Assyrian Captivity
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cried, “what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee?
for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth
away.”
Hosea 6:4
.
The evils that had overspread the land had become incurable; and
upon Israel was pronounced the dread sentence: “Ephraim is joined
to idols: let him alone.” “The days of visitation are come, the days of
recompense are come; Israel shall know it.”
Hosea 4:17
;
9:7
.
The ten tribes of Israel were now to reap the fruitage of the apostasy
that had taken form with the setting up of the strange altars at Bethel
and at Dan. God’s message to them was: “Thy calf, O Samaria, hath
cast thee off; Mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be
ere they attain to innocency? For from Israel was it also: the workman
made it; therefore it is not God: but the calf of Samaria shall be broken
in pieces.” “The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves
of Beth-aven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests
thereof that rejoiced on it.... It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a
present to King Jareb” (Sennacherib).
Hosea 8:5, 6
;
10:5, 6
.
“Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saying that I will
not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. For, lo, I will
command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as
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corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, which say, The
evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.”
“The houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have
an end, saith the Lord.” “The Lord God of hosts is He that toucheth the
land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn.” “Thy
sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be
divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall
surely go into captivity forth of his land.” “Because I will do this unto
thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.”
Amos 9:8-10
;
3:15
;
Amos
9:5
;
7:17
;
Amos 4:12
.
For a season these predicted judgments were stayed, and during the
long reign of Jeroboam II the armies of Israel gained signal victories;
but this time of apparent prosperity wrought no change in the hearts
of the impenitent, and it was finally decreed, “Jeroboam shall die by
the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own
land.”
Amos 7:11
.