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God's Plan for America--Part 6

When Israel and Judah were divided after the death of Solomon, the primary reason given in Scripture was in regard to high taxes without representation. In 1 Kings 12:4, the people told Solomon's son:

⁴ Your father made our yoke hard; therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you."

Take note that taxes were called a "yoke." Considering the fact that Solomon mined gold around the world and "became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom" (10:23), it is amazing that he even needed to tax the Israelites at all. He brought in 666 talents of gold in one year (10:14). This was 87,246 pounds of gold, or 1,395,936 oz. It was more expensive in those days, but even at today's prices ($1540/oz) this would be a yearly income of over 2 billion dollars.

Nonetheless, he had financial problems, because no amount of money is ever enough. So when the Israelites came to Rehoboam to request a lighter tax burden, he consulted with his advisors, who gave conflicting advice. 1 Kings 12:13-14,

¹³ And the king answered the people harshly, for he forsook the advice of the elders which they had given him, ¹⁴ and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, "Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions."

On account of this tax policy, ten tribes of Israel broke away and formed their own nation, making Jeroboam their first king, as the prophet Ahijah had prophesied earlier (1 Kings 11:31). It was God's intention to divide the nation on account of the sins of Solomon himself.

From that point on, Israel and Judah were two separate nations, each ruled by its own king. The prophets always distinguish between them, calling one Judah and the other Israel. This division caused a breach between the Scepter of Judah and the Birthright of Joseph, because the house of Israel included the tribes of Joseph--Ephraim and Manasseh.

This great "breach" could only be repaired by Jesus Christ, who would come twice--the first time of Judah to claim His Scepter (throne), and the second time ofJoseph to claim His Birthright. This was prophesied in Isaiah 58:12, where the Messiah is called "the repairer of the breach."

This breach occurred in 931 B.C., and the breach became even worse when the Israelites were deported to Assyria, beginning in 745 B.C. and accomplished over a period of 24 years until 721 B.C. when Samaria was taken.

This began the long seven "times" of Tribulation as specified in the Law of Tribulation (Lev. 26:18). Daniel 7:25 shows us that a "time" was a specific time cycle, and Rev. 13:5 says that 3-1/2 "times" was 42 months--or 1,260 days/years. Thus, 7 "times" would be 2,520 days/years.

Thus, 745 B.C. began Israel's tribulation and dispersion, which then began to come to an end 2,520 years later in 1776 A.D. with the founding of America.

Or, dating from the fall of Samaria in 721 B.C., the time ended in 1800 when Washington D.C. was built.

The point of this is to show the connection between Israel and America. The breach between Israel and Judah started this whole time of tribulation. Prophetically speaking, Jeremiah 30:7 calls it "the time of Jacob's distress" (NASB). Jacob's "distress" was a period of 21 years, during which time Joseph was separated from his brethren (including Judah). Applied nationally, this was to be 210 year cycles.

Hence, 2,520 years is not only 7 x 360, or "7 times," but is also 12 x 210 years, or 12 times of Jacob's distress.

This time of "distress" is defined by Jacob's own experience as a time of separation from Joseph, a time when Joseph appeared to be dead, a time when the Birthright appeared to be lost. At the end of that time, however, Joseph was found, and it was as if Joseph had been raised from the dead (Gen. 45:28).

Joseph's descendants (along with the other "lost" tribes of Israel) followed the same prophetic path as their forefather. They were cast out and were lost in the same sense that Joseph had been lost. But after 12 x 210 years, America was established from 1776-1800, and "Joseph" came back from the dead.

Even so, it was only a beginning point, because this occurred during the reign of prophetic "Saul." This was yet an imperfect type. In fact, it is apparent that God was just getting started in His plan to repair the breach. In 1776 the American colonies revolted against King George over the issue of high taxes without representation. Since King George traced his ancestry back to David and Solomon, he was the appropriate representative and prophetic type to do this work.

http://www.originofnations.org/Royals/queens%20descent/The%20Queen's%20Royal%20Descent%20from%20King%20David%20of%20Judah.htm

In other words, this entire theme of THE BREACH was re-enacted in 1776 precisely on schedule in the panorama of prophetic history. It was as if God finally brought up the whole question once again in order to resolve the problem of the original breach. The problem could not even be addressed for a full 2,520 years, or 7 "times," but once we arrived at the year 1776, it was time to set forth the problem once again so that the breach could be repaired.

Recall that it was 210 years from the original breach in 931 B.C. to the fall of Samaria in 721 B.C. It was then another 12 x 210 years to the year 1800 when Washington was built. There was a final 210-year cycle from 1800-2010, making a total of 14 x 210 years from the original breach to the year 2010. (14 is the biblical number of "release," or deliverance.)

Hence, we are now in the time of release from "the time of Jacob's distress." Babylon is being overthrown even now, for we see the collapse of the banking system worldwide. But Babylon's fall is causing it to fight back and to thrash around, and so it is advisable to take care not to get in the way as it collapses.

We are in the season of the second work of Christ, which is the "Joseph" work. This past century has witnessed the usurpers taking the name Israel (in 1948), even as they usurped the Scepter in the first century, when it rightfully belonged to Jesus (Matt. 21:38). But Jesus Christ has been working with a new set of disciples, training them to be apostles for the Age to come. Judas is being separated from the apostles once again. The usurpers will again be overthrown, along with Hagar-Jerusalem and her children. Momentous events are upon us now, as the great drama of prophecy plays out on the stage of history.

Tomorrow, June 19, we come to the 10-year anniversary of the great Marriage Proposal that was seen in 2001. It was the culmination of a series of spiritual wars in 2001 that brought about America's divorce from the golden calves (March 24, 2001), followed by the annulment of the marriage to disinherit the children of that marriage (April 23, 2001). Then the Marriage Proposal was sent out and ratified by the overcomers on June 19, 2001.

The overall purpose of this was revealed as: He is Building Effective Apostleship.

Thus, I will be gone on "vacation" Monday-Wednesday next week. One of my daughters is coming to visit, and they want us to take them to the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior. I find it interesting how God has purpose in absolutely everything, and He knows how to reveal Himself even in a simple vacation.