Week 10

This week covers part of the inter testament period during the revolt of the Maccabees. Because of the move out of our current building and into the New Building, there will be no week 11. I hope every one understands. Enjoy the lesson:

Week 10
Introduction:
Today we begin our discussion of the rise of the Ptolemy empire and the Seleucid empire. If you will recall from last week we discussed the collapse of the Persian Empire and the conquests of Alexander the Great. After Alexander’s death in 323 BC, his kingdom was divided among his 4 Generals. This division came to be known as the DiadochiFor our purposes, in Old Testament Survey, we want to focus on just two of these 4 men; Ptolemy and Seleucus. In between the two competing generals is Israel. This map reflects the division of the empire after the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC after an uneasy alliance between Seleucus I, Nicator and Ptolemy I. After the defeat of Antigonus I, Asia Minor went to Seleucus I Nicator and Egypt went to Ptolemy I.

Ptolemy I 323-283 BC
After the Battle of Ipsus, Ptolemy controlled Cyprus, Parts of Southern Turkey, Tyre, Sidon and all of the Jewish territory. Even though the Jewish Territories were under Egyptian control for the time being, the Seleucids always considered the area theirs. In order to secure his right as Pharaoh, it is alleged that he married the daughter of the most recent Pharaoh’s daughter. This is not confirmed in official historical documents. Historians do record that Ptolemy had 4 wives (Apame, Artacama, Eurydice and Berenice. Ptolemy I made Alexandria his capital and through some intrigue was able to secure the body of Alexander the Great and lay his friend’s body to rest in Memphis Egypt. Later Ptolemy I son would have the body laid to rest in Alexandria.Ptolemy needed not only a strong military to protect his territory, he needed a tax base to maintain his kingdom's economy. This involved developing local areas that would create employment and trade. To accomplish this task, Ptolemy Soter after his conquest of Palestine deported a large number of Jews to Alexandria and to Cyprus. He conquered Jerusalem by attacking on the Sabbath knowing that the Jews observed a day of rest on the Sabbath.After their initial shock, Ptolemy treated the Jews with respect and because they were honest and trustworthy, many Jews attained places of authority in the government. For their loyalty, Ptolemy allowed the Jews limited autonomy and granted them areas within Alexandria proper where they could live and conduct commerce. In the divine sovereignty of God, God was laying the foundation where his son, the Messiah would be protected from Herod the Great (Matthew 2:13) and one of the New Testament’s great mentors would come from Cyprus (Acts 4:36-37, Acts 15:37-39). Under Ptolemy I, reign, the Jews were well treated and enjoyed a time of peace and prosperity.

Seleucus I 312-281 BC

Seleucus I had control of Babylon after the end of the battle of Ipsus and made great overtures to the Jews living in Babylon and Persia at the time of his reign. He granted them citizenship in his portion of the divided kingdom of Alexander the Great. Seleucus I would establish two capitals, one would be in Babylon and the other would be the city of Antioch. He would marry a woman of Iranian decent by the name of Apame I. Their son would be the heir to Seleucus after his assassination in 281 BC. Antiochus 1.

Ptolemy II 285-247 BC

Ptolemy the second succeeded his father and served as co-regent for two years. This man was probably best noted as being the man who expanded the Library of Alexandria. According to some sources his chief Librarian felt that it was necessary that the Jewish sacred text should be translated into Greek. According to “tradition”, seventy two scholars were summoned from Palestine to undertake the task. According to legend, the scholars were paired in separate houses and directed to translate the scriptures from Hebrew into Greek. Each separate manuscript was compared and they all were identical. This legend has never been verified and more than likely is just a fabrication. In all likelihood, the translation was done by local scribes in the Alexandrian community. This translation of the Old Testament came to be known as the Septuagint. This translation of the Scriptures was used through out Jewish communities and in local Synagogues and the early churches though out the Roman Empire. Quotations by early pastors from the Septuagint were used in many sermons during the 1st century AD.. As far as a ruler goes, Ptolemy II was conciliatory to the Jewish communities in Palestine. He built the ancient city port city of Accho, the city of Philotera south of the sea of Galilee and Ptolemais near Mount Carmel. Ptolemy II’s Naval forces would battle with Antiochus I Soter in 275 BC for control of Syria and would loose to Ptolemy II.

Antiochus I Soter 281-262 BC.

His career would be rather lack luster as a ruler after succeeding his Father Seleucid I. He would end up ceded control of Thrace and Macedonian to Ptolemy. His only apparent military victory occurred in a battle with the Gauls of Asia Minor in 278 BC. Because of that single victory, he was given the title Soter which means Savior in Greek. He would die in a war with Pergamum in 262 BC.

Antiochus II Theos

He would serve as co-regent with his Father Antiochus I Soter beginning in 261 BC. He was married to a woman named Laodice. He was embroiled in a war with Ptolemy II for a period of 7 years. In order to make peace with Ptolemy, Antiochus II Theos would divorce his wife Laodice and marry the daughter of Ptolemy II, Berenice. She would bear him a son. Eventually he would send Berenice away and Laodice would return. She would poison Antiochus II Theos and murder Berenice and her son. This is seen by many Bible scholars as the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophesy in Daniel 11:16. The murder of Berenice would lead to another war with Egypt waged by Ptolemy III. Laodice’s son Seleucus II would be placed on the throne after the death of Antiochus II.

Ptolemy III

Enraged at his sister’s murder triggers what becomes known as the Laodicean war. It rages from 246 to 241 BC. This war cost both the Seleucids and the Ptolemies. Ptolemy did win the war and eventually gained the port city of Antioch, however, the cost of warfare is not cheap. Both kingdoms would suffer financially from these petty conflicts. However under Ptolemy III, a new wave of Jewish migration would take place to Alexandria Egypt. The height of the Ptolemy rule of Egypt was during Ptolemy III.

Ptolemy IV Philopater

He succeeded his father in 241 BC. This man soon saw the murder of his mother Berenice II and came under strong influence of his court mistress Agathokleia. He soon murdered his wife Eurydice and married his sister Arsinoe in 220 BC but was still under the influence of his mistress and favorite Agathokleia. His chief advisor Sosibus, was the one responsible for ordering the murder of Berenice II and his brother Magnus.

Seleucus III Soter and Antiochus III surnamed Antiochus the Great.

After the death of Seleucus II, his son Seleucus II would reign for only about two years. He would be assassinated and replaced by his brother Antiochus III. At the onset, Antiochus set out to reclaim all that had been lost by his predecessor Seleucus I Nicator. He took advantage of the political intrigue in Egypt and set out to capture all that the Seleucids had lost from the Ptolomies. This would trigger the 4th Syrian war in 219 BC. He would capture some cities in northern Israel and Tyre, but for some unknown reason he waited in Israel listening to diplomatic proposals by Ptolemy. This gave Ptolemy’s advisor Sosibus time to recruit an army. Ptolemy would defeat Antiochus III at the Battle of Raphia. This battle took place in Gaza near the town of Rapha in 217 BC.The victory was short lived for Ptolemy IV because in 198 BC at the battle of Panium, the Egyptians were defeated by Antiochus’ forces largely due to the innovation of a new form of weaponry known as cataphract or armored cavalry. This put the Egyptian cavalry to route and left the infantry exposed. This battle left Antiochus III the master of Palestine. During this period of time, Antiochus III had set his sights on some of the Greek Colonies and city states that had once been part of the Macedonian empire. But because those areas were now under control of a rising world Power, called Rome, Antiochus aligned himself with an African General by the name of Hannibal. Hannibal had been engaged in the Punic Wars with Rome (264-146 BC) Antiochus was encouraged by Hannibal to take on the Romans in Greece, but in 191 BC, Antiochus was defeated by Manius Acilius Glabrio at Thermopylae. The Romans pursued Antiochus across the Aegean sea into Asia Minor and managed to rip control of the Taurus Mountains from Antiochus III. Antiochus III died while on a Military campaign to the east in 187 BC. His son Seleucus VI Philopater would succeed him.

Seleucus VI Philopater

This Seleucid King would reign from 187 to 175 BC. Due to a heavy war debt levied by Rome and the fact that Rome held his son hostage, He sent his minister Heliodorus to raid the Temple Treasury in Jerusalem to pay the debt. When Heliodorus returned, he assassinated Seleucus VI. Because the king’s son was held hostage in Rome, Seleucus IV’s younger brother Antiochus IV Epiphanes grained control of the throne and had Heliodorus executed.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes

This Seleucid King is probably the most ruthless of all the Syrian kings. He is the one referred to in Daniel 8:9-12. After he dispatched Heliodorus, he set his sights once again upon Egypt. After the death of Ptolemy V Epiphanes and the death of Cleopatra, daughter of Antiochus the Great, Antiochus Epiphanes attacked Egypt in 170 BC. He would capture young king of Egypt, (Ptolemy VI Philometer) and install a regent king Ptolemy VI. This king would rebel and in 168 BC, Antiochus would once again invade Egypt. Upon his arrival, he would be met by the Roman Envoy C. Popilius Laenus. Although Antiochus knew the Roman emissary when he was in Italy and greeted the Roman soldier warmly, his greeting was met with steely icy reception. Laenus informed him that Rome would no longer allow any Syrian meddling in Egyptian affairs and that Rome demanded that Antiochus return Ptolemy VI Philometer to Egypt. Antiochus said that he would consider the matter. Upon that reply, Laenus then drew his sword and drew a circle in the sand around Antiochus and informed him that he would not cross that line until he had made up his mind. This incident came to be known as “The Line in the Sand”. Antiochus grudgingly agreed to return the young king. This incident enraged Antiochus Epiphanes and he vented his rage upon the Jewish people. He ordered a halt to daily sacrifice, had priests who refused to sacrifice pigs upon the altars executed. He erected a statue of Zeus in the Temple of Jerusalem and sacrificed a sow on the altar of God. This came to be known as the “Abomination of Desolation”. He outlawed circumcision and according to the apocryphal book of 2 Maccabees he had women executed along with their babies who refused to comply with the edict. He destroyed the walls of Jerusalem and employed a mercenary Macedonian garrison to enforce his decrees. All this led to the revolt of the Maccabees led by Mathias Macabees in 167 BC. The Samaritans complied with Antiochus’ decrees and for that, the animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans escalated.

