Israelite Tribes in History. Manasseh Rebels against Ephraim!
Adapted in part from:
Reply to Quora Query: Were America's founders in violation of Biblical law when the revolted against the British crown?
https://www.quora.com/The-Bible-says-obey-your-government-even-if-it-is-corrupt-so-were-Americas-founders-in-violation-of-Biblical-law/answer/Yair-Davidiy
Contents:
1. Introduction. Obedience and Disobedience to the Ruler
2. Ephraim versus Judah, Justified rebellion?
3. The American Revolution as a Parallel to the Rebellion of Jeroboam Against the House of David
4. The Biblical Perspective. It Was All for the Better!
5. The British in Palestine as Another Historical Parallel
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1. Introduction. Obedience and Disobedience to the Ruler
The Bible gives varying perspectives on the question of obedience to the "Crown" i.e. the Reigning Monarchy.
(a) On the one side a reigning monarch needs to be obeyed:
Joshua (NKJV) 1:
16 So they answered Joshua, saying, 'All that you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we heeded Moses in all things, so we will heed you. Only the LORD your God be with you, as He was with Moses. 18 Whoever rebels against your command and does not heed your words, in all that you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and of good courage.'
This applies even to a foreign ruler.
Jeremiah 29:
7 And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace.
A righteous person is encouraged to obey both God and the monarch.
Proverbs (CEV) 24:
21 My children, you must respect the LORD and the king, and you must not make friends with anyone who rebels against either of them.
(b) On the other hand a monarch who acts against the national Interest and disobeys Divine Law can be replaced (1-Samuel 15:23).
There were times when the Almighty sanctioned rebellion and secession.
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2. Ephraim versus Judah, Justified rebellion?
The problem of obedience or disobedience to the reigning monarch may be illustrated by the Rebellion and Secession of the Ten Tribes of Israel.
On the death of King Solomon, his son Rehoboam became king. Solomon had taxed the people severely. A deputation representing the Israelite Tribes came to Rehoboam and requested an alleviation in taxation. Rehoboam answered them roughly (1-Kings 12:14). Ten of the Tribes led by Jeroboam from the Tribe of Ephraim seceded (1-Kings 11:20). They set up their own kingdom. Rehoboam assembled an army from the two Tribes, Judah and Benjamin, who had stayed with him. The intention was to go to war against the rebellious Ten Tribes and force them to accept the suzerainty of Rehoboam. A prophet came to Rehoboam and told him to desist.
1-Kings (NKJV) 12:
24 "Thus says the LORD: 'You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel. Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.'" Therefore they obeyed the word of the LORD, and turned back, according to the word of the LORD.
The separation and secession reflected the will of God . It had been predicted in advance:
1-Kings 11:
31 And he said to Jeroboam, "Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you 32 (but he shall have one tribe for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel),'" cf. 2-Chronicles 11:4.
Later Jeroboam caused his subjects to commit idolatry (1-Kings (NKJV) 12: 28-29). He was rebuked by a Prophet. Jeroboam was told that he would be punished BUT if he had have behaved correctly he would have been rewarded and his ruling lineage would have continued.
1-Kings 14:
7 Go, tell Jeroboam, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you ruler over My people Israel.'"
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3. The American Revolution as a Parallel to the Rebellion of Jeroboam Against the House of David
After King Solomon died his son Rehoboam reigned. In his time the northern Ten Tribes of Israel separated from the Tribes in the south. They rebelled against the House of Jesse meaning the lineage of David. [Jesse was the father of David, and David the father of Solomon.] This was in effect the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin centered on Jerusalem being rejected by the other Tribes.
The Bible describes internecine strife between the Tribes of Israel as a sign that the Almighty is angry with Israel in general.
Isaiah (NKJV) 9:
21 Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh;
Together they shall be against Judah.
For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
The Ten Tribes were exiled by the Assyrians. They lost awareness of their ancestry and moved to the west. We identify the USA with Manasseh and Ephraim with the British.
History often repeats itself.
The above verse in Isaiah 9:21 describes Ephraim and Manasseh fighting each other. This happened in the American Revolution of 1776 when the USA became independent of Britain.This was Manasseh agaisnt Ephraim and Ephraim versus Manasseh.
The verse continues "Together they shall be against Judah." This happened when Ephraim and Manasseh did not help Jewish refugees before the Holocaust and after that when the British tried to repress the Jews in Palestine just before 1948.
We shall speak of these events in the present article.
The American Revolution (1765-1783)
From the 1600s the British had enabled the establishment of colonies in North America. From the beginning the colonies were inclined to act in an independent manner. Some of them had been founded by elements that were dissatisfied with the situation in Britain for religious or social reasons.
The American Colonists even though they had mostly come from the British Isles had relatively different geographical and demographical Provenances when compared to the mainstream dominant elements in Britain (especially England) itself.
