by Yair Davidiy.
Contents:
1. List of Kings of Israel and Judah.
2. The Last Kings of Judah.
3. The Prophet Ezekiel.
4. Ezekiel Had Prophesied before the First Chapter!
5. Highlights of Ezekiel from a Lost Tribes "Brit-Am" Point of View.
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1. List of Kings of Israel and Judah
Kings of Israel and Judah (United)
Saul
David
Solomon
Kings of Israel (the Ten Tribes).
https://www.infoplease.com/religion/kings-judah-and-israel
Jeroboam I: Led secession of Israel.
Nadab: Son of Jeroboam I.
Baasha: Overthrew Nadab.
Elah: Son of Baasha.
Zimri: Overthrew Elah.
Omri: Overthrew Zimri.
Ahab: Son of Omri; husband of Jezebel.
Ahaziah: Son of Ahab.
Jehoram (or Joram): Son of Ahab.
Jehu: Overthrew Jehoram.
Jehoahaz (or Joahaz): Son of Jehu.
Jehoash (or Joash): Son of Jehoahaz.
Jeroboam Il: Son of Jehoash.
Zechariah: Son of Jeroboam II.
Shallum: Overthrew Zechariah.
Menahem: Overthrew Shallum.
Pekahiah: Son of Menahem.
Pekah: Overthrew Pekahiah. Warred against Assyria under Tiglathpileser.
Hoshea: Overthrew Pekah; Kingdom overthrown by Assyrians under Shamlaneser and Sargon II.
Kings of Judah (Tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Levi, and representative minorities of the others).
Rehoboam
Abijah
Asa
Jehoshaphat
Jehoram
Ahaziah
Athaliah (Queen)
Jehoash (Joash)
Amaziah
Uzziah (also known as Azariah)
Jotham
Ahaz The Assyrians Tiglath-Pileser and Pul exiled Tribes east of the Jordan.
Hezekiah Exile of Ten Tribes completed. Jerusalem attacked by Sennacherib.
Manasseh
Amon
Josiah Judah asserts independence from Assyria, attempted re-unification with Israelite Scythians. Upon his death Israelite-Scythian enclave returned to their places of Exile.
Jehoahaz
Jehoiakim
Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) Ezekiel was exiled to Babylon along with much of Judah. Ezekiel while still quite young but already a Prophet went with the Exile to Babylon.
Zedekiah Remnant of Jews taken to Babylon.
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2. The Last Kings of Judah.
In the time of King Hezekiah the rest of Ten Tribes were to be exiled.
When Hezekiah began his reign part of the Ten Tribes had already been exiled. Hezekiah attempted to convince those who remained to return to the God Of Israel. He was partially successful and some of them moved to Judah but most remaiend were they where and were later taken away altogether by the Assyrians. The son of Hezekiah was Manasseh who may have been named after the Tribe of Manasseh that had been exiled with the rest of the Ten Tribes.
Manasseh was a bad man. He son of successor was Amon who may not have been much better.
Josiah son of Amon was a righteous king.
Josiah had four sons: Johanan, and Eliakim, and Mattanyahu, and Shallum.
The succession of monarchs did not always follow the rule of firstborn right but rather the decision of leading counsellors.
The youngest son of Josiah was the first to rule after him.
Shallum succeeded Josiah as king of Judah, under the name Jehoahaz.
Shallum was succeeded by Eliakim, under the name Jehoiakim.
Jehoiakim was succeeded by his own son Jeconiah.
Mattanyahu the brother of Jehoiakim and uncle of Jeconiah succeeded Jeconiah
under the name Zedekiah.
Zedekiah was the last king of Judah before the kingdom was conquered by Babylon and the Jews exiled.
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3. The Prophet Ezekiel.
The Prophet Ezekiel did not write his own book, the Book of Ezekiel, but rather his prophecies were written on scrolls and later collected and collated by the Great Assembly.
The Great Assembly also translated as Great Synagogue or Synod) was an assembly of 120 scribes, sages, and prophets, which existed from the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, early Second Temple period to the early Hellenistic period (which began with Alexander's conquests of 333�332 BCE, roughly coinciding with the Persian hegemony over Judah.
The Assembly's members traditionally included such figures as Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, Mordechai and Zerubbabel.[2]
Ezekiel, like Jeremiah, is said by the Talmud and Midrash to have been a descendant of Joshua by his marriage with the proselyte and former prostitute Rahab. Some statements found in rabbinic literature posit that Ezekiel was the son of Jeremiah.
Ezekiel was said to be already active as a prophet while in the Land of Israel, and he retained this gift when he was exiled with Jehoiachin and the nobles of the country to Babylon. [ Josephus, Ant. x. 6, - 3: "while he was still a boy"; comp. Rashi on Sanh. 92b].
