DFO11651962

JONAH & NINEVEH—THE PROPHETS: AMOS, HOSEA & ISAIAH—ISRAEL GOES INTO CAPTIVITY

Introduction

In the last days of Israel God revived a few prophets to warn Israel of her doom. Most of the prophets appeared during the time of the kings (Israel's backsliding). (ML D:6)

Here is simple chart showing the different kings of Israel and Judah, and which prophets seemed to be at the times of the different kings. (The dates are those given in Halley's Bible Handbook.)

KINGS OF ISRAELPROPHETSKINGS OF JUDAH [Note: Columns delimited by tabs in computer this version]

(Northern Kingdom)(Southern Kingdom)

Jeroboam (933-911 B.C.)Rehoboam (933-916 B.C.)

Nabab (911-910 B.C.)Abijah (915-913 BC)

Baasha (910-877 B.C.)Asa (912-872 B.C.)

Elah (887-886 B.C.)

Zimri (886 B.C.)

Omri (886-875 B.C.)ObadiahJehoshaphat (874–850 B.C.)

Ahab (875–854 B.C.)

Ahaziah (855-854 B.C.)Jehoram (850-843 B.C.)

Joram (854–843 B.C.)Elijah

Jehu (843–816 B.C.)JoelAhaziah (843 B.C.)

Jehoahaz (820-804 B.C.)ElishaAthaliah (843–837 B.C.)

Joash (806-790 B.C.)Joash (843–803 B.C.)

Jeroboam II (790-749 B.C.)JonahAmaziah (803-775 B.C.)

Zechariah (748 B.C.)AmosUzziah (787-735 B.C.)

Shallum (748 B.C.)Hosea

Menahem (748-738 B.C.)IsaiahJotham (749-734 B.C.)

Pekahiah (738-736 B.C.)MichahAhaz (741-726 B.C.)

Pekah (748-730 B.C.)

Hoshea (730-721 B.C.)Hezekiah (726-697 B.C.)

* Fall of SamariaNahumManesseh (697-642 B.C.)

ZephaniahAmon (641-640 B.C.)

JeremiahJosiah (639-608 B.C.)

HabakkukJehoahaz (608 B.C.)

Jehoikim (608-597 B.C.)

EzekielJehoichin (597 B.C.)

Zedekiah (597-586 B.C.)

Daniel* Fall of Jerusalem

(Note: Dates taken from Halley's Bible Handbook. Other reference books may differ slightly.)

1. The south shore of the Dead Sea: The Arabs will have their oil, the Jews the Dead Sea‚ and the Americans a dead Green Paper Pig (the American dollar)! Those chemicals of the Dead Sea alone—salts, minerals, phosphates, bromides‚ and other chemicals—will be worth more than all the money in all the banks in all the World! They are extremely valuable for making many useful and needed things such as fertilisers, gasoline, medicine, as well as dangerous things like explosives! The time will come when money is no longer used as a medium of exchange...and the people of the World will be ruled by a one-World government who will control them by the material power it wields and its control of goods and services. (ML 243:47,48)

It was here on the south shore of the Dead Sea that King Amaziah of Judah won a great battle against the Edomites. (2Kings 14:7)

2. The Rock City of Petra: The Edomites retreated to Selah (the rock), which today is called Petra. King Amaziah changed its name to Joktheel after he conquered them. (2Kings 14:7)

3. Bethshemesh: Pride cometh before a fall. Success often preceded failure, and sometimes exaltation comes before humiliation. Let him that thinketh he standeth‚ take heed lest he fall! The minute you start patting yourself on the back‚ God will see to it that you're humbled to bring you out of it. (DM 324,333) Amaziah, the King of Judah got very lifted up after conquering the Edomites and decided to try and conquer Israel as well. King Jehoash of Israel warned him to be satisfied with his victory "but Amaziah would not hear." The two armies battled at Bethshemesh and Amaziah was beaten. (2Kings 14:8-13)