The Maccabean Revolt:

The revolt of the Maccabees began with a Priest by the name of Mathias who resided in the village of Modin. Matthias had 5 sons, John, Simon, Judas, called Maccabeus which means hammer, Eleazar and Jonathan. According to Flavius Josephus, a Syrian emissary had been dispatched to compel Mathias to sacrifice a pig per Antiochus’ orders. Matthias refused. When two compliant Jews obeyed the king’s decree, Matthias and his sons became enraged and rushed upon the Hellenistic emissary and the compliant Jews and killed them. This began a guerrilla war between the loyal worshippers of Yahweh and their Seleucid overlords. The family of priests would organize those that would not comply with the Seleucids and flee into the wilderness. Judas would be more of the military man and would organize the guerrilla army to battle the Syrian occupiers and their allies in the Jewish and Samaritan ranks. The 1st test of Judas would be against the Samaritan Governor by the name of Apollonius who commanded a large army of Samaritans. Not only did Judas defeat the army, the governor was also killed in the battle. His next test was against the General in charge of Coele Syria. The General had heard about the defeat of Apollonius and decided to put down the rebellion. He mustered a large army and marched into Palestine to quash the rebellion. He was killed and his army sent packing by Judas. Upon hearing about this defeat Antiochus Ephipanes, he decided to leave Lysias in charge of the realm while he left for Persia to collect delinquent taxes. Lysias mustered an army of 40,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry. His army was under the command of three generals. Lysias was so confident of victory, they brought along foreign slave traders for prospective captives. Judas would defeat the army near Emmaus with about 3000 men. Another battle would ensue a year later with Lysias but this time he would be forced to take refuge in Antioch. The war had reached a stalemate. This allowed Judas to turn his attention to the Temple in Jerusalem. Exactly three years after the desecration of God’s house by the infidel Seleucid king, the Temple was cleansed, the idols torn down and the feast of Hanukkah was celebrated on December 15, 165 BC. This would fulfill the prophesy of Daniel 8:14. The war would last on and off for about 20 years. The Jews would finally throw off the Seleucid bondage in 141 BC. All the sons of Matthias perished in the conflict with the exception of Simon. By now he was an old man. Because the people loved him so much, the crowned him their king. The celebrations would be short lived for another Gentile power would soon assert its iron legs upon the land of the Jews. This would be the Romans.
The effects of the Macabean Revolt.
The rise of the Hasidic Jews. This group were the pious ones. They were wholly and completely committed to keeping the Laws of Moses. They would later become known as the Pharisees.
· A brief period of independence was attained from 142 BC to 62 BC.
· The rise of the Jewish form of Justice known as the Sanhedrin.
· The writing of the books of the apocrypha took place during this period of time.
The influence of Greek culture was greatly curtailed during this time.

Week 9 Alexander the Great

Week 9
Introduction: If you recall last week, we discussed the ongoing conflict that had existed between the Persian Empire and the Greek City States. During last week’s observations, there were two important battles that took place between the Persian Empire and the Greek City States. The 1st battle was the Battle of Marathon. If you will recall from last weeks discussion, Darius I, the son of Cyrus the Great had been plagued by corrupt governors in the Greek lands that he conquered. This mistreatment of the people came to a head under the leadership of Darius I. Of particular significance was the influence of the Greek City State of Athens, the leadership of Athens joined with the Greek during the Ionian revolt. After a series of battles, Darius set Athens in his cross hair. The Athenians and the Eretrians were the ones who had burned Sardis. . Darius sent a Naval task force to launch a punitive attack against both Athens and Eretria. The Persians soon laid waste to Eretria and then proceeded to Attica and from there to the port city of Marathon. There the lightly armored Persian force would meet the highly skilled Greek citizen soldier known as the Hoplite. These were the 1st citizen soldiers. The Athenian force along with a force from Plataea met the Persians and soundly defeated them. A messenger was sent from the battle to carry news to the Athenian city. The grueling twenty one mile run from the port city of Marathon to Athens left the runner near death when he arrived. He uttered one word prior to dying. The one word was Nike. In Greek, the word means Victory. The battle took place in 490 BC. After the death of Darius, his son, Xerxes I soon began to plan his invasion of Greece. He wanted to punish Athens for their arrogance. Keep in mind that Xerxes was the husband of Esther. In 480 BC another great battle took place called the Battle of Thermopylae.
This battle also coincided with a Naval Battle at Artemisium. The battle at Thermopylae would be under the leadership of the Spartan king Leonidas. With 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians and 400 Thebans, the small army of hopelites held the army of Xerxes at bay at the famous pass of Thermopylae. The soldiers held the pass and prevented Xerxes’ army from passing for two days. According to Herodotus, the Greeks were betrayed by someone who showed the Persians an old goat trail that enabled them to out flank the Spartans. The 1400 Greek Soldiers defended the pass to the last man. This defeat allowed the Persian army access to Athens. Due to the sea battle victory by Athenian general Thermistocles, at the battle of Artemisium and Salmis, the city of Athens was evacuated before the Persians could arrive. This probably saved the earliest forms of Democracy. Due to the Greco-Persian wars, the seeds had been sown for the rise of a Macedonian king that would conquer all the Greek City states and then proceed to conquer most of the world. This brings us to this week’s discussion: Alexander the Great.
Before beginning our discussion of Alexander, we want to review some prophecies given by the prophet Daniel. If you will recall, we discussed the dream of Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel’s interpretation of the dream and how it would affect the future of the Gentile World. Here is a representation of that dream by Phillip Larkin:

The Persian Empire was undergoing a great deal of changes during this period of time. As we discussed last week there was a lot of political intrigue within the Persian court. The Persian empire was in decline at the time that Phillip of Macedon became king. Phillip gained control of two vital resources when he came to power. He controlled the forests and precious metal mines of Amphipolis. His son Alexander would inherit from his father both power, wealth and the power of the Macedonian Army.

Alexander the Great
• His early years:
o According to some historians, Alexander, in his youth had tamed a wild stallion that he named Bucephalus. According to the text, Alexander discovered the horse was unsettled by his own shadow. Whereupon Alexander would always ride him into the sun.
o Phillip wanted his son well educated so he employed the services of Many Greek Tutors, Historians and Philosophers. The most famous of Alexander’s tutors was Aristotle. It would be from Aristotle that Alexander would see his destiny to bring Greek culture and influence upon the world. The Greek Philosopher would also teach the young prince about the Persian Empire and its boundaries. It would be these teachings that would guide the future king in his conquest of the Ancient world.
o In 356 BC, Phillip would test his young son’s ability by giving him command of an Army. At the battle of Chaeronea, Greek resistance to Phillip’s authority was soon crushed.
• Trouble in the royal family.
o Soon after the battle of Chaeronea, Phillip would marry a younger woman from Macedonia named Cleopatra.There was a family squabble because Phillip’s 1st wife was not originally from Macedonia. Cleopatra’s uncle mad a very rash statement saying Cleopatra would bring a legitimate heir to the throne. Alexander was incensed and threw his wine at the man. Phillip demanded an apology. Alexander refused because his mother’s honor had been disparaged. Philip in his inebriated state would lunge at his son and stumble to the floor. Alexander is quoted as saying: "Here is the man who was making ready to cross from Europe to Asia, and who cannot even cross from one table to another without losing his balance." Alexander would take his mother to Epirus. Later he would allowed to return.
o Philip would be assassinated by a young man at a wedding celebration in 336 BC. Alexander III of Macedon would become the king at the age of 20. Alexander would dispatch all his internal enemies, but because of Phillip’s death, several conquered regions would soon flex their muscle hoping to free themselves of Macedonian rule. These would be Illyrians, Thrace, and Greece. Alexander quelled both Thrace and Illyrians, but because the Greeks believed that Alexander had perished in battle, a major revolt occurred in Greece. Alexander marched to Thebes and put the entire population to the sword and burned every building with the exception of a local poet’s home and that of the local temple. This demonstration of force would quell any future uprisings in Greece. Although the campaign was brutal, it served one major accomplishment. It unified the Greek City States into one nation.

o In 334 BC, Alexander started making his way forward into Asia by way of the Hellespont. This would begin Alexander’s conquest of the Persian Empire. He had been taught by Aristotle about the burning of Athens. Phillip had long desired to punish Persia for the meddling in Greece and their cost in lives during the Greco-Persian wars. This was Alexander’s change to avenge his father and fulfill his mentor’s desire to see Persia punished for the battle of Thermopylae. Alexander would have 20000 Macedonians, 7600 Greeks and 7000 Thracians and Illyrians. They would meet an army of 40000 Persians along with 20000 Greek mercenaries hired by Darius III to fight against Alexander. They would meet at the River Granicus. The Macedonians would employ a wicked new weapon used by Phillip. The weapon was the Macedonian Phalanx.

o This spear was 6 meters (24 feet Long). The Macedonians soon put the Persians in a route and the Persians soon fled, The Greek mercenaries fought bravely but all but 2000 perished. They were sent into forced labor in Macedonia.

o The battle of Granicus was a vivid fulfillment of the Prophecy Daniel had in Daniel 8:5-14. In 333 BC, Alexander would meet up with Darius III and his army at the Battle of Issus. Although Alexander was badly outnumbered, Alexander would once again defeat the Persians. Darius fled and left his mother, wife and children behind. According to both Roman and Greek Historians, Alexander treated them with dignity, respect and showed them the courtesy of their royal state. With the victory of Issus, the way into Egypt was made. This would take him through the Land of the Jews.

