II Kings 14:26-27: “For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was bitter, for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel.  And the Lord said that he would not blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, the son of Joash.”

This prophecy was given at a very curious time in Israel. It had been close to 200 years since the kingdom of Israel split into a Northern and Southern Kingdom.   The Southern Kingdom, Judah, had off and on periods of swinging back and forth from serving God to turning away from God.   The Northern Kingdom left God and never came back.  During this period the Northern Kingdom of Israel suffered many defeats, prophets were coming and predicting future destruction if Israel would not return to God, yet, they continually forsook God.  About 70 years before the final conquest by the Assyrians over Israel and Israel entering captivity, something happened.

Israel’s greatest threats came from Assyria and Aram-Damascus.  These two nations started to suffer great internal turmoil and they were forced to briefly abandon their expansionistic goals to deal with their own problems. This re-opened up the trade routes for Israel and under Jereboam II, who was a gifted administrator and organizer, the nation suddenly entered 40 years of great prosperity. This is odd because our general belief is that if a nation does not serve God it will not prosper. Hence you have Christians who plead with God for a Christian president so this nation will return to God, no so much for the honor of God as they are seeking all the goodies that come with serving God.  If history and the Word of God is any indication, a nation’s blessings are not always dependent upon whether one worshipped God or not.  In fact that is a pagan belief and the reason that nations worshipped pagan, false gods. In ancient history it was believed that the strongest and most powerful nation was worshipping the most powerful god so everyone, including Israel, would jump on the band wagon and worship the god of the most powerful and prosperous nation in the hopes of getting in on the pay dirt. We Christians seem to have joined in lock step with this thinking and end up worshipping God Jehovah because He offers better pay.  If the blessings cease, well that is just an indication that we are not serving God with all our might like we should.

Yet, prosperity is often built on the backs of the unfortunate.  The rich and powerful take what they want and toss the banana peels to the poor. The prophet Amos addressed this very situation of prosperity in his book and condemned the wealthy barons who took advantage of the poorer people to increase their wealth.  So even in this time of great prosperity, there was terrible abuse and suffering and the wealthy were warned by the prophets, like Amos and Hosea, that this prosperity was meant for all and they would suffer for their misuse of this prosperity that God allowed them to have.

Yet, it is odd that in the midst of their decline, their wickedness and refusal to turn to God, that God would suddenly turn around and seemingly bless this nation with prosperity. Why would God suddenly pour out his blessing on these people who have shown no signs of repentance and give them 40 years of prosperity before their final fall, sort of like a last meal for the condemned?

Recent archeological finds dating back to 1990, have turned up the name YHWH with great frequency in Israel during the time of Jeroboam II. Although Jereboam II himself was a pretty Godless man, there is evidence of a remnant that were seeking God in Israel at this time. Perhaps for their sake God brought this prosperity. Well that is one theory if we stay with the God is a good paying employer theory.

Another reason can be found in Scripture itself, here in II Kings 14;26-27. The people were suffering so much that God took pity on them and gave them a break. The Lord saw, which is ra’ah or seeing through spiritual eyes, the affliction of the people. The word used here for affliction is ani which could have two possible roots.  One possible root is ayin which describes deep spiritual insight.  The other root could be anah which means affliction, but could also mean a testimony. This would be a testimony of humiliation.    This testimony of humiliation was very (mo’ed) bitter.  The word bitter is marah. It is the same word Naomi in the Book of Ruth took when she returned to her home in poverty. The English word bitter, however, may not really be the best word for marah. Indeed the person is in bitter circumstances, but the clearer idea of this word is abject poverty due to disobedience. I believe what happened here is that there was a revival that took place in Israel at this time. The extreme poverty that the people found themselves in had humbled them to the point where they began to seek God. This verse tells us that there was no ozar or helper for the people. An ozar is one who helps you in your relationship with God. The nation had been so spiritually barren, that there was no one or anything to guide them back to God.  So He sent prosperity as a sign of His caring or as an ozar.  But the people did not use it to re-establish their relationship with God, only to better their own existence at the expense of others, as Amos and Hosea so clearly pointed out.

God said He would not blot out their name from the heavens. The word for blot is machah which is in a Hiphal infinitive construct form.  Hence it would be rendered “The Lord will certainly not cause their name to be destroyed from under the heavens. The word name means a reputation and the name of Israel means prince of God. In other words God will preserve the people, if not for anything but to protect his reputation as a merciful God.

It would seem that God allowed Israel to enter a period of prosperity as an ozar, to help bring them back to God. When the remnant returned He blessed the whole nation, yet they took this renewed prosperity and abused it, and turned it around and used it to oppress the people further. After forty years their prosperity declined and the nation fell into captivity.

I hear so many people talk of a coming breakthrough in their lives. It may be in finances, ministry, or health. Yet, should God bring this breakthrough we need to ask ourselves, “Are we going to use it to enhance our relationship with God or to just feather our own nest here on earth?”  Like Israel, that breakthrough could just be God’s ozar or helper to bring us to repentance.