. What will you do when the day of reckoning comes? Where will you run? What good are your riches then? You will have to choose between being a slave or being slain.
”The Assyrians, too, will not escape judgment. Though they will be the instruments of God’s judgment, it is not justice that guides them, but the desire to destroy and rule. The prideful king of Assyria says in his heart, ‘Through my own strength and wisdom I have destroyed nations and taken their riches for myself. Like a god I have overthrown their kings. I plucked up these countries as though they were eggs in an unguarded nest.’
“But Yahweh says, ‘Is an axe greater than the one who swings it? I will send disease on Assyria, decimating them. Do not fear the Assyrians. Though they will treat you as the Egyptians treated your ancestors, my anger with you will end and be directed at them instead. All of your enemies will face my anger.
In that day a remnant of my people will return to me. ”A branch will grow from the tree of David and bear fruit. The Spirit of God will be with him. He will not judge by what other people see or hear, but with righteousness. Through him there will be peace between enemies. His kingdom will be for all people and Yahweh will reach out and reclaim those who have been lost. In that day the people will sing joyful praises to Yahweh for the glorious way they were saved. The dead will live again, their bodies will rise from the dust and give praise.” Then Isaiah returned to Judah.
Travelling to Jerusalem, Isaiah had an audience with King Ahaz, who was busily formulating his strategy to repel the twin invasions of Israel and Aram. Isaiah said to him, “Keep calm, and don’t be afraid. Your enemies are plotting your ruin, but it will not happen. These armies are ruled by ordinary men. Ask Yahweh for a sign if you don’t believe.”
But Ahaz replied, “I will not.”
Then Isaiah made this prophecy, the fullness of which even he could not comprehend, “Why do you try God’s patience? The people will have a sign regardless. In the land of Bethlehem a virgin will give birth to a son. But he will leave that place and live for a time in Egypt. Even when he is still a child he will fully know right from wrong and in that day your enemies will be gone. But before that time you will face hardship like you have never known.” Then Isaiah left Ahaz to his war preparations.
Ahaz, sent Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria, treasures from the temple of Yahweh and his own palace and requested their aid, and in exchange promised that Judah would become a vassal state of Assyria. The response of the Assyrians was swift and unstoppable. The Arameans were quickly defeated, king Rezin killed, and the remaining Arameans made the vassals of Assyria. Assyria made the Aramean language, already widely known in many countries, the common tongue throughout their burgeoning empire. They were unstoppable in those days, and all of Israel’s ancient enemies either became vassal states to Assyria or were conquered and displaced.
Some time after this, Pekah was assassinated by Hoshea, one of his own generals, who had made a deal with Assyria. Though his kingdom had been reduced to only Samaria, Hoshea came to rule as a vassal of Assyria. A few years later, Ahaz also died and was succeeded by his son Hezekiah, who ruled for 29 years. He did not follow in the evil of his father, being instead committed to Yahweh like his ancestor David. He tore down the places of worship the people had been using and destroyed the idols made to the Ashtoreth. Since the schism between Judah and Israel there were no kings like him. He was completely dedicated to Yahweh and kept all the laws of Moses. God was with him and he was successful in everything he attempted. He threw off Judah’s vassalage to Assyria and beat back the Philistines.
In the first year of his reign, Hezekiah ordered that the temple be repaired and brought back the Levite priests, saying to them, “Consecrate yourselves and the temple now. Our parents were unfaithful to Yahweh. They closed up this temple and now Yahweh’s anger is upon the land, which you can plainly see. This is why our soldiers have died in battle and our families are slaves. But I am going to turn us back to Yahweh. Join me with your whole hearts for you have been chosen to serve God.”
For 16 days they purified the temple. Then Hezekiah had them make sacrifices on the altar while musicians led them all in worship. There were so many sacrifices that the priests needed help from other Levites to prepare them all.
Then Hezekiah sent word to all the people, not just in Judah, but also Samaria, to come to the temple to celebrate passover. The couriers he sent read aloud this letter, “Return to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel so that Yahweh will return to us. Do not be unfaithful like your parents. Submit to Yahweh and come to the temple which has been consecrated forever. Be obedient so that Yahweh’s anger will leave us.” Many from Samaria scorned and ridiculed the couriers and would not come, but some from Asher, Manasseh, Ephraim, Issachar, and Zebulun humbled themselves and traveled to Jerusalem for passover.
Soon a large crowd had gathered. Many did not remember what was written in the law and had not made themselves ceremonially clean. But Hezekiah prayed, “May Yahweh, who is good, pardon everyone who sets their hearts on seeking God, even if they are not clean according to the law.”
