A Tale of Two Nations:

It was the best of times… it was the worst of times… King Solomon reigned in Israel. The nation of Israel was united, and arriving at the zenith of its power and influence. It had immense wealth, powerful allies, and most importantly, the protection and blessings of Almighty God. Their King was widely regarded as the wisest man alive, and as a result – he entertained kings and queens from neighboring lands who hoped to be on the receiving end of some of his wisdom. His alliances with Egypt, Tyre, and neighboring nations opened new trade routes, as well as ushered in an unparalleled time of peace and prosperity in the nation. Outlying cities were rebuilt, strengthened and fortified, and the Kingdom itself was expanded. However, it was in the 4th year of Solomon’s reign that with God’s blessing, the most important achievement of his reign began. On the second day, of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign, Solomon ordered the foundation to be set for the Temple of God.

7 years later, with construction finished, and the Ark residing in the Holy of Holies, Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in front of all those assembled with his hands to the heavens as he prayed to God to dedicate the temple. Let’s turn to 1 Kings 8, and we’ll pick up the story. 1 Kings 8, and we’ll see a piece of the prayer of dedication that Solomon prayed to God. 1 Kings 8:23. 1 Kings 8:23 and he said, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath; who keepest covenant and lovingkindness with thy servants, that walk before thee with all their heart; 1 Kings 8:24 who hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou didst promise him: yea, thou spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thy hand, as it is this day. 1 Kings 8:25 Now therefore, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me as thou hast walked before me. 1 Kings 8:26 Now therefore, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.

1 Kings 8:27 But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded! 1 Kings 8:28 Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Jehovah my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee this day; 1 Kings 8:29 that thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place whereof thou hast said, My name shall be there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall pray toward this place. 1 Kings 8:30 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: yea, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place; and when thou hearest, forgive. This pattern continues throughout the prayer as Solomon pleads with God to hear his people’s prayers, and to answer them accordingly. Through civil issues, through spiritual issues, in forgiveness for transgression, relief from drought and famine, whatever supplication is made by anyone in this place, Solomon pleads that God hear their prayer and answer.

The entire host of Israel then goes on to finish dedicating the temple by sacrificing 22,000 bulls, and 120,000 sheep. They celebrate for 7 days, feasting and celebrating, then celebrate and rejoice in the 7 days of the Feast of Tabernacles and the 8th Day, and following the 8th day – everyone returns to their homes. God was pleased with this dedication, and we can see his response to Solomon’s prayer in 1 Kings 9. God appears to Solomon following his completion of the Temple, 1 Kings 9:3, and he answers his prayer. 1Ki 9:3 And Jehovah said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there forever; and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually. 1 Kings 9:4 And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and mine ordinances; 1 Kings 9:5 then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel forever, according as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.

1 Kings 9:6 But if ye shall turn away from following me, ye or your children, and not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; 1 Kings 9:7 then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all peoples. So the promise is given…but given conditionally. There are requirements, a contract so to speak. God demands from his followers a keeping of his law, and as God informed Solomon -- as long as the nation of Israel follows his commandments, he will bless them. When they don’t, they will be cut off. This echoes the pattern of blessings and cursings established in Deuteronomy 28, where God is very clear – you will obey my commandments and my statutes, and if you do these things, you will be blessed. If you do not, then you shall be cursed. This pattern can be seen throughout the Old Testament in numerous places. For a time, Israel had it all. It truly was the best of times. God was with them, they had immense physical blessings, and their power and influence radiated to the countries around them… it was an unparalleled time of peace and prosperity. However, it was to be short-lived, and it would usher in the worst of times.

1 Kings 11:1, 1 Kings 11:1 Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites; 1Ki 11:2 of the nations concerning which Jehovah said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. 1 Kings 11:3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. Solomon’s attempts to secure political strength apart from God, were ultimately his undoing. He married many women, the majority of which were political marriages with neighboring kings and lands. You don’t marry 700 different women for ‘love’, it was politics, pure and simple. As his heart drifted further, he allowed the foreign women to influence him, and in their influence they requested locations within the nation of Israel to serve and worship their false gods, and the idols of their homeland. Soon on the tops of the mountains, in the high places of Israel - there were idols to Chemosh, Ashtoreth, Milcom, Molech, and many more. We also see, that this behavior and this deliberate turning of his heart from God set into motion events that brought about the end of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. In verse 11 of 1 Kings 11, we see that God followed through on the warning he gave Solomon.

