The Division of the Kingdom - Part 2

So, what was in God's heart concerning His Kingdom? King David was a man after God's own heart. God revealed the desire of His heart for His Kingdom and city to King David through Nathan the prophet.

Now when the king lived in his house and the LORD had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, "See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent." And Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you." But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, "Go and tell my servant David, 'Thus says the LORD: Would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?"' Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.'" In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David. Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, "Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord GOD. You have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord GOD! And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord GOD! Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O LORD, became their God. And now, O LORD God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken. And your name will be magnified forever, saying, 'The LORD of hosts is God over Israel,' and the house of your servant David will be established before you. For you, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, 'I will build you a house.' Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. And now, O Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever." (2Sa 7:1-29 ESV)

God wanted a permanent house, or temple, built for His name in His city where He could dwell with His people and He wanted His kingdom established there forever. King David was not allowed to build a house for God, though, but God allowed his son, Solomon, to build it.

Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. I have indeed built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever." Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. And he said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, 'Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there. But I chose David to be over my people Israel.' Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. But the LORD said to David my father, 'Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.' Now the LORD has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and I have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. And there I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt."
(1Ki 8:12-21 ESV)

King Solomon was given great wisdom by God, but he also eventually disobeyed God, so God split the kingdom, giving ten tribes to Jeroboam, who was ruler of the house of Joseph.

Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind.
(1Ki 10:23-24 ESV)

So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods. And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded. Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, "Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen." (1Ki 11:6-13 ESV)

The man Jeroboam was very able, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious he gave him charge over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the open country. Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. And he said to Jeroboam, "Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes (but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my rules, as David his father did. 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 David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes. But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and will give it to you, ten tribes. Yet to his son I will give one tribe, that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name. And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever.'" (1Ki 11:28-39 ESV)

The city of Jerusalem was to stay under the control of the tribe of Judah and their descendants, or house of David.

The ten tribes, or house of Israel, set up their own city, called Samaria. It was there where their kings set up altars for their idols and a temple for their false god, Baal.

In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, and reigned twelve years: six years reigned he in Tirzah. And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver; and he built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill, Samaria. And Omri did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and dealt wickedly above all that were before him. For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sins wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke Jehovah, the God of Israel, to anger with their vanities. (1Ki 16:23-26 ASV)

And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years. And Ahab the son of Omri did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah above all that were before him. And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made the Asherah; and Ahab did yet more to provoke Jehovah, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. (1Ki 16:29-33 ASV)

The Division of the Kingdom - Part 1

After reading my previous blog entry on the Mystery of the Kingdom, I hope you now understand how I believe that God's Kingdom relates directly to God's wife - her body is the nation of Israel, her heart and soul is the city of Jerusalem, and her spirit is the Temple, or house of the Lord. Understanding this will help you understand how the Bride of the King is being formed - the children of Israel provide the bones for the new body, the Church is building and growing the new heart of flesh and new soul within her natural body, and Jesus gives her God's Spirit, promising to give her His new spiritual body when He returns.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." (Rev 21:1-5 ESV)

Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, "Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb." (Rev 21:9 ESV)

So, if the Church, the wife of Jesus, were actually practicing the two greatest commandments - loving God with all heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving her neighbor as herself - then she would be a united body and mighty witness of God's love in the world today. Unfortunately, though, she is actually a divided body, weak, and persecuted.

Since Jesus knew what they were thinking, he said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is ruined. A house divided against itself falls. " (Luk 11:17 GW)

Her heart should be functioning properly, beating as one, but because of the division in the Church, her heart is sick, deceived, and broken right now. Her disobedience to the commands of her Husband has weakened her heart and has divided His Kingdom and His city.

Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah: "Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not. Do you not fear me? declares the LORD; Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it. But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and gone away. They do not say in their hearts, 'Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.' Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have kept good from you. For wicked men are found among my people; they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men. Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have become great and rich; they have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy. Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?" An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes? (Jer 5:20-31 ESV)

Her soul is mal-nourished and dry and her natural body is fat and sleek. Part of her has gone back into bondage and is being held prisoner by the prince of this world.

When Your people Israel are stricken before the enemy, when they sin against You, if they turn again to You, and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication to You in this house; then You shall hear in Heaven, and shall forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and shall bring them back to the land that You gave to their fathers. When the heavens are restrained, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against You, and they have prayed toward this place, and confess Your name, and have turned from their sin because You have afflicted them, then You shall hear in Heaven, and shall forgive the sin of Your servants, and of Your people Israel, for You shall teach them the good way in which they shall go, and shall give rain on Your land which You have given to Your people for an inheritance.
(1Ki 8:33-36 LITV)

When they sin against You (for there is not a man who does not sin) and You have been angry with them, and have given them up before an enemy, and they have been led away into captivity to the land of the enemy, far off or near; and they have turned their heart back in the land where they have been taken captive, and have repented, and made supplication to You in the land of their captors, saying, We have sinned and done perversely; we have done wickedly; and, they have turned back to You with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and have prayed to You the way of their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your name, then You shall hear their prayer and their supplication in Heaven Your dwellingplace, and shall perform their cause, and shall forgive Your people who have sinned against You, even all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You, and shall give them mercy before their captors, and they shall have mercy on them. For they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Egypt, out of the midst of the furnace of iron; for Your eyes shall be open to the supplication of Your servant, and to the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them in all that they call to You for; for You have separated them to Yourself for an inheritance out of all the peoples of the earth, as You spoke by the hand of Your servant Moses when You brought out our fathers from Egypt, O Lord Jehovah. (1Ki 8:46-53 LITV)

The only way she will be healed, healthy, and free is if she repents and turns back to the King to follow after the desire of His heart for His Kingdom and His city (review previous blog entry - A Nourished and Enlarged New Soul).

God knew His Church would become divided and taken captive, so I believe that He gave us an example of this "division of the kingdom" during the times of the first kings of Israel to help us understand what has caused our division. I believe that it is imperative that we study and understand this at this time.