Resurrection Life of Jesus Church

KING MENAHEM
The Godhead paused the virtual time run and the last screenshot on the super computer showed the funeral for Menahem. They looked at each other in incredulity, that Menahem could have been so cruel and corrupt. He was a physical descendant of Abraham, but he was the spiritual son of Lucifer.

Could Israel be saved? The last four kings had dragged the Israelites further into idolatry and immorality even though the Godhead had sent fiery and powerful prophets to warn the people. Israel would receive a little more time to rectify their behavior before there was a final judgment.

KING PEKAHIAH
Pekahiah was the son of Menahem. After his father bribed the Assyrians, Israel more or less became a vassal state of Assyria. Pekahiah continued the evil worship of the golden calves.

The Assyrian empire was being attacked by a number of vassal states that had broken away. Syria became a member in the anti-Assyrian coalition. The king of Syria at this time was Rezin, who reigned from Damascus.

Some of the Israeli military leaders favored Syria, while others favored Assyria. There was a political undercurrent in Israel, and two years into Pekahiah’s reign, a captain in the Israeli army named Pekah started an uprising. With the help of 50 men from Gilead, he used his credentials to enter the palace in Samaria and murder Pekahiah and assume the throne.

KING PEKAH
Pekah received help from King Rezin, and once he was established as the new king of Israel, the treaty with Assyria was broken and Israel became a vassal state of Syria.  2 Kings 15:23-26

Pekah managed to reign for 20 years; he was evil just like his predecessors and continued the worship of the golden calves. verses 27-28

Syria and Assyria were two superpowers in the region. They fought one another and made alignments with Israel and Judah. Pekah joined his military forces to King Rezin and an anti-Assyrian coalition was formed.

King Ahaz of Judah had lined up with Assyria, as a result, Pekah and Rezin sent their forces to subdue Judah and were initially rebuffed. 2 Kings 16:1-5

Ahaz turned into a vile king that partook in human sacrifice and God turned the victory into defeat to humble Judah. 2 Chronicles 28:1-5

Pekah and his army killed 120,000 Jewish soldiers in one day. verses 6

200,000 men, women and children were enslaved by the northern kingdom and marched to Samaria. verses 7-8

When this massive group of slaves arrived to Samaria, they were met by the prophet Oded, who rebuked the Israeli soldiers and their officer for not having a mandate from the Lord for such an action.

After much discussion among the princes and other leaders of Israel, it was decided to let the 200,000 go back to Judah. verses 9-15

KING HOSHEA
After King Rezin and King Pekah returned from the war against Judah, the Assyrians rebuilt their army, successfully conquering Syria and large areas of Israel. 2 Kings 15:29

Israel lost much of its land and an army captain named Hoshea who was affiliated with the Israeli-Assyrian party conspired against Pekah, murdered him, and then declared himself the new king. verses 30-31

THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL
Hoshea’s reign lasted for nine years. He had no real political power since he was a vassal of Assyria. Hoshea was the last king of Israel. 2 Kings 17:1-3

Hoshea inherited a rump state after King Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria attacked Israel during the reign of Pekah and took vast territories from Israel.1 The Naphtali cities of Ijon, Abel-Beth-Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, and the land around them were taken. Gilead, the mountainous area east of the Jordan River, the land of Naphtali northeast of the Lake of Galilee, and the province of Galilee were seized from Israel.

Assyria cleared all the conquered cities of their inhabitants and the Israelites were marched away into different parts of the empire. This would be called ethnic cleansing today. 2 Kings 15:29

When Tiglath-Pileser died, King Hoshea tired of paying tribute and sent diplomats to make an alliance with Egypt. The new king of Assyria, Shalmaneser V, sent an army to quell the rebellion and imprisoned Hoshea. 2 Kings 17:1-4

Even though King Hoshea was in prison, his military continued to fight the Assyrians for three years before they ran out of soldiers and Samaria was taken. There is no record of how Hoshea died. With the fall of Samaria in 722 B.C., the northern kingdom ceased to exist.

King Shalmaneser continued the ethnic cleaning of Israel started by Tiglath-Pileser and all the men, women and children were rounded up and resettled hundreds of miles into Assyrian territory. The goal was to scatter the Israelites and destroy them by dispersing them throughout the Assyrian empire. The northern tribes would lose their language and heritage within a couple of generations as they were absorbed by the nations that Assyria had already conquered. verses 5-6

Shalmaneser was determined that Israel would never be a nation again, and once the nine tribes were removed from the land, he brought in people from his empire and settled them in the Promised Land. verse 24

THE REJECTION BY GOD
The prophets and the scribes that lived and operated in Israel had been issuing warnings for hundreds of years. All their effort availed nothing as the prophesied day of reckoning had finally arrived.

God spoke through the prophets and listed the sins of Israel. verses 7-17

The Godhead gave Israel some 209 years to repent (5.02 hours in God’s time).  verses 18-23

Some 700 years earlier, God had spoken to Moses about the Promised Land. He warned that the people of Israel could live there as long as they walked with God, but if they rebelled, they would lose the land! Deuteronomy 28:15-20; 61-67

SUMMARY
The Godhead paused the virtual time run; the last scene showed the people of the northern kingdom spread out for miles as they were evicted from Israel. The Godhead heard the curses of the men, the screams of the women, and anguished cries of the children.

The Godhead was heartbroken, having done all they could for the people of Israel, while the people were hellbent on sabotaging God’s efforts.

The judgment promised by the prophets had finally come to pass! There was no more mercy for Israel and its people were going to disappear into the trash can of history!

Only Judah now remained. Would the southern kingdom remain true to the Lord?

1. A rump state is the remnant of a once much larger state, left with a reduced territory in the wake of secession, annexation, occupation, decolonization, or a successful coup d’état or revolution on part of its former territory.