|
The Brit-Am Rose |
|
The Brit-Am Rose |
|
Brit-Am Discussion Group 
|
Contents by Subject |
Research Revelation Reconciliation Contribute |
|
Site Map Contents in Alphabetical Order |
 This Site |
|
|
The verse above tells us
that all of Israel came to
Schechem to coronate
Rehoboam.
They did not come to Jerusalem. It may be that at this stage the de facto
demographic and economic center of power had already moved northward.
[1-Kings 12:2] AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN JEROBOAM THE SON OF NEBAT, WHO WAS YET
IN EGYPT, HEARD OF IT, (FOR HE WAS FLED FROM THE PRESENCE OF KING SOLOMON, AND
JEROBOAM DWELT IN EGYPT;)
[1-Kings 12:3] THAT THEY SENT AND CALLED HIM. AND JEROBOAM AND ALL THE
CONGREGATION OF ISRAEL CAME, AND SPAKE UNTO REHOBOAM, SAYING,
Jeroboam had been in rebellion against
Solomon. When Solomon died Jeroboam should still have been in a state of
outlawry. Calling Jeroboam back to serve as their representative was
derogatory
to Rehoboam
and the House of David. It should have been considered as an act of defiance.
[1-Kings 12:4] THY FATHER MADE OUR YOKE GRIEVOUS: NOW THEREFORE MAKE THOU THE
GRIEVOUS SERVICE OF THY FATHER, AND HIS HEAVY YOKE WHICH HE PUT UPON US,
LIGHTER, AND WE WILL SERVE THEE.
Daat
Mikra
(Yehudah
Kiel, "Sefer
Malacim")
says that their major complaint was not taxation but rather the
corvee
or forced labor that Solomon had imposed towards the end of his days to complete
his building projects. Before his rebellion and flight from Solomon Jeroboam
had been appointed the Minister in charge over the labor of Ephraim.
Jeroboam is described both in the Bible and in
Talmudical
tradition as being highly gifted:
AND THE MAN JEROBOAM WAS A MIGHTY MAN OF
VALOUR:
AND SOLOMON SEEING THE YOUNG MAN THAT HE WAS INDUSTRIOUS, HE MADE HIM RULER OVER
ALL THE CHARGE OF THE HOUSE OF JOSEPH [1-Kings 11:28].
[1-Kings 12:5] AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, DEPART YET FOR THREE DAYS, THEN COME AGAIN
TO ME. AND THE PEOPLE DEPARTED.
[1-Kings 12:6] AND KING REHOBOAM CONSULTED WITH THE OLD MEN, THAT STOOD BEFORE
SOLOMON HIS FATHER WHILE HE YET LIVED, AND SAID, HOW DO YE ADVISE THAT I MAY
ANSWER THIS PEOPLE?
[1-Kings 12:7] AND THEY SPAKE UNTO HIM, SAYING, IF THOU WILT BE A SERVANT UNTO
THIS PEOPLE THIS DAY, AND WILT SERVE THEM, AND ANSWER THEM, AND SPEAK GOOD WORDS
TO THEM, THEN THEY WILL BE THY SERVANTS FOR EVER.
The people were in effect already in
near open rebellion. Rehoboam
had been obliged to come to
Schechem instead of having them
come to Jerusalem. The arch-rebel Jeroboam had openly returned and assumed the
position of popular spokesman. They were making demands. The elders advised the
King to give in, at least temporarily.
One is reminded of English history when Henry-viii made a break away from Papal
dominance over the English Church. The English and Welsh rebelled, Henry
pretended to give in, the rebels dispersed, Henry then went back on his word and
punished the rebels with a vengeance. The Elders were not saying that
Rehoboam
necessarily act as Henry later did rather that he should avoid open
confrontation
And then take the time necessary to confirm his
rulership.
Later events show that Rehoboam
was already in a weak position and apparently the Elders were well aware of
it.
