Plucking the Eagle's Wings

Plucking the Eagle's Wings

Ten tribes seceded from Israel and eleven states seceded from the United States before the Civil War. Two kings were appointed in Israel —one over the northern kingdom and one over the southern kingdom. Rehoboam was the king of the south and Jeroboam was the king of the north. The northern kingdom had seceded. On February 8, 1861, seven states formed the Confederate States of America and established a provisional Congress. The following day, Jefferson Davis became their president while Lincoln remained the Union President. Essentially, during the Civil War, America had two presidents (or kings). The divided Israel had two capitals. The original capital was Jerusalem, where Rehoboam reigned. The second capital was established in Dan within the Northern Kingdom where Jeroboam reigned. Notice the strange parallel. As with ancient Israel, America was divided into north and south. It had two separate presidents and two capitals. Washington, D.C. was the capital of the north and Montgomery, Alabama (later Richmond, Virginia) was the capital of the south. During most of Lincoln's administration, there was fighting between the North and South. The Bible tells us that the fighting between the northern and southern kings continued, "And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually" (2 Chronicles 12:15). The Two Southern Generals The south had two famous generals who frequently defeated the north in battle. One was Robert E. Lee and the other was Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson. Lee was asked by Lincoln to serve as a Union general, but he declined. When asked about slavery, he replied, "If I owned the four million slaves in the south, I would sacrifice them all to the Union, but how can I draw my sword upon Virginia, my native state?" Lee also said, "The future is in the hands of Providence, but if the slaves of the South were mine I would surrender them all without a struggle to avert the war." Generals Lee and Jackson were both prayerful men who sought God to bring revival among their soldiers (Source: Personal Reminiscences, Anecdotes, and Letters of General Robert E. Lee , D. Appleton and Co., 1874, p. 138). Lee was so concerned about his soldiers' eternal souls that one biographer wrote, "One almost feels that he cares more about winning souls than battles, for supplying his army with Bibles than with bullets

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