August 2023
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 45
K I n g s .. THE DIVIDED KINGDOMS
Introducing Isaiah 1
After the calamitous exile of the people of the northern kingdom of Israel, out of the land of God’s promise to them, the “king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities.” Not at all what God wanted for them, and it was not without ample warning of the consequence of their failure to honour the covenant they had made. In the meantime, Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, became king of Judah. He was very different to the 12 kings of Judah who preceded him in that, not only was he a “good king”, but he was the first of them to actually “remove the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it.” One can easily imagine how entrenched such practise was, since it would have been ritualistic from their very birth, having regard to the fact that the timing of the reign of Hezekiah was more than 200 years after the death of Solomon.
Hezekiah subdued and drove the Philistines back to the coastal plain, but he managed to make a more potent enemy of the king of Assyria. In the 14th year of his reign, Judah lost its fortified cities in an attack by Sennacherib, king of Assyria. Hezekiah made a “non aggression” arrangement with Sennacherib by providing him with all the silver and gold that he had. But it was not enough! Sennacherib mustered a vast army and sent the chief officers of his court to Jerusalem with a threatening message of certain defeat if the Judeans resisted their demands. The Rabshakeh (chief officer/cup bearer) of king Sennacherib addressed the people directly and in their own language in an effort to get them to abandon defence of the city and ridiculing Hezekiah for ‘trusting God for deliverance” from this mighty invading army. Certainly, Hezekiah was very concerned about the situation. In great distress Hezekiah turned the LORD in prayer. That prayer seems to me to provide a kind of model worth noting. “You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.” There, front and centre, establish the One whose help is sought. Then he boldly asked the LORD to hear and see the challenge and the challenger. Then the humble request, not a demand. “Now therefore, O LORD our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the LORD God, You alone.” And what was God’s response? He spoke to Isaiah !
It is surprising that Isaiah, had begun his prophetic ministry in the days after king Uzziah (also called Azariah) about 40 years earlier. He was the son of Amoz, and he evidently was known to Hezekiah, and yet this is the first time Isaiah is mentioned in the books of the kings. Contemporary prophets to Isaiah were Amos (no relation), Hoshea and Micah, but there is no evidence that they actually knew each other. Additionally, rabbinic tradition has it that Isaiah was a nephew of the former king Amaziah of Judah, and if true, puts Isaiah in a quite unique position, with royal connections. But his ministry is focussed very much on the poor and needy in society. And in this situation, God spoke to Isaiah about the pressing need of the king. (Isaiah deals with this episode in some detail in the book that bears his name, chapters 36-39. There it brings to an end the “gloomy”, even condemning, part of Isaiah’s prophecy, before he is shown the glorious future of Israel and the birth of Yeshua)
Isaiah sent word from the LORD to Hezekiah saying “Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacharib, king of Assyria, I have heard.” And then he went into a long prophecy against Sennacharib and his armies because of their contempt for the LORD God about what would happen and how he would be defeated. “The virgin, the daughter of Zion” against whom Sennacharib boasted about his strength, is the one who would have the last laugh by putting their trust in the LORD God, “shaking her head behind your back.” There would be three years of hardship, but Jerusalem would not be defeated nor over-run. The LORD said “For I will defend this city , to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.” Some time later, “the angel of the LORD went out, and killed 185,000 of the Assyrian army.” So Sennacharib returned to Ninevah, his home town, defeated and in shame, only to be murdered by his own sons.
Some time during this altercation with Sennacharib, Hezekiah became very sick. Isaiah went to him to announce that he was about to die. The distraught king wept and again turned to the LORD in prayer, reminding God of his faithful service, leading the people in righteousness. The LORD heard his prayer and plea for his life and told Isaiah that he would heal Hezekiah and miraculously add 15 more years to his life. But Hezekiah was so conscious of his own sickness that he asked Isaiah for a sign that God would heal him. Thus we have that amazing story of the sun dial moving 10 deg backwards. (there have been many sceptical of this event, since it is at odds with ‘nature’. The truth is that Hezekiah was in fact healed, and did live another 15 years. Our God made the heavens, the sun, the moon the stars, He breathed the Universe into being. He can do what He likes with His creation. And if it makes you feel any better about it, having moved the shadow one way, He could also move it back again!)