[1-Kings 12:8] BUT HE FORSOOK THE COUNSEL OF THE OLD MEN, WHICH THEY HAD GIVEN
HIM, AND CONSULTED WITH THE YOUNG MEN THAT WERE GROWN UP WITH HIM, AND WHICH
STOOD BEFORE HIM:
[1-Kings 12:9] AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, WHAT COUNSEL GIVE YE THAT WE MAY ANSWER
THIS PEOPLE, WHO HAVE SPOKEN TO ME, SAYING, MAKE THE YOKE WHICH THY FATHER DID
PUT UPON US LIGHTER?
[1-Kings 12:10] AND THE YOUNG MEN THAT WERE GROWN UP WITH HIM SPAKE UNTO HIM,
SAYING, THUS SHALT THOU SPEAK UNTO THIS PEOPLE THAT SPAKE UNTO THEE, SAYING,
THY FATHER MADE OUR YOKE HEAVY, BUT MAKE THOU IT LIGHTER UNTO US; THUS SHALT
THOU SAY UNTO THEM, MY LITTLE FINGER SHALL BE THICKER THAN MY FATHER'S
LOINS.
#THE YOUNG MEN# In Hebrew "Yaladim"
i.e. Children. In Hebrew "yeled"
is "boy" or "lad". The Scottish word "lad" meaning boy comes from the Hebrew "yeled".
This usage of the term "yeledim"
is unusual and comes to emphasize the childishness and inexperienced foolishness
of his childhood advisors.
[1-Kings 12:11] AND NOW WHEREAS MY FATHER DID LADE YOU WITH A HEAVY YOKE, I WILL
ADD TO YOUR YOKE: MY FATHER HATH CHASTISED YOU WITH WHIPS, BUT I WILL CHASTISE
YOU WITH SCORPIONS.
#WHIPS# Hebrew "shotim"
connoting ordinary horse-whips.
#SCORPIONS# Hebrew "acrabin".
We would suggest that this denoted a whip similar to the later English
"cat-o'-nine tails" i.e. a whip with several extensions at its tail end each one
laden down with a piece of metal.
[1-Kings 12:12] SO JEROBOAM AND ALL THE PEOPLE CAME TO REHOBOAM THE THIRD DAY,
AS THE KING HAD APPOINTED, SAYING, COME TO ME AGAIN THE THIRD
DAY.
[1-Kings 12:13] AND THE KING ANSWERED THE PEOPLE ROUGHLY, AND FORSOOK THE OLD
MEN'S COUNSEL THAT THEY GAVE HIM;
[1-Kings 12:14] AND SPAKE TO THEM AFTER THE COUNSEL OF THE YOUNG MEN, SAYING,
MY FATHER MADE YOUR YOKE HEAVY, AND I WILL ADD TO YOUR YOKE: MY FATHER ALSO
CHASTISED YOU WITH WHIPS, BUT I WILL CHASTISE YOU WITH
SCORPIONS.
[1-Kings 12:15] WHEREFORE THE KING HEARKENED NOT UNTO THE PEOPLE; FOR THE CAUSE
WAS FROM THE LORD, THAT HE MIGHT PERFORM HIS SAYING, WHICH THE LORD SPAKE BY
AHIJAH THE SHILONITE UNTO JEROBOAM THE SON OF NEBAT.
## FOR THE CAUSE WAS FROM THE LORD##
Note this very important statement. There was a Divine Purpose behind the
Division.
The Divine Purpose for the Exile
and Division of the Tribes
http://britam.org/tape3.html
http://www.britam.org/Broadcasts/Joseph1.mp3
(1 hour 2 minutes)
[1-Kings 12:16] SO WHEN ALL ISRAEL SAW THAT THE KING HEARKENED NOT UNTO THEM,
THE PEOPLE ANSWERED THE KING, SAYING, WHAT PORTION HAVE WE IN DAVID? NEITHER
HAVE WE INHERITANCE IN THE SON OF JESSE: TO YOUR TENTS, O ISRAEL: NOW SEE TO
THINE OWN HOUSE, DAVID. SO ISRAEL DEPARTED UNTO THEIR
TENTS.
Concerning this verse, there is a
Midrash
that says that When Israel returns to seek God, the Temple, and the kingdom of
David then the redemption will come.
Extract below adapted from
.
"Joseph. The Israelite Destiny of America"
http://britam.org/bkjoseph.html
They were rejecting the House of David son of Jesse represented by
Rehoboam.
