THE FIRST PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
From David to the Captivity
Message Five—The Kings of Israel and Judah
Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 24:18; 25:21; 1 Chron. 1:1; 2 Chron. 3:1; 11:5; 16:12; 39:9
I. There were altogether forty-one kings in the history of Israel; the way in which these forty-one kings had their being, how they behaved, lived, moved, and acted in their daily living, activities, and careers, paints a full picture of how the elect of God could partake of the God-promised and God-given good land and enjoy all its rights that they could become God’s kingdom on the earth usurped by His enemy Satan—2 Kings 24:18.
II. In the divided kingdoms of Judah and Israel are seen the rise and fall of the kings being dependent on their relationship with God, and God’s forbearance, endurance, and righteous judgment toward them—2 Kings 12:3; 14:3-4; 15:3-4; 34-35:
A. The history of the kings of Israel: nineteen kings, from Jeroboam to Hoshea, reigned over Israel in the north; the people of Israel, especially the kings, forsook God, turned to the idols, and set up centers of worship other than Jerusalem; that offended God to the uttermost—1 Kings 22:53; 2 Kings 21:7:
1. The root of the evil of the evil kings, like that of the evil of the people of Israel, was their forsaking the very God as the fountain of living waters and their turning away to the pagan idols as broken cisterns that hold no water—Jer. 2:13; 25:11.
2. The kings of Israel abandoned the God-ordained ground; Jeroboam even set up other worship centers in Bethel and Dan; this action was an abomination in the eyes of the Lord—1 Kings 12:29-30.
3. In His love God sent the prophets to the people of Israel to testify to them against their evils, sins, and wickednesses and to help them return to God, but instead of hearing the prophets, the people stiffened their necks—2 Kings 17:13-14.
B. The history of the kings of Judah: there were nineteen kings of Judah from Rehoboam to Zedekiah; eight of the kings were proper, doing what was right in the eyes of Jehovah; they removed the idols made by their fathers, and the high places were taken away; but the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, except in the times of Hezekiah; they never fully returned to the unique place of God’s choice to serve God—2 Kings 12:3; 14:3-4; 15:3-4; 34-35:
1. The kings of Judah also kept their belief in the Word of God given by Moses; therefore, regarding their faith they were fundamental; thus the kings of Judah were right in two things: remaining on the proper ground and keeping the fundamental faith in God’s Word—Deut. 12:5-18; 2 Chron. 11:5, 13.
2. Attracting to Jerusalem the priests, the Levites, and those from all the tribes who set their hearts to seek Jehovah:
a. The proper ground and the fundamental faith were attractions for a good number of God’s people, especially the priests and the Levites—2 Chron. 11:13-14.
b. Those from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts to seek Jehovah, the God of Israel, came after them to Jerusalem to sacrifice to Jehovah, the God of their fathers—2 Chron. 11:16.
c. Not only the priests and Levites but all those who sought Jehovah in other tribes gave up their property and came to the worship center in Jerusalem—15:9.
3. Although the kings of Judah stood on the ground of unity chosen by God and kept their belief in the Word of God, their condition did not match their standing—2 Chron. 33:9:
a. It is not adequate for us who love God and seek Christ only to stand on the proper ground of the oneness of the church and to keep the fundamental truth—Col. 1:10.
b. We also need to take care of who we are, how we behave, and how we conduct ourselves, including our interests, our intention, our purpose, our goal, our attitude, and our way of speaking—1 Thes. 2:12; 3 John 4.
C. When they feared God, their nation prospered, and when they departed from God, their nation declined; whenever God perceived that the kings and the people rebelled against Him and left Him to serve the abominable Gentile idols, He was always kind and enduring; He would send His prophets to warn them in hope of their repentance and return to Himself; it was when the people failed to listen that God’s righteous judgment would come upon them—Deut. 5:29.
D. The tragic result of such a pitiful history of the kings among God’s chosen and blessed elect should be a serious warning to us, God’s elect in the New Testament age—2 Kings 24:18, footnote 1.