• The rise of Judaism
o With the increasing influence of Hellenism upon the Jewish Communities, there were two Greek Philosophies that would affect Jewish Communities through out the Persian Empire. Those philosophies would be Stoicism and Epicureanism. The Stoics were from the thoughts of Plato and Aristotle. They tended to be fatalists. The Epicureans were believers in pleasure and happiness but not at the expense of lustfulness. The Epicureans believed that when people died, there was no afterlife and that the body and soul returned to atoms. The Stoics believed in pantheism but also believed in life after death. In resistance to this influence two forms of Judaism would arise. The 1st school would be that of the Pharisee. The Pharisees would be the ones who would add additional man-made philosophies to the Levitical Law in order to “earn more favor” with God. Their often hypocritical way of life often put them at odds with the common everyday Jew. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection from the dead and tended to accept the view of predestination.
o The second school of Jewish thought that developed was the school of the Sadducees. They tended to come from very wealthy families and claimed their lineage from the priest Zadok.
o The real keeps of the Law were neither the Pharisees or the Sadducees. The one group most respected by the average Jew was the Scribe. They were the ones who could expound and teach the Law. They were often addressed as rabbis.
o The last group were the Samaritans. Although the returning Judean tribes considered them interlopers from Assyria, many of them were from the original northern tribes. The Samaritans believed that the Arc of the Covenant is kept in Shiloh and some Biblical Archeologists like Gordon, tend to agree with the Samaritan belief. The Samaritans would worship on Mount Ebal where Joshua erected the memorial.
• Alexander’s march though Palestine.
o As Alexander made his way to Egypt, he encountered the city of Tyre. He offered peace to the island city state if they allowed him the opportunity to offer a sacrifice in their local deity’s temple. The city refused and according to some accounts killed Alexander’s emissary. This infuriated the young king. He ordered a causeway built that connected the city to the mainland. Tyre fell in 332 BC. Many feel this was a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy against Tyre in Isaiah chapter 23.
o After the defeat of Tyre, Alexander would march into Samaria. The Samaritans would oppose them. When he defeated them, he appointed a Jewish governor over them.
o According to Josephus, a Priest by the name of Jaddua had a dream and was told by God that the people should honor Alexander. The priest took with him a copy of the book of Daniel and showed Alexander in prophesy were he had defeated Darius III. According to Josephus, the king then left Jerusalem and allowed the Jews to worship in peace.
• Alexander heads on to Egypt
o Upon entering Egypt, the Satrap welcomed Alexander as a liberator. The Egyptians had long despised Persian rule. Alexander ordered a city built in his name. Alexandria Egypt would be the center of learning and culture and would be the resting place of Alexander when he died. He would never live to see its completion.
• The Battle of Gaugamela
o In 331 BC, Alexander defeated the Persian army once again. After this battle, the other Persian capitals soon fell in quick succession. Darius once again fled. Darius would later be betrayed by Bessus and killed by him. Alexander would honor Darius with a royal burial and would later kill Bessus for the murder of Darius.
• The final years of Alexander III of Macedon.
o In the spring of 331 BC, Alexander would make his way into India. There the Macedonian Army would encounter Elephants in battle. They would win, but Alexander’s horse Bucephalus would die in battle. Alexander would name a city after his faithful steed. He would call it Buckephalia. In the spring of 324 BC, Alexander would hold a feast and proclaim that all his nobles should marry Persian women. At that feast he would be stricken with a high fever. While on his death bed, he was asked by his generals who would rule in his place once he was gone. Alexander answered, “To the strongest” At thirty three years of age, Alexander would die. His conquest would extend throughout the then known world. His empire would be divided by his four generals. This would fulfill the prophesy by Daniel in Daniel 8: 8. (Then the male goat magnified himself exceedingly. But as soon as he was mighty, the large horn was broken; and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven.) A feud would develop between two of the generals, Ptolemy and Seleucus. Ptolemy would take Egypt and Seleucus would take Asia. In between the two would be the Jewish people.
• Some parting thoughts about Alexander the Great.
o Although Alexander was a brilliant general, he lacked temperament and the ability to govern wisely. His main contribution was the introduction of Koine Greek into the world. This common language was the language of trade and commerce that everyone would adopt including the Romans. This language would be the language of the New Testament. Shortly after the completion of the New Testament in 100 AD, Koine Greek would become a dead language and would never change again. God in his sovereign plan would forever ensure his word.
o Alexander the Great would impart to the word, the sense of the ability of the citizenry to be able to vote. The concept of a city assembly or Ecclesia as the Greeks would use would be the foundations upon which the early church would form.
o God would sovereignty use a Pagan king who fancied himself a son of one of his pagan idols to carry forth his plan of establishing his word in the hearts of future generations to come.

Week 8

We have come to the point where the Jews are finally allowed back into the Land. We hope that you enjoy this weeks lesson:

Week 8
Introduction: If you will recall from last weeks discussion, we left off with the final deportation of the tribe of Judah into Babylon around 581 to 582 BC. This week we want to look at the rise of the Persian Empire and the collapse of the Babylonian Empire. Both the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah had foretold that Babylon would fall. Daniel in his interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream had also foretold that Babylon would fall. Prior to this event, there would be some notable events that would take place within the kingdom. You will also recall from last week’s discussion that there were 4 men of integrity that would not allow themselves to be corrupted by the excesses of Babylon. Those three men were: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. The famous interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream by Daniel would soon be followed by the
erection of the Golden Statue by Nebuchadnezzar on plain of Dura. This area was southeast of Babylon near a dry river bed known by the name of Douair or Duair. This is where we want to pick up our story because this event in Babylon’s history would trigger
its downfall.

The Golden Image.
o Prior to Nebuchadnezzar, the pagan rituals in Babylon were largely sensual in
nature and done by priests and priestesses inside inner sanctums of the pagan
temples. Sir Leonard Woolley made this observation while exploring some of the
ancient pagan temples in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar wanted a change in the form
of worship the people were accustomed to. The king had wanted the people to
participate in a form of congregational worship that was open for all to see. While
it could be argued that Nebuchadnezzar had erected the statue to celebrate is
accomplishments, it was the 1st time that a monarch had instituted a mandatory
open air form of worship. Nebuchadnezzar was attempting to institute a change in
society by implementing a new form or worship in the country. Here you can see
how the ziggurats were built and how large they were in the ancient city: This
decision to try to fundamentally change the way people worship would sew seeds
of unrest among the population later on in future generations.
o Nebuchadnezzar II was a brilliant general, but he was also a ruler who was bent
on expanding and enriching his country. We have already mentioned the hanging
gardens of Babylon, but he also surrounded the capital city with a double wall 10
miles long. He also built a port city near the port city of Basra.2. Reflecting on
these accomplishments and taking great pride in those accomplishments were the
foundations upon which Daniel would interpret the next dream of the King:
(Daniel chapter 4). It is noteworthy to mention that the word used here in Aramaic
for “Most High God” is _ilay_il-lah'ee 'elâhh el-aw' in Daniel 4:7, some
linguists have traced this word to the Arabic word Allah.3. The King was struck
down with a mental disorder known as monomania or boanthropy, sometimes also
known as lycanthropy.4 No doubt this was an embarrassment to the royal court.
According to the Biblical account the illness would last a period of seven years. A
serious student of the Book of Daniel will understand that the number 7 will play
a very important point of reference in future events.

The interim period 562 BC to 538 BC.
o Upon the death of Nebuchadnezzar II in 562 BC, his son, Amel-Marduk
succeeded him to the throne. He is known in the Bible as Evil-merodach in
Jeremiah 52:31 and II Kings 25:27. Little is know about this man other than the
fact he was murdered by his brother in law Neriglisar allegedly for trying to
implement changes in governmental policy established by Nebuchadnezzar.5
Little is known about him other than he ruled for 4 years and was succeeded by
his son who would in turn be murdered and replaced by Nabonidus. He would
reign for 17 years. This king was had instituted a number of repairs to the ancient
worship sites in Babylonia. He attempted to repair the ziggurat to the moon
goddess of Ur and installed his daughter as the high priestess there. According to
Sir Lawrence Woolley, his daughter also collected numerous religious artifacts
and kept them in a museum. He also established an oasis and trade with Arabs
along the caravan routes. The Nabonidus tablet in the British museum chronicles
this and verifies that his son Bel-shar-usur or Belshazzar in Daniel chapter 5
would be the co-regent with his Father and would be in charge of Babylon and the surrounding provinces.

While regent in Babylon, Belshazzar had taken all the local deities and idols out
of their respective localities and housed them in Babylon. This is why Daniel
mentions that feast was in honor of all the gods and idols. (Daniel 5:4). The queen
mother was Nitocris was married to Nabonidus. She was the daughter of
Nebuchadnezzar II. 7 She is the one who would tell Belshazzar to call for Daniel
(Daniel 5:10). This is why Daniel mentions that Belshazzar is related to
Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 5:18. It was not uncommon in Semitic cultures to
claim their ancestors to be their fathers. Belshazzar would rule as co-regent from
555 BC to 539 BC. 8. On that fateful night, the co-regent of Babylon would
receive from the prophet a dire warning that he had been weighed in the balance
and found wanting. His kingdom would be divided and given to the Medes and
the Persians. That night, the Median General, Gobyras or Darius as he is
mentioned in Daniel 5:31 would take the city on October 12, 539 BC. 9 Cyrus the
Great would enter the city 17 days later after the defeat of Nabonidus near the
river Tigris near Opis. 10 . According to the Greek Historian Herodotus, Cyrus
diverted the river Euphrates such that the water was drained allowing the Persian
army to enter the city on the dry river bed. Thus ended the Babylonia Empire and
the fulfillment of the prophesies foretold by Isaiah (Isaiah 21:9, cp 47), Jeremiah
(cp 50 and 51) and Daniel (Daniel 2:39). Daniel had lived to see the fulfillment of
his own prophesy some 60 years earlier.

Cyrus the Great. 580-529 BC
o Cyrus the Great was 1st mentioned in scripture by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 44:28
and Isaiah 45:1-7). This prophesy was given around the time of the reign of
Hezekiah some 100 years before the king would even be born. Cyrus had
succeeded his father Cambyses in 549 BC. He quickly form alliances with the
Medes and gained control of Persia in 549 BC. After his defeat of Nabonidus in in
539 BC, Cyrus would be hailed as a deliverer. According to the Cyrus Cylinder,
Cyrus credits his defeat of the Babylonians with the aid of the patron deity of Babylon, Marduk.11 If we recall Daniel 5:4, we are given a bit of insight. The
people of Babylonia had their own local deities. Those local idols had been
removed from the localities and taken to Babylon by Nabonidus. Cyrus would
undo that mismanagement of Government and return those idols to each
municipality. The other generous thing Cyrus would do is free all the exiles and
allow them to return home. This edict would be issued around 538 BC. (Ezra 1:1-
11). By all accounts this era of tolerance by Cyrus was more political in nature
rather than spiritual. Cyrus knew that local cultures could not prosper without
government that was non intrusive in the day to day lives of the people. By the time of his death in 529 BC, The Persian Empire extended into India,
Afghanistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and parts of Greece.

