26 
ISRAEL. 
B.C. But the Divine long-suffering at last came to its close. The idolatry of Israel was 
incorrigible, and, in the 253rd year of the Revolt, the kingdom was swept by an Assyrian 
invasion, and the ten tribes were carried into captivity, in Media. Erom this shock the 
throne never rose again. 
B.C. The trial of Judah continued for 134 years longer; perhaps, from her occasional 
returns to the true worship. But her idolatry, towards the end of the period, became 
intolerable. Manasseh gathered all the profanations of the surrounding heathen, and even 
accumulated upon them the abhorred worship of Baal. The fall of the nation was thence¬ 
forth sealed, and in the 387 th year of the Revolt 1 Judah was carried into captivity in 
Babylon. 
But in this long course of national convulsion one proof of Divine design is sustained, 
totally unexampled in the history of the world,— the unbroken succession of the kings of 
Judah. 
The rank of monarchs places them so much above the wants and objects of ordinary 
life, that their minds naturally fix upon the future. The loss of offspring, or the extinction 
of their dynasties, are almost the only points on which they can be approached by personal 
misfortune. Thus we find the declaration, that “ no son shall sit upon the throne,” the most 
frequent prophetic punishment of criminal sovereigns. 
But to Judah, in the person of Solomon, it had been declared: “ I will establish the 
throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, 
There shall not fail thee a man to be rider in Israel.” 2 
This promise was fulfilled: and the throne of Judah was actually held by a descendant 
of David in the direct line during the unequalled period of 427 years. In immediate 
contrast, the kingdom of Israel exhibited a rapid succession of dynasties. Yet the political 
condition of both countries in all other respects was nearly the same; both were alike 
exposed to all the hazards which dislocate a royal succession; both suffered from desperate 
invasions, conspiracies, and even domestic massacres; both alike swam in a tide of blood, 
but the diadem of Israel was frequently submerged, while the diadem of Judah floated 
constantly along. The kings of Israel appear and disappear, like the phantoms of a fevered 
brain; but a son of David is constantly seen sitting in feeble, but steady, light on the 
throne of Jerusalem. It is scarcely possible to conceive a more remarkable proof of Provi¬ 
dence; as an argument for the Divine control over the course of tilings, it is distinct, 
decisive, and unanswerable. 3 
1 Jahn, Heb. Commonwealth. 
2 2 Chronicles, vii. 18. Of course, this implied, only while the throne itself continued ; for in the 
same sentence its duration is rendered contingent on its obedience. “ If ye shall go to serve other gods 
then will I pluck them up.” And the cessation of the line and the fall of the throne were alike finally 
produced by idolatry. 
3 No throne, ancient or modern, offers a parallel to this unbroken line. Of the twelve Caesars, but 
one was succeeded by his son. The modern succession, in modern thrones, has been a perpetual change, 
even of dynasties, generally once in a century and a half. The French throne, within the last three 
hundred and fifty years, from the death of Charles VIII., in 1479, has had six changes of family. But 
the throne of Judah exhibited, not only the same family, but the direct following of son after son in 
nineteen kings, from David to Jechoniah, in whose reign Judah was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, and 
the king sent to Babylon. His uncle Zedekiah, the first instance of the broken succession, was then left 
