One reason why he hasn't come before now is because there is an underlying piece of the landscape very few people seem to be aware of. I'll kind of lay it out in brief here for your consideration.
Under King David's sons, the kingdom became divided into two separate kingdoms. In the course of time both of them became considered by the Lord to be adulterous wives. He named them Aholah and Aholibah. He put them away and had them stoned to death. It wouldn't be until it was time for them to resurrect from the dead that the Lord would return to them. We can glean factors from holy writ to project when this could be and know it wouldn't be prior.
Ezekiel 23
4 And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.
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36 The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations;
37 That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.
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46 For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled.
47 And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.
Elsewhere Ezekiel says a bit more detail about the consequences of their actions.4 And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.
...
36 The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations;
37 That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.
...
46 For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled.
47 And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.
Ezekiel 4
1 Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem [Aholibah]:
2 And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.
3 Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel [Aholah].
4 Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.
5 For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel [Aholah].
6 And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah [Aholibah] forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.
7 Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.
8 And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.
9 Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.
10 And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
11 Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
13 And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel [Aholah] eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.
Here we see the Lord giving a definite measure of time that these adulterous wives will endure (comparitively) very sorrowful conditions in their state of being scattered. Thus, He won't come to redeem them until their period of "judgment" or punishment is expired.1 Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem [Aholibah]:
2 And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.
3 Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel [Aholah].
4 Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.
5 For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel [Aholah].
6 And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah [Aholibah] forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.
7 Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.
8 And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.
9 Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.
10 And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
11 Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
13 And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel [Aholah] eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.
Extracting the timeframe from verses 5 & 6 we see the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom received differing periods of time. And, from verse 6 we learn each day Ezekiel suffered under the conditions the Lord commanded him to perform in the sight of the people translated into a year that the people would suffer.
Northern kingdom = 390 days -> 390 years
Southern kingdom = 40 days -> 40 years
Now, since God had tried to get the people to reform and mend their ways and they did not do so, there is another provision in law that says any judgment the Lord passes that does not bring the people to reform shall be multiplied by 7.Southern kingdom = 40 days -> 40 years
Leviticus 26
21 And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.
22 I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.
23 And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;
24 Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.
25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
So, what we have going on here is a 7x multiplier such that:21 And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.
22 I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.
23 And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;
24 Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.
25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
Northern kingdom = 390 years x 7 = 2,730 years
Southern kingdom = 40 years x 7 = 280 years
Thus, the people of the southern kingdom would be eligible to be redeemed from their period of judgment or punishment much earlier than the people of the northern kingdom would be. Southern kingdom = 40 years x 7 = 280 years
Ezekiel 4:13 indicated the northern kingdom would be scattered (like a decomposing body) all among the Gentiles for that period of time. They would totally forget their identity and everything. They would become what Jesus called "the lost sheep of Israel".
We should bear in mind, at the time Ezekiel delivered this prophecy, both of the kingdoms had been stoned to death. This is information "after the fact" so that they would know the full ramifications of the punishment being brought upon them. Judah also became as if it were a scattered and decomposing body among the Babylonians and Persions and beyond.
So, history shows us that the people of the southern kingdom were in fact gathered back together, amid considerable persecution, and finally able to overcome to some extent their condition of death and live as a somewhat functional societal body again. This also means they were eligible, on their own account, to have the Lord come to them again and reestablish a new covenant with them since they obviously broke the former covenant and were put to death.
However, there is one part where Ezekiel gives them some pretty bad news. In chapter 23 where he is talking about the two sisters, he says to Aholibah, who is Judah, that she shall also share in her sister's cup.
Ezekiel 23
31 Thou [Aholibah] hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand.
So, what the Lord is saying is the time would come that her fate would become tied to the fate of her sister. She would eventually be lumped into her sisters circumstances. Thus, the period of 2,730 years becomes meaningful for those of the southern kingdom too. Eventually, they are all in it together. Aholibah would be scattered and decomposing among all the nations of the Gentiles along with her sister Aholah. And so on. 31 Thou [Aholibah] hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand.
However, before her fate was tied into her sister's fate, she was eligible to receive her King and be redeemed. Thus, as is protocol, He came. But, the landscape was pitted against their success. Even though their Messiah did come to them, it was impossible for success to be obtained at that time. Thus, their Messiah was 'stumped' in His bid to establish the Kingdom at that time.
As soon as this was accomplished then the Lord gave Aholah's cup into Aholibah's hand to share in it and Rome came in and smashed them as a living societal body again and made them into a decomposing body scattered among the Gentiles, just as her sister Aholah had been for centuries already.
Thus, they all were in a state of death in terms of being a living autonomous societal body living freely in accordance to God's laws and statutes. And, they would not be gathered (resurrected) and given "life" again until the period of their judgment had become expired. At least not without some very unfortunate consequences, as we shall see.
(To be continued...)