1 Kings 11:11 Wherefore Jehovah said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. 1 Kings 11:12 Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it, for David thy father's sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. 1 Kings 11:13 Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to thy son, for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen. Upon Solomon’s death, the Kingdom passes to Jeroboam, it splits and the Southern Kingdom of Judah is born out of Solomon’s mistake, the line of David continues… Jeroboam continues in idolatry in the Northern Kingdom by setting up Golden Calves and idols in the high places. Jeroboam is warned, numerous times by God’s prophet Ahijah that the road he is traveling down leads to the ruin of the country, but the prophets word are ignored. 1 Kings 14 contains a prophecy, one that is quite specific about the end of the Northern Kingdom. Jeroboam sends his wife in disguise to the prophet Ahijah to inquire of his sick child. After Ahijah informs Jeroboam’s wife that her child would die, he also informs her in verse 14 and 15, the fate of Jeroboam’s house, and the nation as a whole, and very specifically who would be responsible.

1 Kings 14:14, 1 Kings 14:14 Moreover Jehovah will raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now. (Jeroboam’s son and successor Nadab was murdered by Baasha who ascended to the throne in a coup) 1 Kings 14:15 For Jehovah will smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and he will root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their Asherim, provoking Jehovah to anger. Beyond the river, Euphrates existed a Kingdom (in the heart of modern-day Iraq) that struck fear in the hearts of all who lived in the area. A group of people whose exploits were rumored, sometimes exaggerated, though not often, and terribly feared. The Assyrian empire was arguably one of the most powerful military powers of the Ancient World. Their tactics were revolutionary and their use of psychological warfare was unmatched. If your city had a large wall to protect it, the Assyrian would deploy ladders and stream up them to attack the top of the wall from ladder. While they were fighting with the people on the top of the wall, large groups of soldiers would be deployed below the ladders to dig out underneath the wall causing it to collapse. Once the wall was breached, they stormed into the city on foot.

They were also masters of the chariot, and fought frequently from horseback and chariot giving them advantage over many civilizations in the Middle East. Their use of terror tactics set them apart from other civilizations as well. They were known to attack a city and kill every living person in it once it was conquered, to send a message to the next city they came upon. They were known to take captives and burn them alive, use them as human shields in the next battle, or any of another dozen things that were frankly, horrible. A good argument can be made that the Assyrians were the first terrorists. They used terror and fear to harass and conquer their enemies. There’s an incredible example of the psychological warfare that the Assyrians utilized in 2 Kings 18:20-22, though it puts our cart a little bit before the horse today. It’s interesting to see what they are capable of. At this point, the Northern Kingdom had recently been defeated, and God used the Assyrians as an instrument of his wrath against Hoshea and the Kingdom of Israel. The people of Judah weren’t pleased with Hezekiah’s reforms, the re-establishment of sacrifices at the Temple instead of all the high places, and the Assyrians were aware of this. They use it as a weapon, attempting to create unrest and distrust in Hezekiah. The Rabshakeh of Assyria speaks in verse 20 of 2 Kings.

2 Kings 18:20 Thou sayest (but they are but vain words), There is counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou hast rebelled against me? 2 Kings 18:21 Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him. 2 Kings 18:22 But if ye say unto me, We trust in Jehovah our God; is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? In 732 B.C. the Assyrians first began attacking Israel. They were brought in as allies by Hezekiah’s father, Ahaz, the King of Judah. He was moving against Pekah the King of Israel at the time and his allies, and was outmatched. He paid tribute to the Assyrians for their assistance, becoming a vassal, and over the next 10 years, they just kept coming, little by little, slowly but surely marching their way through Samaria leaving a path of destruction in their wake, and the rumors of atrocities spread. The early chapters of Isaiah contain the prophets word concerning the fall of Israel and its capital city Samaria, and in Isaiah 10:5, we see God through Isaiah specifically declare that the Assyrians were sent to Israel by God as judgment for its sins. Isaiah 10:5 Ho Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, the staff in whose hand is mine indignation!

Isaiah 10:6 I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Isaiah 10:7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few. For 10 years, the slow advance of the Assyrian armies wound its way through the territory of the Northern Kingdom. The protection that God afforded his people during the reign of David, and the beginning of Solomon’s reign – what we sometimes refer to as the” hand of God” or the “hedge of his protection” had been removed. God’s judgment on Israel; beginning with the sins of Solomon, and continued by the sins of Jeroboam and the lineages of Kings that followed were becoming manifested. 2 Chronicles 7, and we’ll see a parallel scripture of God’s response to Solomon’s prayer of dedication. 2 Chronicles 7, and we’ll begin in verse 12. 2 Chronicles 7:12-16. 2 Chronicles 7:12 And Jehovah appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice.

