Isaiah-50. Judah
Isaiah (TCB) 50:
1 SO SAID THE LORD, "WHERE IS YOUR MOTHER'S BILL OF DIVORCE THAT I SENT HER AWAY? OR, WHO IS IT OF MY CREDITORS TO WHOM I SOLD YOU? BEHOLD FOR YOUR INIQUITIES YOU WERE SOLD, AND FOR YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS YOUR MOTHER WAS SENT AWAY.
This message can be applied to both Houses of Israel but from the context (end of the PREVIOUS CHAPTER 49 AND the NEXT CHAPTER 51) it would appear to be expressly directed in this case to Judah. Judah has not been disowned. Judah was not divorced and is still obligated by the Law.
Jeremiah spoke of the Lost Ten Tribes being divorced:
[Jeremiah 3:8] SHE SAW THAT FOR ALL THE ADULTERIES OF THAT FAITHLESS ONE, ISRAEL, I HAD SENT HER AWAY WITH A DECREE OF DIVORCE;
The Lost Ten Tribes were not obligated by the Law for the period of their “divorce”. They did however have a task of their own in world history to fulfill.
On the whole they will haver fulfilled this task and then God will be reconciled to them.
[Jeremiah 3:8] SHE SAW THAT FOR ALL THE ADULTERIES OF THAT FAITHLESS ONE, ISRAEL, I HAD SENT HER AWAY WITH A DECREE OF DIVORCE; YET HER FALSE SISTER JUDAH DID NOT FEAR, BUT SHE TOO WENT AND PLAYED THE HARLOT.
[Jeremiah 3:9] AND IT CAME TO PASS THROUGH THE LIGHTNESS OF HER WHOREDOM, THAT SHE DEFILED THE LAND, AND COMMITTED ADULTERY WITH STONES AND WITH STOCKS.
[Jeremiah 3:10] AND YET FOR ALL THIS HER TREACHEROUS SISTER JUDAH HATH NOT TURNED UNTO ME WITH HER WHOLE HEART, BUT FEIGNEDLY, SAITH THE LORD.
[Jeremiah 3:11] AND THE LORD SAID UNTO ME, THE BACKSLIDING ISRAEL HATH JUSTIFIED HERSELF MORE THAN TREACHEROUS JUDAH.
[Jeremiah 3:12] GO AND PROCLAIM THESE WORDS TOWARD THE NORTH, AND SAY, RETURN, THOU BACKSLIDING ISRAEL, SAITH THE LORD; AND I WILL NOT CAUSE MINE ANGER TO FALL UPON YOU: FOR I AM MERCIFUL, SAITH THE LORD, AND I WILL NOT KEEP ANGER FOR EVER.
This did not happen in history according to the simple sense of the passage. The passage implies that the northern kingdom of Israel sinned and was divorced. Judah was not divorced but Judah had sinned.
What actually happened was that the north became steeped in idolatry and in many respects were complete pagans long before their exile. They were then exiled and their identity lost. The passage is referring to the Latter Days and in effect that the northern kingdom had its own historical mission to fulfill and will have done so. It will have fulfilled its own mission in its own way better than Judah has fulfilled his. The northern tribes IN THEIR PLACES OF EXILE will be sent unto to come back.
The emissaries will be from Judah:
Yalkut Shimeoni on Shir HaShirim (Song of Solomon)
These are the “Ten Tribes.” …. The exiles of Judah and Benyamin [i.e. the present-day “Jews”] are destined to go unto them and bring them back in order to merit with them the Messianic Era and life in the World-To-Come. This is as it says, “In those days the house of Judah shall go unto the house of Israel and they shall come together out of the land of the north unto the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers” (Jeremiah 3;18).
-Yalkut Shimeoni, Song of Solomon 905.
The task of Judah was primarily to keep the Law and Torah. Towards the latter days (our time?) there will be a stage when Judah will fall down somewhat in this task. This will enable an opening up to be made to the northern kingdom. The temporary laxity of Judah in some way will actually assist the process of reconciling the Ten Tribes. Even so Judah will be punished for their sins but nevertheless rewarded for its persistence. Judah will be compensated for having to suffer throughout history due to his keeping the Torah and remaining separate from others.
