Timeline

The story we will consider tonight stretches from the reign of Solomon right through to the rebuilding of Jerusalem, a stretch of about 500 years. Though we will look at many Scriptures from many books, it is one story, one purpose, one providential plan of God that we will be looking at.

During this 500 year period, the Assyrian Empire had come and gone, the Babylonian Empire had risen for a second time, and fallen again, and Persia had established its dominance over the region. Elijah and Elisha had both seen the full course of their ministries, Hezekiah and Isaiah had come and gone, Jerusalem had fallen to Babylon, and Jeremiah had been taken captive. All of the prophets had come and gone.

Solomon - about 950 BC.
Nehemiah - about 450 BC.

The Story Begins…

In all fairness, the story begins long before this event, but this is where we'll start.

1Ki 11:14-40 (around 950 BC)
14 Then the LORD raised up an adversary to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the royal line in Edom. 15 For it came about, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, and had struck down every male in Edom 16 (for Joab and all Israel stayed there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom), 17 that Hadad fled to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him, while Hadad was a young boy. 18 And they arose from Midian and came to Paran; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him food and gave him land. 19 Now Hadad found great favor before Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. 20 And the sister of Tahpenes bore his son Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh's house among the sons of Pharaoh. 21 But when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, "Send me away, that I may go to my own country." 22 Then Pharaoh said to him, "But what have you lacked with me, that behold, you are seeking to go to your own country?" And he answered, "Nothing; nevertheless you must surely let me go."
23 God also raised up another adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah. 24 And he gathered men to himself and became leader of a marauding band, after David slew them of Zobah; and they went to Damascus and stayed there, and reigned in Damascus. 25 So he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, along with the evil that Hadad did; and he abhorred Israel and reigned over Aram.
26 Then Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, Solomon's servant, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow, also rebelled against the king. 27 Now this was the reason why he rebelled against the king: Solomon built the Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of his father David. 28 Now the man Jeroboam was a valiant warrior, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, he appointed him over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. 29 And it came about at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had clothed himself with a new cloak; and both of them were alone in the field. 30 Then Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 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 give you ten tribes 32 (but he will have one tribe, for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel), 33 because they have forsaken Me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways, doing what is right in My sight and observing My statutes and My ordinances, as his father David did. 34 'Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, who observed My commandments and My statutes; 35 but I will take the kingdom from his son's hand and give it to you, even ten tribes. 36 'But to his son I will give one tribe, that My servant David may have a lamp always before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen for Myself to put My name. 37 'And I will take you, and you shall reign over whatever you desire, and you shall be king over Israel. 38 'Then it will be, that if you listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight by observing My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build you an enduring house as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39 'Thus I will afflict the descendants of David for this, but not always.' " 40 Solomon sought therefore to put Jeroboam to death; but Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt to Shishak king of Egypt, and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

From Solomon's perspective, things no doubt looked pretty terrible. Enemies plagued him where God had promised peace. Had God gone back on His promise? Not at all. He had been provoked past the point of all mercy, and yet in His retribution, He remained merciful! The promise to Solomon had hinged on his obedience to God, on his following after the example David had set.

David had made mistakes, certainly, but never like this! Solomon was allowing the spread of idol worship in Israel. Rather than keeping the nation separated unto God, he was allowing every pretender to God's throne to have access. A look at the particular gods that are listed will show how vile were the practices of their followers. Not only had idolatry been allowed into God's chosen nation, but prostitution and murder as well. How could God allow such a crime to go unpunished and remain just? He couldn't.

Yet, He could maintain His own word in pursuing justice. He could maintain His promises to David, preserving a portion of Israel to his descendants, in spite of the crime. He could ensure that the formation of this second Israel was clearly seen as His own doing, and see that it was done. He could also make certain that the reason for this establishment was not lost on the people. Rebellion remains a punishable offense, even when done at God's prompting.

Punishment and Promise

The Punishers' Punishment

Almost two hundred years have now passed since Jeroboam was put to God's purposes.

1 Ch 5:23-26 (around 730 BC)
23 Now the sons of the half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the land; from Bashan to Baal-hermon and Senir and Mount Hermon they were numerous. 24 And these were the heads of their fathers' households, even Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of valor, famous men, heads of their fathers' households.
25 But they acted treacherously against the God of their fathers, and played the harlot after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. 26 So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria, even the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away into exile, namely the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and to the river of Gozan, to this day.

That purpose required that justice be served, even in its own fulfilling. So, while the sinful actions of separatist Israel were bent to serve God's purpose, they still remained sinful. The punishment of exile had to come. We should take note of this. The ends do not justify the means. Even with God's promises to back us up, we cannot resort to sinful acts to bring His promise to fruition. He is righteous and true. He will not honor sinfulness, even if it is done in His service. His purpose will be accomplished, but woe to the one who seeks to have it accomplished his own way!

Here, it seems like a terrible fate has overtaken Israel. Surely, this is nothing but bad things for God's people! But, no. Even in this, God was working to the good of His chosen. Even in this, God was glorifying Himself. Even in this, the fame of the God of Israel was spreading. Certainly, Jeroboam's rebellion was allowed to succeed. Certainly, that rebellion had been punished by long exile. But look to the result!

The Plan Revealed

Another century or so has passed with God's people in exile. The empire that took them away has fallen, another example of God remaining just in His work, another case of an opposing will being turned to His purposes, and the rebellion present in that opposition being punished, as Assyria was itself overtaken by the Babylonians.

2 Ch 36:22-23 (around 530 BC)
22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia-- in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah-- the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, 23 "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up!'"

Throughout that exile, God sent word to His people that this was not a final punishment, but only for a time. He established this through the words of His prophets, and then He worked to show those words true. God moved upon Cyrus' heart. No other. It wasn't Cyrus' idea to reestablish Jerusalem. Indeed, God required of Cyrus that he acknowledge that it wasn't his idea. Because of all the 'bad things' that had happened to Israel, the fame of their God had spread into Persia, the dominant empire of that time.