A Tale of Two CitiesAuditorium Class07/12/09

Why Look to the Old Testament•Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were

written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Timeline

•Moses and Exodus ~1500•Joshua ~ 1450 BC•Time of the Judges•David ~ 1000 BC•Divided Kingdom - 931 BC

Dates are approximate only and varied by a few years depending on dating of events

Kingdom Divided

•Rehoboam – Follows Solomon as king of Judah

•Tribes rebel and follow Jeroboam and form kingdom of Israel

•Jeroboam – institutes worship in Israel

Timeline

•Divided Kingdom - 931 BC• Israel Conquered by Assyria – 722 BC•Assyria Conquered by Babylonians – 612

BC•Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon – 605 BC• Jerusalem (Judah) Conquered) – 586 BC

Dates are approximate only and varied by a few years depending on dating of events

Why the difference in life of each nation?•Israel lasted approx 210 yrs •Judah lasted approx 346 yrs

Dates are approximate only and varied by a few years depending on dating of events

Israel (Nation of North) conquered•2 Kings 17:1-6•Why ?

▫2 Kings 17:7-18 (7-8, 16-18) – Reason Given

▫Joshua 23:9-16 (warning)▫Ex 20:3 (warning)▫Deut 7:1-4, 9-10 (warning)

Disobedience

• Jos 23:9-16 (9)For the LORD hath driven out from before you great nations …(12) Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, …(13) Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. …(15) Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. (16) When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you,….

Israel (Nation of North) conquered•2 Kings 17:1-6•Why

▫2 Kings 17:7-18▫Joshua 23:9-16▫Ex 20:3 ▫Deut 7:1-4, 9-10

•God is Longsuffering (20 evil kings & 200 Yrs)

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Rose Publishing

God Sent Prophets

2 Kings 17:13Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.

Who were these prophets

•Elijah & Elisha•Isaiah•Jeremiah•Hosea•Amos•Micah•Habakkuk

What did they have to say• Amos – 2:6-7 & 5:11-15 Treatment of the Poor

▫ Jeroboam II, rich get richer, transgress then offer sacrifice (Ch. 4)

• Hosea 4:1-3 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

What did they have to say• Amos – 2:6-7 & 5:11-15 Treatment of the Poor• Hosea 4:1-3 • Habakkuk 1:3-6• Habbakkuk questions God• (3) Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for

spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.

• (4) Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.

• Lord’s Reply…• (5) Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for

I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.

• (6) For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs.

Does their society remind you of ours?

Is God Punishing America? By Hector Carreon July 18, 2002 http://www.aztlan.net/godpunishingusa.htm

The USA has certainly been "blessed" in the past, but something terrible has gone wrong in recent years that now threatens its very existence. Pure evil is no longer confined to the traditional seamy sectors of society. It is now present inside the "Boardrooms of Corporate America", inside the "Halls of Congress", in the "White House", in "Academia" and yes, even inside "Catholic Churches" where altar boys have been raped by homosexual priests. The USA is now ruled by an "evil cabal" of greedy, corrupt and totally immoral people. The "wake up call" for America's citizens should have been the image that was broadcast over and over of the collapsing World Trade Center towers. Yes, the attendance in America's churches spiked soon after September 11, but now the American people are returning to their old ways. Their lust for money, drugs, sex and entertainment is even greater now than before 911. It is nowonder that the USA is now feeling the increasing wrath of the Lord.

What is Hector’s Answer?

The American people must collectively begin to reject the "evil cabal's" false teachings and seek forgiveness from God for all the nation's sins at home and abroad. The only way to heal from destructive "guilt" that leads to all sorts of addictions is not through Freudian and other modern psychiatric and psychological "headshrinking" but through true and genuine repentance.

America must get on its knees and humbly pray for forgiveness to the Son of God, The True Messiah – Jesus Christ. If it does not, the nation and its children will surely perish!

Will turning back to God spare a nation?

Turning back to God

•Judah on the same track as Israel▫God protected Judah from Assyria

•2 Kings 18 & 19▫Hezekiah became King - trusted God▫Rebelled against Assyria▫Assyria came against Judah▫Hezekiah prayed to God for protection

2 Kings 19:15-19

Result of Seeking God

• 2Kings 19: 20, 32-34

•Angel of the Lord fought the battle▫185,000 dead Assyrians, 0 dead Judeans

What should we do/how should we liveSeek first the kingdom of God – Matt 6:33Php 2:15-16

(15) That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;(16) Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

Mat 5:13,14 Salt/Light

What should we do/how should we live

Seek first the kingdom of God – Matt 6:33Php 2:15-16Mat 5:13,14 Salt/Light

“The Great Commission” •Mat 28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and teach

all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (20) Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.