We cannot leave the reign of Hezekiah without also mentioning that he was responsible for constructing that life saving tortuous tunnel from the Gihon Spring, outside the city walls, to the Pool of Siloam, inside the city walls. I know it’s there because I have walked through it.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 44
K I n g s .. THE DIVIDED KINGDOMS
the end of Israel … Northern Kingdom1
When king Solomon died, the promised land of Israel was divided. Two tribes, Judah and Benjamin formed the Southern kingdom of Judah, with Rehoboam as king. The other ten tribes, with Jeroboam as king, made up the northern kingdom of Israel. The ‘reflection’ today takes place 200 years after that division, with Ahaz king of Judah and Pekah, the 19th king of Israel nearing the end of his reign. There was not a single king in Israel that ‘walked in the ways of the LORD’. Jeroboam had commenced the idolatry by building two centres of worship, in Bethel and Dan, complete with a ‘golden calf’’ as the symbol of their god. YHWH Elohim had been gracious, patient, and merciful in His dealings with them, but steadfast in his condemnation their idolatry. Elijah and Elisha had ministered to, and challenged, them. All to no avail. The lesson for us today is to heed the voice of the LORD. The warnings of God (Genesis 6:1-3) went unheeded for 120 years before the earth was flooded and only the righteous Noah and his family saved. The kingdom of Israel, in our text today, were warned for 200 years and yet remained unrepentant. Idolatry, in its many forms, is rife today, and still the warnings are unheeded.
Judah had three kings, Joash, Azariah, and Jotham who had been “good kings”. Our ‘reflection’ today opens with king Ahaz reigning in Judah. Of him we are told “he did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD his God …but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel.” Calamity followed. King Ahaz was besieged in Jerusalem by the joint forces of Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel. At the same time king Rezin drove the men of Judah out of Eilat, which then became occupied by the Edomites. In desperation, king Ahaz sought, and got, help from king Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria, by sending him the treasures of the temple as well as his own treasury. During a meeting with the Assyrian Tiglath-Pileser in Damascus (Syria), Ahaz saw what he considered to be an attractively designed altar of sacrifice. He promptly ordered Urijah, a priest of Judah, to make such an altar, which was placed in the Jerusalem temple. Sacrilege. Take time to read a more detailed account of the exploits of king Ahaz in 2 Chronicles 28. His time reigning in Judah proved to be very costly, even disastrous. Then Ahaz died and was replaced by his son, Hezekiah, of whom we will learn a lot more in our next ‘reflection’.
Four years before king Ahaz of Judah died, Hoshea became king of Israel. He was not as bad as those before him but still was a “bad king”, the 20th and final king of Israel. King Shalmaneser of Assyria attacked Israel and Hoshea became subservient to him. However, Hoshea tried to make an alliance with Egypt against Assyria. This proved to be ‘the last straw’ because the attempted alliance was discovered by Shalmaneser, who then put a siege on Samaria which lasted three years. He also had Hoshea bound and cast into prison. In the ninth, and last year of Hoshea’s reign, the ultimate culmination of Israel’s disobedience fell on them. Bit by bit, over a relatively short space of time, different tribal territories (combined under the general name ISRAEL) were overcome and exiled from the land, with the main leadership group taken to Assyria. The generally accepted date for this exile is 722 BCE. And king Shalmaneser V accredited with that conquest. And the reason for this exile is best explained from the Scripture text.
“In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and they had feared other gods, and had walked in the statutes of the nations whom the Lord had cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. Also the children of Israel secretly did against the Lord their God things that were not right, and they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from watchtower to fortified city. They set up for themselves sacred pillars and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree. There they burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom the Lord had carried away before them; and they did wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger, for they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.” Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His prophets, every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.” Nevertheless they would not hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. And they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them. So they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, made for themselves a moulded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah alone. Also Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. And the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel, afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them from His sight.”
A careful reading of the above admonishment of the LORD should be enough for us to re-assess our position and relationship with a Holy God. Selah!
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 43
K I n g s .. The DIVIDED KINGDOMS
The death of Elisha 1
The passage for our study this week moves very quickly as ‘kings come and kings go’. Prior to this, approximately 90 years of history are covered in the preceding 19 chapters in our Bible, with much of it related to the ministry of Elijah and Elisha (which covered about 65 years). In the whole ‘reflection’ this week, the next 62 years of Israelite history is dealt with.