2 WHY HAVE I COME AND THERE IS NO MAN? [WHY] HAVE I CALLED AND NO ONE ANSWERS? IS MY HAND TOO SHORT TO REDEEM, OR DO I HAVE NO STRENGTH TO SAVE? BEHOLD, WITH MY REBUKE I DRY UP THE SEA, I MAKE RIVERS INTO A DESERT; THEIR FISH BECOME FOUL BECAUSE THERE IS NO WATER AND DIE BECAUSE OF THIRST.
In the same way that God punishes or afflicts so too can He bestow blessings. Do good and ultimately good will come unto you some how or other. The good will come in the form you yourself would prefer if you knew all the options and were aware of all your culpabilities.
3 I CLOTHE THE HEAVENS WITH DARKNESS, AND I MAKE SACKCLOTH THEIR RAIMENT.
4 THE LORD GOD GAVE ME A TONGUE FOR TEACHING, TO KNOW TO ESTABLISH TIMES FOR THE FAINT [FOR HIS] WORD; HE AWAKENS ME EVERY MORNING, HE AWAKENS MY EAR, TO HEAR ACCORDING TO THE TEACHINGS.
The Bible has the power to envigorate and strengthen all of us, in every situation.
5 THE LORD GOD OPENED MY EAR, AND I DID NOT REBEL; I DID NOT TURN AWAY BACKWARDS.
The Sages said that the Almighty speaks to us every day, all day. We must train ourselves to listen. Nothing is by chance.
6 I GAVE MY BACK TO SMITERS AND MY CHEEKS TO THEM THAT PLUCKED OFF THE HAIR; I DID NOT HIDE MY FACE FROM EMBARRASSMENTS AND SPITTING.
Judah was forced to become passive and bear affliction in Exile. Their families and communities were held ransom to their subjective indiviaul behavior. The Jews in Exile (especially in Central and Eastern Europe) were physically much smaller and physically stunted than the present-day Jewish children in the State of Israel. This has been statistically proven. Those who are seriously interested in the Lost Ten Tribes should also know something about Jewish History and anti-semitism. This is part of Biblical knowledge and explains many passages in Prophecy.
7 BUT THE LORD GOD HELPS ME, THEREFORE, I WAS NOT EMBARRASSED; THEREFORE, I MADE MY FACE LIKE FLINT, AND I KNEW THAT I WOULD NOT BE ASHAMED.
8 HE WHO VINDICATES ME IS NEAR, WHOEVER WISHES TO QUARREL WITH ME-LET US STAND TOGETHER; WHOEVER IS MY CONTENDER SHALL APPROACH ME.
In the end, the justification for Judah comes from God.
9 BEHOLD, THE LORD GOD SHALL HELP ME; WHO IS HE THAT WILL CONDEMN ME? BEHOLD ALL OF THEM SHALL WEAR OUT LIKE A GARMENT, A MOTH SHALL CONSUME THEM.
“ ALL OF THEM SHALL WEAR OUT LIKE A GARMENT,” but Judah will keep going, always a young nation.
Cf. Mark Twain (1899):
CONCERNING THE JEWS ...
"If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of star dust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. Properly the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world's list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers. He has made a marvelous fight in the world, in all the ages; and has done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it. The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?"
10 WHO AMONG YOU IS GOD-FEARING, WHO HEARKENS TO THE VOICE OF HIS SERVANT, WHO WENT IN DARKNESS AND WHO HAS NO LIGHT, LET HIM TRUST IN THE NAME OF THE LORD AND LEAN ON HIS GOD.
The Servant is Israel or Judah in their capacity of revealing the Word of God in Instruction.
11 BEHOLD ALL OF YOU WHO KINDLE FIRE, WHO GIVE POWER TO FLAMES; GO IN THE FLAME OF YOUR FIRE, AND IN THE FLAMES YOU HAVE KINDLED; FROM MY HAND HAS THIS COME TO YOU, IN GRIEF YOU SHALL LIE DOWN.
If you have done evil and do not repent you shall eat the fruits of your actions. We should endeavor to know the truth.