III. All the kings should have had a thorough realization that they were to be kings who ruled not for their own interest and prosperity but for God’s eternal economy, that God could have a nation on the earth to keep the land of Immanuel (Isa. 8:8) for Christ’s reign and a people for a genealogy to bring Christ to the earth—2 Kings 24:18 footnote 1:
A. This typifies and signifies how we can partake of the all-inclusive Christ as the portion ordained by God for us and enjoy all the rights in Christ assigned to us by God that we, the people chosen and redeemed by God, can become God’s kingdom in Christ and with Christ on the earth usurped by the evil one, God’s enemy Satan—2 Kings 24:18; 1 Chron. 28:8.
B. For this purpose they had to be a Nazarite to take God as their Head, their authority, and submit themselves to Him as His servants, and abandon all the pleasures (wines) of the world; but all the kings failed God in this, including David, the best one among them; thus, they did not fulfill God’s purpose for His economy; rather, they lost their reign in God’s kingdom, which is the top portion of the enjoyment of the good land (the all-inclusive Christ)—2 Kings 24:18; Judg. 13:7.
IV. The kings of Judah attained to a position where they could enjoy the good land of Canaan in their kingship; they were kings to enjoy the good land; our pursuing of Christ and our faithfulness to Him determine how much we enjoy Him; to have the highest attainment in pursuing Christ is to reign with Him as kings in His divine life—Phil. 3:13-14; Rom. 5:17b, 21b:
A. In the eternal economy of God, the Father has allotted the Son, the all-inclusive Christ typified by the good land, to us as our eternal portion and has transferred us into Him that we may partake of Him—2 Chron. 33:9, footnote 1.
B. We have been regenerated with a divine, spiritual, heavenly, kingly, and royal life; this life enables us to reign as kings, in practice, to reign in life is to be under the ruling of the divine life—John 3:3-6.
C. To reign in life is to conquer, subdue, and rule over Satan, the world, sin, the flesh, ourselves, all kinds of insubordination, and all the environmental circumstances, the more we receive the abundance of grace, the more we reign in life—John 1:16; Rom. 5:17, 21.
D. God’s complete salvation is for us to reign in life by the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness—Rom. 5:17, 21.
E. We need to learn from the example of the kings of Judah to have a God-man living in all the details of our daily life, a living in which we are crucified in our natural life to live by the divine life within us—Gal. 2:20.
Ministry Excerpts:
THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH
There were altogether forty-one kings in the history of Israel. The first three, Saul, David, and Solomon, reigned over the entire people of Israel. Nineteen kings, from Rehoboam to Zedekiah (not counting the illegitimate reign of Athaliah— 11:1-16), reigned over Judah in the south, and nineteen, from Jeroboam to Hoshea, reigned over Israel in the north. Among these forty-one kings, nine, including David, were comparatively good in the eyes of God. Thirty, including Saul, were evil in the sight of God. Two, Solomon and Jehu, were partly good and partly evil.
The root of the evil of the evil kings, like that of the evil of the people of Israel, was their forsaking the very God as the fountain of living waters and their turning away to the pagan idols as broken cisterns that hold no water (Jer. 2:13). These two evils drowned them in the death waters of idolatry, of the indulgence of lusts, and of injustice in shedding the blood of the innocent. Their evils offended their God to such an extent that He would not turn His anger from them but cast them off, first into the hands of the Assyrians (17:6) and then into the hands of the Babylonians (24:10— 25:21), who destroyed and burned the holy temple and the holy city, carried away into captivity the holy people to a pagan land of idol worship, and desolated the Holy Land for seventy years (Jer. 25:11). Thus, they, as God’s elect, lost the enjoyment of the God-given good land and, instead of remaining the citizens of God’s kingdom in the Holy Land, became captives in a heathen land. (The Holy Bible Recovery Version, 2 Kings 24:18, footnote 1)
THE KINGS OF ISRAEL
There were also nineteen kings of Israel from Jeroboam to Hoshea (1 Kings 12—2 Kings 17). Besides Jehu (2 Kings 10:30-31), who did the Lord’s will, but not wholeheartedly, none of the kings were good. In God’s judgment pronounced against them, over twenty times it was mentioned that they “departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin.” The sins of Jeroboam were the making of the golden calves, the high places, and the temples, the ordaining of ones who were not Levites as priests, and the establishing of his own feasts. These sins provoked God to anger and led to the destruction of the nation and captivity. (Truth Lessons, Level 1, Vol. 1; lsn. 11)
REMAINING ON THE GROUND OF THE UNITY OF GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE
Both the people of Judah and the people of Israel were the people of God. However, the people of Israel forsook God and made themselves the same as the people of mankind. As the elect of God Israel should have been sanctified, separated, unto the holy God. But the people of Israel, especially the kings, forsook God, turned to the idols, and set up centers of worship other than Jerusalem. That offended God to the uttermost. Israel was like a wife who forsakes her husband for another man. God, the Husband of His people, would never tolerate such a thing.