Last week, in our reading, the reign of both the ‘bad king’ Jehu in Israel (who was used by God to eliminate Baal worship), and the ‘good king’ Joash in Judah (who under the tutelage of the high priest Jehoida restored righteous living and repaired the temple for worship) came to an end. Fifteen years before Joash was murdered, Jehu’s son Jehoahaz, was king in Israel, but he died before Joash. Jehoahaz “did evil in the sight of the LORD” just like his father. As a result we are told that “The anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel, and He delivered them into the hand of Hazael, king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael, all their days.” Mercifully, the LORD responded to the plea of Jehoahaz, and provided them with some relief, but it was a very hard life that they led. In spite of that relief ..“Never-the-less, they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam … but walked in them.” Then Jehoahaz died and was succeeded by his son Jehoash. He reigned for the next 16 years, but just like every king of Israel before and after him “he did evil in the sight of the LORD.” Eventually he died and was buried in Samaria. (A caution at this point. Confusion might arise over names. There were TWO different kings called Joash, one in Israel and the other in Judah. An added confusion is that in some places they are also referred to as Jehoash. Careful reading of the text is required, taking note of other persons with whom they connect to sort out which Joash/Jehoash is the subject).
The narrative now provides some ‘breaking news’ about Elisha. (But we will return to the same Joash, who’s death is just noted, later !!!) About 45 years or more have passed since we had any mention of Elisha in the Scriptures. I cannot imagine that this mighty man of God, gifted as he was with a double portion of the spirit that was in in Elijah, suddenly ceased his calling. But God has chosen not to enlighten us about Elisha’s ministry in this intervening period. Sufficient to say that God had one more insight to share with us about Elisha before He took him from this earth. Evidently he was now advanced in years and had become terminally ill. Perhaps this provides a practical lesson for us today. People die. Everyone dies. It’s what God has determined for mankind. Even those ‘in-dwelt’ with a double portion of the spirit, having an amazing God given ministry. And the point is? When praying for healing for someone, take time to ask God that His will be done in that person, before ‘plunging in’ and possibly praying against God’s will and plan. Jehoash, king of Israel, visited Elisha during his last days. Elisha had a prophetic word for him (2 Kings 13:15-19) about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Syria. And then Elisha died and was buried. There is an amazing miraculous sequel to this too. Many years later, a certain man was being buried, and in haste was put into the tomb where Elisha was buried. Immediately the dead man’s body touched the bones of Elisha “he revived and stood on his feet.” That is the last news we have about Elisha, except to note that Jehoash went on to recapture the cities, which king Hazael had taken, three times, exactly as the prophecy of Elisha had said they would.
While Jehoash, king of Israel was alive, king Joash of Judah was murdered and was succeeded by his son Amaziah. He was a “good king” just like his father before him, but that did not prevent him from executing (pun intended) justice on those who had killed his father. “However the high places were not taken away, and the people (of Judah) still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places”. There is a more complete record of the exploits of Amaziah in 2 Chronicles 25. There we read “And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, “but not with a loyal heart.” And Amaziah made some BIG mistakes. He went on an attack against the Edomites with great success, even though the captives of that success were so cruelly treated. BUT, “he brought the gods of the people of Seir, set them up as his gods, and bowed down before them and burned incense to them”. Emboldened by that success against Edom, he then issued a battle challenge to king Jehoash of Israel. The battle took place at Beth Shemesh (a place with an amazing history) where Amaziah was captured and taken hostage to Samaria, and the temple in Jerusalem was plundered. For that mistake, he was later killed by his own, and was buried in Jerusalem. He was replaced by his sixteen year old son Azariah. In the meantime, and some years earlier king Jehoash of Israel had died and he was replaced his son Jeroboam.
What follows is somewhat repetitious in that Jeroboam proved to be a good leader in that he captured territory from Israel’s enemies, But like all before and after him, did nothing to lead the people away from idolatry. He was replaced, after various short periods of time, by Zechariah, Shallum. Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, and finally Hoshea. Not one “good king” among them. Meanwhile, in Judah, Azariah (also known as Uzziah), followed righteously in the footsteps of his father, but was regrettably in poor health (described as leprosy) all his life. He was aided as king by his son Jotham until Jotham, another “good king” of Judah succeeded him. Uzziah, mentioned above, is noted as the king who reigned over Judah at the time that Isaiah "saw the LORD" and took up his ministry calling.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE IN THE PROMISED LAND
The Promised Land “reflections” 42
K I n g s .. The divided kingdoms 1
Last week we focussed on the ministry of Elisha. But at the end of that reading we learned that the domineering Jezebel, wife of king Ahab, had died a violent death at the hands Jehu, former commander of king Joram’s army. This is the same Jehu that the LORD had told Elijah to anoint as king of Israel, a task eventually performed by Elisha. But as we open this week, we find that Jehu was determined to exterminate all the potential rivals from the descendants of both Ahab, king of Israel, and Azahiah, king of Judah, the kings who preceded him, and who might challenge him for that position. There were 70 living sons of Ahab in the city of Samaria and the area of Jezreel. They were the first to go. Then, in Judah, 42 brothers of Ahaziah were next. It was brutal. “So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men and his close acquaintances and his priests, until left none of them remaining.”