2 Chronicles 7:13 If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; 2 Chronicles 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent, unto the prayer that is made in this place. 2 Chronicles 7:16 For now have I chosen and hallowed this house, that my name may be there for ever; and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually. This was the response God desired. This was what he was hoping to see from his people as the Assyrians were slowly marching their way to the capital. He desired that HIS people would turn to God and cry out to him for their deliverance. To repent of their wicked ways, put the foreign gods out of their land, and with sincerity of heart, plea in heartfelt prayer for God’s intervention against the formidable Assyrian host who was chewing its way across Israel, leaving a path of rubble in their wake. Instead, we see their response in Isaiah 9:10, a vow of defiance. We’ll pick up the account in verse 8, illustrating the pride and arrogance involved in this statement.

Isaiah 9:8 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. Isa 9:9 And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in pride and in stoutness of heart, Isaiah 9:10 The bricks are fallen, but we will build with hewn stone; the sycamores are cut down, but we will put cedars in their place. Isaiah 9:11 Therefore Jehovah will set up on high against him the adversaries of Rezin, and will stir up his enemies, Isa 9:12 the Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. Isaiah 9:13 Yet the people have not turned unto him that smote them, neither have they sought Jehovah of hosts. Isaiah 9:14 Therefore Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-branch and rush, in one day. Instead of humbling themselves, instead of recognizing that the removal of God’s hand of protection was the beginning and not the end, and instead of recognizing that this was a judgment upon their nation for their sins, they essentially proclaim to God, is this the best you can do?

Yeah, the bricks have fallen, but we’ll rebuild. But the bricks were weak anyway. We’ll quarry stone, we’ll build the walls stronger, bigger, better. We’ll be ready for the Assyrians when they reach us. The sycamores that they’re cutting down as they come through the land, we’ll replant with cedar, bigger, stronger, better, we will rely on our own strength, and our own power in order to withstand the Assyrian armies. As a result of this vow, the adversaries of Rezin (the King of Syria) who were the Assyrians, were to be unleashed upon the Northern Kingdom. In 722 BC, during the 9th year of the reign of King Hoshea of Israel, the capital city of Samaria fell and the Assyrians conquered Israel. God’s judgment was poured out upon his people, the Northern Kingdom ceased to exist, and its people were taken captive and dispersed to lands beyond the river just as the prophet Ahijah had predicted. God made an agreement with his chosen people at the time of Solomon. If they would do as he commanded, if they would humbly seek him, then he would be with them. Protect them, sustain them, and bless them. However, if they turned from his way, it would not be tolerated. Warnings would be sent and if those warnings were ignored, then they would be cut off. The story of the Northern Kingdom of Israel is tragic one, from the best of times, to the worst of times, they experienced it all.

The Tribes of the Northern Kingdom weren’t destroyed entirely however, they were simply moved from their homeland to places extant, and through years of intermingling with foreign peoples lost their national identities. We understand the 10 tribes of Israel to be various people’s around the world based upon our interpretation of the scriptures in Genesis 48 and 49. Two of them, Britain and the United States, we believe are signified by Ephraim and Manassah respectively, and we know there is end time fulfillment of numerous prophecies concerning the sons of Jacob, and the time of Jacob’s trouble. So is it possible that there are parallels between today, and the prophecies concerning the fall of ancient Israel. That there are parallels that indicate an end time fulfillment of the events of 1st Kings and the fall of the Northern Kingdom? Is it possible that God has removed his hand of protection and the warnings against Ephraim and Manasseh have begun? That is the central theme of a book I recently read, that was recommended to me by another church member. The book’s title is ‘The Harbinger’, and it’s written by a Messianic Jewish Rabbi named Jonathon Cahn.

