Jerusalem is chosen?

[~candice~]

I'd like your thoughts on this:

1Ki 11:11 Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, "Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant.

1Ki 11:12 Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.

1Ki 11:13

However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and

for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen

."

OK what does it mean that Jerusalem was chosen? Is Jerusalem as the current capital of Israel, representative of all Israel?

The only commentaries I have read that cover this section, allude to a future David rescuing a future Jerusalem, calling it the church, and I'm not so sure about this.

I also noticed that the 12 tribes are split (and they are explicitly mentioned as 12 tribes) into 10 plus 1 (10 north, Judah in the south).

So why is Benjamin presumed to be absorbed into the tribe of Judah?

I thought the Levites were spread throughout all of Israel and some stayed with the southern 2 tribes Judah and Benjamin?

1Ki 11:29 And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the open country.

1Ki 11:30 Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into

twelve pieces.

1Ki 11:31 And he said to Jeroboam, "Take for yourself

ten pieces

, for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you

ten tribes

1Ki 11:32 (but he shall have

one tribe

, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of

Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen

out of all the tribes of Israel),

---

1Ki 11:35 But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and will give it to you,

ten tribes

.

1Ki 11:36 Yet to his son I will give

one tribe

, that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in

Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name

.

[Fraught]

i can only address with certainty the one phrase 'the city where i have chosen to put my name'. name, inheritance, seed - these refer to the same thing so this is Jesus Christ, the descendant, the seed of David, the inheritor.

[enoob57]

I'd like your thoughts on this:

1Ki 11:11 Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, "Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant.

1Ki 11:12 Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.

1Ki 11:13

However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and

for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen

."

OK what does it mean that Jerusalem was chosen? Is Jerusalem as the current capital of Israel, representative of all Israel?

The only commentaries I have read that cover this section, allude to a future David rescuing a future Jerusalem, calling it the church, and I'm not so sure about this.

I also noticed that the 12 tribes are split (and they are explicitly mentioned as 12 tribes) into 10 plus 1 (10 north, Judah in the south).

So why is Benjamin presumed to be absorbed into the tribe of Judah?

I thought the Levites were spread throughout all of Israel and some stayed with the southern 2 tribes Judah and Benjamin?

1Ki 11:29 And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the open country.

1Ki 11:30 Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into

twelve pieces.

1Ki 11:31 And he said to Jeroboam, "Take for yourself

ten pieces

, for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you

ten tribes

1Ki 11:32 (but he shall have

one tribe

, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of

Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen

out of all the tribes of Israel),

---

1Ki 11:35 But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and will give it to you,

ten tribes

.

1Ki 11:36 Yet to his son I will give

one tribe

, that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in

Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name

.

John 17:20-26

20 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

24 "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. 26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

NKJV

Rev 3:12

12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.

NKJV

Rev 21:2-4

Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."

NKJV

One God, one people, one world, one city unto the Father one worship! Everything that is happening then and now is toward this future and purpose as the heart of John 17 reveals! It is like the Father telling His children why. We will be Holy both in body and mind and City and country and world and ..... Love Steven

[Guest yod]

.

[~candice~]

i can only address with certainty the one phrase 'the city where i have chosen to put my name'. name, inheritance, seed - these refer to the same thing so this is Jesus Christ, the descendant, the seed of David, the inheritor.

Jesus isn't a city

Yet Jerusalem is chosen as His Throne. That is the City of the King and where He will rule from upon His return. He returns to do battle with all the nations of the world who have come against the city.

OK, so it's pointing to the second coming, the Massiach ben David type of Christ, to fulfil the remaining parts of the Davidic covenant?

v32 was confusing.. choosing Jerusalem out of the tribes. How is a city chosen out of a bunch of tribes of people?

I don't quite yet understand how the tribes of Benjamin and Levi ended up after this division of Israel into the north and south, am I correct in saying that the levites were not assigned to either kingdom but remained as priests spread throughout all Israel (12)?