Then comes an important lesson, concerning God’s attitude to moral fortitude, in the midst of all this carnage. Jehu is joined by a man called Jehonadab, son of Rechab. The Rechabites were descendants of Midian, related by marriage to Moses (Judges 1:16), a nomadic and high principled people who had vowed not to drink wine or to build houses. Hundreds of years later, these people are held up by God to the prophet Jeremiah as an example of consistency in keeping their word, as opposed to the Israelites, who broke their covenant promises, causing God to be angry with them (Jeremiah 35:16). Jehu was well aware of this people group as he asked Jehonadab “Is your heart right as my heart is right towards your heart ?” When the answer came “It is”, Jehu knew he had a trustworthy partner and invited up into his chariot. We must keep in mind here, that God had determined many years earlier, in Elijah’s time, that He had to put an end to the worship of the Baal’s. What began on Mount Carmel in the conflict between Ahab and Elijah, is now nearing its completion in the person of Jehu.
This was a God appointed mission, conducted by Jehu, joined now by Jehonadab and his men. They planned the event, by announcing a special festival with the words “Ahab served Baal a little, Jehu will serve him much. Now therefore, call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. Let no-one be missing for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Whoever is missing shall not live.” That proclamation was sent throughout all Israel .. “and all the worshippers of Baal came, so there was not a man left who did not come.” The worshippers gathered in the temple of Baal. Jehu made sure “that there were no servants of the LORD present in the place.” Then the slaughter began, and the end was that “they tore down the temple of Baal and made it a refuse dump until this day.” Game, set, and match.
However, Jehu did not turn away from the sins of Jerabaom. In addition to the worship of Baal, which had been introduced by Ahab, through the influence of Jezebel, there was still the vexed matter of the golden calves which were set up in Bethel and Dan. The LORD declared His approval of Jehu regarding the removal of the Baal worship, and told him his dynasty would survive for four generations (which turned out to be more that 100 years), but Jehu “took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart.” Sadly for Israel, we are then told that “In those days the LORD began to cut off parts of Israel; and Hazael, (of Syria, whom the LORD had instructed Elijah to anoint king years earlier) conquered them in all the territory of Israel.” So it was that Jehu died. He had ruled over Israel for 28 years. He was succeeded by his son Jehoahaz.
Meanwhile, in Judah, upon the death of Ahaziah and his brothers, his mother, Athaliah (a daughter of Ahab and Jezebel) , had designs on becoming queen, so she killed off all the other possible male heirs to the throne. Except one! A small child called Joash, who, with his nurse, was hidden by his aunt, Jehosheba,, wife of the high priest Jehoida, in a room in the temple for six years. During these years, Athalia, the only female ruler in the history of Israel and Judah, and the only ruler of Judah not descended from King David, attempted to introduce Baal worship into Judah. In the seventh year of Athalia’s rule, Jehoida the high priest decided that it was time to reveal the presence of Joash. Together with loyal bodyguards, priests and captains of the army, the coup was planned, coinciding with the changing of the officers in the temple on a particular Sabbath. So it was that the child king, Joash, was crowned. In the noise and ceremony which followed, queen Athalia attempted to intervene, without success, and was summarily executed.
“Then Jehoida made a covenant between the LORD, the king, and the people, that they should be the LORD’s people, and also between the king and the people. And all the people of the land went to the temple of Baal and tore it down.” “Joash did what was right in the sight of the LORD all the days in which Jehoida instructed him … but the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.”
Joash also gave attention to the repair of the temple and together with Jehoida ensured that there was money (a temple tax) available to pay the workers who made the repairs. He was one of only 8 kings of Judah out of 20 to be described as ‘good kings’. But eventually, those servants close to him, formed a conspiracy and murdered him. What a sad end.!
Shabbat Shalom
RS