Israel's Failure Under Government

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Eli was the high priest, the judge and head of Israel, yet the glory of Israel was cast down to the ground (1 Sam. 4:1111And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. (1 Samuel 4:11)), the ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. In verses 18-21, Eli himself died, and his daughter-in-law named the child which was born of her, Ichabod, saying, “The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband.”
After this, God raised up Samuel, the first of the prophets, and governed Israel by him, but Israel soon rejected him (1 Sam. 8:6-76But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. 7And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. (1 Samuel 8:6‑7)). “The Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them, according to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt even unto this day.” It was then that God “gave them a king in His anger,” and we know what befell the king of their choice. The judgment is pronounced; Samuel says to Saul, “I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel” (1 Sam. 15:2626And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. (1 Samuel 15:26)).
David is raised up in the place of Saul: God made this choice in His dealings in grace. David, a type of Christ, as he is the father of Christ according to the flesh, was His gift to Israel. Thus it is solely by the goodness of God that Israel becomes rich and glorious under David and Solomon. But still this people transgressed afresh under these two princes: “The Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel” (1 Kings 11:99And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, (1 Kings 11:9)). However, because of God’s promise to David, a light was preserved in Judah until the time of Zedekiah.
Man’s Distaste for God
It is an unhappy subject to dwell on this constant distaste of man’s heart for God, under every condition in which he is placed; this is the instruction which we ought to draw from the history of the children of Israel. They subsequently divided themselves into two distinct parts, and the ten tribes became altogether unfaithful. It was in the person of Ahaz that the family of David, the last human stay of the hopes of Israel, began to become idolaters (2 Kings 16:10-1410And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof. 11And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus. 12And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon. 13And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar. 14And he brought also the brazen altar, which was before the Lord, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of the altar. (2 Kings 16:10‑14)). The sin of Manasseh put the finishing stroke to all their misconduct (2 Kings 21:1-161Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzi-bah. 2And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. 3For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. 4And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said, In Jerusalem will I put my name. 5And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. 7And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: 8Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. 9But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel. 10And the Lord spake by his servants the prophets, saying, 11Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols: 12Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. 13And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. 14And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; 15Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day. 16Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. (2 Kings 21:1‑16)). Such, in a few words, was the behavior of Israel, and even of Judah, until the captivity. The Spirit of God sums up the history of their crimes and of His patience in this impressive language: “The Lord God of their fathers sent to them by His messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because He had compassion on His people, and on His dwelling place: but 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” (2 Chron. 36:15-1615And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: 16But 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. (2 Chronicles 36:15‑16)).
This was the end of their existence in the land of Canaan, into which they had been introduced by Joshua. The name of Loammi (“not My people”) is at last written upon them.
J. N. Darby (adapted)