The Divine Mandates. Morris A. Inch
were the sages. Who were more perceptive than the general populace. As a result, more skilled in engaging life. Some of whom acted in an official capacity to lend guidance to royalty. Others qualified as an elder. In ideal terms, as extended to parents in their privileged role in guiding their offspring.
Finally, there were the people. Without their consent, the efforts of those in authority would be fruitless. Without their participation, the task would be impossible, recalling the sage advice, “One for all, and all for one.”
David was subsequently informed “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever (2 Sam. 7:16). Forever would evolve into the anticipation of a Messiah, from the lineage of David.
“How great you are, O Sovereign Lord!” David exclaims. There is no one like you, and there is no God but you. And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself. You have established your people forever, and you, o lord, have become their God.”
The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and invited him: “Ask whatever you want me to give you” (1 Kings 3:5).
“Now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David,” Solomon allowed. “But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.?
This greatly pleased the Lord, so that he replied: “I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor.” And so it came to pass, only to have Solomon violate his covenant obligations. Along with the ominous warning that this would eventuate with the division of the kingdom.
With the exile. So it was that Jeroboam rebelled against Solomon, and fled to Egypt until the latter’s demise. He then, along with the whole assembly of Israel, approached Rehoboam with the observation: “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve your” (1 Kings 12:4).
Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders who had served his father, in favor of young men of his age. “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it heavier,” he stridently replied. “My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.”
When all Israel saw that the king refused to heed their request, they inquired: “What share do we have in David, what part is Jesse’s son? To your tents, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!” And so the kingdom was rent in two.
With little exception, Israel would remain impervious to the pleas of the prophets. It plunged headlong into destruction, which eventuated in the fall of Samaria to the Assyrians. As if caught in a tight spiral, from which there was not recovery.
The Southern Kingdom fared better, benefitting from periodic spiritual renewals. For instance, Josiah “went up to the temple of the Lord with the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all of the people from the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord” (2 Kings 23:2). For the purpose of renewing the covenant. “then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.”
His efforts notwithstanding, Judah’s days were numbered. Jehoahaz did evil in the eyes of the Lord (cf. 23:32), as did Jehoiakim (cf. 24:9), and Zedekiah (cf. 24:19). As an evil legacy passed on from one reign to the next. So it came to pass that the Babylonians lay siege to Jerusalem. Then the city wall was broken through. Every important building was burned to the ground. Including the temple and palace. And so the people were taken a way into captivity, leaving behind some of the poorest people to work the vineyards and fields.
Resulting in an imaginative reconstruction: “The caravan had made its way up the slopes of the Trans-Jordan Plateau. From there it would travel along the King’s Highway toward Damascus and eventually Babylon. The column paused long enough to look back toward Jerusalem. The torched city was bellowing smoke into the air.”26 The captives wondered what the future held with the City of the Great King devastated, and the temple complex destroyed.
As for apt commentary, “Almost all the old symbol systems had been rendered useless. Almost all the old institutions no longer functioned. What kind of future was possible for a people who had so alienated their God that categorical rejection was his necessary response?”27
“By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion,” the experience of exile is painfully recalled (Psa. 137:1). “Our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?” How indeed!
“If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.” As for the Edomites, who applauded the efforts of the Babylonians, recall their transgression. As for the Babylonians, retribution awaits.
The prophets, who had warned of impending judgment, now turned their attention to comforting the exiles with the prospect of their return. With such in mind, Cyrus issued a proclamation which read: “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you—may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem” (Ezra 1”2–3). While urging their neighbors to contribute the means to accomplish this demanding enterprise. Thus the exile draws to a close.
With “the second exodus.” The return from exile has been graphically described as the second exodus. Since those returning anticipated reclaiming the land of promise. Along with a renewal of their covenant, eventuating in God’s blessing.
“When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem. Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices” (Ezra 3:1, 3). Their common cause providing encouragement in spite of opposition.
When the foundation of the temple was laid, the priests and Levites sang: “He is good; his love for Israel endures forever.” “But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise.” While not comparable to the splendor of the former edifice, it marked a significant beginning.
Although delayed, the temple was completed. “Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy” (Ezra 6:16). Extensive sacrifices were offered. They also installed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their groups for the service of God, and celebrated the Passover.
It was brought to Ezra’s attention that the “people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices” (Ezra 9:1). Upon hearing this, he tore his tunic and cloak, pulled hair from his head and beard, and sat down appalled at the situation. Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel joined him.
A proclamation was subsequently sent throughout Judah for all the exiles to assemble in Jerusalem. “Anyone who failed to appear within three days would forfeit all his property, in accordance with he decision of the officials and elders, and would himself be expelled from the assembly of the exiles” (Ezra 10:8). It was a decisive action meant to deal with a critical issue.
When the people assembled, Ezra declared: “You have been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt. Now make confession