4. The north wall of Jerusalem: Jehoash tore down 600 feet of the North wall of the city and took all the treasure that was in the house of the Lord, and in the King's house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria. (2Kings 14:13,14) Surprisingly enough, he left Amaziah alive to remain king of Judah; and Amaziah even outlived Jehoash by several years. (2Kings 14:17)

5. Here is Lachish‚ 35 miles southwest of Jerusalem, where some years later Amaziah went to escape some rebels but was killed. (2Kings 14:19,20)

6. The prophet Jonah was born here at Gath-hepher. The affliction of Israel was very great in those days, so the Lord helped Jereboam II drive back their enemies, and foretold it by the prophet Jonah. (2Kings 14:23-27)

7. & 8. Nineveh was one of the more ancient cities of the World, founded by Nimrod. (Gen.10:11,12)‚ and was located on the banks of the Tigris River. It was for many years the capital of the great Assyrian Empire. It was about the beginning of the eighth century B.C. that God sent Jonah to warn the people of Nineveh. (Excerpt from Halley's Bible Handbook.)

9. & 10. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and found a ship going to Tarshish (Spain? or Britain?)—just the opposite direction from Nineveh. Joppa is an ancient walled town on the coast of Palestine about 50 miles west of Jerusalem, and was the seaport for Jerusalem.

11. Jonah was called of God to prolong the life of the enemy nation of Nineveh‚ the capital of the Assyrian Empire, which was then in the process of absorbing and destroying the Northern Kingdom of Israel. God Himself describes this invasion of Israel as His own vengeance upon Israel for her sins. God used their enemies to be a scourge upon the corrupt and decadent civilisation of Israel—He used them as a scourge of God for their sins. (Halley's; ML 281:15; "Love Your Brother" Tape by Father David, edited)

Jonah didn't get very far out to sea before the Lord sent "a mighty tempest". (Jonah 1:4-17) The crew soon found out who God was angry at, and Jonah was thrown overboard at his own request. But the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. (Jonah 1)

12. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly. And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord‚ and He heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.... When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came unto Thee, into Thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.... So Jonah arose and went unto Nineveh, according to the Word of the Lord. (Jonah 2,3)

13. Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites! The prophet himself and his message was a sign unto the Ninevites, and Nineveh repented just because of Jonah's word, his message‚ just because they believed his tale. (ML 295:36) Jesus said, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall be no sign given it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgement with this generation‚ and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. (Matthew 12:38-41)

14. Here is a temporary booth. Jonah constructed a booth too, and waited for Nineveh to be destroyed. Jonah just said 40 days and Nineveh shall be destroyed. He didn't know how soon after the 40 days it would be destroyed, all he knew was they had 40 days time to repent and 40 days of warning. And the fact of the matter was, he didn't even know if it was going to be destroyed, except that's what God told him to do. And he just obeyed the Lord! (ML 282A:39)

The people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. (Jonah 3:3-6) So God spared Nineveh from her immediate destruction and to serve as His scourge on corrupt Israel—however, Nineveh's repentance was rather short–lived, and she did not escape the prophecies of doom foretold her by the prophet Nahum.

15. An Assyrian idol.

16. Amos the prophet lived at this time as well. "Hear this word that the Lord hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." (Amos 3:1,2) "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets." (Amos 3:7)

17. & 18. Here is Tekoah where Amos was born, 5 or 6 miles south of Bethlehem. David grazed his sheep not far from here. Amos said, "I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was a herdsman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit: And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto My people Israel." (Amos 7:14‚15)

Everyone that God has used throughout the history of the World, good or bad, has been anointed of God, with special charisma, gifts‚ or talents, and that divine spark of inspiration which ignites the fuse that explodes the bomb of their accomplishments.... They could not contain it! It is a power of God which is almost uncontrollable! (ML 69:1)

19. A scene near Bethel. Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel‚ saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel....For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. (Amos 7:10-17)