For 14 days, twice the normal length of passover, they celebrated and worshipped God with great joy. Not since Solomon had their been a celebration like this. When it ended they returned to their own towns, destroying any signs of idol worship they could see along the way. And for a time in Samaria it seemed that, perhaps, they might avoid the doom which had been prophesied to them.
But in the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Hoshea grew tired of his subservience to Assyria and rebelled against them by seeking the aid of Egypt. Then Assyria’s king, Shalmaneser, who had succeeded his father, unwilling to tolerate this rebellion, invaded Samaria and scattered nearly all of its people across his empire. He then resettled Samaria and the surrounding country with people from other lands who worshipped other gods. 210 years had passed since The 10 tribes of Israel rebelled against Rehoboam and established Jeroboam as their king. In that time, they had committed many evils, having utterly abandoned Yahweh and refused to listen to the warnings of the prophets. On that day, were there any among the elders of Samaria who still remembered the words of Yahweh, written down by Moses in ages past, “They will abandon me and turn from the laws I have given to them. In that day disaster will strike.” Now, they were scattered, and their kingdom, no more. Judah, alone, remained.
But Amaziah would not listen and when Israel attacked Judah they overwhelmed them and the Jewish army retreated. A large part of Jerusalem’s wall was destroyed and Jehoash took all the valuable artifacts from the temple and palace as well as hostages.
Jehoash reigned over Israel for 16 years and was succeeded by his son, Jeroboam II. Amaziah was succeeded by his son Azariah, who ruled Judah for 52 years and was committed to Yahweh, like his father had been. Yet still the people offered sacrifices at sites profaned by idol worship.
It was Azariah’s own cousin, Isaiah, whom Yahweh called to be prophet in those days. In his early days he went among the people and described to them this vision, “I saw Yahweh in heaven on a throne, wearing a robe that filled the entire chamber, surrounded by angels who sang, ‘Holy, holy, holy is God Almighty.’ Their voices shook the room and filled it with smoke.
“I cried out, ‘I am a man who speaks sinfully and I live among sinners. I have seen Yahweh, the only true king and now I am going to die.’
“But an angel took a burning coal and touched my lips with it and said, ‘You have been made clean and your sins are forgiven.’
“Then God spoke. ‘Whom shall I send as my messenger?’
“I replied, ‘Here I am, send me.’
“Yahweh told me to deliver this message to you, ‘Though you hear, you will not understand. Though you will see, you will not perceive. Your hearts have been made callous; your ears deafened, your eyes closed. If you were able to hear and see you would understand in your hearts and return to God to be healed.’
“I asked, ‘How long will this be true, God?’
“Yahweh replied, ‘Until your cities lie ruined and empty, until your fields are ruined and ravaged, until nearly all of you are exiled and the land desolate and deserted. But as an oak that is cut down leaves behind a stump, so too will a holy seed remain in this land.’
”Then Yahweh commanded me to say, ‘I raised you as my children but you have rebelled against me. Even an animal knows who cares for it, but my own people do not. You seem to be completely infected with evil from head to toe, beyond correction. You are under siege and if it was not for my protection you would have been destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah.
‘Listen to me you wicked rulers and take heed you sinful people. What good are your meaningless sacrifices anymore? They bring me no joy, in fact, they disgust me. I hate them! You keep our traditions, but in your heart they mean nothing. I am tired of your hypocrisy. When you pray, I no longer listen because I see the heart behind your words. Make yourselves clean again. Learn again what is right: carry out true justice; protect the weak; take care of the poor.
‘Even though you are stained with sin and blood I can make you white as snow. If you return to me, you will be blessed. Anything else will lead to your ruin when my anger comes down on you. But the day will come when you will once again be my righteous people.
’There will come a day when my temple will be lifted up as the highest of mountains and all nations will come to it to learn my ways. There, true justice will be found. They will hammer their swords into ploughshares and war no more.
‘But you act like you are no different from the nations that surround you. You worship your own greed as you amass wealth. You worship your own military might as you amass chariots. You worship gods made with your hands. The day is coming when the arrogance of humanity will be cut down like a tree, when every idol will be destroyed, and I alone will worshipped.
’But before that day I will remove my blessing from you. Food, water, warriors, prophets, judges, elders, craftsmen, everything you rely on and take for granted will be gone. When that time comes you will be ruled by mere children. You will turn on each other until all you have to rule over is a pile of rubble. Hungry, naked, and desperate, no one will even want to rule over you in those days.’
