A Broken Covenant, a Broken Dream, a Broken People…and a Broken Curse
God had promised David an eternal dynasty as a reward for his outstanding personal service to God, his suzerain, his King.
…And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before you; your throne shall be established forever.
David was confident to pray,
Now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word You have given as to Your servant and his house; and do as You have said, And Your name [and presence] shall be magnified forever, saying, The Lord of hosts is God over Israel; and the house of Your servant David will be made firm before You. And now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are truth, and You have promised this good thing to Your servant. Therefore now let it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You; for You, O Lord God, have spoken it, and with Your blessing let [his] house be blessed forever. 2 Samuel 7:16, 25-26, 28-29 AMPC
But, instead, following David’s son Solomon’s death, civil war breaks out and the monarchy is divided.
The ten northern tribes are then promised to Jeroboam I. His father had been harsh with the Israelites, so the Israelites implored Jeroboam I,
And they said to him, if you will be a servant to this people today and serve them and answer them with good words, they will be your servants forever.
But instead of answering them with kindness, Jeroboam I answered them,
And now whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. So the king did not hearken to the people, for the situation was from the Lord, that He might fulfill His word which He spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat. [I Kings 11:29-33.] So when all Israel saw that the king did not heed them, they answered the king, What portion have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David! So Israel went to their tents.
So Israel has rebelled against the house of David to this day. 1 Kings 12:7, 11, 15-16, 19 AMPC
This rebellion of Israel, “To your tents, O Israel!” was actually a cry against monarchy for tribal authority instead and continues to this day.
To make matters worse, Jeroboam I instituted an alternate religion in the northern kingdom, setting up two golden calves, one in Bethel and one in Dan, to prevent his people returning to Rehoboam of Judah.
It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem, behold your God’s, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.” (I Kings 12: 26-29).
The sin of Jeroboam I brings a covenant curse, and the northern tribes of Israel is ransacked and exiled, lost.
Eventually Judah too is swept away.
As sad as all of this is, David, a man after God’s own heart, knew that it was always God and God alone who would deliver him.
“The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion, and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine. (I Samuel 17:37)
For the promise was:
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great Light; those who dwelt in the land of intense darkness and the shadow of death, upon them has the Light shined. [Isa. 42:6; Matt. 4:15, 16.] For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father [of Eternity], Prince of Peace. [Isa. 25:1; 40:9-11; Matt. 28:18; Luke 2:11.] Isaiah 9:2, 6 AMPC
“In the silence of exile, the promise of the prophets continues to echo.”. Sandra Richter
Know the covenant curse will be reversed!
15 Again a message came to me from the Lord: 16 “Son of man, take a piece of wood and carve on it these words: ‘This represents Judah and its allied tribes.’ Then take another piece and carve these words on it: ‘This represents Ephraim and the northern tribes of Israel.’[a] 17 Now hold them together in your hand as if they were one piece of wood. 18 When your people ask you what your actions mean, 19 say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take Ephraim and the northern tribes and join them to Judah. I will make them one piece of wood in my hand.’
20 “Then hold out the pieces of wood you have inscribed, so the people can see them. 21 And give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: I will gather the people of Israel from among the nations. I will bring them home to their own land from the places where they have been scattered. 22 I will unify them into one nation on the mountains of Israel. One king will rule them all; no longer will they be divided into two nations or into two kingdoms. 23 They will never again pollute themselves with their idols[b] and vile images and rebellion, for I will save them from their sinful apostasy.[c] I will cleanse them. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.
24 “My servant David will be their king, and they will have only one shepherd. They will obey my regulations and be careful to keep my decrees. 25 They will live in the land I gave my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren after them will live there forever, generation after generation. And my servant David will be their prince forever. 26 And I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give them their land and increase their numbers,[d] and I will put my Temple among them forever. 27 I will make my home among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 28 And when my Temple is among them forever, the nations will know that I am the Lord, who makes Israel holy.
For who or what is this?
Who or what is this [she asked] that comes gliding out of the wilderness like stately pillars of smoke perfumed with myrrh, frankincense, and all the fragrant powders of the merchant? [Someone answered] Behold, it is the traveling litter (the bridal car) of Solomon. Sixty mighty men are around it, of the mighty men of Israel. They all handle the sword and are expert in war; every man has his sword upon his thigh, that fear be not excited in the night. King Solomon made himself a car or a palanquin from the [cedar] wood of Lebanon. He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple, the inside of it lovingly and intricately wrought in needlework by the daughters of Jerusalem. Go forth, O you daughters of Zion, and gaze upon King Solomon wearing the crown with which his mother [Bathsheba] crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of his gladness of heart. Song of Solomon 3:6-11 AMPC
The mercy seat is ready.
Yes,
Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory which God bestows and receives. [All] are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus, Whom God put forward [before the eyes of all] as a mercy seat and propitiation by His blood [the cleansing and life-giving sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation, to be received] through faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over and ignored former sins without punishment. It was to demonstrate and prove at the present time (in the now season) that He Himself is righteous and that He justifies and accepts as righteous him who has [true] faith in Jesus. Romans 3:23-26 AMPC