According the Greek Historian Herodotus Cyrus the Great would meet his death
battling a tribe called the Massagetae near modern day Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. According to the Greek Historian he had been given the advice to attack this tribe.
These people were forerunners of the Mongolian warriors who fought on
horseback using archery with deadly precision. Their ruler was a queen by the name of Tomyris. Cyrus offered her a proposal of marriage and she refused. name of Tomyris. Cyrus offered her a proposal of marriage and she refused. Cyrus became aware that these people were unaware of effects of intoxicating wine so he laid a trap and prepared an area where their armies could gorge themselves. When they were suffering from the effects of the alcohol, Cyrus attacked and captured their military leader along with the queen’s son. Her son, Spargapises. When her son came to his senses, he committed suicide. After a fierce battle, Cyrus was killed. The body was brought to Tomyris and she decapitated Cyrus. She also ordered the body crucified. The Persians then
returned their captives in exchange for the body and head of Cyrus. His body was
laid to rest in Pasargadae, Iran. The tomb still stands today. The memorial reads:
O man, whoever you are and wherever you come from, for I know you will come,
I am Cyrus who won the Persians their empire. Do not therefore grudge me this
little earth that covers my body.14 He would be succeeded by his son Cambyses II
Cyrus the Great would be known to many people by many names. To the Jews, he
would be known as the Lord’s Anointed. To the Babylonians, he would be known
as The great Liberator. To the Greeks, he would be known as the Law giver.
Cyrus the Great was Warrior, statesman and humanitarian. In many respects, he
would shape how many nations would learn to rule with wisdom, patience and
determination. His concepts of tolerance for local customs and worship would be
modeled by many leaders that would follow after him.

The exiles make their way home.

With the decree from Cyrus, the exiles are allowed to return home. Cyrus even
appoints a local descendant of the Jewish nobility to be the new local governor of
Judea. His name is Sheshbazzar (Ezra 5:14). Cyrus had decreed that the Temple
should be rebuilt. Upon arriving in Judea, Sheshbazzar along with Zerubabbel
proceed to motivate the people to build the Temple. With contributions from
wealthy members of the community and help from Cyrus, the succeed in getting
the foundation of the Temple completed. Upon Jews return and the
commencement of the construction of the Temple. So local people from Samaria
offer to assist. These people were descendants from the remnants of the Northern
tribes and intermarriage between deported Assyrians under the rule of Sargon II
and Esar-haddon. Although the offer to help was made in good faith, for some
reason their offer was refused. (See Ezra 4:1-4). This refusal may have been
routed in the fact that it was the Northern Kingdom that had started the problem
with idol worship or due to intermarriage. We simply do not know. All we do
know is that a political plot was hatched by the local governor of Samaria, Rehum
and his scribe Shimshai to frustrate the building of the Temple. They appealed to
Artaxerxes or Cambyses II. The local governor is granted an injunction to prohibit
the building of the Temple. Cambyses II would be involved in a Military
campaign in Egypt. Shortly after his victory over Psamtik III in 525 BC,
Cambyses II, became mentally ill and committed suicide. Darius the Great
succeeded him as King of Persia. After a plea by Ezra, Darius orders a search for
the royal decree given by Cyrus. When the decree is found, Darius orders the
Temple to be completed. (Ezra 6). Darius would continue in the tradition of Cyrus
the Great, but he would be plagued with corrupt local Governors especially in the
area of Ionia. These corrupt tyrannical local governors would sew the seeds of rebellion by the Greek City states. One of the most famous battles recorded in Ancient history was the battle of Marathon. This would begin what would be known as the Greco-Persian Wars. Darius would for all accounts be a wise ruler and under him, the
Persian empire would see its greatest expansion. He also continued the policy of
religious tolerance. He would die in October of 486 BC. His son, Xerxes I or
Ahausuerus (as mentioned in Ezra 4:6). He was also the husband of Esther. He is
best known for his costly battle with the Spartans and Thespians at the Battle of
Thermopylae. 16. He would be succeeded by his son Artaxerexes I Longimanus or
Artaxerxes II or just Artaxerxes as mentioned in Nehemiah 2:1. With the decree
of the Artaxerxes, Nehemiah would become the Governor of Judea and with the
Authority of Artaxerxes, Nehemiah would rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Artaxerxes I would have his own skirmishes with the Greeks. These would occur
at sea known as the Battle of Salamis.17 Under Artazerxes I, he would oversee the
establishment of Jewish Law in Judea and under Nehemiah and Ezra’s guidance
the people would repent and renew their devotion to Yahweh. However due to
worsening relationship between intermarriage between the Samaritans and the
Judeans, a separate Samaritan priesthood would be established when it was
discovered by Nehemiah that the grandson of one of the priests had married the
daughter of Sanballat. According to the Jewish Historian Josephus, this lead to a
separate priesthood being established at Shechem.

Prophets of the Period:

There were three prophets during this period. Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

Haggai would be the one to call the people to repent and restore and repair the
Temple that had been neglected. His rebuke was to the people who had focused
on their homes and houses while the Lords House was in disrepair. He would
minister under the leadership of Zerrubbabel.

Zechariah is more of a Messianic prophet, His visions about the priest Joshua are
prefigures to Christ as the High Priest. In fact the word Joshua and Jesus are the
same name. His visions about the coming day of Judgment and the burden of
Jerusalem are more acute as we examine current events throughout the world.

Malachi means “my messenger”. This book is a series of debate questions
between God and his people. Malachi rebukes the people for their intermarriage
and divorce, their failure to bring tithes and offerings into the house of the Lord
and their arrogance. He is the last prophet of the Old Testament.

The last Kings of Persia.

After the death of Artazerxes I in 424 BC, he was succeeded by his son Xerxes II.
He was murdered by his brother Sogdianus. He was in turn murdered by his
brother Ochus. Ochus adopted the name Darius or sometimes known as Darius II.
He was succeeded by Artaxerxes II or as the Greeks called him Artaxerxes
Mnemon. He was succeeded by Artaxerxes III. He gained the throne by killing his
brother’s family. He was poisoned by one of his Eunuchs. His son Arses was put
on the throne but later deposed in favor of Darius III. The Eunuch who had
murdered his father and brother would be murdered by Darius III. Darius III was
the last of the Persian Kings. It was he who would soon experience the furor of a
united Grecian front led by a young Macedonian king by the Name of Alexander
the Great. The Persian Empire would come to an end in 330 BC.

Some parting thoughts about the Persian Empire.

One of the things that the Persians did was to keep a record of time based upon a
numerical system of 60. The basis for our watches and clocks were largely
influenced by the Persians.

The Persians were the 1st ones to coin money. In fact Cyrus the Great would
commission the coinage of money. So the change we have jingling in our pockets
is due in large part to the Persians.

Probably the greatest thing the Persians brought to the world was the idea of
religious tolerance. Roger Williams, founder of the Baptist colony of Road Island
cited the religious tolerance of Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great.

Next week will discuss the Rise and Fall of the Greek empire.

Week 7. The Babylonian Captivity

Week 7
Introduction: Bob Marley wrote a song that he borrowed from the Psalm 137. The lyrics go like this:
By the rivers of Babylon
Where he sat down
And there he wept when he remembered Zion.

Oh from wicked, carry us away from captivity
Required from us a song
How can we singing out for song in a strange land.

So let the words of our mouth
And the meditations of our hearts
Be acceptable in thy sight

By the rivers of Babylon
Where he sat down
And there he wept when he remembered Zion.

Oh from wicked, carry us away from captivity
Required from us a song
How can we singing out for song in a strange land.
How can we singing out for song in a strange land.

If you will recall from our last study, we left off with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. There was actually one last deportation that would take place but it would be after the fall of Jerusalem and the installation of a governor or Satrap as was the term used by the Babylonians. The governor was himself a Jew. His name was Gedaliah. This is where we begin this week’s lesson.
· Gedaliah: The kindhearted governor.
Gedaliah came from an area northwest of Jerusalem known as Mizpah. After the sacking of Jerusalem in 586 BC, Nebuchadnezzar had appointed Gedaliah to govern the poor people of Judah left to tend the fields and vineyards. He also was to look after the prophet Jeremiah and the some of the royal princesses. This man was not only benevolent, but kind and tenderhearted. He called the remnant of the royal family and the last of the army and assured them they would not be harmed in anyway. The army officers and one member of the royal family, Ishmael returned to Judah to meet with Gedaliah. When they met with Gedaliah, he encouraged them to stay in the land and serve the Babylonians and even directed that provisions be given to them. The Governor was a good friend to the Prophet Jeremiah. In fact according to Jeremiah 40:6, the prophet lived with Gedaliah in Mizpah. Trouble was afoot for the kind hearted governor. Clare Boothe Luce is quoted as saying: “No good deed goes unpunished.”. So it would be for this kind hearted man. A conspiracy had developed between the king of Ammon and the royal prince Ishmael. One of the former Jewish army officers, Johanan informed the governor of the plot against his life. Johanan even offered to kill Ishmael secretly to preserve both Gedaliah’s life but also the people. The governor refused to believe the seasoned battle hardened soldier. According to Jeremiah 40:16, Gedaliah accused the general of lying about Ishmael. The governor’s gregarious, trusting nature would be his undoing. Ishmael and a company of ten men met the governor in Mizpah, killed him and his body guards. (Jeremiah 41:1-3). Ishmael would dispose of the bodies by throwing them down a cistern (Jeremiah 41:9). Ishmael would be briefly captured by Johanan, (Jeremiah 41:10-15), but would later escape to Ammon. Johanan, would then take the people from Mizpah, (all the royal household, including the prophet Jeremiah, into Egypt to escape the wrath of Nebuchadnezzar. Justice would be swift. Nebuchadnezzar would sweep down upon Judah and in 582-581 BC. Just 4 years had past. Now all the people of Judah were either in captivity or in exile in Egypt.
· The exile in Babylonia.
o Nebuchadnezzar had two main reasons for taking the Jews into captivity. One was militarily. Nebuchadnezzar needed a secure passage into Egypt. If you will recall from our previous week’s discussion, Pharaoh Neco had fought against Nebuchadnezzar at that battle of Carchemish in 606 BC. Nebuchadnezzar had won that battle but at a very high cost in both men and financial resources. He did not need local trouble between Babylonia and a major kingdom like Egypt. The Babylonian Empire had extended past Israel in to parts of what is now Saudi Arabia to the Egyptian border.
From an economic perspective, Nebuchadnezzar wanted to make his capital city, Babylon, the most beautiful in all the then known world.The Greek Historian Herodotus is the one who 1st described the hanging gardens of Babylon and the city walled defenses (56 miles in length, 80 feet thick and 320 feet high). Some modern archeological excavations have disputed some of the dimensions detailed by Herodotus. The hanging gardens of Babylon were actually a tiered garden system that adorned the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II.
o Nebuchadnezzar had the gardens constructed for his wife because she was homesick for her native country of Media.

