Author: Jaco Van Der Merwe

The Scroll of the Torah is translated in our English Bibles as the “Book of the Law” This Title, “Book of the Law” is specifically mentioned in the “Torah”. Torah in our understanding is the 5 books of Moses. This is one of the 1st things we learned when we started our journey and returned to study from the front of the book. But what does scripture teach us about the term “Torah”?

But before Manasseh’s repentance, he promoted Ba’al worship and caused the people of Judah to walk wickedly before Yahweh. When Josiah became king, the whole land, all of Israel and Judah were polluted with idol worship.

Jer 1:11-12 Moreover the word of YHVH came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, Master I see a branch of an almond tree. Then said YHVH to me, You have seen well: for I will hasten My word to perform it.

The Book of Jeremiah forms the basis of the understanding of the Gospel of John and Paul’s letters in the New Testament as a whole. It tells us how it came to be that Yeshua spoke of “the lost tribes of Israel” as well as to define what this means. We learn in Jeremiah that Yahweh broke the covenant with Judah as well, and said that He would scatter them also, like he did with the House of Ephraim.

Once you have the History in place, the sequence to the prophets makes more sense and it creates a chronology by which the Prophets as a whole can be understood in the following paradigm: In each progression of backsliding of Yahweh’s people, Yahweh reveals a little bit more of how He will save the remnant of those of the descendants of the promise to Abraham.

This brings us to the son of Hezekiah, King Manasseh. King Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to reign. This means that he was born about 3 years after the Assyrians siege on Judah ended. He reigned for 55 years, and he did not know Yahweh or even cared, for the most part. He built altars to the hosts of the heavens and went all the way back to Ba’al worship like his grandfather King Ahaz did.

Now, years have passed and Hezekiah became very ill. In Isaiah chapter 38 the prayer of Hezekiah was recorded.

The Kingdom of the house of Judah was nearly destroyed when Hezekiah took the throne. King Ahaz had Idol worship going on in the Temple of Yahweh. The southern cities were sacked by the Philistines and people was taken captive by the Edomites and only the tribe of Judah was left within all Israel.