Basic HTML Version
YS1
AGES
Mysteryof
Israel
We continue, with this eighth installment, the serial publication of
Her.bert W. Armstrong's last book
Mystery of the Ages.
We pick up the story thread in the time of King David of Israel.
K
ING DAVID
of ancient
Israel personally was
not without sin. Nor
has any human ruler ever
been.
But what made King David
different is that each time he
repented and turned from each
sin . David became "a man
after God 's own heart. " He
wrote a most important book in
the Bible, the book of
Psalms.
God made an unconditional and
unbreakable covenant with David,
assuring that his dynasty, ruling
over l sraelites, would continue
unbroken forever. Finally, in God's
due time, that throne will be taken
over by Jesus Christ, at his Second
Coming to earth.
Israel Split into Two Natíons
David 's son Solomon became the
wisest man who ever lived (except
Christ). But he taxed the people
very heavily, and when he died his
son Rehoboam became king. The
people sent a delegation with an
ultimatum to Rehoboam.
If
he
would reduce their taxes, they
would serve him.
Jf
not, they would
reject him as king. On the advice of
the younger men among his
councilors , Rehoboam told the
10
people he would lay even heavier
taxes on them.
Thereupon the people decided
against the royal house of David.
They named as king, Jeroboam,
who had occupied the office we
would today call prime minister,
under King Solomon. Since Reho–
boam was seated on the throne in
Jerusalem, the people of Israel
chose a new capital sorne distance
north of Jerusalem. (Under a later
king, Omri, they built a new north–
ern capital at Samaria.)
Thereupon the tribes of Judah
and Benjamín decided to remain
loyal to Rehoboam. This brought
about a secession of the rebellious
tribes from Israel , and they became
the nation of Judah.
Upon ascending the throne, Jero–
boam deposed the Levites from the
office of priesthood because he
feared they might turn the hearts of
the people back to Rehoboam and
thereby he would lose his new
throne. He also changed the holy fes–
tivals of the seventh month to the
eighth month. There is strong indi–
cation that he also changed the sev–
enth day Sabbath to Sunday, the
first day of the week. The Sabbath
had been made an everlasting cove–
nant by God between him and Israel,
by which they would be identified
from all other people (Ex. 31: 12-18)
as God's nation Israel and by which
they would be brought into weekly
remembrance that the Eterna! was
their Creator. For in six days God
renewed or re-created the earth and
creation is the proof of God.
The Ten Lost Tribes
Thus the people of Israel became
known as the Ten Lost Tribes.
They had lost the covenant sign
identifying them as Israel. They
had lost the knowledge of God their
Creator. They soon lost even the
Hebrew language.
During the time of 19 kings and
seven dynasties, the 10-tribed king–
dom of Israel continued in sin,
rejecting the pleadings of prophets
God sent to them. In a siege of war,
about 721 to 718 s.c., the House of
Israel was conquered by Assyria.
They were moved from their
bornes , farms and villages and
transported as a captive people to
Assyria on the southern shores of
the Caspian Sea.
From there, within a hundred
years, they migrated northwest and
became known as the Lost Ten
Tribes.
The world has never known what
became of them. The world in gen–
eral, mistakenly, has considered
that all . Israelí tes were Jews. But in
the Bible, the term Jew applied
only to the tribes of Judah, Benja–
mín and Levi. The Levites had
The
PLAIN TRUTH