SERIES N --- THE EXILE --- LESSON 04

ASSYRIA

FOUR KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

From 2 Kings 15:23-38; 1 Chronicles 5:6, 25, 26; 2 Chronicles 27

When the evil King Menahem of Israel died, his son Pekahiah became king. This happened during the fiftieth year of King Uzziah’s rule over Judah. Pekahiah ruled over Israel for only two years. He was an evil king, continuing the practice of idol worship which the first Jeroboam began. One day Pekah, the commander of his army, came to the king’s house in Samaria with fifty men of Gilead, murdered King Pekahiah and seized the throne. The other adventures of King Pekahiah are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. Pekah began to rule over Israel during the fifty-second year of King Uzziah’s reign in Judah and he ruled over Israel for twenty years. He was also an evil king, continuing the practice of idol worship which the first Jeroboam had begun. During the reign of Pekah, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria invaded the land, capturing the cities of Ijon, Abel-bethmaacah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor, as well as the territories of Gilead, Galilee and Naphtali. He took the people of these captured lands back to Assyria with him as captives. The people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh were taken to Halab, Habor, Hara and the Gozan River where they remained until the time this was written. Then Hoshea the son of Elah organized a conspiracy against King Pekah, murdered him and made himself king. Hoshea became the new king of Israel during the twentieth year of the reign of King Jotham of Judah, Uzziah’s son. The other adventures of King Pekah are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. Meanwhile, in Judah, King Uzziah died and his son Jotham became the new king. He was twenty-five years old when he became king and he ruled over Judah for sixteen years. Jotham’s mother was Jerushah, daughter of Zadok. Jotham ruled well, following the example of his father Uzziah, who did what pleased Adonai, except in his later years when he became proud and burned incense in the temple. But even though Jotham pleased Adonai, his people became more and more corrupt. King Jotham had an extensive building program in Jerusalem and Judah. He built the Upper Gate of the temple and rebuilt a large part of the wall of Ophel. He also built cities throughout the hill country of Judah and placed forts and towers on the wooded hills. Jotham had notable victories in his war against the Ammonites. For three years he received from them an annual tribute of two hundred thousand dollars in silver, ten thousand sacks of wheat, and ten thousand sacks of barley. He became mighty because he followed Adonai. The rest of King Jotham’s adventures are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel and Judah. After his sixteen-year reign, begun when he was twenty-five years old, Jotham died and was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem, in the City of David. Then his son Ahaz became king of Judah.

COMMENTARY

TIGLATH-PILESER’S CONQUEST

After more than thirty years of weak rulers and revolts, Assyria turned to conquest again under Tiglath-pileser III. This time the tiny nations of Israel and Judah were among those to surrender. Early in his reign, Tiglath-pileser converted the kingdoms of northern Syria into provinces governed by Assyrians. Marching south, he demanded heavy tribute from Damascus, Israel, Judah and other nations. Several years later, trouble broke out among these vassal kingdoms. Joined by the Edomites and Philistines, Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Damascus attacked Ahaz, king of Judah. Since Ahaz paid tribute to Assyria, he had a right to Assyria’s support. In spite of Isaiah’s warnings, Ahaz appealed to Tiglath-pileser for help. The Assyrians probably marched south to the Egyptian border first, relieving Judah of immediate danger from the Philistines and cutting off any possible aid from Egypt. On the way, the army conquered the Philistine city of Gaza. The following year Israel received attention. Entering through the Valley of Lebanon, the Assyrians spread out to cover the land. Tiglath-pileser took the northern half of the kingdom and replaced Pekah with Hoshea, who was to be the last king of Israel. A year later, Damascus surrendered. King Rezin was killed, the city looted, and Tiglath-pileser claimed the district as an Assyrian province. With palace and temple treasures, Ahaz paid homage to the emperor in newly defeated Damascus. There he saw an Assyrian altar from which he modelled his own for the emperor’s visit to Jerusalem. Ahaz’s appeal had allowed Assyria to extend its power south to the Gulf of Aqabah. Tiglath-pileser now turned to reduce Babylonia as he had Syria, a task completed two years before he died.