20. The prophet Hosea lived about the same time as Amos‚ and he may even have known Jonah as well. Hosea also prophesied in the days of Jeroboam the King of Israel. (Hosea 1:1) Hosea married a harlot just to prove God's point, "that the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord." (Hosea 1:2) Would you be willing to go that far for the Lord and His children?—To marry someone you didn't love, or even like‚ in order to further the work of God?—Even contrary to the usual rules?—Like Hosea marrying a prostitute and being a faithful husband to his errant wife in order to demonstrate the Love, Mercy, Forgiveness, and Faithfulness of God? (ML 35:25; 27:12)

21. This photo was taken near Elath. Uzziah (Azariah) fortified this city and brought much prosperity to Judah.

22. King Uzziah of Judah repaired the north wall of Jerusalem, which had been broken down in his father Amaziah's day. He must have liked the army—he had 307,500 soldiers. And he made in Jerusalem engines (of war) invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad. (2Chron.26:11-15) Yet all the king's soldiers and all the king's men couldn't save old King Uzziah from God!

I don't care what you do, you've gotta have the Spirit! Without the anointing you'd just be an ordinary ugly bug! (ML 328:52,53)—And that's what happened to King Uzziah. When he was strong in the flesh, his heart was lifted up in pride to his own destruction. He went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense—but only the priests were allowed to do that. Azariah, the chief priest‚ and 80 other priests went in to stop him. Uzziah was wroth with anger‚ but just then God smote him with leprosy, "and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself also hasted to go out, because the Lord had smitten him." (2Chron.26:19-21)

23. Here is a photo of some lepers. King Uzziah (Azariah) was a leper unto the day of his death, and had to live away from everyone the rest of his life. His son Jotham carried on the government for him for the next 38 years, and became king upon his father's death. (2Kings 15:5-7)

24. King Uzziah and his son Jotham were rather good kings by comparison to the kings of Israel. The kings of Israel seem to have had a rapid succession of murders. During the reign of Uzziah in the southern kingdom of Judah, Israel had 4 different kings, all "bad." (2Kings 15:8–22)—and Israel only had 2 more kings after these.

25. Here is a picture of the East Gate of Jerusalem—nothing at all like the East Gate of New Jerusalem. Jotham strengthened the gates of the city of Jerusalem, but he should have strengthened his son in the Word and ways of the Lord instead. Jotham's son‚ Ahaz, became a worshiper of Baal and Moloch, and sacrificed his own children in the fire, therefore God let the Syrians and the King of Israel beat down Judah. (2Kings 16:1-18; 2Chron.28:1-27)

26. Tiglath-pileser, the King of Assyria (in Nineveh), demanded tribute money from Israel (capital: Samaria), and Syria (capital: Damascus). Ahaz, King of Judah, now in trouble with the Lord for worshipping Moloch, took the gold and silver out of the Lord's house and sent it to the King of Assyria, saying "I am thy servant and thy son: come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the King of Israel." (2Kings 16:7–9) The prophet Isaiah warned King Ahaz not to seek help from Assyria‚ and later God had Isaiah go naked for three years to warn Judah not to seek help from Egypt to save them from Assyria. (Isaiah 7:1-13; 20:1-6)

27. The King of Assyria accepted the present of silver and gold and went and captured the Syrian capital‚ Damascus—though certainly not for any motive of love for Judah‚ as he soon turned on them as well. This picture is of present-day Damascus. (2Kings 16:9)

28. Isaiah, the Messianic Prophet, "saw the glory of Christ, and spoke of Him." (John 12:41) Isaiah, of royal blood, dwelt in the king's palace while he dreamed of Kingdom come and the King of kings! (ML 27:9) Isaiah's father‚ Amoz (not Amos the prophet)‚ was a brother of King Amaziah. This would make Isaiah a first cousin to King Uzziah, and the grandson of King Joash. Tradition has it that he died a martyr resisting the idolatry of King Manasseh.