The kings of Judah remained on the ground chosen by God and stayed with God. In this matter God was happy with them. Although the condition of the kings of Judah was not pleasing to God, He was pleased with their standing on the proper ground and with their keeping of the fundamental faith according to God’s word released to them through Moses. Because of their standing, God still had a people on earth who stood with Him and who at least tried to keep His word. (Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, msg. 12)
THE KINGS OF JUDAH KEEPING THEIR
FUNDAMENTAL FAITH IN GOD’S WORD
The kings of Judah also kept their belief in the Word of God given by Moses. Therefore, regarding their faith they were fundamental. Thus the kings of Judah were right in two things: remaining on the proper ground and keeping the fundamental faith in God’s Word.
ATTRACTING TO JERUSALEM THE PRIESTS,
THE LEVITES, AND THOSE FROM ALL THE TRIBES
WHO SET THEIR HEARTS TO SEEK JEHOVAH
The proper ground and the fundamental faith were attractions for a good number of God’s people, especially the priests and the Levites. During the reign of Rehoboam, the Levites abandoned their pasture lands and their property and went to Jerusalem (2 Chron. 11:13-14). Moreover, “those from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts to seek Jehovah, the God of Israel, came after them to Jerusalem to sacrifice to Jehovah, the God of their fathers” (v. 16). Not only the priests and Levites but all those who sought Jehovah in other tribes gave up their property and came to the reign of Asa, “many from Israel threw in their lot with him when they saw that Jehovah his God was with him”(15:9). They were attracted to Jerusalem because the kings of Judah stood on the proper ground and kept the fundamental faith.
However, this is not all that we should have. We have seen that the kings of Judah were on the proper ground of Jerusalem and that they kept the fundamental faith, but now we need to consider how they behaved themselves.
The kings of Judah attained to a position where they could enjoy the good land of Canaan in their kingship. They were kings to enjoy the good land. The extent of their enjoyment depended on what they were, on how they behaved themselves, and on what their goals, interests, and intentions were. We need to learn from their examples how to have a God-man living in all the details of our daily life. (Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, msg. 6)
All the kings should have had a thorough realization that they were to be kings who ruled not for their own interest and prosperity but for God’s eternal economy, that God could have a nation on the earth to keep the land of Immanuel (Isa. 8:8) for Christ’s reign and a people for a genealogy to bring Christ to the earth. For this purpose the kings had to be Nazarites, who take God as their Head, their authority, who submit themselves to Him as His servants, and who abandon all the pleasures (wines) of the world (see note 31 in Num.6). But all the kings failed God in this, including David, the best one among them (2 Sam.11). Thus, they did not fulfill God’s purpose for His economy. Rather, they lost their reign in God’s kingdom, which is the top portion of the enjoyment of the good land (the all-inclusive Christ— see note 71 in Deut.8).
