HOW THE TEN TRIBES WERE LOST
THE power and peace that Judah enjoyed under Jĕr-o-bṓ am bṓ am the second did not last after his death. His great kingdom fell apart, and his son Zăch-a-rī́ah reigned only six months. He was slain in the sight of his people by Shăĺ lum, who made himself king. But after only a month of rule, Shăĺ lum himself was killed by Mĕń a-hĕm, who reigned ten years of wickedness and of suffering in the land, for the As-sy̆ŕ ĭ-ans̝ spoiled the land and took away the riches of Ĭś̝ ra-el. Then came Pḗ kah and who was slain by Pé̄ kah, and Hō̇-shḗ ȧ, who in turn slew Pḗ kah. So nearly all the latter kings of Ĭś̝ ra-el won the throne by murder, and were themselves slain. The land was helpless, and its enemies, the Ăs-sy̆ŕ ĭ-ans̝ from Nĭń e-veh, won victories, and carried away many of the people, and robbed those who were left. All these evils came upon the Ĭś̝ ra-el-ītes, because they and their kings had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers and worshipped idols.
Hō̇-shḗ ȧ was the last of the kings over the Ten Tribes; nineteen kings in all, from Jĕr-o-bṓ am to Hō̇-shḗ ȧ. In Hō̇-shḗ ȧ's time, the king of Ăs-sy̆ŕ ĭ-ȧ, whose name was Shăl-man-ḗ s̝ēr, came up with a great army against Sā̇-mā́ ri-ȧ. He laid siege against the city; but it was in a strong place, and hard to take, for it stood on a high hill. The siege lasted three years, and before it was ended, Shăl-man-ḗ s̝ēr, the king of Ăs-sy̆ŕ ĭ-ȧ, died, and Säŕ gon, a great warrior and conqueror, reigned in his place. Säŕ gon took Sā̇-mā́ rĭ-ȧ, and put to death Hō̇-shḗ ȧ the last king of Ĭś̝ ra-el. He carried away nearly all the people from the land, and led them into distant countries in the east, to Mĕs-o-pō̇-tā́ mĭ-ȧ, to Mḗ dĭ-ȧ, and the lands near the great Caspian Sea. This Säŕ gon did, in order to keep the Ĭś̝ ra-el-ītes from again breaking away from his rule.
As in their own land the children of Ĭś ra-el had forsaken the Lord and had worshipped idols, so after they were taken to these distant lands they sought the gods of the people among whom they were living. They married the people of those lands, and ceased to be Ĭś̝ ra-el-ītes; and after a time they lost all knowledge of their own God, who had given them his words and sent them his prophets. So there came an end to the Ten Tribes of Ĭś̝ ra-el, for they never again came back to their own land, and were lost among the peoples of the far east.
But a small part of the people of Ĭś̝ ra-el were left in their own land. The king of Ăs-sy̆ŕ ĭ-ȧ brought to the land Ĭś̝ ra-el people from other countries, and placed them in the land. But they were too few to fill the land, and to care for it; so that the wild beasts began to increase in Ĭś̝ ra-el, and many of these strange people were killed by lions who lived among the mountains and in the valleys. They thought that the lions came upon them because they did not worship the God who ruled in that land, and they sent to the king of Ăs-sy̆ŕ ĭ-ȧ, saying, "Send us a priest who can teach us how to worship the God to whom this land belongs; for he has sent lions among us, and they are destroying us.”
They supposed that each land must have its own God, as the Phĭ-lĭś tĭnes̝ worshipped Dā́ gon, and the Mṓ ab-ĭtes Chḗ mosh, and the Ty̆ŕ ĭ-ans̝ and Zī-dṓ nĭ-ans̝, Ba'al and the Ăsh-ḗ rah. They did not know that there is only one God, who rules all the world, and who is to be worshipped by all men.
Then the king of Ăs-sy̆ŕ ĭ-ȧ sent to these people a priest from among the Ĭś̝ ra-el-ītes in his land; and this priest tried to teach them how to worship the Lord. But with the Lord's worship, they mingled the worship of idols; and did not serve the Lord only, as God would have them serve him. In after time these people were called Sā̇-măŕ ĭ-tans̝, from Sā̇-mā́ rĭ-ȧ, which had been their chief city. They had their temple to the Lord on Mount Ḡĕŕ ĭ-zĭm, near the city of Shḗ chem, and in that city a few of them are found even in our time.
Lesson 37. The Ten Tribes Lost; with Review of Part Fourth.
(Read Story 18 in Part Fourth, and recall of the other stories as much as may be needed for the Review.)
1. How many tribes were in the kingdom of Israel? Ten.
2. Who was the first king of the Ten Tribes? Jeroboam.
3. How many kings ruled over Israel or the Ten Tribes? Nineteen.
4. What is said of these kings? Nearly all of them were wicked.
5. Who was the most wicked of all the kings of Israel?
6. Who was Ahab’s wife? Queen Jezebel.
7. What was the chief city in the kingdom of Israel? Samaria
8. What great prophet lived in the times of Ahab and Jezebel? Elijah.
9. How was Elijah fed while hiding by a brook? By ravens.
10. Where did he restore to life a widow's son? At Zarephath.
11. Where did he call down fire from heaven upon an altar? On Mount Carmel.
12. Where did God talk with Elijah? At Mount Horeb.
13. How was Elijah taken to heaven? In a chariot of fire.
14. Who was the prophet after Elijah?
15. How did Elisha make a bitter spring fresh? By pouring in salt.
16. What woman's son did Elisha raise to life? The woman of Shunem.
17. What Syrian general did Elisha cure of leprosy? Naaman.
18. Where were chariots and horses of fire seen around Elisha ? At Dothan.
19. Who lived three days inside a great fish? Jonah.
20. To what land were the Ten Tribes carried away as prisoners? To Assyria