29. Here is a picture of a Syrian altar, perhaps like the one King Ahaz had made and put in the front of the temple of Jerusalem. (2Kings 16:10-16)

30. Here is the valley of Hinnom where King Ahaz even sacrificed his own son to the horrible idol Moloch. (2Kings 16:2-4)

31. Ruins of the gate of Samaria. "Their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood." (Isaiah 59:7) The last days of Israel saw a succession of murderers as kings; finally Hoshea killed King Pekah, to become the last king of Israel before Samaria was captured by the Assyrians and the people taken into captivity.

32. "They mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and misused His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy." (2Chron.36:16) Only God holds (the enemy) in check until the time of His judgements are due, when He releases these dogs of war and destruction as either a chastisement upon His own people, or a judgement on their enemies‚ or both. (ML 162:16) In Israel's last days they turned to the Egyptians for help and not to the Lord, and refused to pay their yearly tribute money to the Assyrians. (2Kings 17:4-6)

In the distance we see the plains of Samaria, where in 725 B.C. the Assyrian army began their 3 year siege of Samaria. In 722 B.C. Samaria fell to the Assyrians and King Sargon (King Shalmaneser IV, the successor of Tiglath-pileser, died during the seige). (2Kings 17:23)

33. God has ways of getting you to do His will even when you're not willing‚ even if He has to send you to prison or in chains as slaves to evangelise the heathen! He's going to see that they get evangelised somehow. Take a look at Israel, take a look at the Jews, take a look at other ancient civilisations, cultures and creeds and nations and societies who had arrived and thought they had it made and had it all and didn't want to go any place anymore to spread their blessings to the poor and their benefits to the underpriviledged! (ML 328B:17,19)

God's judgements soon fell and they were scattered to the four winds, whether they wanted to go or not! Then they carried with them the seeds of the Gospel or their particular truth or culture wherever they went, thoughbeit involuntarily and unwillingly! (ML 328B:18)

So the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel went into captivity. But these people that cooked up this business about the ten tribes of Israel getting lost and wandering from Egypt and Alexandria and taking ships to the British Isles and to Ireland later on—the lost ten tribes—it's a falsehood! There weren't any lost tribes! You can read it in Ezra! You can read it in Nehemiah, and in the return (from captivity)—it lists the families, it lists the people by name, and there were people from every single one of all twelve tribes. (Dan.9 Flannelgraph, 44,45) (See: Ezra 2:70; 6:17; 8:35; 10:25; 1Chron.9:3)

34. And the King of Assyria brought men from Babylon, etc.,...and placed them in the cities of Samaria, instead of the children of Israel. (2Kings 17:24)

35. But the new occupants of Israel "feared not the Lord: therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which slew them." (2Kings 17:25-28) At last they got desperate enough to go running to the King of Assyria, and he sent them one of the captured priests of Israel to "teach them the manner of the God of the land." (2Kings 17:27) In the Endtime too, "...people are going to be so hungry, so desperate and so needy and so receptive they will come running (and) rip the message out of our hands to find their Salvation." (ML 1099:30)

36. Here is a photo of a Samaritan High Priest. The religion of the Samaritans became a mixture of "fearing the Lord," yet serving the gods of their own nations. Some Samaritans began accepting the books of Moses, but the Jews never accepted the Samaritans. However, the people of Samaria even seemed to have received and believed in Jesus more than did many Jews of His day. (Read: Luke 10:33; 17:16; John 4:39-42)

37. Here is a picture of the famous Samaritan scroll. It is the most ancient copy of the first five books of the Old Testament (the Penteteuch) known. It is said to have been written by the grandson of Eleazar, the High Priest, who came after Aaron.