The tragic result of such a pitiful history of the kings among God’s chosen and blessed elect should be a serious warning to us, God’s elect in the New Testament age, and should indicate to us how sober we should be to take heed to the particular points of each case. Just to be one who is according to God’s heart, like David, and just to be partly right and good in the eyes of God, like many honest Christians today, do not qualify us to partake of Christ in full and to enjoy all the rights in Him that we may adequately become the church as the Body of Christ and as the kingdom of God and of Christ. Conformity to Christ’s death by the power of His resurrection (Phil. 3:10) is required of us, the New Testament overcomers, that we may die to ourselves, our natural man, and live to God in resurrection. A life of living Christ, magnifying Christ, and moving and acting with Christ by the bountiful supply of the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit, doing everything in and according to the Spirit (Phil. 1:19-21a; Gal. 5:16, 25; Rom. 8:4), is indispensable for us, God’s New Testament seekers, to be winners in the racecourse of the divine life that we may fully enjoy Christ as the God-given good land in the church age and be gloriously rewarded to partake of Christ, in the fullest sense, in the kingdom age.(The Holy Bible Recovery Version, 2 Kings 24:18, footnote 1)
EXAMPLES REFERRING TO THE WAY WE CONDUCT OURSELVES IN THE DETAILS OF OUR DAILY LIVING
In the Old Testament history books we can see many different pictures, but we may not have an accurate interpretation of these pictures. The correct interpretation of the pictures in the history of the kings of Judah recorded in the books of Chronicles is that these kings are examples showing us that it is not sufficient for us who love God and seek Christ only to stand on the right ground and keep the fundamental truth. We also need to take care of who we are, how we behave, and how we conduct ourselves. We must also pay attention to our interest, our intention, our purpose, our goal, our attitude, and our way of speaking. For example, we should pay attention to the tone of our voice. Sometimes our tone of voice may be like that of a roaring lion, not like that of a God-man.
The books of 1 and 2 Chronicles give us many examples of how the kings of Judah conducted themselves in the good land. These examples show how they were, how they behaved themselves, how they did things, how they faced different situations, what their intentions were, what their interests were, and what their goals were as kings in the good land. These examples refer to the way we conduct ourselves in the details of our daily living.
Consider the daily situation in your married life. You are on the proper ground of the church and you keep the fundamental faith, but how do you speak to your spouse? How do you treat your spouse? What is your attitude toward your wife or husband? In your married life do you walk according to the spirit or according to something else? Do you live the life of a God-man with your husband or wife?
In order to live the life of a God-man, we must be crucified. We must be dying to live. If we live a crucified life in our married life, then in our married life we will have the living of a God-man.
Many saints are very good in the church meetings and in the church service, but at home they may live the life not of a God-man but of a “scorpion-man,” exchanging words or quarreling. A certain couple may love the Lord and His recovery. However, at dinner the husband may criticize his wife for her attitude, and she may condemn him for his way of speaking. Then after dinner they attend the meeting of their vital group. But how can these two “scorpions” be vital? Because of such a daily situation, in this country it is very difficult to find a genuine vital group. According to my observation, in the vital groups I have seen only deadness, not vitality. All the vital members should be God-men, crucified in their natural life to live a Godman life by the divine life within them.(Life-Study of 1 & 2 Chronicles, msg. 6)
TO REIGN IN LIFE
God’s complete salvation is for us to reign in life by the abundance of grace—God Himself as our all-sufficient supply for our organic salvation—and of the gift of righteousness—God’s judicial redemption applied to us in a practical way. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3042)
To reign is to conquer, subdue, and rule over Satan, the world, sin, the flesh, ourselves, and all our environmental circumstances….Instead of waiting for the millennium in order to reign with Christ, we should desire to reign in life as kings today. Those who receive the abundance of grace are able to reign in life, for life issues out of the abundance of grace. We have received righteousness objectively, but we still need to continually receive the abundance of grace so that we can reign in life subjectively. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3043, 3042)
In Romans 5:17 Paul speaks of our receiving the abundance of grace. We need to come to the very God who is grace and receive grace again and again until we are filled with grace. Only when we are filled with grace can we experience the reigning of grace. The only thing that works is to come to the divine source and open ourselves from the depths of our being to be filled with God as grace. In order to be filled, we must ask the Lord to remove all insulation and frustration. We need to pray, “Lord, I am willing for every hindrance to be removed. I want to keep myself directly open to You. Lord, fill me completely with Yourself as grace.” Wherever you are, at work, at school, or in your car, stay open to the Lord to be filled with Him as grace. This is what it means to receive the abundance of grace. As you receive grace in this way, you will be filled with grace and eventually grace will overflow from within you. Then you will reign in life by grace over sin, death, and Satan. (Life-study of Romans, pp. 509-510)