Nebuchadnezzar needed a cheap skilled labor force to build his city and his nation. The craftsmen and skilled labor that came from Judea would aid him in quest to make Babylon the most beautiful kingdom in the ancient world. The 1st thing the captives would have noticed coming into the capital city would be the Isthar gate. The gate was glazed with black brick. It was built around 575 BC to honor the goddess Ishtar. The glazed brick came from a furnace used in the city as a kiln to coat mosaics and tiles. (Daniel 3:15-28).The path from the Ishtar gate would lead to one of the ziggurats or temples to the Babylonian god Marduk.

No doubt all the Jewish captives saw these images and the psychological effect alone would have been devastating and demoralizing. The city of Jerusalem had been destroyed, their Temple to Yahweh had been burned to the ground and their homeland and all they knew was gone. The topography was different as well. Although Judea is somewhat arid, there were hills and mountain ranges the people could go to for refreshment and relaxation were all gone. Babylonia was mainly a fertile crescent where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers irrigated the plains with fertile ground. The city of Babylon was bisected by the River Euphrates and had ferry boats and draw bridges. For those who were enterprising entrepreneurs, the Jewish exiles might see this as an opportunity rather than a punishment, but for many this was a time of sorrow and hard labor.
The members of the Royal household were generally treated with respect and accorded some freedom. In the case of Daniel, there would even be seat in government accorded to him. But for the vast majority of Jews, the burden of captivity would be great. In fact most of the Jewish captives found themselves in the area of Tel Abib near the river Chebar (Ezekiel 3:15). The area is now believed to be near the ancient Iraqi city of Nippur.
· The prophets in exile: Ezekiel and Daniel.
Ezekiel’s name means, “Strength of God”. Today we would refer to him as a “Hell Fire and Brimstone Preacher” Ezekiel began his ministry at the age of 30. He had grown up during the reforms of King Josiah and was well acquainted with both the reforms of King Josiah and also the ministry of the prophet Jeremiah. He had been taken captive during the second deportation with King Jehoiachin. Ezekiel would be prophet, priest and pastor to the general population of Jewish exiles. This would be a timeline in which the prophet ministered:
Ezekiel would minister to people living near the river Chebar or Kebar. This was a grand canal that proceeded through the ancient city or Nippur and would rejoin the river Euphrates south of Babylon near the city of Uruk. The river has since shifted its course some twelve miles since the time of the prophet. Although life was difficult for the exiles, it was not like it had been in Egypt. They were allowed limited travel within Babylonia proper. We must keep in mind that Both Ezekiel and Daniel had been taken captive into Babylon prior to the destruction of the Temple in 586 BC. In the 1st part of Ezekiel’s book, he sees the throne of God coming to execute judgment. His vision of the chariot is the exact same vision the apostle John sees in Revelation chapter 4. Ezekiel reinforces the prophecies given by Isaiah and Jeremiah that Jerusalem would be sacked and the Temple destroyed. This did not win him any popularity contest with his hearers. Ezekiel would not preach an inching ear message. In fact, he would directly tell the elders of Israel that they were the ones who had erected “idols in their hearts” (Ezekiel 14:1-3). Ezekiel would use exact dates in his book to tell when the prophecies were foretold.

His vision of the Dry Bones in Ezekiel 37:1-10 were a message of home to a new generation that would make up the remnant that would return to Israel. This prophecy was most likely in response to the letter sent to the exiles by the prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 29. We know that Ezekiel had a wife as evidenced by the sign that he would give to the exiles in Ezekiel 24:15-27. The last portion of his book deals with the far distant future of the New Temple, New Worship and a restored land. (Ezekiel 40:1-48). It is generally believed that the body of Ezekiel is buried near the modern city of Bagdad
o Daniel would be taken captive as an adolescent in 605 BC. He would begin his ministry at this time. His 1st call was that of one who would give understanding to the meaning of dreams. Like Joseph, he was held captive in a foreign land. He had been given the name Belteshazzar. Yet only a young adult, he was a man of integrity, conviction and faith in the Lord God Yahweh (Daniel 1:8). Prior to the fall of Jerusalem, Daniel would be called upon to interpret a dream by king Nebuchadnezzar. The king would have a nightmare that would greatly trouble the king. Nebuchadnezzar was nobody’s fool though. He had seen the workings of how the charlatans of the magicians, conjurers and sorcerers would give only vague interpretations of dreams and thereby maintain their power over the people. He orders these “wise men” to tell him both the dream and its meaning. When these men answer that they could not do this, the king in a fit of rage orders that all the wise men of Babylon to be slain. Daniel and his friends would be among those destined for the executioner’s hand. Daniel who was a friend of the king’s guard, Arioch as to why the king would issue such an order. The king’s body guard explains the situation to Daniel. Daniel with his friends seek the Lord in prayer and God reveals to Daniel both the dream and the meaning of the dream. Daniel is brought before the king. Daniel gives this audience to King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel 2:24 - 49 Therefore, Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and spoke to him as follows: "Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon! Take me into the king's presence, and I will declare the interpretation to the king." Then Arioch hurriedly brought Daniel into the king's presence and spoke to him as follows: "I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king!" The king said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, "Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?" Daniel answered before the king and said, "As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the king."However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed. "As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place. "But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind. "You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome."The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. "You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. "This was the dream; now we will tell its interpretation before the king. "You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory; and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold. "After you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth. "Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. "In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. "As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. "And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery. "In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. "Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy." Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did homage to Daniel, and gave orders to present to him an offering and fragrant incense. The king answered Daniel and said, "Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery." Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.And Daniel made request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel was at the king's court.
o The head of Gold would be the Babylonian Empire also referred to as a lion in Daniel 7:4. The Babylonian empire would fall in 539 BC to the Persians exactly as Daniel had predicted. The Persian empire also known as a bear in Daniel 7:35 and a Ram in Daniel 8:3-4 would fall to the Greeks under Alexander the Great in 331 BC. The legs of Iron also known as the Monstrous Beast with Iron teeth in Daniel 7:7 would be the Roman Empire. The iron mixed with clay would be the remnants of the old Roman Empire known as Western Europe. The smiting stone is Christ coming in Judgment to crush his enemies and rule the earth with a Rod of Iron.
· The effects of worship during the exile.
o During the exile, the Jews could not perform their traditional form of worship. So they would meet in homes or other places. These informal places of worship would become known as Synagogues. Also during the exile, the Jews would adopt a feast day known as the Jewish New Year. This is known as Rosh Hashanah. This would begin a shift in the Jewish calendar. Prior to this time, the Jewish calendar had centered on Passover.
· The benefits of the captivity:
o The Jewish people learned their lesson about idol worship. Never again would they return to bowing their knees to idols. This would be true and even mean many would die for that belief.
o A new office for the Temple was created. This office was that of a Scribe. It would be their duty to painstakingly preserve the scriptures. God’s word was holy and to be preserved and obeyed at all costs. (To preserve the text of God’s Word from error, scribes also took numerous precautions. Even though most scribes had the Scriptures memorized, they were not allowed to write a single word from memory. They must use the "tikkun," or perfect text that was passed down from the generations before. Every word had to be checked against the older copy before and after it was written. Once the page of parchment was complete, the letters, words, and paragraphs had to be counted and be identical to the original document. Each letter had to be clear and legible, and no two letters could touch each other. If just one error occurred, the page had to be re-done. Once a sheet of parchment was complete, it had to be checked by three rabbis before being sown with other parchment sheets into a complete Torah scroll. A complete torah scroll consists of about 250 parchment sheets and, if completely unrolled, can be up to 100 yards long! Even after the entire scroll was complete, however, it was reviewed again within thirty days. If one or two pages had errors, those errors could be corrected, and the scroll used, but if three or more parchment pages were found to contain errors, the entire scroll was unfit for use and had to be re-done! An old and worn scroll was discontinued from use because of the possibility of someone using it to make a copy, and thereby making a mistake because of faded or smudged letters. Since the Jews never destroyed any document containing God’s Word, they were stored or buried in a special hiding place called a "genizah," usually under or within a synagogue or Jewish cemetery.)
o The Synagogues would be formed. These would be where Jesus would teach though out Galilee and would later be the places throughout the world where the Apostle Paul would bring his message of the Messiah to Jews through out the Roman Empire and Europe.

o The teaching of the Scriptures. The Jewish people would learn that by learning, keeping and obeying God’s word would be their key to understanding God’s will.

Lastly, the captivity would prove to unite the people of God.

Week 6

Well, friends, we are halfway through our study of Old Testament Survey. This week we cover the last years of the southern kingdom of Judah. Below you will find the manuscript for this week. Remember, for those that e-mail me, the manuscript I provide is in PDF format which includes Maps and links.


Week 6
Introduction:
1. Last week we discussed the fall of the Northern Kingdom to onslaught by the Assyrian Empire. During the final years of the Northern Kingdom, There were two kings that ruled Judah. There names were Jotham and Ahaz. Jotham was the son of Uzziah. Ahaz was Uzziah’s grandson. After Ahaz, Hezekiah would reign. After Hezekiah would be Manasseh. Amon would rule after that, Josiah. There would be four kings after Josiah; Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah.