The book is written in a fictional narrative style, but it includes some scriptural studies that he has done into the topic, and many of the parallels are uncanny. While I found the book fascinating, and the connections that the book made very interesting – some care and caution needs to be taken trying to draw too many conclusions from the book apart from scripture. Much of the discussion of the book and discussion of its points exist on numerous websites that are on the fringe, as well as shows like Sid Roth’s, “Supernatural”. Part of the reason for this is that the author describes his discovery as an ‘ancient mystery’, which I believe is a misnomer. I would however recommend it with the above caveats. What I will credit Rabbi Cahn with however, is that he definitely did his homework. He takes the events of recent years in the United States and contrasts it with warnings that God sent ancient Israel, and draws parallels between specific events, and builds the case that God has removed his hand from this nation, and that this should be a wakeup call to us all. Last week, we commemorated the 11th anniversary of the terror attacks in New York and Washington D.C. For the first time in many, many years, the United States, had been hit by a foreign force on American Soil. I would bet that we can all remember where we were on that day, and remember vividly the images of the planes hitting the towers, and the towers coming down.

The terrorists that attacked the World Trade Center buildings were attacking a symbol of America’s power. The Twin Towers were a symbolic attack in their eyes, and a direct attack on American power. It wouldn’t have had the same effect if that attack were made on the Empire State Building, or the Sears tower, the World Trade Center had to be the target for the message of their attack to be heard. For the innocent Americans who were in the wrong place at the wrong time, many of them lost their lives, and families would never be the same. The cries went up, “Where was God?!”, “How could a loving God have let this happen!?” Ironically enough, cries to a God that the nation as a whole and its leadership had turned their back on. As the American people started to begin to wrap their heads around the attack, their leadership came out in an attempt to comfort the American people.

On September 12th, 2011, the day after the terrorist attacks, as the smoke still rose over the World Trade Center site, then Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle addressed the Senate, and with a very difficult job on his hands, and the entire nation watching and hanging on his every word – he said the following. “I know there is only the smallest amount of inspiration that can be taken from this devastation, but there is a passage in the bible from Isaiah that I think speaks to us all at times like these… The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone, the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars. That is what we will do.” While not spoken at the time in a specific attitude of defiance, the words were the same, and the ultimate attitude behind the words was the same as it was in Ancient Israel. We aren’t going to learn a thing from this attack, we will not be humbled. We’re going to rebuild, we’re going to become bigger, better and stronger than before. When we rebuild these towers we’ll build them taller, we will send a message to the other nations around the world, that we are Defiant. The problem is, in sending that message to the other nations, we sent it to God as well.

Soon plans to rebuild the tower began, and the decision was made to start the foundation with an enormous chunk of granite quarried out of the Adirondack mountains. The Freedom Stone was the cornerstone of the foundation of the newly constructed tower. During the ceremony when the stone was laid, the Governor of New York spoke the following words: “Today we take 20 tons of Adirondack Granite, the bedrock of our state, and place it as the foundation. The bedrock of a new symbol of American strength and confidence. Today, we, the heirs of that revolutionary spirit of defiance, lay this cornerstone.” Ultimately, in the massive amount of red tape that surrounded the construction of the Freedom Tower, the stone would be removed as plans were changed, but the symbol nature of its placement and the attitude involved would remain. The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with hewn stone. On September 11th, 2001, on a small plot of land adjacent to Ground Zero, a falling girder from one of the towers struck a large tree completely uprooting it. When the dust settled, police and fire personnel found the rootwad, and the way the tree fell, it seemed as though it saved the building which lay beyond it, ‘St. Paul’s Cathedral.’ They viewed this as symbolic, and it may well have been. The tree that was toppled was a Sycamore tree. The rootwad of that tree was bronzed, and was put on public display. It was referred to as the Sycamore of Ground Zero. This is where the story gets weird. Obviously, the uprooting of the tree left a large hole on the ground of St. Paul’s Cathedral.

The tree that was planted in its place is closely related to the Cedars of Lebanon. The ceremony of its planting had this to say: “The Ground Zero Tree of Hope will be a sign of the indomitable (unconquerable) nature of human hope.” The Tree of Hope still stands at that corner, and is decorated yearly at Christmas time. The sycamores have been cut down, but we will replace them with Cedar. The words of Isaiah 9:10, a vow of defiance to God in Ancient Israel, played out following a terrorist attack on American soil. Coincidence? Maybe. Prophetic? Perhaps. It’s hard to say with absolute certainty as we aren’t privy to the mind and timing of God, but it seems very likely given the parallels that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were a warning to America that God has removed his hand from this country. Just like in Solomon’s time, America has experienced the best of times, and the worst of times. We have experienced the peaks and valleys of power, influence and economic prosperity. In recent years, we have witnessed the gradual decline of this once great nation. Unemployment rates are at an all time high, the dollar falters, the national debt is rising, the Gross Domestic Product is declining, inflation is beginning to rise slowly but surely… the list goes on. George Washington, the first president of the United States made an incredible statement in his inaugural address, very similar to the one that Solomon made in his prayer of dedication.