’Israel, you are like my beloved vineyard that I planted. I made sure the soil was good and free of rocks. I used the best seedlings and built a watchtower for its protection. Why, then, are the grapes that grow on its vine so terrible? What more could I have done to ensure a good harvest? So now I will destroy it and all that will grow there will be weeds.
‘Woe to you who pursue nothing but pleasure and have forgotten my commands. Woe to you who intentionally confuse what is good with what is evil. Woe to you who think your self-made wisdom means you no longer need my law. Woe to you who pervert justice. My judgement is coming. I have called for distant nations to rise against you. Listen! Here they come swiftly! They do not tire. Their arrows are sharp. Their chariots sound like a whirlwind. They roar like lions and seize their prey who have no hope of rescue.’”
Though some heeded the prophetic words of Isaiah and his contemporaries as he travelled through Israel and Judah, both countries were still sliding towards ruin. Azariah’s reign was spent rebuilding his land. He had a well-trained and well-supplied army and became very powerful. But he soon became arrogant and turned from the laws of Yahweh. He entered the temple and burned incense on the altar himself. The priests told him, “it isn’t right to do what was intended for the consecrated priests to do. Leave this temple.” He got angry and started yelling at the priests and in that moment Yahweh struck him with leprosy. He had leprosy the rest of his life so his son Jotham ruled as prince regent.
At this same time in Israel, the brutal reign of Jeroboam II had lasted for 41 years. The people of Israel suffered terribly under his reign. In those days, were there still any Samaria who remembered the words of Samuel spoken over 300 years ago when he warned the people against rejecting Yahweh’s kingship, “you will cry out to God for relief, but you will hear no answer because you have made this the fate of our nation.” When Jeroboam II died Israel went through a time of constant political upheaval. Jeroboam II’s son Zechariah, was assassinated after only sixth months by Shallum. Zechariah was the fourth generation since Jehu to be king and with his death the prophecy was fulfilled. But Shallum’s reign lasted only one month before he was assassinated by Manahem, who ruled for ten years. He was succeeded by his son Pekahiah, who was assassinated after only two years and replaced by Pekah.
Shortly after Pekah ascended the throne in Israel, Jotham officially began his reign in Judah. When he died he was succeeded by his son Ahaz who ruled for 16 years. But he was completely different from his ancestor David. He was as evil as any of the kings of Israel. He did unspeakably horrible things in his worship of false gods. During his reign, Rezin, who had succeeded Ben-Hadad III as king of Aram, along with Pekah tried to force Ahaz to ally with them against the impending invasion of Assyria. But when he chose to instead ally with Assyria, Aram and Israel prepared to go to war against Judah.
In those days Isaiah’s wife gave birth to a son and upon his birth God gave Isaiah a new warning for Israel. “Before my infant son is old enough to speak, the wealth of Damascus and Samaria will be in the hands of the king of Assyria. A mighty flood of Assyrians from the Northeast will fill this land until you are drowned. Raise up your armies, prepare for battle, devise your strategies, but you will be shattered.
”But there will come a time when there will be no more sadness. In that day, God will honor Galilee most among all the land. People walking in darkness will see a great light. The people will rejoice as though they are conquering army. Their oppression will end. For unto us a son is born and he will carry the government on his shoulders. He will be called a wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He will reign on David’s throne with justice and righteousness forever.
“You pridefully say, ‘Any brick that is destroyed we will replace with a polished stone. For every fig tree that is felled we will grow a cedar. But your enemies are strong and they will devour you like a fire. You have turned away from God. You make unjust laws that oppress the poor, prey upon the widow, and rob the fatherless. What will you do when the day of reckoning comes? Where will you run? What good are your riches then? You will have to choose between being a slave or being slain.
”The Assyrians, too, will not escape judgment. Though they will be the instruments of God’s judgment, it is not justice that guides them, but the desire to destroy and rule. The prideful king of Assyria says in his heart, ‘Through my own strength and wisdom I have destroyed nations and taken their riches for myself. Like a god I have overthrown their kings. I plucked up these countries as though they were eggs in an unguarded nest.’
“But Yahweh says, ‘Is an axe greater than the one who swings it? I will send disease on Assyria, decimating them. Do not fear the Assyrians. Though they will treat you as the Egyptians treated your ancestors, my anger with you will end and be directed at them instead. All of your enemies will face my anger.
In that day a remnant of my people will return to me. ”A branch will grow from the tree of David and bear fruit. The Spirit of God will be with him. He will not judge by what other people see or hear, but with righteousness. Through him there will be peace between enemies. His kingdom will be for all people and Yahweh will reach out and reclaim those who have been lost. In that day the people will sing joyful praises to Yahweh for the glorious way they were saved. The dead will live again, their bodies will rise from the dust and give praise.” Then Isaiah returned to Judah.