Ezekiel was born in the Land of Israel to his father Buzi, a priest (Cohen), and it was there that he began his career as a prophet. Then, in the year 3327 (434 BCE), Jerusalem was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia. Nebuchadnezzar exiled the Jewish king Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) along with ten thousand captives, including the king's family, the nobility of the land and the leaders of the army.3 Among the captives was the prophet Ezekiel.
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4. Ezekiel Had Prophesied before the First Chapter!
The Book of Ezekiel begins with his vision of the Heavenly Chariot. This vision takes place in Babylon. It is not the first revelation that Ezekiel received. Ezekile began to prophecy in the Land if Israel and some of the Pophecies in his work may date from that time. Nevertheless, this first chapter is placed at the beginning of his work. The Sages of the Great Assembly who put this book together out of Scrolls containing the Prophecies of Ezekiel had their own reasons for placing every potion where they did.
[Ezekiel 1:1] NOW IT CAME TO PASS IN THE THIRTIETH YEAR, IN THE FOURTH MONTH, IN THE FIFTH DAY OF THE MONTH, AS I WAS AMONG THE CAPTIVES BY THE RIVER OF CHEBAR, THAT THE HEAVENS WERE OPENED, AND I SAW VISIONS OF GOD.
Eisemann points out that Prophetic books start out with the time of the prophecy given since events of the time determined the nature of the prophecy. This holds even though the full import of the message was for the distant future. Ezekiel was with those captives of Judah who had been taken into exile with Jehoiakin. According to tradition Ezekiel had received the gift of prophecy while still in the Land of Israel even though his book begins with his being in the land of Babylon.
"THE RIVER OF CHEBAR": Some say "Chebar" is another name for the River Euphrates. Others say that it was actually a large irrigation channel or a branch of the Euphrates that had been converted into an irrigation channel. At that time the irrigation works of Mesopotamia (Iraq) were very sophisticated and superior to those now in use in modern Iraq.
See:
Chapters with Brit-Am Commentary
https://www.britam.org/Ezekiel1to5.html#Chapters
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5. Highlights of Ezekiel from a Lost Tribes "Brit-Am" Point of View.
Ezekiel (37:15-28) saw the return of the Ten Tribes as an indispensable requirement for the deliverance of Israel and Judah. The stranger who sojourns with us and identifies with us will have the same rights as us (Ezekiel 47:22). He also has the same responsibilities (14:7-8). God will once again accept Judah and all Israel (16:62). Ezekiel (23:2-3) indicates that from the very beginning the two sections of the Children of Israel, i.e. "Judah" and "Israel" or "Ephraim" were distinct entities with their own predispositions. The Book of Ezekiel at its primary level is mainly concerned with Judah but here and there it contains messages for the Lost Ten Tribes of the greatest importance. Ezekiel(11:14 according to Commentators) refers to the three stages of exile of the Lost Ten Tribes. They will be ingathered. God is still with them. Ezekiel hints that first the exiles will return to the Land of Israel and after that they shall put away their idols and keep the Law. Ezekiel says that Judah has an obligation to help the Lost Ten Tribes return. The complete return of Judah is dependent upon the return of "Samaria" (16:53, 55, 61) meaning the Ten Tribes especially Manasseh. Manasseh today is mainly the USA. God will renew His covenant with Judah and with Israel (16:62). Ezekiel (chapter 26) describes the movement of Tyre to Tarshish in Spain. He describes the international mercantile connections of Tyre (chapter 27). He recalls Dan and Javan (the Greeks) together (27:19) as trading with Tyre and engaged in metallurgical production.
Ezekiel 37 speaks of dead bodies being resurrected. He than goes on to say that God told him to take the stick (in Hebrew "etz" which can also mean "wood", or "tree") and to write upon it, "For Judah and for the Children of Israel who are joined to him", i.e. "For the Jews". He was told to take another stick and write upon it, "For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the House of Israel who are joined unto him" (37:16). He was then told to join them together and they were to be one (37:17). Bystanders saw Ezekiel fulfill these symbolic actions and asked him what their meaning was? He replied that "Judah" and "Israel" (the Lost Ten Tribes) are destined to be (37:19-21) gathered together into the land of Israel and there re-united. They are to become one kingdom and one king shall rule over them (37:22). This King will be either a descendant of David or King David himself. They shall keep the Law (37:24). God will dwell amongst them and the Tabernacle-Temple will be rebuilt (37:27-28).
We learn from this the two entities "Judah" and "Joseph" will remain separate from each other until the end times. Commentators saw the niceties of the Hebrew original in the above passage as indicating that: (a) The re-unification must take place initially through our own initiative. Ezekiel is told to take the sticks and write upon them and join them together in his own hands but then God makes them one in HIS hand (37:19). The Temple will be rebuilt (chapter 43). The land of Great Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates and beyond will be divided up amongst the twelve Tribes of Israel (chapter 47). The non-Israelite stranger who dwells among you will receive an inheritance together with the Tribe he dwelt amongst (47:22).