38. Here is a Samaritan temple on historic Mount Gerizim. As you can see it is a very simple temple indeed. "Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is My throne‚ and earth is My footstool: what house will ye build Me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of My rest? (Acts 7:47–49)

39. Here Samaritan priests celebrate the feast of the Passover. Jesus was crucified on Thursday (not Friday!). The Passover Sabbath fell that year on Friday. It is commonly assumed that Jesus was crucified on Friday‚ because the next day was the Sabbath. But Jesus said that He would be "...three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Mat.12:40) which would mean that He should not have risen on Sunday, but rather on Monday; yet the Bible clearly says that He rose on Sunday, the first day of the week. The truth is that Jesus was crucified on Thursday!—and the Sabbath spoken of was the Passover Sabbath‚ which that year came on a Friday. (The word Sabbath to the Jews was their common word for a holy day, a holiday, and not just Saturday).

(Read "The Easter Story", ML 972)

40. Samaritans are much disliked by the Jews. If they even touched a Samaritan they'd have to wash afterwards! They wouldn't even go the shortest route to Galilee, which was right through Samaria, they went...clear around it just to keep from going near the Samaritans. Jesus told them the story of a Samaritan who helped a poor beaten up Jew who'd been robbed.... Your neighbour is anyone that needs your love. (ML 648:55-59; Lu.10:29-37)

41. This church in Samaria was built as a memorial to John the Baptist.

42. All that remains of wicked King Ahab's fabulous ivory palace is this threshing floor. Nothing was ever permanent, but each new regime washed away all but the meagre vestiges of the past, so that there was little left to brag about—sometimes not one stone standing upon another that's not cast down—giant blocks of useless rock, of interest only to the historian and archaeologist, cluttering up the landscape in the way of progress.

(Note: A Harvard University Expedition found in Samaria the ruins of Ahab's Ivory House. Its walls had been faced with fine carved ivory, and it must have been all furnished in ivory too. It was built on the ruins of King Omri's palace.)—"...the debris of years, oft cleared away to build a new monument to man's futile endeavours and classic failures...." (ML 7:4)

43. Man's greatest pride is in his buildings—"The works of his hand", and they have always been his downfall‚ from the towers of Babel of yesterday, to the temples of Mammon of today. Man glories in what he has made and prides himself in what he thinks are going to be his everlasting works, to influence with awe and wonder the generations to come.

But their end is always the same—the wreckage of centuries, meaningless to the present, and unmourned by their children‚ the debris of years...all gone the "way of all flesh" into the grave of oblivion, monstrous reminders of man's transitory tenure, classical testimonials against his puny efforts to eternalise himself without God. (ML 7:2-4)

44. Their gods lie buried and forgotten unless they are brought up again by the archaeologist's pick and trowel. As Abrahim commented, "Many, many old spirits they dug up. The old, old idols buried long time, thousands of years. God let spirit go 'cause the time is now ready. And old spirits much smarter than young spirits, and many old ancients came to lead and guide.... They hitchhike on idols. They come from deep down in earth...and kids come to see and they jump off and they take new ride and find new bodies." (ML 273:1-4)

45. & 46. The great city of Samaria is no more. Today it is little more than a village with simple people like those pictured here.

REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTER 27

(The numbers in parentheses are the paragraph numbers where the answers may be found.)

1. What is the name of the sea in Israel that contains many valuable chemicals? (1)

2. What do you think was the real cause of Amaziah's military failure? (3)

3. Nineveh was the capital of what Empire? (7 & 8)

4. Which prophet was sent to warn Nineveh? Did he obey the Lord when he was first sent? How did the people of Nineveh react? (7-14)

5. Which prophet was neither a prophet nor a prophet's son when the Lord called him? What was he? (17 & 18)

6. What did the prophet Hosea do to show the people that they had turned away from the Lord? (20)

7. What was the sin in Uzziah's heart that caused him to be smitten with leprosy? (22)

8. For what reason did God let the Syrians and the king of Israel beat down Judah? (25)

9. Why was Isaiah called the "Messianic Prophet"? Have you memorised Isaiah 53?

10. To whom did Israel turn for help in their last days? (32)

11. In 722 B.C. Samaria fell to the ________. (32)

12. How did the Lord deal with the new inhabitants of Israel? Who did the king send to help them? (35)

13. What does the word "Penteteuch" refer to? (37)

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family