Travelling to Jerusalem, Isaiah had an audience with King Ahaz, who was busily formulating his strategy to repel the twin invasions of Israel and Aram. Isaiah said to him, “Keep calm, and don’t be afraid. Your enemies are plotting your ruin, but it will not happen. These armies are ruled by ordinary men. Ask Yahweh for a sign if you don’t believe.”
But Ahaz replied, “I will not.”
Then Isaiah made this prophecy, the fullness of which even he could not comprehend, “Why do you try God’s patience? The people will have a sign regardless. In the land of Bethlehem a virgin will give birth to a son. But he will leave that place and live for a time in Egypt. Even when he is still a child he will fully know right from wrong and in that day your enemies will be gone. But before that time you will face hardship like you have never known.” Then Isaiah left Ahaz to his war preparations.
Ahaz, sent Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria, treasures from the temple of Yahweh and his own palace and requested their aid, and in exchange promised that Judah would become a vassal state of Assyria. The response of the Assyrians was swift and unstoppable. The Arameans were quickly defeated, king Rezin killed, and the remaining Arameans made the vassals of Assyria. Assyria made the Aramean language, already widely known in many countries, the common tongue throughout their burgeoning empire. They were unstoppable in those days, and all of Israel’s ancient enemies either became vassal states to Assyria or were conquered and displaced.
Some time after this, Pekah was assassinated by Hoshea, one of his own generals, who had made a deal with Assyria. Though his kingdom had been reduced to only Samaria, Hoshea came to rule as a vassal of Assyria. A few years later, Ahaz also died and was succeeded by his son Hezekiah, who ruled for 29 years. He did not follow in the evil of his father, being instead committed to Yahweh like his ancestor David. He tore down the places of worship the people had been using and destroyed the idols made to the Ashtoreth. Since the schism between Judah and Israel there were no kings like him. He was completely dedicated to Yahweh and kept all the laws of Moses. God was with him and he was successful in everything he attempted. He threw off Judah’s vassalage to Assyria and beat back the Philistines.
In the first year of his reign, Hezekiah ordered that the temple be repaired and brought back the Levite priests, saying to them, “Consecrate yourselves and the temple now. Our parents were unfaithful to Yahweh. They closed up this temple and now Yahweh’s anger is upon the land, which you can plainly see. This is why our soldiers have died in battle and our families are slaves. But I am going to turn us back to Yahweh. Join me with your whole hearts for you have been chosen to serve God.”
For 16 days they purified the temple. Then Hezekiah had them make sacrifices on the altar while musicians led them all in worship. There were so many sacrifices that the priests needed help from other Levites to prepare them all.
Then Hezekiah sent word to all the people, not just in Judah, but also Samaria, to come to the temple to celebrate passover. The couriers he sent read aloud this letter, “Return to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel so that Yahweh will return to us. Do not be unfaithful like your parents. Submit to Yahweh and come to the temple which has been consecrated forever. Be obedient so that Yahweh’s anger will leave us.” Many from Samaria scorned and ridiculed the couriers and would not come, but some from Asher, Manasseh, Ephraim, Issachar, and Zebulun humbled themselves and traveled to Jerusalem for passover.
Soon a large crowd had gathered. Many did not remember what was written in the law and had not made themselves ceremonially clean. But Hezekiah prayed, “May Yahweh, who is good, pardon everyone who sets their hearts on seeking God, even if they are not clean according to the law.”
For 14 days, twice the normal length of passover, they celebrated and worshipped God with great joy. Not since Solomon had their been a celebration like this. When it ended they returned to their own towns, destroying any signs of idol worship they could see along the way. And for a time in Samaria it seemed that, perhaps, they might avoid the doom which had been prophesied to them.
But in the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Hoshea grew tired of his subservience to Assyria and rebelled against them by seeking the aid of Egypt. Then Assyria’s king, Shalmaneser, who had succeeded his father, unwilling to tolerate this rebellion, invaded Samaria and scattered nearly all of its people across his empire. He then resettled Samaria and the surrounding country with people from other lands who worshipped other gods. 210 years had passed since The 10 tribes of Israel rebelled against Rehoboam and established Jeroboam as their king. In that time, they had committed many evils, having utterly abandoned Yahweh and refused to listen to the warnings of the prophets. On that day, were there any among the elders of Samaria who still remembered the words of Yahweh, written down by Moses in ages past, “They will abandon me and turn from the laws I have given to them. In that day disaster will strike.” Now, they were scattered, and their kingdom, no more. Judah, alone, remained.
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