faithful remnant in Israel during the `many days' that the nation would abide `without a king' and `without an ephod'

(Hos. 3:4). The prophetic ministry therefore covered the final decline and end of the historical kingdom.

Not only did they speak and write to strengthen the faithful, but they constantly warned the nation of the

consequences of their sin. The 70 years slavery in Babylon should have taught Israel that divine election does not

abolish human responsibility. Yet comparatively few listened and heeded. The attitude of the majority was

`prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits' (Isa. 30:10). The last thing they

wanted to hear was punishment for their continued rebellion and failure.

What is remarkable and most important to grasp is that, in spite of all the declension of Israel, there is not the

slightest intimation that God's unconditional covenants with Israel were broken or can ultimately be rendered null

and void. Men may utterly fail in their response to the Lord, but He never fails to keep His Word and His promises.

`I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed' (Mal. 3:6) and further He says, `My

covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips' (Psa. 89:34).

Concerning the kingdom covenant Jeremiah writes:

`For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel ... If ye can

break My covenant of the day, and My covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their

season; then may also My covenant be broken with David My servant, that he should not have a son to reign

upon his throne' (Jer. 33:17,20,21).

When we take all the abject failure of Israel into consideration, how wonderful it is to realise afresh that God's

great kingdom purposes for earth and heaven must stand, and finally receive a glorious fulfilment, although this

great goal may take a long time to attain through man's failure.

There is some diversity of opinion as to the exact time the historical kingdom of God in Israel ended. Some regard

the 70 years captivity in Babylon as the terminus; others would take it to the beginning of the New Testament era.

But there is one thing that was very evident and that was the constant presence of the Lord with His earthly

people, symbolised by the shekinah-glory from Sinai onwards to the point where Ezekiel saw this glory slowly

departing from the Temple and finally vanishing. The prophet dates this in `the sixth year' of the captivity of king

Jehoiachin. The prophet, in a vision, is shown the terrible apostasy of the people in Jerusalem. He himself was a

captive in Babylon, but the vision showed clearly what was going on in the land of Israel. He is shown 70 of the

elders of Israel worshipping idols, `creeping things and abominable beasts' which had been painted on the Temple

walls (Ezek. 8:10). At the north gate of the house Ezekiel sees `women weeping for Tammuz' (8:14), a heathen god,

corresponding to the Greek Adonis. The worship of this god was accompanied by licentious orgies and was so bad

that it was finally suppressed by Constantine.

Then the prophet is shown the `inner court' where twenty-five men were worshipping the rising sun and these

men were priests, the religious leaders of the nation (8:16). God's solemn verdict is given in verse 18:

`Therefore will I also deal in fury: Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in Mine

ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them'.

Jehovah's patience had run out with the idolatrous nation and now He determined to withdraw His presence from

His earthly people and lay them aside for an indefinite period. Concerning their rulers God said to the king:

`"`O profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose time of punishment has reached its

climax, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Take off the turban, remove the crown. It will not be as it was:

The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low. A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! It will not

be restored until He comes to Whom it rightfully belongs; to Him I will give it.'"' (Ezek. 21:25-27 N.I.V.).

The kingdom had come to its end as far as the Old Testament is concerned. As Hosea expressed it:

`For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice,

and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: afterward shall the children of Israel return,