Then God judges Israel, he throws the world clock into reverse and makes time run backwards. In one afternoon, Saul and his sons die, while the Philistines drive Israel from their cities and enslave some of the Israelites (1 Chron. 10). Conquest and exodus are reversed, as Israel loses land and freedom. David arrives on the scene as a new Moses, Solomon as a new Joshua.
A similar reversal happens at the end of the monarchy. Nebuchadnezzar invades, breaks the walls of Jerusalem, burns the temple, and takes the people of Judah into exile. Israel ends where she began, in exile, awaiting another Moses who eventually takes the surprising shape of Cyrus the Persian.
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