· Jotham was a righteous man and did not make the mistake that his father made by entering the temple to offer a sacrifice. He became king at the age of 25. Jotham was by all accounts both a righteous, benevolent wise monarch. He upgraded the gate to the temple, fortified the cities of Judah and built watchtowers to look over the cities. Jotham also brought the Ammonites under submission and according to the book of 2 Chronicles, the Ammonites paid one hundred talents of silver, ten thousand measures of wheat and ten thousand of barley for three years. Jotham died just before the fall of Samaria. You can read about Jotham’s life in 2 Chronicles 27:1-7.
After Jotham’s death, his son Ahaz comes to the throne. Ahaz apparently became enthralled with the worship of Ashur, the Assyrian God. According to Flavius Josephus, he also embraced worship of the Canaanite gods that entailed infant sacrifice. This event is also recorded in 2 Kings 16:3. Ashur was the city deity of the ancient capital of Assyria prior to Nineveh. Ashur was the patriarchal god that was also the sun god. His wife was the goddess Isthar. Ashur worship was astral in nature. According to the Babylonian epics, Ashur was associated with the North Star. The Assyrian Kings, when they conquered another kingdom, they would institute Ashur worship and would associate themselves as being the deified incarnation of Ashur. This is why the prophet Isaiah associates the Assyrian king with Lucifer. (Isaiah 14:12-27). Ahaz began his rule at the age of 20. Because of this idolatry, God used the Syrian (Aram) king Rezin to invade and retake Elath. In order to combat the Syrian expansion, Ahaz, enlisted the help of Tilgath-Pileser. He paid the Assyrian King a significant Tribute. The Assyrians crushed the Syrians, captured Damascus, carried the people away into captivity and put the Syrian king Rezim to death. King Ahaz makes a trip to Damascus and to congratulate the Assyrian King. There he sees an altar dedicated to the Assyrian God Ashur. He has an Altar built like it to offer sacrifice to Ashur in Jerusalem. This adoption of idol worship in Judah would be seed that would eventually lead Judah into captivity. (2 Chronicles 28:22-23). After he died in 724 BC, but because of his wickedness, his body was not buried in the sepulcher of the kings. Hezekiah would begin to reign at the age of 25. He would undo the horrors of his father and begin a new revival in Judah (2 Chronicles 29). Hezekiah was not only a righteous man, but he was a Military pragmatist. Judah had just witnessed the destruction of Samaria by Sargon II. Hezekiah knew that he would both military alliances and strategic resources if the kingdom of Judah was to survive the Assyrian threat. According to 2 Kings 19:9-10, there is a reference to a type of alliance that existed between Judah and Ethiopia. About that time in History, the Assyrian King, Sennacherib had inherited a large empire, but the conquered people were causing a great deal of unrest. About this time in the Mediterranean provinces of North Africa and Europe, there were two factors facing the Assyrian Empire. Egypt was a major player. According to Donald A. MacKenzie, an Ethiopian pharaoh by the name of Taharka who had envisioned restoring Egypt to her former glory. There existed at that time an alliance between Taharka king of Egypt, Luli, king of Tyre, Hezekiah king of Judah, and Merodach Baladan the deposed king of Chaldea. According to the Scriptures, Hezekiah had received a letter from the Egyptian king outlining the threat that Sennacherib posed not only to Judah but also the entire region. (2 Kings 19:11). Hezekiah was a man of faith so he prays to the Lord for deliverance. The prophet Isaiah then comes to Hezekiah and tells him that because he had trusted in the Lord for deliverance and not in the alliance of men, that the Lord would confound the king of Assyria. This is recorded in (2 Kings 19.28). This prophecy was fulfilled through the rebellious actions of the deposed king of Babylon, an army of Egyptians and the king of Tyre. Furthermore, the prophet Isaiah tells the king that even though the city might be under siege from Sennacherib, the Lord would preserve for himself a remnant that would bear him fruit. According to the Scriptures, the Lord would strike down 185,000 Assyrian troops. Babylonian historians record that Sennacherib’s men had been plagued by an invasion of field mice. According to Byron, the cause of the deaths of the Assyrians was due to pestilence. If we take into account the scriptures, the accounts of the field mice, this would make perfect sense, seeing that mice carry all forms of deadly diseases.The beginning of the end of the Assyrian Empire.
· After Sargon II conquered Samaria and took most of the Northern Tribes into captivity, A new Assyrian King by the name of Sennacherib came to power. A great deal of unrest had settled upon the Assyrian empire. In the area of Chaldea, the Babylonians were beginning to grow in power. Sennacherib was hard pressed to keep his empire together. After the defeat by the Lord’s sovereign hand, Sennacherib had attempted to make Nineveh a competitive center of power, according to the scriptures, he had retired to Nineveh and he was assassinated by two men (Adrammelech and Sharezer). (2 Kings 19:37). He had lived by the sword and perished by it. His successor Esarhaddon was more conciliatory to conquered rulers. This was probably due both to his Babylonian mother and wife. The Assyrian empire would eventual fall in 612 BC. This had been foretold by the prophet Nahum. In 612 BC, the Babylonian king, Nabopolassar with the aid of the Medes and the Scythians laid siege to the city of Nineveh and breached the walls of the city after a raging flood overwhelmed the city’s defenses. Thus ended the saga of the Assyrian domination of the ancient world.

The rise of the Babylonian Threat.
Shortly after Sennacherib was sent packing back to Nineveh, King Hezekiah became very sick. In fact, the illness was mortal and the prophet Isaiah came to him and told him to set his house in order because he was about to die. (2 Kings 20:1). Hezekiah then begs the Lord to spare his life and the Lord sends the prophet back to the King to tell him that the Lord would heal him. Apparently Hezekiah has some sort of boil that was causing this fatal illness. The context of scripture would indicate that there was some sort of ulcerated boil that was causing this. Some Jewish physicians have speculated that the ulcer was in the throat constricted the airway and causing excruciating pain. Some commentators have thought that maybe it was bubonic plague, or even a form of leprosy known as elephantiasis. . The prophet Isaiah tells the king to prepare a poultice of figs for the boil, but the king desires that the Lord also provide him a sign. The Lord causes the shadow to · go back ten steps. This has puzzled Bible scholars and scientists for years. Dr. Barnes, in his commentary provides us with some clues as to what happened. In the ancient word, the means to tell time was with a sundial. A partial solar eclipse occurred around May 6th 724 BC. . But even if the ten hour back step of the sun was due to a partial eclipse or due to the earth reversing rotation is not really the point. The point is that the prophet Isaiah said it would happen and it did. According to the scriptures, Hezekiah would be granted 15 more years of life. During this time, his son Manasseh would be born. Hezekiah would foolishly show off the beauty of the Temple to the Babylonian emissaries in 2 Kings 20:13. This visit would ultimately lead to Judah’s captivity. The prophet Isaiah foretold the Diaspora of Judah in 2 Kings 20: 17-18. Hezekiah would rule for 29 years after his father’s death. At the age of 54, Hezekiah would die and be buried in the upper tomb of the kings of Judah. (2 Chronicles 32:27-33).
Manasseh was a real pill of a son. He was the exact opposite of his father. His idolatry was so heinous; he erected an idol in the Temple of Yahweh. He adopted the worship of Ahaz and even sacrificed his own son. (2 Kings 21:6). He practiced witchcraft, dealt with mediums and those that supposedly communicate with the “spirit world”. According to the scriptures, the Lord would bring the Assyrians again to plague Judah. In 681 BC, the successor to Sennacherib, Esarhaddon would carry Manasseh captive back to Babylon. According to Assyrian tradition, captive kings would be paraded through the streets with a hook or ring through their jaw, causing excruciating pain. (2 Kings 19:28). Apparently while in prison, he came to his senses and repented of his sins. When he returns to Judah, he attempts to undo the damage he had done in his youth. (2 Chonicles 33:13-16). The problem with allowing sin to be tolerated with the force of law is that type of world view desensitizes people to the horrors of sin. (James 1:14-15). Manasseh would be the longest ruling king of Judah. He would rule for 55 years. According to Jewish tradition, it was Manasseh who would take the prophet Isaiah and have him sawn in half. (Hebrews 11:37). Manasseh could be summed up with a quote for John Newton. “My · memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things; That I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.”
· After the death of Manasseh, his son Amon ascended to the throne of Judah. He was an evil man and reinstated the worship of Baal. Yet he would be assassinated by his servants. (2 Chronicles 33:24-25). Josiah would be made king after Amon.
Josiah was truly a righteous man. He came to power at the age of eight. He would reign for 31 years. It was Josiah that would rediscover the laws of Moses and would call the entire nation to fast and repent. He would repair the Temple. When the king inquired of the prophets as to the state of the nation because of their sins, the prophet did not refrain from telling the king the truth. Because of the sins of previous kings and the sins of the people who following their idolatrous ways, the nation would go into captivity. But because Josiah was faithful, the Lord would spare him from seeing the destruction of the nation. (2 Chronicles 34:28). True to his word, the Lord called Josiah to himself in a battle against the Egyptian king Neco in 609 BC at the plains of Megiddo.· Only 4 kings would reign in Judah before the land would be sacked by the Babylonians. The last four kings were Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin or Coniah, and Zedekiah.
Jehoahaz was evil like the kings prior to Josiah. His reign was short lived. Due to Josiah’s interference with Pharaoh Neco, the King of Egypt captured him and took him to Egypt and held him there. The king of Egypt then imposed a tribute of 100 talents of silver and 1 talent of Gold. (2 Chronicles 36:1-3). Neco would then install his brother Eliakim as a vassal king. Neco would force Eliakim to take on the name of Jehoiakim. In the Hebrew, Eliakim means God of raising but the name Jehoiakim means Jehovah will raise. Jehoahaz would die in Egypt. (2 Kings 23:34). One may ask, why did Josiah consider opposing Pharaoh Neco. The answer may lie in Jeremiah 46:1. We have to keep in mind that Josiah and Jeremiah were extremely close and already mentioned, Jeremiah was at the side of Josiah when he died. This prophecy would have been given around 627 BC the battle of Megiddo in 602 BC. When Pharaoh Neco was defeated by the Babylonians at the battle of Carchemish in 605 BC, The Babylonians became the undisputed rulers in Asia and the near east.· After the battle of Carchemish in 605, Nebuchadnezzar set his sights on Jerusalem. Jehoiakim was taken prisoner to Babylon. It was about this time that Daniel was also taken captive to Babylon. (Daniel 1:1-2). Daniel like the prophet Zephaniah was a member of the royal family. Daniel would later be used by God to prophesy to exact time of the Lord Jesus’ death in Seventy AD.
· After the death of Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin would reign in his father’s place. He would begin his reign at the age of 8 but according to the scriptures, he would be evil like his father. Nebuchadnezzar would once again lay siege to Jerusalem, Jehoiachin would be taken captive into Babylon along with the prophet Ezekiel. Jehoiachin would be replaced by his uncle Zedekiah on the orders of Nebuchadnezzar. Jehoiachin would be allowed to return to Judah when he was an old man (See 2 Kings 25:27-30). His uncle would not be so lucky.
When Nebuchadnezzar installed Zedekiah as his vassal king, he thought that by doing this, he could ensure that the people would be less rebellious. He was wrong. In fact, Zedekiah led a rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar. This time, the king of Babylon was taking no chances. After a siege of the city of Jerusalem that was really devastating so much so the people were starving. Zedekiah had fled the city. When Nebuchadnezzar caught up with him, Nebuchadnezzar killed his children before his eyes, then put his eyes out. He carried him away into Babylon. The king then proceeded to destroy the city just as the prophet had predicted. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple in 586 BC.