[mizzdy]

The Levites would be where the temple would be, they have no land as inheritance but would always be where the tabernacle or temple was and since the temple was in the south with Judah thats where they would have been. Dan seems to always be attached to Judah or it seems that way. Just a side note on why I think Jersusalem is special and it would be the current city, Melchizedek who Abraham gave tribute to was in the city of Salem or Jerusalem, so God had this city chosen long before we see Him sending the 12 tribes to it. So Jerusalem has always been the seat of Gods throne so to speak, where kings reside and where He will reside when He returns.

[Guest shiloh357]

I also noticed that the 12 tribes are split (and they are explicitly mentioned as 12 tribes) into 10 plus 1 (10 north, Judah in the south).

So why is Benjamin presumed to be absorbed into the tribe of Judah?

It is basically just a form of conversational "shorthand." Benjamin is understood as a distinct tribe but when Judah is mentioned in the south in this passage, Judah and Benjamin are referenced collectively as "Judah." Its kind of like how most Jewish people refer to both Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread collectively as "Passover."

v32 was confusing.. choosing Jerusalem out of the tribes. How is a city chosen out of a bunch of tribes of people?

Jerusalem is THE city of Judah. It is the city where God chose to place His Name. It is chosen from among all of the tribes to be the seat of worship in all of Israel and indeed, the whole world.

I don't quite yet understand how the tribes of Benjamin and Levi ended up after this division of Israel into the north and south, am I correct in saying that the levites were not assigned to either kingdom but remained as priests spread throughout all Israel (12)?

It was the tribes of Simeon and Levi that had no inheritance. Benjamin was the southern most tribe.

The Levites lived in close proximity to Jerusalem, probably in what we would suburbs. It would not make sense for them to live way up north or way down south.

[sheya joie]

Keep in mind there are actually 13 tribes of Israel, with two different ways of counting them as 12. First, they are the 12 sons of Jacob, among them Levi and Joseph. But at the end of Jacob's life, he blessed Joseph and said that Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, would be counted as Jacob's. So when time passed and the children of Israel conquered the land of Canaan and divided it up, the land was divided 12 ways and Ephraim and Manasseh were each assigned a territory (Manasseh actually got two areas, one on each side of the Jordan river). Levi is not counted among these, as they were assigned 48 towns but no territory.

Then when the kingdom was divided into north and south, the ten tribes comprising the north included Ephraim and Manasseh. Benjamin stayed with Judah, for a total of 12 - and many of the Levites moved into the southern kingdom, especially after Jeroboam king of the northern tribes began making priests of all sorts of people to serve the golden calves he had set up.

Hope that helps.

(Btw, the two books of Chronicles cover the same history as 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings, giving a little different perspective. Samuel and Kings follow both northern and southern kingdoms, but Chronicles focuses on the southern kingdom.)

[BibleArt]

I have heard on the radio that if you fly over a certain area of Israel, you can see God's name written on the land. Apparently there are aerial photos of this.

[~candice~]

Keep in mind there are actually 13 tribes of Israel, with two different ways of counting them as 12. First, they are the 12 sons of Jacob, among them Levi and Joseph. But at the end of Jacob's life, he blessed Joseph and said that Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, would be counted as Jacob's. So when time passed and the children of Israel conquered the land of Canaan and divided it up, the land was divided 12 ways and Ephraim and Manasseh were each assigned a territory (Manasseh actually got two areas, one on each side of the Jordan river). Levi is not counted among these, as they were assigned 48 towns but no territory.

Then when the kingdom was divided into north and south, the ten tribes comprising the north included Ephraim and Manasseh. Benjamin stayed with Judah, for a total of 12 - and many of the Levites moved into the southern kingdom, especially after Jeroboam king of the northern tribes began making priests of all sorts of people to serve the golden calves he had set up.

Hope that helps.

(Btw, the two books of Chronicles cover the same history as 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings, giving a little different perspective. Samuel and Kings follow both northern and southern kingdoms, but Chronicles focuses on the southern kingdom.)

Thank you!

I was scratching my head last night, because I kept coming up with 13 tribes and couldn't figure out where I went wrong.