During the ministry of Hosea the prophet,1 The Expository Notes of Dr. Constable by Dr. Thomas Constable. Hosea. Introduction. (Electronic Version) King Ahaz of Judah (735–720 B.C.) the son of Jotham (750-732 B.C.) became the first Judean king to present himself as a vassal to the Assyrians (2Kgs. 16:7-9, Isaiah 7–8).2Soon after becoming king, Ahaz met with a coalition formed by Pekah of Israel and Rezin king of Syria (Isa. 7:1). The kings wanted Ahaz to join them in opposing the Assyrians. Tiglath-Pileser III (Pul), king of, Assyria was preparing to attack the Northern Kingdom. Isaiah counsels Ahaz to trust in God rather than foreign allies. Ahaz refused to join the coalition and, instead, called on the Assyrians to protect him. Tiglath-Pileser sacked Damascus and annexed Aram (Syria). He then attacked Israel and took many of its population into captivity. This war of invasion lasted two years (734–732 BC), and ended in the capture and annexation of Damascus and the territory of Israel north of the border of Jezreel. In 722 B.C. the Kingdom of Israel was destroyed and incorporated into the Assyrian empire. Tiglath-Pileser III seized the throne in 745 B.C and died in 727. The Expository Notes of Dr. Constable. Jonah. Introduction by Dr, Thomas Constable (Electronic Version) His son, Hezekiah,3Hezekiah began reigning as his father, Ahaz’s, vice-regent in 729 B.C. and ruled as such for 14 years. In 715 B.C. he began his sole rule over Judah that lasted until 697 B.C. (18 years). He then reigned with his son Manasseh who served as his vice-regent for 11 more years (697-686 B.C.). His 29-year reign (2Kgs. 18:2) was from 715-686 if we do not count his coregency. B.C. Dr. Thomas Constable. The Expository Notes of Dr. Constable. 2 Kings 18:1-12. (Electronic Edition) encouraged by Egypt, rebelled against Assyrian rule after the death of Sargon II in 705 B.C (2Kgs. 18:7). Subsequently in 701 B.C., Sennacherib (704–681 B.C.), who became King of Assyria after his father’s death, lead his troops into Syria and then into Judah. He captured most of the cities and towns in the region.4The cities were taken from Judean rule and given to Assyrian vassals in Ekron, Gaza, and Ashdod. According to Sennacherib’s own records he captured 46 of King Hezekiah’s strong cities, walled forts, and countless small villages. He claimed to have taken captive over 200,000 Judahites plus innumerable animals. Two of the Judean cities taken were Lachish, second only to Jerusalem in importance, and Moresheth-gath, Micah’s hometown. Micah referred to the distress that this foreign invasion produced in Judah (Mic. 1:10-16; 5:6). Constable. Micah Introduction. A tablet stored at the British Museum in London records the events in Sennacherib’s on words:
| “Because Hezekiah, King of Judah, would not submit to my yoke, I came up against him, and by force of arms and by the might of my power I took 46 of his strong-fenced cities; and of the smaller towns which were scattered about, I took and plundered a countless number. From these places I took and carried off 200,156 persons, old and young, male and female, together with horses and mules, asses and camels, oxen and sheep, a countless multitude.” |
Hezekiah was trapped in Jerusalem by the Assyrian army but Sennacherib failed in his attempts to take Jerusalem and capture the king . Hezekiah was able to remain on his throne but he was forced to become a vassal and to pay a heavy tribute (2 Kgs. 18:13–16; Isa 36–37; and 2Chron. 32). After an angel of the Lord killed 185,000 of his soldiers, Sennacherib returned to Nineveh where he was murdered by his sons (2 Kgs. 19:35-37). 5Sennacherib reigned 22 years and was succeeded by Esarhaddon in 680 B.C. Upon his death in 686 B.C.6The prophets of Hezekiah’s time (716 to 687 BC) were Hosea (715B.C. [?]), Isaiah (758 to 698 B.C. [?]) and Micah (742-687 B.C.[?]). Hezekiah’s eldest son, Manasseh (686-642 B.C.), took the throne. When Manasseh’s reign began, Sennacherib was still king of Assyria. According to Assyrian records, Manasseh was a contemporary and loyal vassal of Sennacherib’s son and successor, Esarhaddon. Assyrian records also indicated that Manasseh was required to provide materials for Esarhaddon’s building projects. Esarhaddon died in 669 BC and was succeeded by his son, Ashurbanipal. He too also names Manasseh as one of a number of vassals who assisted his campaign against Egypt in 671 BC.7Bright, John (10 August 2017). A History of Israel. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664220686 – via Google Books.