On April 30th, 1789, George Washington accepted the presidency of the United States, and uttered the following words: I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my Country can inspire: since there is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity: Since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained: From an inscription on the wall of the Lincoln Memorial, a passage from his second inaugural address: The Almighty has his own purposes… Fondly do we hope, and fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war might speedily pass away. Yet if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s 250 years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said 3000 years ago, so still it must be said, that the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.” George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as well as the founding fathers and early leaders of this country recognized the connection, and understood that when this country followed God, they would be blessed for it, and when they did not, God’s judgment would be poured out upon it.

That judgment could take many different forms. In the case of Lincoln, he believed the Civil War was judgment for the nation’s sins, and perhaps it was. It is hard to be certain. What we can be certain of is that in the years since 9/11, and even recent weeks with the unrest happening abroad against America, it’s becoming more and more apparent, that God’s hand of protection and blessing has been removed from this country. So what does that mean for us? Daniel 12:1 talks of a time at the end of this age, and of trouble that has never been seen on that scope and magnitude before. Dan 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. Dan 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Dan 12:3 And they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. Dan 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Jeremiah 30 calls this time, the time of Jacob’s trouble, and talks of his people returning from their captivity and facing trouble and fear and trembling like they’ve never known.

In verse 7 he tells them not to worry – that he will save them from it. He will free them from their bondage, and put David as King over them. In fact, we just commemorated this day last week with the Feast of Trumpets, looking forward to the day when Christ returns, and all of the promises given to us by God are fulfilled. The establishment of his Kingdom and that it will exist forevermore. What we don’t know is how long we have left. God brings about these things on his own timetable. Christ even said he doesn’t know the time, that it was of the Father. Whether we have 1 day, or 25 more years, it doesn’t change what we have to do. We have to prepare, we have to obey God, and we have to do what is required of us, and we have to let our light shine. We are the people that make up this nation. We may have little to no control over our leadership, but we can pray for them. We can pray that they receive knowledge, pray for God’s mercy in their lives, pray that God open their minds, and helps them to see themselves as God sees them. Pray for their repentance, and the nation’s repentance as a whole.

In 2 Kings 22-23, and 2 Chronicles 33-35 we see the story of Josiah. The grandson of Mannassah, one of the worst Kings Judah experienced, took the throne at 8 years of age. He was one of the good kings, and once he was made aware of God’s expectations, he did everything in his power to keep God’s laws, his holy days, and re-establish the way things were supposed to be in Judah. He slew the priests of Baal, tore down the idols on the high places, and the account specifically states that he tore down the golden idols of Jeroboam, something that none of the kings before him did. During Mannassah’s reign, the decision had been made that Babylon was to destroy Judah, and the people would be taken captive, just like the Northern Kingdom was so many years earlier. If there was any king who could have changed God’s mind, it was Josiah. He did everything right. Let’s pick up the account in 2nd Chronicles 34. We’ll start in verse 24.

2 Chronicles 34:24 Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah. 2 Chronicles 34:25 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore is my wrath poured out upon this place, and it shall not be quenched. 2 Chronicles 34:26 But unto the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of Jehovah, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: As touching the words which thou hast heard, 2 Chronicles 34:27 because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and hast humbled thyself before me, and hast rent thy clothes and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith Jehovah. 2 Chronicles 34:28 Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof. And they brought back word to the king. God’s mind was not changed. The path was set to go forward, and the plan was set into motion. It didn’t matter that Josiah had done a 180 and the nation began to follow God again, the damage was done. God was merciful to Josiah, and allowed him to be gathered to his fathers and die before the plan was fulfilled, and his death came at the hands of Neco, after being warned not to intervene in the Egyptians affairs.

He didn’t live to see the fall of Judah. We don’t know for certain where we are in America’s path. Have we passed the point of no return? Is there a possibility that it might turn around? It sure doesn’t seem that way when we look at the world around us, but we really don’t know. God knows. Ancient Israel was sent a series of warnings prior to their destruction, the prophets warned the leadership of the nation repeatedly of the nation’s sin, and what would happen if they didn’t listen and repent, and turn back to God. They did not listen. Terrorist Attacks and Continued Threats, Wars, Natural Disasters, Drought, Economic Crashes, the list of warnings to America goes on. The question is, will we listen? Will we do what Ancient Israel didn’t? Or is it already too late?