Yet the Lord did not give Israel up without first doing all that could be done to lead them back to their allegiance to Him. Through long, dark years when ruler after ruler stood up in bold defiance of Heaven and led Israel deeper and still deeper into idolatry, God sent message after message to His backslidden people. Through His prophets He gave them every opportunity to stay the tide of apostasy and to return to Him. During the years that were to follow the rending of the kingdom, Elijah and Elisha were to live and labor, and the tender appeals of Hosea and Amos and Obadiah were to be heard in the land. Never was the kingdom of Israel to be left without noble witnesses to the mighty power of God to save from sin. Even in the darkest hours some would remain true to their divine Ruler and in the midst of idolatry would live blameless in the sight of a holy God. These faithful ones were numbered among the goodly remnant through whom the eternal purpose of Jehovah was finally to be fulfilled.

Herren forkastede dog ikke Israel, før han havde gjort alt, hvad han kunne, for at få dem til at tjene ham på ny. I de lange, mørke år, da konge efter konge dristigt trodsede Himmelen og førte Israel længere og længere ud i afgudsdyrkelse, sendte Gud sit frafaldne folk det ene budskab efter det andet. Ved hjælp af sine profeter gjorde han alt, hvad der kunne gøres, for at sætte dem i stand til at standse frafaldets strøm og komme tilbage til ham. Det var efter rigets deling, at Elias og Elisa virkede. Det var også i dette tidsafsnit, at Hoseas, Amos og Obadias rettede deres manende appeller til folket. I Israels rige skulle det aldrig skorte på ædle personer, som kunne bevidne, at Gud er mægtig til at frelse fra synd. Selv i de mørkeste timer af landets historie var der nogle, der vedblev at være tro imod deres guddommelige Konge og at færdes ulasteligt for en hellig Guds åsyn på trods af den udbredte afgudsdyrkelse. Disse trofaste blev regnet til den gudfrygtige lille flok, som Herren til sidst ville benytte til at gennemføre sin evige vilje.