[Teachldsseminary] TEACH: 2 Kings 17-19 (Israel scattered)

Sun Feb 17 18:04:57 MST 2008

Maybe I've learned it wrong but my understanding was that Ephraim and 
Manasseh are not the lost tribes.    They, along with the tribe of Judah, 
are the only ones not "lost."

Laurie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Linda Harper" <lindaharper at bellsouth.net>
To: "'Free Email list for LDS Seminary Teachers'" 
<teachldsseminary at latter-dayvillage.com>
Sent: Friday, February 15, 2008 9:16 AM
Subject: Re: [Teachldsseminary] TEACH: 2 Kings 17-19 (Israel scattered)

> Good points. One thing I've been telling my students is that we are
> descended from the lost tribes and they are their ancestors!  We tend to
> forget that Ephraim and Manasseh are among the lost tribes and we talk 
> about
> the lost tribes as another group of people.
>
> Also, the prophecies coming up by the OT prophets about what Ephraim will 
> do
> in the latter days will mean a lot to them when they realize it is
> prophecies about them!
>
> Linda Harper
> Duncan, SC
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: teachldsseminary-bounces at latter-dayvillage.com
> [mailto:teachldsseminary-bounces at latter-dayvillage.com] On Behalf Of Marji
> Sent: Friday, February 15, 2008 1:56 PM
> To: Free Email list for LDS Seminary Teachers
> Subject: [Teachldsseminary] TEACH: 2 Kings 17-19 (Israel scattered)
>
> SOME MUSINGS.
> Marji
>
> Today for the presentation on 2 Kings 16-19 we had an interesting
> discussion.  This is when Israel is threatened by the Assyrians and
> the ten tribes are 'lost'.  The student manual has some very good
> scriptures to use with this lesson, be sure to check there.  One of
> the scriptures is Deut. 4 - where the prophecy and warning of Moses is
> recorded, which stated that if Israel did not remain faithful, that
> they would be destroyed and scattered.  Very powerful to read that
> prophecy and overlay it on the events of these chapters, because what
> was warned became what happened when Israel turned to idolatry.
>
> One of the students was studying the time period and shared some
> comments from his textbooks which said that the Assyrians were among
> the most brutal of all societies in regard to their captives.  The
> Assyrians were brutal - maiming and dismembering their captives,
> burning crops, cutting down fruit trees, ravaging the land. (Sound
> similar, perhaps, to IED's that blow off hands, legs, blind people?)
>
> As another overlay, I summarized the Proclamation on the Family, and
> we discussed how the proclamation is "our" warning, similar to that
> which Moses gave to the people of old.  At the end of it, you will
> recall, it says that if the disintegration of the family continues, it
> will bring upon us the consequences foretold by *ancient AND modern*
> prophets.  So as we read the warnings and declarations of these
> prophets to ancient Israel, the students should know that those same
> warnings have been re-invoked in our day (and there is none to
> escape).
>
> These chapters seemed especially significant to me so we've discussed
> them for a couple of days.  Not to mention that there is one of the
> greatest of all Bible humor there.  Hezekiah pleads for the Lord to
> protect Israel and Jerusalem, and the Lord hears his prayer.
> (Hezekiah and Josiah were the ONLY two righteous kings to rule
> Israel).  The Lord promises to defend Israel against the Assyrians, so
> he sends an angel who slays 185,000 of them during the night.  {"and
> in the morning when they awoke, they were all dead men"}.
>
> Don't you just feel sorry for those lost ten tribes who were carried
> off by one of the most barbaric peoples ever?  Their great sin was
> idolatry and the forsaking of the ways of the Lord.  SWK has given an
> extensive description of modern idolatry, which we should all be aware
> of and reiterate to our students (OT Institute Manual, vol. 1, P. 128
> or Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 40-42).
>
> Other resources available for this lesson include a summary of modern
> day commandments and warnings by SWK ("this applies to you and me",
> "are there enemies who could and would afflict us?" " Have you thought
> of that?  And I will make your cities waste, and bring your
> sanctuaries unto desolation,"  "The Lord goes further and says:  I
> will destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high
> ways shall be desolate," And I will bring a sword upon you") [see OT
> Institute manual Vol 1, 189-190, or The Lord Expects His People to
> Follow the Commandments, Ensign, May 1977, p. 4-6).
>
> The above citation is taken from the section on Leviticus 26:
> Blessings or Cursings: an option for Israel.  The manual says:
> Leviticus 26 is one of the most powerful chapters in the Old
> Testament.  The Lord put the options facing Israel so clearly that
> they could not be misunderstood.  If Israel was obedient, there would
> be blessed with bounties, safety, and security, peace and protection
> from enemies."
>
> "If Israel refused "to hearken unto me, and will not do all these
> commandments" then the blessings would be withdrawn, and sorrow,
> hunger, war, disease, exile, tragedy, and abandonment would result"
> MODERN ISRAEL HAS BEEN GIVEN THE SAME OPTIONS (see Proclamation on the
> Family, "ancient and modern prophets").
>
> BRMc has a good quote on the scattering and gathering of Israel (OT
> Institute Manual, Vol. 1, p. 217 or Come: Let Israel Build Zion,
> Ensign, May 1977, p. 117).
>
> Something else to mention is that the State of Israel is very recent
> on the timeline of history.  Our students have never known a time when
> Israel as a country did not exist.  But it has been since AD 70 until
> 1945 that Israel was scattered -- that's a long time!
>
> Neal Maxwell spoke in conference of the need for parents to "give up
> one outside activity" and spend that time instead with their families,
> as one way to strengthen the family.
>
> As I read it (so far), it seems to me that two of the MAJOR issues in
> the blessing/ cursing prophecies are:  NOT KEEPING THE SABBATH HOLY,
> AND THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FAMILY.
>
>
> Enjoy and pray for insights.
>
> Marji
>
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