They broke away from Jerusalem and the Temple Service and instituted their own
religion. The Ten Tribes set up their own kingdom and made Jeroboam the son of
Nebat
from the Tribe of Ephraim their king. Later these Tribes were exiled and became
known as the Lost Ten Tribes.
Concerning this event the Midrash
(Midrash
Shmuel
13, Yalkut
Shomeoni-2, remez
106, Rashi
on Hosea 3;5) tells us:
##Against three things were the Children of Israel destined to show contempt: Against the Rule of Heaven, against the Kingdom of David, and against the Holy Temple. This occurred in the Reign of King Jeroboam. They said, WHAT PORTION HAVE WE IN DAVID? In effect this meant rebellion against the Kingdom of Heaven [by whom David had been appointed]. They also said, "NEITHER HAVE WE INHERITANCE IN THE SON OF JESSE": This meant a rejection of the House of David [son of Jesse] in general. They said too, "TO YOUR TENTS, O ISRAEL: NOW SEE TO THINE OWN HOUSE, DAVID": This meant turning their back on the Holy Temple.[1-Kings 12:17] BUT AS FOR THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WHICH DWELT IN THE CITIES OF JUDAH, REHOBOAM REIGNED OVER THEM.
[The expression TO YOUR TENTS, O ISRAEL in some opinions was a play on words. The real intention of the expression or the original expression had been "TO YOUR GODS O ISRAEL" (Rashi, Radak, Minchat Shi). The Hebrew for YOUR TENTS and YOUR GODS uses the same letters with only a slight change of order, Elohecha ("Your gods") versus Ohelecha ("Your tents"). The motivation for breaking away from the Kingdom of David had been at least in part a desire to commit idolatry. Jeroboam almost immediately set up two gold calves and all the Northern Kingdom began worshipping them].
The Midrash continues:##Rabbi Shimeon the son of Menasiah said: Israel will not see a blessing until they return and seek out the three things they rejected. As it says in Hosea:"AFTERWARD SHALL THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL RETURN, AND SEEK THE LORD THEIR GOD, AND DAVID THEIR KING; AND SHALL FEAR THE LORD AND HIS GOODNESS IN THE LATTER DAYS" (HOSEA 3:5). This means:
[Hosea 3:5] AFTERWARD SHALL THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL RETURN, AND SEEK THE LORD THEIR GOD, - this is the Kingdom of Heaven.
AND DAVID THEIR KING; - This is the Kingdom of the House of David.
AND SHALL FEAR THE LORD AND HIS GOODNESS IN THE LATTER DAYS: This is the building of the Third Temple.
Another Midrash says:
##About the Ten Tribes it is written: "WOE TO THEM THAT DEVISE INIQUITY, AND WORK EVIL UPON THEIR BEDS! (Micah 2;1) which is at night. Also even during the day [they do the same] "WHEN THE MORNING IS LIGHT, THEY PRACTISE IT" (Micah 2;1). In the Generation of the deluge none survived. Why should these [from the Ten Tribes] have survived" They survived by virtue of the righteous men and women who were destined to emerge from them.##
See also:[1-Kings 12:19] SO ISRAEL REBELLED AGAINST THE HOUSE OF DAVID UNTO THIS DAY.
MASS CONVERSION AND GENEALOGICAL MENTALITIES:
JEWS AND CHRISTIANS IN FIFTEENTH-CENTURY SPAIN
http://webdrive.service.emory.edu/users/
mrustow/Nirenberg%20Mass%20conversion
%20(Past%20&%20present).pdfIn Murviedro [near Toledo?], for example, a tombstone was discovered purporting to be that
of Adoniram, a high official of King Solomon. On the eve of the expulsion [1492] the grammarian Moses ben Shem Tov ibn H1abib visited the same cemetery and deciphered an inscription for the minister of war of the biblical King Amatzya of Judah.
71 Francisco Cantera Burgos and Jos ar ill Vallicrosa, Las inscripciones
hebraicas de Espana (Madrid, 1956), 2978, 3035. These are also discussed in
Shatzmiller, Politics and the Myth of Origins, 59.
