The Almighty has given His Israelite nation His rules for living. His nation has rebelled against Him, causing Him to send them into the Desert of Sin where they wandered for 40 years while He killed off those who had rejected His stone-written rules for living. Having been led into the Promised Land by Joshua, God’s people have once again rejected Him by asking for a king to rule over them so that they could be like the heathen nations that bordered them. The judges the Lord had assigned to rule them had been His spokesmen, directing the Israelites’ lives according to His Words. Samuel had been Israel’s judge at the time of their rebellion. Devastated, the elderly prophet went before the Lord to complain that the people had rejected him. But God assured him that the people had not rejected him, but had “… rejected Me as their ruler” (1 Sam. 8:7-9). In answer to the people’s demand, God appointed a man named Saul to be their king. Saul, whose heart (mind) was not ruled by the Lord, soon began to show his true colors. The Lord decreed that Saul had to go. After killing Saul and his sons, the Lord appointed David to lead the nation.

Second Chronicles 9:8 and Psalms 9:4 speak of David’s throne–the symbol of the Scepter of royal rulership. Following the death of King David the Lord continued his family monarchy by placing David’s son Solomon on the throne as Israel’s supreme leader. From that time forward the kingship (Scepter) would be passed from one generation to the next in David’s family line, thereby fulfilling the Lord’s promise of a Davidic monarchy. This monastic family procession would continue until the death of King Zedekiah in 537 B.C.

That the throne (Scepter) was vitally important throughout the history of the Israelite nation is brought out in Luke 1:32 where we find these Words written about the coming Messiah: “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give to Him THE THRONE OF HIS (FORE)FATHER DAVID.” In Ezekiel 21:27 it is written of Jesus that GOD WILL GIVE THE THRONE TO HIS SON “… WHOSE RIGHT IT IS.” At this point we know that Israel will be ruled by the biological descendants of King David’s forever. The final family member Who will sit on David’s throne will be Jesus Christ, “whose right it is.”

Following the splitting of the Israelite nation over a taxation issue, the “Jews” (Judahites–tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi) remained in the land of Judea with Jerusalem as their capital while “Israel” (the other 10 tribes) remained in the land called Samaria with the city of Samaria as their capital. At times they were at war with each other. In time Israel would be defeated and enslaved by the Assyrians. They would later be scattered throughout Europe. Several generations after Israel’s defeat the Prophet Jeremiah was born and, as a young man, was called by God to be His prophet (spokesman) to the Jews. For many years he warned them that God would do to them what He had done to Israel if they did not repent and return to Him. The Jews ignored his warnings. Some 130 years after the fall of Israel they were defeated and enslaved by the Babylonians. Jeremiah was one of those slaves. With the fall of the Jewish nation, Zedekiah, the King of the Jews, was killed along with all of his sons, thus ending the Davidic dynasty (monarchy). Or so it would seem. A thorough study of Scripture reveals that Zedekiah had two daughters who had survived the slaughter of the royal family. In future postings we will look into the ministry of the Prophet Jeremiah and learn how he singlehandedly saved the Scepter-possessing monarchy and delivered it to where it is today. L.J.