At his father’s death in 642 BC, Manasseh’s son, Amon, succeeded and continued his father’s evil practices (2Kgs. 21:19-26; 2Chron. 33:22-23). But Amon was assassinated after he had reigned only two years and was followed on the throne by his eight-year-old son Josiah, who was proclaimed king by “the people of the land” (2Kgs. 21:24; 2 Chron 33:25).8 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE BIBLE – JUDAH (KINGDOM OF). https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Judah-Kingdom Josiah, took the throne in Judah in 640 BC. His reign continued until 609 BC. Unlike his father, Josiah was a godly king (2Kgs. 21:24).
By the time Josiah had become king of Judah in 640 B.C. the Assyrians had become weakened and the empire was disintegrating. The Babylonian Empire had not yet risen to replace it, and Egypt was still recovering from Assyrian vassalage. As a result, Judah was free to govern itself without foreign intervention. But it was not to last long.
In 612 BC, the weakened Assyria Empire finally fell to a coalition of Medes, Persians and Babylonians.9Nineveh. by Joshua J. Mark. Published on 06 March 2011. https://www.worldhistory.org/nineveh/ In desperation, the Assyrians moved their capital to Haran located in the fertile crescent of Mesopotamia. But soon the Babylonians laid siege to Haran. Meanwhile, in the south, Pharaoh Necho of Egypt ( 609-595 BC) set out to assist his struggling Assyrian allies.10The Egyptian ruler (of Sais and Memphis) Necho I (672-664 BCE) was taken to the Assyrian capital Nineveh, where he subsequently was pardoned, crowned, and sent back to Egypt as Assyria’s main ally in Egypt. https://www.asor.org/anetoday/2022/08/neo-assyrian-empire-egypt/ He marched north through Judah on his way to Harran. However, Josiah objected to this trespass of Judean territory and, against the advice of the prophet Jeremiah, Josiah set out to stop the Egyptians. In the resulting battle at Megiddo in August-September of 609 BC, king Josiah was slain (2 Chron 35:20-27). Pharaoh Necho now controlled both Judah and Syria. Necho continued to Harran hoping to help defend the Assyrian city from a Babylonian takeover. However, his armies proved to be no match for the skilled and powerful Assyrian warriors and the Egyptian-Assyrian coalition was defeated by the Babylonians on Oct 18, 609 B.C. . The Assyrians and Egyptians retreated to Carchemish, a city under Egyptian rule. Three months after his defeat at Harran, Necho left a portion of his army at Carchemish and marched south toward Egypt. On his way, he passed back through Judah.
After Josiah’s death at the hands of the Egyptians, the people of Judah had made his younger son, Jehoahaz, king (2 Kings 23:31. But as Necho passed back through Judah he deposed Jehoahaz and replaced him with his older brother, Eliakim. He changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim11Jehoiakim ruled for eleven years (609-598 B.C. ) to demonstrate his change of allegiance (2Kgs. 23:34, 2Chron. 36:4 ) and imposed a heavy tribute on his Judean vassal (2Chron. 36:3). He took Jehoahaz into exile in Egypt where he died (2Chron. 36:1-4; Jer. 22:11) in 720 BC.
Then, in 605 BC, some three years after his decisive victory at Harran, Nebuchadnezzar, attacked the Egyptian-Syrian army at Carchemish. Once again, he defeated the Assyrian coalition and took control of Carchemish. This defeat was a major turning point in history. The Babylonian victory ended Assyrian domination of the Near East making the Babylonians the dominate world power. On August 16, 605 BC., the Babylonian king, Nabopolassar, died and setting the stage for his son, Nebuchadnezzar, to succeed him. Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon from Carchemish to be officially enthroned as king of the Babylonian Empire. Then, in September of 605 BC., the 3rd year of Jehoiakim (Dan. 1:1-3), Nebuchadnezzar swept into Judah and surrounded Jerusalem, making Judah his vassal state (2Kgs. 24:1). To demonstrate his dominance, Nebuchadnezzar took many of Jerusalem’s wisest men and most beautiful women to Babylon as captives. Daniel was among this group (Dan. 1:1-3). This was the first of three Babylonian invasions of Judah over the next 20 years. The other two invasions occurred first, in 597, in Jehoiakim’s 11th year (2 Chron. 36:5) and a second, final devastating invasion in 586 B.C. Judah remained subordinate to Babylonian authority until 586 B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar leveled the city of Jerusalem and reduced the Temple to a pile of rubble and carried the educated, nobility, artisans and anyone who could serve Nebuchadnezzar purposes.
“Although God had used the Assyrians to chasten the wayward southern kingdom, he did not allow Judah to be annihilated. God’s plan, that the Messiah would come from the line of David, would not be thwarted. The religious feasts of Judah, which God encouraged them to keep (Nah. 1:15), would have reminded them of the future Savior.”12This paragraph was taken in whole from Introduction to Nahum by The Gospel Coalition https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/course/nahum/#themes-background
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