ANCIENT ISRAEL IN SPAIN AND BRITAIN
http://www.ensignmessage.com/
archives/spainandbrit.html(A Review of an important 1846 work authored by historian and theologian DR. MOSES MARGOLIOUTH: 'THE HISTORY OF THE JEWS IN GREAT BRITAIN'
In the year 1480 at Saguntum, Spain, "a Hebrew epitaph" of great antiquity was discovered. It reads, 'This is the grave of Adoniram, the servant of King Solomon, who came to collect the tribute, and died on the day...' (page 23) This Adoniram is mentioned in both I Kings 5:14 and 4:6, "and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the tribute." From this we understand that Adoniram was sent by Solomon to the Hebrew colony in Spain, where raw materials were collected for the Temple and other building projects in Palestine. This large stone sepulchre has been called, "the stone of Solomon's collector."
A second monument discovered in Spain with ancient Hebrew lettering, reads, "Raise with a bitter voice, a lamentation for the great prince; YAH has taken him. Amaziah." An old Hebrew book, called "Darcay Noam," or "Ways of Pleasantness," gives an account of this epitaph.
I, like many others, have a
certain sympathy for the Tribe of Dan. Nevertheless Dan is often associated with
idolatry and with the far north.
[1-Kings 12:31] AND HE MADE AN HOUSE OF HIGH PLACES, AND MADE PRIESTS OF THE
LOWEST OF THE PEOPLE, WHICH WERE NOT OF THE SONS OF LEVI.
As a result of this the Levites moved
south into the Kingdon
of Judah and so did other Israelites who remained faithful to the God of Israel.
#THE LOWEST# In Hebrew "Miktsot"
or literally the "ends". This has been understood to mean the lowest section or
the dregs but I saw a Commentary that claimed that it could alternatively mean
the better or more elevated section. In Hebrew the word "Katsin"
(from the same root, katseh,
as "Miktsot")
means officer.
[2-Chronicles 11:13] AND THE PRIESTS
AND THE LEVITES THAT WERE IN ALL ISRAEL RESORTED TO HIM [i.e. to
Rehoboam
of Judah] OUT OF ALL THEIR COASTS.
[2-Chronicles 11:14] FOR THE LEVITES LEFT THEIR SUBURBS AND THEIR POSSESSION,
AND CAME TO JUDAH AND JERUSALEM: FOR JEROBOAM AND HIS SONS HAD CAST THEM OFF
FROM EXECUTING THE PRIEST'S OFFICE UNTO THE LORD:
Note that the Bible speaks of the
Levites leaving the northern Kingdom and moving into Judah for
relgious
reasons. This process may have continued over several generations since the
dispossession of the Levites from their religious duties is attributed to both
Jeroboam and his sons i.e. successors.
[2-Chronicles 11:15] AND HE ORDAINED HIM
PRIESTS FOR THE HIGH PLACES, AND FOR THE DEVILS, AND FOR THE CALVES WHICH HE
HAD MADE.
[2-Chronicles 11:16] AND AFTER THEM OUT
OF ALL THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL SUCH AS SET THEIR HEARTS TO SEEK THE LORD GOD OF
ISRAEL CAME TO JERUSALEM, TO SACRIFICE UNTO THE LORD GOD OF THEIR FATHERS.
[1-Kings 12:32] AND JEROBOAM ORDAINED A FEAST IN THE EIGHTH MONTH, ON THE
FIFTEENTH DAY OF THE MONTH, LIKE UNTO THE FEAST THAT IS IN JUDAH, AND HE OFFERED
UPON THE ALTAR. SO DID HE IN BETHEL, SACRIFICING UNTO THE CALVES THAT HE HAD
MADE: AND HE PLACED IN BETHEL THE PRIESTS OF THE HIGH PLACES WHICH HE HAD
MADE.
The feast of Succoth falls in the
seventh Month (Tishrei).
Apparently put the feast of for a month. The harvest season in the region of
Samaria falls somewhat later than that in Judah so by postponing the feast he
may have made it more in synchrony with the local season. According to
tradition Jeroboam cahnged
the Calendar. Certain Ephraimites
who had begun to adopt Hebraic customs and laws have also invented calendars of
their own. They are repeating the sin of Jeroboam.