Week 5. The Assyrian Threat

Week 5
The rise of the Assyrian Threat to the Northern Kingdom

1. Introduction:
· In our last study we discussed the division of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms in Israel. When Israel was united, she was strong, but after Solomon’s death, things began to unravel. The kingdom split into two kingdoms, plus due to Solomon’s penchant for unbelieving wives, the nation soon found itself engulfed in idol worship of some form or another. The southern kingdom made up of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which would be the remnant that God would use to bring forth his Messiah.
· God, who is holy, was raising up a nation that would soon be used to execute judgment on the Northern Kingdom. That kingdom would be the Assyrian Empire.
· The Assyrian Empire had its beginning around 2400 BC in and around the city of Assur. The remains of the city of Assur lie near the city of Qalat Sharqat in Iraq. The ancient city was rediscovered by British archaeologist Austen Layard in 1847. The period of Assyrian history we are going to focus on is during the 1st golden age of Assyria (2400 B.C. to 612 B.C). This is the overlapping time frame of the death of Ahab of the Northern Kingdom in 896 BC. During this period of time, the Assyrian empire would develop the ability to forge iron weapons. This enabled them their infantry and cavalry to carry stronger and less expensive weapons. The Assyrian also developed infantry footwear that had high laced ankles along with nail gripped soles. They were also the masters of siege warfare. Assyria would play a significant role in shaping the western world. A little known fact about the early church is that the Apostle Thomas, with Thaddeus and Bartholomew formed a local church in the Assyrian city of Edessa. The missionary expansion of the Assyrian Church reached deep into Asia. In fact there have been archaeological finds of ancient Assyrian churches in China that date well before Marco Polo’s journey to China.
· With these thoughts tucked in the back of our minds, let us begin our study:
2. The General of the Northern Kingdom, Jehu, would be used by God to bring about judgment upon Ahab and Jezebel. Elijah’s successor, Elisha would be the one to anoint Jehu king over Israel in (2 Kings 9:1-3). The prophet gives Jehu the command to “cut off” every male of the household of Ahab. This means Jehu was to kill all the males in Ahab’s household. Jezebel is to perish too for her role in the slaying of the Lord’s prophets. Jehu would carry out his mission and then some. He would show no mercy to family of Ahab. He would also kill all the priests of Baal and destroy their temple. (2 Kings 10:18-28) But Jehu did not reinstate the true worship of Yahweh. Instead he reinstated the “Golden Calf worship of Jeroboam. For this God would use the Syrian king to punish him. The Northern Kingdom would be greatly weakened because to this. Jehu would reign 28 years. With Jehu, would begin a dynasty of kings that would last through his great grandson Jeroboam II.worshipping golden calves in Bethel and Samaria.
3. For this, the Lord would use the Syrian king Hazael to further reduce the size of the Northern Kingdom. This Syrian king would reign from 886 BC to 840 BC. The Syrian encroachment would leave Jehoahaz’ army to a paltry 10,000 infantry, 50 cavalry and 10 chariots. The Syrian expansion would capture Ramoth-gilead The Syria expansion would take most of the kingdom east of the Jordan river and would eventually also include attacks on the coasts of the Northern Kingdom including parts of the old Phoenician territory and the city of Gath. (Amos 6:2).
4. After the death of Jehoahaz, his son Joash would rule in his place. As far as any religious reform, there was none under his reign, however, we do see a deep respect he showed to the prophet Elisha because we see him coming to the prophet when Elisha is dying. Whether the visit was out of deep concern or out of political need, the king comes to the dying prophet and appears to make an appeal for the safety of Israel from the Syrian advance. The prophet then tells the king to shoot an arrow to the east. The prophet then tells the king to shoot three arrows and stomp the ground three times. He shoots the arrows but stomps the ground 5 times. The prophet becomes angry. The king would regain the territory lost to the Syrians. This would happen shortly after the death of Hazael in 840 BC. These accounts are recorded in 2 Kings 13: 10-25.
5. A brief footnote should be mentioned. During this time frame, the prophet Amos would also be ministering to the northern kingdom. His name means “burden” in the Hebrew language. He would come from the village of Tekoh in Judah. 1. It is interesting how God would use a prophet from the southern kingdom to call Northern kingdom to repent. The theme of the book of Amos is injustice (Amos 5:24). Although some of his prophesies were against Judah, his main emphasis was to call the Northern Kingdom to repentance or else they would go into exile. (Amos 5:27)
6. Jeroboam II would succeed his father Joash as king. He would reign for 41 years as king. He like his great grandfather would not institute any religious reforms in the Northern Kingdom, however he did regain some of Israel’s former glory including driving back the Syrian encroachment. This success was largely due to one prophet. That man was Jonah.
7. Jonah was from a village called Gath-hepher from the tribe of Zebulun. God would call this prophet to go to the capital of the Assyrian Empire at that time called Nineveh. Nineveh is in modern day Iraq called Mosul. Jonah did not want to obey God. No doubt he had heard the warnings issued to Israel by the prophet Amos and Jonah did not want to see the people of Nineveh to repent. He wanted God to destroy them. So what does he do? He books passage on a ship headed to Tarshish from Joppa. Tarshish was part of Spain at the time of Jonah. Jonah does not win in his endeavor to escape his responsibility to obey God. While on the voyage, God caused a great storm on the Mediterranean Sea and the sailors end up tossing Jonah overboard, God prepares a fish with Jonah’s name on it. It swallows him and he ends up three nights in the belly of this fish. Iraq is land locked with the exception of a small port area in the Persian Gulf so when the fish regurgitated Jonah, we must assume he came ashore in either Syria or Turkey. Flavius Josephus says that Jonah comes ashore on the Euxine Sea. This is the Black Sea. This seems unlikely because the Black Sea is isolated from the Mediterranean God describes the city of Nineveh as the “great city” Recent excavations near Mosul have uncovered how really big the city was. The city itself, with the walls around it, was 3 miles long and 1.5 miles wide. The walls of the city were 50 feet high. 1. According to the prophetical account, Jonah’s journey took three days. Some scholars surmise that he actually walked through several cities before arriving at Nineveh proper. In the city of Mosul Iraq, there is a Mosque with a Whale bone hanging from the overhead commemorating Jonah’s message to Nineveh. Because the Assyrians were undergoing their 1st spiritual renewal, the king of Israel, Jeroboam II was able to rebuilt the Northern kingdom.
8. The dynasty of Jehu would end with the death of Jeroboam II’s son Zechariah, (Not to be confused with the prophet Zechariah.) He would be assassinated by Shallum.
9. During the Jehu dynasty, the southern kingdom was undergoing both strife and revival. Just prior to Jeroboam’s wiping out the remnants of Ahab’s family a usurper to David’s throne arose by the name of Athaliah. She was the only queen of Judah and a relative of Ahab. She made the attempt to destroy the royal blood line of David but failed. The only heir to David’s throne, Joash was spirited away by one of the princesses in the royal court. Athaliah would institute Baal worship in Judah, but her evil plans would be undone by a priest by the name of Jehoiada. This priest would conspire with the generals of the army of Judah to protect the heir apparent king, the temple and secretly wait until they could crown Joash king and take Athaliah prisoner. The entire event is recorded in 2 Kings 11:3-21. Under this priest’s guidance, the young king would revive the temple worship of Yahweh, but the revival was short lived. Graft, corruption and neglect of the Temple soon caused God to use the Syrians once again to execute judgment upon a wayward ruler. Joash would be murdered by court officials.
10. When Joash’s son, Amaziah came to power, the 1st thing he did was to put to death all those that had conspired against his father Joash. He foolishly picked a fight with the Northern kingdom only to taken hostage by the king and the people of Judah had to pay tribute to the Northern Kingdom. The events of this palace intrigue are found in 2 Kings 14:1-14.
11. Uzziah would succeed his father, Amaziah. Uzziah would be much like his father. He would start out by instituting sweeping religious reform, but as he grew older, his desire to serve God waned. In fact the scriptures record that he had become proud and decided to enter into the Temple to perform the duties of the priest and burn incense. For this, he was cursed with leprosy or Hansen’s Disease. (2 Chronicles 26:3-21)
12. Around this time, the Assyrian empire was beginning it domination of the then known world. The Assyrian king at this time was Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727). In the scriptures, he is referred to as Pul. (2 Kings 15:19, 1 Chronicles 5:26). To understand what was happening at the time of the expansion of the Assyrian empire, we need to understand the why of this threat. In the near east there existed ancient trade routes. This is where the wealth would come from. Economics 101 if you will. You will notice if we overlay the expansion of the Assyrian Empire, we will see the underlying reason behind the expansion: The trade routes and the path for military conquest went hand in hand. Who ever holds the purse, holds power over the people. Tiglath-Pileser III began a new means of controlling conquered lands. He undertook a policy of deporting people out of their homelands so their will to rebel would be diminished. His encroachment upon Israel would begin with Menahem. Menahem had seized the throne by murdering Shallum. Arround 743 BC, Tiglath-Pileser would invade the northern kingdom. Mehahem would pay a “tribute” to Tiglath-Pileser. In order to pay this, Menahem levied a tax on the wealthiest of the Northern Kingdom’s Population. The total amount of silver collected was 1000 talents. Menahem would be succeeded by his son Pekahiah. He would reign only two years and be assassinated by a military leader named Pekah.
13. During this period of time, the prophet Hosea would begin his ministry. As you read this book, the theme seems to be illustrated in Hosea’s marriage to Gomer. Gomer is an unfaithful wife. Hosea represents the Lord and Gomer represents Israel. The theme of the book is God wooing his unfaithful wife Israel to repent and come home.
14. The last king of Israel would be Hoshea. He would begin by following suit by paying tribute to the Assyrians, but he would make a fatal mistake and call on Egypt to protect Israel. The new king Shalmaneser would lay siege to Samaria for three years. Sargon II would succeed in conquering the city in 722 BC. 27,290 inhabitants of the Northern Kingdom would go into exile. This would end the Northern Kingdom.
Prologue
The Assyrian Empire was brutal in their military tactics. They would collect the heads of their conquered dead. The term “head count” comes from the ancient Assyrian Empire. However, the accomplishments of the Assyrians are still with us today. The idea of paving roadways came from the Assyrians. The 1st electric battery was developed in Ancient Assyria. Assyria were the 1st ones to successfully smelt iron and forge iron into weapons. The Assyrian Empire would fall in 612 BC to the Babylonian Empire. There would be a spiritual revival in the Assyrian people after 33 AD with the entire nation converting to Christianity under the ministry of Thomas. The Assyrians were eventually driven out of Iraq with the rise of Islam. Today, the majority of Assyrians live in the United States.

