II Kings 14:26-27: “For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was bitter, for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel.  And the Lord said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, the son of Joash.”

This prophecy was given at a very curious time in Israel.  It had been close to 200 years since the kingdom of Israel split into a Northern and Southern Kingdom.   The Southern Kingdom, Judah, had off and on periods swinging back and forth from serving God to turning away from God.   The Northern Kingdom left God and never came back.  During this period the Northern Kingdom of Israel suffered many defeats, prophets were coming and predicting future destruction if Israel would not return to God, yet, they continually forsook God.  For almost two hundred years they forsook God and gradually sank into poverty and destruction.  Until about 70 years before the final conquest of the Assyrians over Israel and entering captivity, something happened.

Israel’s greatest threats came from Assyria and Aram-Damascus.  These two nations started to suffer great internal turmoil and they were forced to briefly abandon their expansionistic goals to deal with their own problems.   This re-opened up the trade routes for Israel and under Jeroboam II, who was a gifted administrator and organizer, the nation suddenly entered 40 years of great prosperity. It was as if God was giving one final call for repentance. The prophet Amos addressed this prosperity in his book and condemned the wealthy barons who took advantage of the poorer people to increase their wealth.  So even in this time of great prosperity, there was terrible abuse and suffering and the wealthy were warned by the prophets, like Amos and Hosea that they would suffer for their misuse of the prosperity that God gave them.

Yet, it is odd that in the midst of their decline, their wickedness and refusal to turn to God, that God would suddenly turn around and start to bless this nation with prosperity.  Why would God suddenly pour out his blessing on these people who have shown no signs of repentance and give them 40 years of prosperity before their final fall, sort of like a last meal for the condemned.

Recent archeological finds dating back to 1990, have turned up the name YHWH with great frequency in Israel during the time of Jeroboam II.  Although Jeroboam II himself was a pretty godless man, there is evidence of a remnant  that were seeking God in Israel at this time.  Perhaps for their sake God brought this prosperity.

Another reason is from Scripture itself, here in II Kings 14;26-27. The people were suffering so much that God took pity on them and gave them a break.  The Lord saw, which is “ra’ah” or seeing through spiritual eyes, the affliction of the people.  The word affliction has two possible roots.  One possible root is ayin which describes deep spiritual insight.  The other root could be anah which means affliction, but could also mean a testimony.   This would be a testimony of humiliation. This testimony of humiliation was very bitter.  The word bitter is marah.  It is the same word for the name Naomi in the Book of Ruth took when she returned to her home in poverty.   The English word “bitter” is really not true to the word morah. Indeed the person is in bitter circumstances, but the clearer idea of this word is abject poverty due to disobedience.   I believe what happened here is that there was a revival that took place in Israel at this time.  The extreme poverty that the people found themselves in had humbled them to the point where they began to seek God.  This verse tells us that there was no ozar or helper for the people.   An ozar  is often used in the context of one who helps you in your relationship with God. The nation had been so spiritually barren, that there was no one or anything to guide them back to God.  So He sent prosperity as a sign of His caring.  But the people did not use it to re-establish their relationship with God, only to better their own existence at the expense of others, as Amos and Hosea so clearly pointed out.

God said He would not “blot” out their name from the heavens.  The word for blot is machah which is in a Hiphal infinitive construct form.  Hence it would be rendered “The Lord will certainly not cause their name to be destroyed from under the heavens.”  The word name means a reputation and the name of Israel means prince of God.  In other words God will preserve the people, if not for anything but to protect his reputation as a merciful God.

It would seem that God gave Israel one more chance.  When the remnant returned He blessed the whole nation, yet they took this renewed prosperity and abused it, and turned around and used it to oppress the people further.   After forty years their prosperity declined and the nation fell into captivity.

I hear so many people talk of a coming breakthrough in their lives. It may be in finances, ministry, or health.  Yet, should God bring this breakthrough  we need to ask ourselves, “Are we going to use it to enhance our relationship with God or to just feather our own nest here on earth?”  Like Israel, that breakthrough could be God’s final call to repentance.

I wonder about our nation.  In 2008 our economy almost completely collapsed.  It could have thrown us into a depression worse than the 1930’s yet we rebounded with an usually long bull market and our economy is stronger than ever. I heard yesterday that the unemployment rate was down to around 5%. Maybe there are some strong economic reasons for this, I don’t know I am not an economics expert, in fact I flunked my first economics class. Economics still remains mystery to me so there are likely some sound principles in play that were not in play during the 30’s.  However, maybe too this is just a repeat of 2,500 years ago and God has continued to pour prosperity on our nation as a fall call to repentance.