[1-Kings 12:33] SO HE OFFERED UPON THE ALTAR WHICH HE HAD MADE IN BETHEL
THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF THE EIGHTH MONTH, EVEN IN THE MONTH WHICH HE HAD DEVISED
OF HIS OWN HEART; AND ORDAINED A FEAST UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL: AND HE
OFFERED UPON THE ALTAR, AND BURNT INCENSE.
Regarding the two bull calves and the
declaration of Jeroboam,
IT IS TOO MUCH FOR YOU TO GO UP TO JERUSALEM: BEHOLD THY GODS, O ISRAEL, WHICH
BROUGHT THEE UP OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT [1-Kings 12:28],
The following extract from our book, "Ephraim" is appropriate:
["Ephraim" was first published in 1995. In this work we warned (based on Hosea chapter 9) that the Muslims would use terror against the West. We also pointed out that "Ephraim" (i.e. the Ten Tribes) would attempt to reach a modus vivendi or friendly agreement with Islam and that this is liable to end in a great clamity for Ephraim.]
ISAIAH AND THE RETURN OF THE LOST TEN TRIBES
Extracts:
The Lost Ten Tribes will return. The Jews of Judah will meet the return of the Lost Ten Tribes with mixed reactions:
ISAIAH (49:21) DESCRIBES HOW THE JEWISH PEOPLE UPON SEEING MASSES OF LOST ISRAELITES RETURNING TO THE HOLY LAND WILL HAVE A SERIOUS QUESTION:
"THEN SHALT THOU SAY IN THY HEART, WHO HATH BEGOTTEN ME THESE, SEEING I HAVE LOST MY CHILDREN, AND AM DESOLATE, A CAPTIVE, AND REMOVING TO AND FRO? AND WHO HATH BROUGHT UP THESE? BEHOLD, I WAS LEFT ALONE; THESE WHERE HAD THEY BEEN?" (Isaiah 49:21).
In other words, the Jews will ask where were all those now identified as Israel when the Jews needed help and were alone?
On the one hand those few people among the Gentiles who have helped the Jews have more often than not belonged to the Lost Ten Tribes. On the other hand these nations were powerful and rich ones and they could have done much more to help than they did. There were times even when the Lost Ten Tribes had acted as the adversaries of Judah.
A reflection on this future conundrum is provided by a passage in the Zohar.
The Zohar (Breishit, VaYechi, 88m, Sulam edition) comments on the expression "WHO HATH BEGOTTEN ME THESE? in the verse we are here concerned with (ISAIAH 49:21). The Zohar notes an emphasis in the question on the Hebrew word "EYLEH" i.e. "these"':
The verse says: "THEN SHALT THOU SAY IN THY HEART, WHO HATH BEGOTTEN ME THESE, SEEING I HAVE LOST MY CHILDREN, AND AM DESOLATE, A CAPTIVE, AND REMOVING TO AND FRO? AND WHO HATH BROUGHT UP THESE? BEHOLD, I WAS LEFT ALONE; THESE WHERE HAD THEY BEEN?" (ISAIAH 49:21)
The Zohar emphasizes the emphasis on the expression these: "WHO HATH BEGOTTEN ME THESE.....? AND WHO HATH BROUGHT UP THESE...THESE, WHERE HAD THEY BEEN?"
The Zohar then refers back to the time when the Patriarch Israel was about to die and his son Joseph had brought his grandsons, Ephraim and Menasseh, to him to receive a final blessing.
"WHEN ISRAEL SAW JOSEPH'S SONS, HE SAID, WHO ARE THESE?" (Genesis 48;8).
[Said Rabbi Yehudah bar Shalom, "And why did he did he not recognize them?" Had he not been familiar with them?... "And now he asks, Who are these?"..."But rather he must have foreseen [through Divine Inspiration] Jeroboam son of Nebat and Ahab son of Omri [both future kings of the northern separated Ten-Tribes of Israel] who would arise from Ephraim and worship idolatry" Midrash Tanchuma, VaYichi,6.]
The Zohar relates:
"Rabbi Abba began to explain [the above question of the Patriarch Israel, "Who are these?"] by relating it to [the verse in ISAIAH 49;21] "then shalt thou say in thy heart: `Who hath begotten me these?': What does this verse imply?
