Prophets Their Relationship to the Monarchy

Messages of Hope (8 th century)  Isaiah 37:33-35 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the King of Assyria: He shall not come into this city, shoot an arrow there, come before it with a shield, or cast up a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came, by the same he shall return; he shall not come into this city, says the Lord. For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.  Isaiah often seen as supportive of Judah and the kings  Isaiah (the prophet of 1- 39) often dated BCE  Line of David emphasized

Historical Info  Division of the Kingdoms into Israel (Northern) and Judah (Southern) in 922 BCE  Assyrian ruler, Tiglath-Pileser III (also named Pul) gets aggressive to the north shortly after Ahaz comes to power in Judah(735 BCE)  Israel is in real disarray –Death of Jereboam II in 746 BCE –His son, Zechariah, is assassinated after only 6 months by Shallum –Shallum is killed by Menahem in a month –Menahem ( ) makes tribute payments to TPIII to keep him out (2 Kings 15:19-20)

More History  Pekahiah suceeds his father Menahem  Murdered by one of his officers Pekah ( )  Pekah resists TPIII along with Rezin, the King of Damascus among others  Pekah and Rezin come to Ahaz to get Judah to join in the resistance  Isaiah advises him to refuse (7:1-9 and ) –They approach in 734 –Attack on north by Assyria succeeds in

Assyria Does Not Go Away  Ahaz survived by being an Assyrian puppet  Hezekiah hoped for independence when Sargon II dies in 705 and is replaced by Sennacherib  Receives a Babylonian delegation (Isa 39:1- 2)  Sennacherib wages a campaign that destroys much of Judah (Isa 36:1-22)  Jerusalem spared; Isa 10:24-27

Isaiah’s Support of the Davidic Line  9:1-7  Probably a hymn to Ahaz at his coronation or one to his son Hezekiah at his  “child” and “son” references to the king – Psalm 2:7 another example  Wonderful Counselor –Divine wisdom that the king exercises  Mighty God –Not divine, but a representative of God  Everlasting Father –Davidic line celebrated; father also common for king  Prince of Peace –Like vv 1-5

A Similar Text of Support  11:1-9  Probably celebrates Hezekiah  Stump of Jesse is David’s family  Spirit of the Lord comes on kings (I Sam 16:13)  Fair Judge  Time of peace  Jerusalem is the center

Amos – a different perspective  Message is to Israel or the Northern Kingdom during reign of Jereboam II  Prosperity of Jeroboam II’s reign has led to class division  Judgment (by God but via Assyria) is on the way  5:10-13  5:18-24  4:1-3  8:1-38:4-14  Even takes it to the king’s sanctuary; 7:10-17

Micah  Southern Kingdom around 701 BCE  Social evils of those in power denounced; 2:1-11 and 3:1-12.  Note he sees Jerusalem falling – although that does not happen immediately  Also some support for the kingship; 5:1-6  Like Amos in the demands of God 6:1- 8

A Move to the 6 th and 5 th Centuries  Assyrian leader Ashurbanipal dies in 627 BCE  Babylonian leader Nabopolassar starts to reassert his nation’s power  Josiah, in Judah, begins to reclaim northern territory  Josiah also instigates a major religious reform in 621 BCE  Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire fall once and for all in 612 BCE to the Babylonians and their allies  The Egyptians enter with a challenge from the south; Josiah dies in battle with them in 609 (Pharaoh Necho)  Josiah’s son Jehoiakim takes the throne

History Review Continued  The Egyptians were defeated by the Babylonians at Carchemish in 605  Jerusalem, which had been an Egyptian vassal, now came under Babylonian control  Nabopolassar is succeeded by his son Nebuchadnezzar  Jehoiakim saw his chance to be free and renounced his vassal status  Nebuchadnezzar was slow to respond  Jehoiakim died and his son Jehoiachin took his place  Babylonians came in 597 and easily took Jerusalem  Jehoiachin and the elite are taken into exile  Zedekiah, a son of Josiah, is placed on the throne as a Babylonian vassal

And even more history  Zedekiah ruled 10 years; in 594 he decided to try and throw of the Babylonians  Nebuchadnezzar sieged Jerusalem for a year and a half and then it fell  587/86 BCE – the Temple, palace, city walls were all destroyed and many people carried off in what is called “The Great Exile”  Nebuchadnezzar puts a governor on the throne  Nebuchadnezzar dies in 562; Babylonian empire is in decline from then  539 – the Babylonians fall to the Persians and the Medes and their ruler Cyrus the Great  Cyrus issues his famous edict (see Ezra 1)

Last of the History  Sheshbazzar’s mission is not sucessful  520 Darius (new Persian ruler) tries again with Zerubabbel and Joshua  Rebuilding of the temple is completed then – Second or Zerubabbel’s Temple