Did God Divorce Israel But Not Judah?

More weeks ago than I care to admit, a blog reader sent me the following question (no, I’m not making this up–a real blog reader actually sent in this question… and it wasn’t my Mum!):

What should we make of the argument that God has divorced Israel but not Judah (e.g., Hosea 1:6; 2:2; Jer 3:1, 8)?  Is this true or false?  Or should we view God’s ‘divorce’ of Israel (e.g., Jer 3:8) as an analogy of God’s separation with Israel (as evidenced in the judgment of exile, which, in itself, is the outworking of the covenant curse) rather than that of a full-fledged divorce / annulment of the covenant (e.g., Jer 3:14; cf. Deut 24:1-4)?

First, a bit of historical review for those who are not up on their Old Testament history. When Joshua led God’s people into the Promised Land, they were a single nation: Israel, named after Jacob, the father of the Twelve Tribes (Genesis 32:28). After Joshua died, the nation of Israel was ruled by a series of judges. Eventually, wanting to be like the other nations, they asked the Lord for a king. The Lord warned them this would not end well, but granted their request (1 Samuel 8). Saul was the first king of Israel, followed by David, then David’s son, Solomon. Things seemed to go well with Solomon at first, but then, against the Lord’s command, he married a number of women from foreign countries. Just as the Lord had said, Solomon turned away from the true God to worship the gods of his new wives. Because of this, God said He would tear the kingdom from him. But not all the kingdom: He would spare one tribe for Solomon’s descendants (1 Kings 11:1-13). Solomon died, his son Rehoboam took the throne, and managed to upset the people by not relieving them of burdens placed upon them by his father. As a result, all but one of the tribes of Israel left him and formed their own kingdom. Rehoboam was left with the tribe of Judah in the South, while the rest of the tribes in the North became Israel under Jeroboam, with Samaria as its capital (1 Kings 12).

You can trace the parallel stories of Judah and Israel in 1 and 2 Kings. If you do, you’ll see that their histories fall into patterns of faithfulness and unfaithfulness to the Lord. On balance, Judah was more often faithful than Israel. God raised up prophets to warn Israel that their constant apostasy would lead to disaster. But they ignored the messages of impending doom until 733 BC when the Assyrians invaded and led the Israelites into captivity.

While many of the kings of Judah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, this was not always the case. In fact, the abominations of one of their kings, Manasseh, were so severe, the Lord promised that He would bring upon Jerusalem and Judah “such disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle” (2 Kings 21:12). He said He would “forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies… because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day” (2 Kings 21:14-15). In 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, captured Jerusalem, then between 597 and 582, he deported large numbers of the nation of Judah.

These two major events in the life of God’s people dominate much of the prophetic writings. Within the prophetic books we find warnings to either Israel or Judah–or sometimes both (e.g., Hosea 12)–that their idolatry and faithlessness will lead to judgment. But woven around these warnings of impending catastrophe are promises of hope and restoration (e.g., Isaiah 53; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hosea 2:14-23; Joel 3:17-21; Amos 9:11-15; Malachi 4).

Hosea’s prophecy primarily warns Israel of the judgment coming because of their unfaithfulness. To drive home the message, the Lord has Hosea marry a prostitute. This prostitute, Gomer, produces three children. These children are given names representing the sins of Israel and the punishment to come (Jezreel, No Mercy, and Not My People). When naming the second of these children, the Lord says to Hosea:

Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God (Hosea 1:6-7).

Hosea’s prophecy took place during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah in Judah, and Jeroboam in Israel. Of the Judean kings it is said that Uzziah, Jotham, and Hezekiah “did right in the eyes of the Lord.” The opposite is said only of Ahaz (2 Chronicles 26:4; 27:2; 28: 1-2; 29:1-2). That’s not to say none of the “good” kings of Judah did bad, but the tenor of their reigns was one of faithfulness. Of Jeroboam, however, it is said that he “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin” (2 Kings 14:24). It seems fairly clear that of the two nations, Israel was the one who had fallen the most. God’s favor was certainly with Judah.

But God would soon bring judgment to bear on Judah too for their unfaithfulness. In the midst of all of this the Lord was revealing His character and bringing to fruition His plan of salvation. We mustn’t forget the reason why these nations are the focus of attention in Old Testament history.

Back in the days of Abraham, God made a covenant. He promised to make Abraham’s descendants into an innumerable people from all over the world. For his part, Abraham and his descendants were to remain faithful to the Lord. Every time God’s people worshiped other gods, or otherwise disobeyed His commands, they violated the terms of the covenant. This is why in Hosea, and elsewhere, God’s relationship with His people is likened to a marriage. In the marriage covenant, the two parties promise to remain faithful. Should one party break the terms of the covenant by unfaithfulness, the other party could terminate the covenant.

It appears that’s what God did with Israel, the northern kingdom. They were persistently unfaithful and cruel, so God “divorced” them, yet remained “married” to Judah, so He had not abandoned His covenantal promise to Abraham. But did He not then “divorce” Judah? The Lord certainly did bring judgment upon Judah, but throughout the prophets there are promises that God would bring redemption. Indeed, it is through Judah, through David’s line, that a Redeemer would come. So while God might have severed His unfaithful people from the covenant that they could not keep, He promised there would be a remnant that He would redeem for Himself. Paul talks about this in Romans 11.

So, to answer the question, I think the picture of divorce in the passages cited portrays God’s attitude toward His covenant-breaking people. It is as though the Lord had married a prostitute, and eventually that prostitute’s unfaithfulness brought judgment. Those judgments were not spur-of-the-moment reactions; they too were part of the covenant. The Lord had long before promised the punishment that would befall His people should they break the covenant. It is testimony to God’s patience and mercy that He forgave them as often as He did. But that covenant was never annulled. Not on God’s side, anyway. Rather, God kept His covenant promise by keeping a faithful remnant of Judah. And it was through this faithful remnant that the Messiah was born. And that faithful remnant became the church.

I hope that answers the question. Please feel free to add your thoughts or ask questions in the comments. If you have a Bible-related question you’d like me to tackle, email me at the address in my About page.