until the time they reached the zenith of power in the reign of King Solo mon. After this time they began to decline through sin. This degradation of the nation ended in the captivity of the people of Israel. Samaria, which was the capital of the nation of Israel in the north, was taken into captivity about the year 722 B.C. Judah was taken into captivity about the year 605 B.C. But Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, was not completely destroyed until 586 B.C. by King Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of the Baby lonian empire. .The last destruction of Jerusalem was about the year A.D. 70 when Titus the Roman devastated and desolated the land of promise, particularly the city of Jerusalem. What was Jacob’s reward for fol lowing the command of Genesis 28: 1-5? “And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of stones of that place, and ppt them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascend ing and descending on it. And, be hold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou 31 When you take the word "serve" out of "service" all you have left is "ice."
me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlast ing covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:3-8). In this portion of Scripture, we see the covenant between God and Abraham as well as with the descendants of Abraham. Secondly, it was given to them for an everlasting possession. This is their unmistakably clear title. Now, apart from the fact that God was rewarding Abraham fo r his faith, He also had a special reason for choosing this people in prefer ence to any other race. The reason is given us clearly in the Word of God. “For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God.” “The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special peo ple Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” “The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you because you were more in number than any other peo ple, for ye were the fewest of all people. But because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn unto your fathers, that the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondage.” The people of Israel were chosen be cause of God’s love for them; on account of His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; in order that other nations might receive the light of God’s deep and wonderful truth. Is rael was chosen to be a representa tive people for God in a world which was hostile to the truth. God gave them many promises of blessing in return for their obedience to His wonderful will. At the same time He gave them many warnings. In Deuteronomy 28 we read a special list of blessings which were definitely fulfilled in the national life of Israel. This was up
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