See:
Historical Social Differences. Ephraim (UK) versus Manasseh (USA)
http://hebrewnations.com/articles/tribes/socialjoseph.html
Physical Differences. The Biology of Ephraim (UK) versus Manasseh (USA)
http://hebrewnations.com/articles/tribes/biology.html
The War of the Austrian Succession 1740-1748) was a struggle between the European powers of France, Prussia, and Bavaria, against the Austrian Habsburgs, Britain, the Dutch Republic, Sardinia and Saxony. France and Britain were among those arraigned against each other. The French had possessions in North America. American colonists fought on behalf of the British. They helped capture the fortress of Louisbourg (in Nova Scotia, Canada) from the French. At the end of the War the fortress was returned to France. The American New England colonists resented this. They considered the presence of the French as a threat to themselves. There was something to this since, among other thongs, the French supported the Native Amerindians in their struggle against the English-speaking colonists. The British for their part thought the colonists should pay more towards their own defence and upkeep. The colonists were not opposed in principle to this but wanted their own Representation in the English Parliament. Their motto was, "No Taxation without Representation!" Tension developed and each of the colonies elected its own ruling body circumventing British authority. Acts of rebellion such as the "Boston Tea Party" were committed.
The "Boston Tea Party" (May 10, 1773) occurred when American Colonists dressed as Indians threw British produce into the sea. They were protesting the imposition by the British on imported goods to the American colonies. King George-3 at the time of the revolution was the British monarch. He was not an absolute ruler. George was subject to the will of the British Ruling Classes and the Parliament. In principle he was king both of the English and also over the colonists in America.
King George should therefore have considered himself equally responsible for the Americans. His subjects in America had as much claim on his considerations as those in the Home Country. His Royal Majesty however and England were not conducting themselves as required. The British were relating to the Americans as inferiors who needed to bow before the will of the English at Home. Not only that but the American Colonists wanted to expand at the expense of the Native Amerindians. The British were circumscribing their ability to do so. In this and other matters the British Americans were being held back from reaching their God-given destiny.
Armed hostilities broke out between the colonists and the British authorities.
George-3 (reigned 1760-1801) was the third British monarch of the House of Hanover. [It may interest Brit-Am readers to know that George-3, or his father, may have been an ancestor of Yair Davidiy. My mother was Jewish. My father was a Gentile. DNA says my paternal ancestry may go back to Neil the first High King of Ireland. In addition to this, family tradition says that through the mother of my father we are related to the Hanoverian Monarchs of Great Britain.] George-3 has been blamed for relating to the American Rebellion with obduracy and strengthening the hard-liners in English government circles. France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic sided with the colonists and a full-fledged war resulted. The British were eventually defeated. King George authorized peace negotiations. US Independence was recognized. John Adams was appointed American Minister to London in 1785. George told Adams,
"I was the last to consent to the separation; but the separation having been made and having become inevitable, I have always said, as I say now, that I would be the first to meet the friendship of the United States as an independent power."
This statement by George-iii is reconciliatory. Even so, it shows that the King still had not seen anything wrong as to the Colonials having been denied equal representation with the rest of his British subjects.
It will be seen that the American experience in this matter parallels the Jewish one.
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4. The Biblical Perspective. It Was All for the Better!
King George was not a real king in the Biblical sense. England was ruled by its Parliament. Technically speaking the monarch bequeathed on Parliament the right to rule in his name. In practice the powers of the king were limited though in border-line cases his influence could be decisive. By disregarding the rights of his subjects in the American colonies King George had helped bring about what eventuated. His behavior was similar to that of King Rehoboam who antagonized the Israelites and caused 10 of the 12 Tribes to rebel against him.
History shows that the American Revolution was justified. The USA became the greatest nation the world has ever known. There is not a nation on earth that has not benefited from American largess. The USA has been an influence for good in the world. Despite mistakes here and there on the whole all of humanity has been affected for the better by the USA. Britain has also benefited.
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5. The British in Palestine as Another Historical Parallel
Another parallel may be found in Palestine under the British Mandate. The British at first after the Balfour Declaration in 1917 and the San Remo authorization of the Mandate for Palestine of 1920 helped the Jews enter and develop the Land. Then with the rise of Hitler when the Jews were most in need the British held the Jews back. They limited the number of Jews allowed to enter the Land. There had always existed anti-Semites in the British Establishment. For a while however the voice of the Judeophobes was quieted. The Jews were enabled to create the framework for a future state. Then the British reneged. One of their reasons for this backtracking was a misplaced, misguided consideration for the "Native" Arabs. Consequently the Jews found themselves in a life-or-death situation and therefore had to act against the British Authorities. In balance the British up unto the end did more to help the Jews than they did the Arabs. Nevertheless they did try to hold the Jews back and Jews consequently suffered. The Jews had a God-given Imperative to look after themselves and also settle in the Land and create an independent existence of their own with it. In so far as the British did not help the Jews as much as they could but rather at times took the Arab side then they were going against the Bible.