-That the Heavenly Patriarch Israel foresaw the Children of Israel assembling before him in the future: `In that day the LORD shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left [FROM ASSYRIA, AND FROM MITSRAYIM, AND FROM PATHROS, AND FROM CUSH, AND] FROM ELAM, AND FROM HAMATH, AND FROM THE ISLES OF THE SEA" (ISAIAH 11;11).
The above place names are those to where the Lost Ten Tribes were taken or went shortly after their Exile. Isaiah continues to speak of the ingathering of the Lost Tribes as well as that of Judah and of reconciliation between the Lost Tribes and Judah:
[ISAIAH 11:12] HE WILL RAISE AN ENSIGN FOR THE NATIONS, AND WILL ASSEMBLE THE OUTCASTS OF ISRAEL, AND GATHER THE DISPERSED OF JUDAH FROM THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE EARTH.
[ISAIAH 11:13] THE JEALOUSY OF EPHRAIM SHALL DEPART, AND THOSE WHO HARASS JUDAH SHALL BE CUT OFF; EPHRAIM SHALL NOT BE JEALOUS OF JUDAH, AND JUDAH SHALL NOT HARASS EPHRAIM.
The question concerning "these" therefore refers to the Lost Ten Tribes (Ephraim) in the End Times.
The Zohar goes on to explain Isaiah 49;21, the question `WHO HATH BEGOTTEN ME THESE?'
"And they shall assemble together and be mutitudinous; the Divine Presence [i.e. Heavenly Israel] will wonder and ask, `Where did you all come from?'`And is it not possible that there exists amongst you someone blemished, of foreign seed?' "They will answer, `We are all your sons. There is no foreigner amongst us'.
"And they will divide off from each other. The foreign non Israelite element will voluntarily separate from them, and they [i.e. the returning Israelites] will be circumcised, and convert, and these converts will return with [and to] Israel, and they shall be one."
In other words the Zohar says that the returning Israelites will be renew the Covenant and be re-united with Israel meaning (in terms of the Zohar) with the Jewish people. In Biblical terms Israel can mean all of the 12 tribes together or it can mean the Lost Tribes ("Israel") as distinct from "Judah" (the Jews) or it can stand for the Jews and Judah alone. In religious terms "Israel" can mean those of Israel who did not lose their identity meaning Judah. In this case members of the Lost Ten Tribes will be rejoined to the spiritual reality of Israel represented by the Jews of Judah.
The Zohar states above that the non Israelites will have to be separated out from the real returning descendants of Israelites. The non-Israelites referred to in this case are of a specific type that never really wanted to belong to Israel anyway. They belong to the "mixed multitude". The real and proper attitude that will hold towards the non Israelite stranger (who previously of his own volition had joined himself to Israel) will be to accept him as a full-fledged citizen as stated in the Book of Ezekiel:
Ezekiel (ch.47) spoke of the future apportionment of the Promised Land amongst the Twelve Tribes of Israel in the Messianic era. The area spoken of includes modern day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel, and additional parts of neighboring lands. This final re division of the land takes place after certain physical geographical and climatic changes occur. Ezekiel also speaks of apportioning The Land to "The strangers [i.e. non Israelites] that sojourn amongst you": The strangers who identify with you will be counted as the same as you. "So shall ye divide this land among you according to the tribes of Israel" (Ezekiel 47;21).
"AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, THAT YE SHALL DIVIDE IT BY LOT FOR AN INHERITANCE UNTO YOU, AND TO THE STRANGERS THAT SOJOURN AMONG YOU, WHICH SHALL BEGET CHILDREN AMONG YOU; AND THEY SHALL BE UNTO YOU AS BORN IN THE COUNTRY AMONG THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.
"AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, THAT IN WHAT TRIBE THE STRANGER SOJOURNETH, THERE SHALL YE GIVE HIM HIS INHERITANCE.."
(Ezekiel 47;22 23)
| After the Death of Solomon: The Divided Kingdom  Source of Map: www.ebibleteacher.com/imagehtml/otmaps.html |
 1-Kings ch.11 |
1-Kings Contents |
1-Kings ch.13  |