Week 4

Week 4
Introduction: This week, we begin our discussion about the divided kingdom. If you will recall our discussion last week, we discussed the comments between Samuel and the Lord about the choosing of a king for the people. The Lord assured Samuel that the reason for this decision by the elders of Israel was due to the fact that they were rejecting the Lord and not Samuel. A British Historian by the name of Lord Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton once said these famous words: “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” So it would be with these future kings that would come to rule the Northern Kingdom of Israel and a few of the Kings that would rule the Southern Kingdom of Judah and Benjamin. All to often though out history, nations that put their trust in men will find themselves soon enslaved to the power that corrupts those men. A book I highly recommend as an extracurricular reading is “Why the Government Cannot Save You” by John MacAuthur.
The Prelude to the division of the Kingdom.
If you will recall our discussions last week, we recall that Solomon had a penchant for non-believing women. According to our study last week, the scriptures clearly state that these unbelieving women would turn Solomon’s heart from the Lord. In 1 Kings 11, the writer gives us an insight into what Solomon did that provoked the Lord when Solomon was advanced in years. He built an Altar to the False Gods Chemosh and Milcom. Chemosh was the national deity of the Moabites. The name most likely meant Destroyer. We also know that this pagan god was worshipped in the form of human sacrifice (2 Kings 3:27). Milcom and Molech were synonymous. The worship of Molech involved the sacrifice of infants to this pagan deity. So severe was the punishment for the sacrifice of infants to this pagan god, the Levitical Law required that if anyone sacrificed their children to this god, they would forfeit their lives. (Leviticus 20:1-5). Molech and Tophet became to be known as one in the same deity. Recent archeological discoveries have verified the type of worship that took place. The idol was made of bronze with arms shaped in the form of a cradle. The belly of the idol was a furnace. The baby was placed in the arms of the idle. While the infant screamed, the priest of Molech would beat drums to drown out the screams of the baby and the parents. The baby would then roll into the belly of the idol and be burned alive. The consort to Chemosh was Ashtoreth, a goddess. This goddess was a fertility goddess. She was sometimes referred to as “The Queen of Heaven” (Jeremiah 44:25). The goddess was known as Ishtar in the Akkadian culture. According to some historians, women were required to sacrifice their hair or their chastity to this idol. The pagan holiday called Easter was dedicated to the worship of Ishtar.
So here from Solomon’s sin we see a path set for the nation that would soon breed a corrupted nation that was about to be taken to the “woodshed” for their rebellion.

The beginnings of the Division

· Just before the death of Solomon, Solomon had decreed that one of his Military Leaders: Jeroboam be sentenced to death because a prophet by the name of Ahijah had prophesied that Jeroboam would be given ten tribes to rule over. Jeroboam then fled to Egypt upon hearing about the plot to have him executed. (1 Kings 11: 29-40). Upon Solomon’s death, his son, Rehoboam went to Shechem for his coronation as the new king of Israel. The young king had a request from his people. Basically the tax burden on the people was really huge. Samuel had warned the people about this very thing and they did not listen. There is a great Biblical application here. When a nation rejects God and begins to rely on government as the solution, the results are bound to be disastrous. The account of Rehoboam’s failure to heed wisdom from older, and wiser people gave the political ammunition for Jeroboam to take control of the Northern ten tribes of Israel. Jeroboam was no fool though. He knew that in order to keep the people from going to Jerusalem to worship in the temple, he set up a place of worship in Bethel and also set up an order of priests that were answerable to him. The worship was like the worship of Aaron where a golden calf was the symbol for Yahweh. So in essence Jeroboam set up a cultic form of worship. Rehoboam’s area would come to be known as Samaria and Rehoboam’s area would be known as Judah. In the Biblical record of 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, the area known as the Northern Kingdom would come to be known as Israel. The Southern Kingdom was known as Judah.
· Rehoboam’s mother was a pagan princess. Under her influence the worship of Asherim. This was a goddess that involved the worship of wooden pillars. You could loosely relate this to Totem Poles. This goddess was the consort to the Canaanite god Baal. During the time of Rehoboam, Palm groves were worshipped by the Canaanites. The goddess Asherim later came to be known as Artimis (Acts 19:23-41). In Europe, the cult of tree worship carried over into Germanic tribes. The practice of decorating Christmas Trees is a carryover from this form of pagan worship. Because of this worship, God punished the people of Judah with the Egyptians caring away the gold shields commissioned by Solomon. (1 Kings 14: 25-30). We read in 2 Chronicles 10 that there was petty warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam until Rehoboam died in 928 BC at the age of 58. His son Abijam would succeed Rehoboam. Abijam would continue in his father’s sinful ways but his reign would last only three years. His son Asa would succeed Abijam. Asa would begin the spiritual renewal in Judah. According to the scriptures he removed the queen mother who carried on the worship of Palm groves that her mother before her had instituted. But Asa had one flaw. He lacked faith to trust in God to protect him. Instead, he forms a treaty with Ben-hadad in Syria to help him defend again the northern king Baasha. For this lack of faith Asa is cursed with some sort of foot disorder. Asa would be succeeded by Jehoshaphat. In fact Jehoshaphat would co-rule with Asa for three years.
· As we mentioned before, Jeroboam instituted the cultic practice of worshipping a golden calf. His son Nadab would succeed him. Jeroboam would reign for 22 years. During that time he would also change feast days of worship and basically circumvent all that God had commanded so far in Exodus and Leviticus.
· When Nadab succeeded his father, he continued the pagan practice of Golden Calf worship. He would come to power in the 2nd year of Asa’s reign <926 BC>. (1 Kings 15:25). Nadab’s reign would be short lived. He would only reign for two years. He would be assonated by a Baasha. This man exterminated the entire household of Jeroboam. (1 Kings 15:27-29). Baasha basically continued the practice of idol worship in the Northern kingdom. Baasha would be succeeded by his son Elah. Elah would be assassinated by his chief charioteer Zimri. Zimri would have the throne for a week before he was defeated by Elah’s general Omri. Omri was the Father of the infamous king Ahab.
Ahab was a truly wicked man. He is best known for his marriage to Jezebel. Up to this time, Israel had basically had a perverted form of worship to the Golden Calf. Ahab would erect an altar to Baal. Baal and his consort Ashtoreth were fertility deities. The worship of these deities involved a form of prostitution and self- mutilation. Baal worship would entail an infant sacrifice followed by a sexual orgy designed to promote a “fertile energy” and there by ensure both a prosperous crop and more children. There is little doubt that such activity has been embraced by those that promote abortion and “sexual freedom”. Ahab’s queen Jezebel was from Tyre. Tyre was part of Phoenicia.

· The marriage to Jezebel was part of a political alliance with Phoenicia. Just a point to note, the Phoenician people were avid sea-faring merchants. This is how Baal worship spread through out the ancient world. Ahab and Jezebel’s thorn in the side was a prophet named Elijah. Elijah is most famous for his contest with the priests of Baal and Yahweh. (1 Kings 18:17-46). Mount Carmel rises to 1740 feet above sea level. The Kishon River flows at the foot of the mountain. It drops sharply to the Mediterranean Sea. There at the base are many caves. This is where the Prophet Elijah hid from Jezebel. (1 Kings 19:9). It was here that God told him that God had 7000 faithful in the Northern Kingdom that would not bow their knees to Baal. (1 Kings 19:18). Elijah would also prophesy the gruesome deaths of both Ahab and Jezebel. (1 Kings 21:19-24). Both prophesies would be fulfilled in (1 Kings 22:38 2 Kings 9:33-37). Elijah was the 1st of the “independent” prophets. These men would have a unique mission. That mission was to call both Israel and Judah to repent. They would also be the ones who would also provide prophecies of the coming Messiah. Elijah would have other ministries. He would raise a woman’s son from the dead (1 Kings17:9-24). He would call down fire from heaven upon soldiers sent to kill him (2 Kings 1:14). He would be taken to heaven in a chariot from heaven. (2 Kings 2:1-11). Elijah’s replacement would be Elisha.
· This man would carry the mantel of Elijah. He would minister from Jericho to Ephraim. Often his travels would take him through Shunem. This is where a room was constructed for him to stay while on his journey through Israel. (2 Kings 4:8-10). He would pray for a woman’s son to be raised to life (2 Kings 4:32-35). He would heal the Syrian General Naaman from leprosy (2 Kings 5:1-19). Elisha’s contemporary would be the Prophet Joel. Joel is one of the minor prophets and the theme of the book is the Coming of the Day of the Lord.
Asa’s son Jehoshaphat would be a very good king like his father Asa. He would not only keep the worship of Yahweh active in Judah, but he would join with Israel to protect against a Syrian threat. Jehoshaphat is probably best known for sending out his choir to sing praises to God before a battle with the Moabites. (2 Chronicles 20). Yet he would make a grave mistake. He would arrange for his son to marry the daughter of Ahab. (2 Chronicles 21:1-6). His son Jehoram would rule Judah after his death.
Jehoram would institute Baal worship in Judah and because of that, the prophet Elijah would pronounce God’s Judgment upon him. He would be cursed with a horrible intestinal disease. He would rule Judah for eight years and when he died not one person in Judah had any regrets.
On the coming horizon, God was about to bring in further discipline upon the people. Next week we will discuss the rise of the Assyrian threat.