Judgment of Judah
Amos 2:4-5; 11/13/2022; BCBC/IOUC; Rev. Paul Wang
Introduction
When we talk about the southern kingdom of Judah, an overwhelming sense of shame arises. Because God’s people are divided, God’s name is humiliated and damaged. Just as the church is divided today, God is also not honored! Let’s look at the first point
The reason for the division of the North and South
Among the people of God, it is not necessary to have a king in itself. ，Even Moses and Aaron, who led the Israelites out of Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, and traversed the wilderness, had no desire to be king. Joshua led the twelve tribes into Canaan, and they came and left gently, never having a plan claiming to be a king. First, the kingdom is not of God. As the saying goes, since ancient times, loyal ministers have rebelled, and it is rare for three generations to write the Spring and Autumn. Samuel inherited the spiritual heritage of his predecessor Eli, But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. (1 Samuel 8:3)” Faced with such a situation, what should they do? The Bible records that: “So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. (1 Samuel 8:4)” The testimony of the Samuel family was not good, and they lost their right to speak. So the elders of Israel said: “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” (1 Samuel 8:5)” The point is: “such as all the other nations have.” looking to the world and away from God! This is a portrayal of God giving over to the Israelites.
Second, attitude determines altitude. The so-called good times do not last long, wealth is difficult for three generations, and the throne is difficult to pass on for three generations. Since King Saul, King David, and King Solomon began to worship idols, the United Kingdom has begun to decline. When Solomon’s son Rehoboam came to the throne, about 931 BC, the entire kingdom faced a severe economic crisis. Rehoboam tried to make the ten tribes in the north recognize and accept his rule, but Rehoboam was actually an orthodox royal family, arrogant and domineering, and refused to reduce the taxes and corvée of the ten tribes in the north. If you are unwilling to be humble, it would be hard to compromise, and of course the ending is unhappy. Face is given by others, and humiliation is of course self-inflicted. As a result, Rehoboam returned to Jerusalem and became king of the southern kingdom, and the ten northern tribes invited Jeroboam from Ephraim to be the king of the ten northern tribes.
Finally, the reason for the disparity between the two places. Objectively speaking, the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel have a huge disparity in strength, and the southern kingdom belongs to the weaker side. The land is relatively barren, and the territory is only one-fifth of the northern nation. The difference in numbers is also evident, with the South’s population being only one-third of the North’s. However, spiritual resources are the exact opposite. The southern kingdom has always worshiped God in the temple, and since Jeroboam came to the throne, he established the capital of Shechem to let the Israelites worship the golden calf. He even changed the entire sacrificial system and made ordinary non-Levitic people priests, intending to change the priesthood system established by God. This is somewhat similar to some dissimilar workplace pastors and workplace elders that are popular today. Even though he didn’t have a full-time call, he insisted on making a mess to have a title of pastor and elder. Its ending will be similar to that of Jeroboam. Let’s look at the second point:
The reason for the sin in the South
The sin of mankind begins with the pride of obeying Satan, to be able to discern good and evil like God, and to have the eyes open of a different kind. Eight of the twenty kings in the southern kingdom are good kings, and the rest are bad kings. First, the illusion of the foundation of the nation. Rehoboam could have followed the advice of his predecessors and persuaded the ten tribes of the north to continue the glory of the United Kingdom. But when the Israelites asked to lighten their yoke, Rehoboam listened to his playmate who grew up with him, saying: “My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. (1 King 12:10)” Rehoboam put himself in a position that God displeased and lost God’s blessing. Returning to Jerusalem, he also gathered 180,000 people to attack the Israelites. (1 King 12:21) His folly caused the division of the United Kingdom and caused his brothers to fall into idolatry.
Second, the continuation of the root of evil. Solomon married Naamah, the daughter of Ammon, as his wife, and by doing so, the Jews did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD. The bible says, “By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous anger more than those who were before them had done. (1 King 14:22)” The Bible describes in great detail the evil deeds originating from Ammon, saying: “They also set up for themselves high places, sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. (1 King 14:23)” They do all the abominable things, it can be said that they are very sinful! God sent the Shishak king of Egypt to attack Jerusalem, and when the battle was defeated, he took away all the gold objects in the temple. The temple built by Solomon was splendid and glorious, and now it has been completely defeated by this prodigal son!
