God's Coming Kingdom

God, in the pages of the Bible, often speaks about the coming kingdom of God on earth. This page is a continuing series of articles about this coming kingdom, as shown in the Bible.

Part 28      God's Coming Kingdom

Last time we saw how Solomon sat on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel" - 1 Chronicles 28:5. But because Solomon disobeyed God by also worshiping the national gods of his wives, God tore the northern ten tribes away from Solomon's son and left him with only the territory of Judah. God seems to have expressed His own feelings at Solomon's rebellious behaviour, very much as was the habit of the Israelites to show their distress and anguish by tearing their clothes, e.g., 2 Samuel 13:31.

"The prophet Ahijah the Shilonite ... took hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. And he said to Jeroboam, ‘Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you' " - 1 Kings 11:29.

But as we noted last time Jeroboam also proved himself unworthy of being a co-ruler with Solomon's son, of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. Jeroboam established an idolatrous religion for the ten tribes. Why would he do such a thing?

The law of God which Moses delivered to Israel at mount Sinai called on all the tribes to go up to worship in Jerusalem each year. Jeroboam feared that if his subjects continued this practice, they would eventually want the kingdoms to be re-united under Solomon's son, and Jeroboam would be killed.

What to do? His advisors suggested a way to stop the people going to Jerusalem - "The king took counsel and made two calves of gold, and said to the people, ‘It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!' " - 1 Kings 12:26.

The people under David would very likely have refused any such suggestions. But those who had seen the behaviour of Solomon, building temples to foreign idols and actually participating in their worship, would have tended to believe that if it was acceptable for Solomon, then such behaviour would be all right for Jeroboam's subjects. The attitude was little better in Judah. To such a spiritual low descended the kingdom of the Lord over Israel.

But as a result the spiritual condition of the people in both Judah and the ten tribes of Israel continued to deteriorate. Yet for many years God had patience with them, and sent His prophets to warn them that He would drive them out of the lands God had given them.

Sadly, most of the people would not listen, while a trickle of believers moved out of the breakaway kingdom of Israel into Judah where they could worship God at the temple. Finally there were representatives in the land of Judah from all twelve tribes - Ezra 6:17. About 722 BC the remaining Israelites, whose capital city was Samaria, were taken away from their lands by the Assyrians and resettled far away. They were replaced with foreigners to settle on the territory of northern Israel, then called Samaria. These new settlers came to be called the Samaritans.

About 140 years after the Assyrians overthrew Samaria, the Babylonians deposed Zedekiah, the last king of Judah and a descendant of David, in 586 BC. And so the kingdom of the Lord was overthrown in fulfillment of God's warning by Ezekiel the prophet.