In the end, Manasseh provokes the wrath of God. Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, was the fourteenth king of the southern kingdom of Judah. He reigned for 55 years, the longest reigning one in the northern and southern kingdoms. It stands to reason that having a godly father should have a positive effect on him. However, it backfired, and the evil he did in Judah was enough to affect the destruction of the kingdom of Judah. The bible says he “He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. (2 King 21:3)” It’s not over yet, “He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger. (2 King 21:6)” Today we like to watch constellations, fortune-telling, and yoga, so be alert! Let’s look at the third point:
The reason for the judgment of the South
The prophet Amos made it very clear that it was because they refused to listen to the word of God! First, sin against God over and over again. We can try to stand on God’s feelings and see, facing a southern kingdom of Judah, who has received God’s generous grace, it can be said that it is a shame! God repeatedly instructed King Rehoboam not to fight with his brother Israel, and even specially sent prophets to stop their fighting. However, judging from the history of Rehoboam’s life, it can be said that he fought with King Jeroboam of the northern kingdom for years and never stopped. If we open the Book of Kings and look at it, it is a historical record of the kings of the northern and southern kingdoms. From 930 B.C. to 586 B.C., the biblical writers showed us the history of the rotation of the kings of the northern and southern kingdoms alternating. All nineteen kings of the northern kingdom are evil kings, and eight of the twenty kings of the southern kingdom are evil kings. That is to say, in 344 years, there were 27 evil kings in the northern and southern kingdoms, and an average of one evil king appeared every twelve years. Of course, if you just look at the southern nation, it should be slightly better. There were eight evil kings in 344 years, that is, one evil king appeared every 43 years.
Second, God cannot be mocked. When the king of the southern kingdom came to Jehoiakim to be enthroned, he was almost at the end of the road. At the age of twenty-five, he reigned for ten years, and then his son succeeded him for only three months. The last king was Zedekiah, thus ending the history of the southern kingdom. The Bible says: “he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done. (2 King 23:37)” At this time, the king of Judah had already lost all his dignity. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, went up to Jerusalem, and King Jehoiakim served three years as Gojian served Fuchai. Of course he was unwilling, so he rebelled and betrayed Babylon. What was the result? Maybe we can’t think of it, it is “ The Lord sent Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite raiders against him to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets. (2 King 24:2)”
Finally, like a sheep going astray. King Jehoiakim, who was in it, certainly had no ability or vision to realize: “Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord’s command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done, (2 King 24:3)” Jehoiakim lost his way all his life and didn’t understand the consequences he received until the day he died because “ including the shedding of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, (2 King 24:4)”, and “the Lord was not willing to forgive.” It turns out that God will really punish our sins until the third or fourth generation. Jehoiakim died, and his son Jehoiachin was eighteen and Enthroned for only three months. Continue to do evil, to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD. All of a sudden, God called Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to come in person, and this time it was lively! The eighteen-year-old foolish son Jehoiachin, along with his mother, servants, chiefs, and eunuchs, went out of the city, surrendered, and went into captivity to Babylon. It’s appalling!
Conclusion
In fact, the story is not over yet. Jehoiachin’s uncle Mattaniah changed his name to Zedekiah, and ascended the throne for eleven years, which was also the last eleven years of the southern kingdom. This Uncle At Twenty-One Years Old Continues Evil, The Bible Says “just as Jehoiakim had done. (2 King 24:19)” This time, God did not spare any further、the holy city was destroyed, the people were taken captive, their dignity was lost, their sons were killed, and their eyes were gouged out! This is God’s judgment on Judah in the southern kingdom. He who has ears to hear should listen!
Let us pray……
4 This is what the Lord says: “For three sins of Judah, even for four, I will not relent. Because they have rejected the law of the Lord and have not kept his decrees, because they have been led astray by false gods, the gods their ancestors followed,
5 I will send fire on Judah that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem.”
Amos 2:4-5
4 This is what the Lord says: “For three sins of Judah, even for four, I will not relent. Because they have rejected the law of the Lord and have not kept his decrees, because they have been led astray by false gods, the gods their ancestors followed,
5 I will send fire on Judah that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem.”