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| Bishop Alexander (Mileant) Toward understanding the Bible IntraText CT - Text |
It will be easier to understand the books of prophecies, if we are aware of the spiritual circum-
stances under which they were written. This is why we will briefly tell the reader about the most
important events of those times.
Under Solomon's son king Rehoboam (980 B.C.), the kingdom of Israel split into two king-
doms: Judea and Israel. Descendants of King David reigned in Judea, situated in the South of the
Holy Land. Jerusalem, overseen by the beautiful temple built by Solomon on the mount Zion,
was its capital. The law allowed the Jews to have only one temple, which was the spiritual center
for the Jewish community. Judea consisted of two tribes: descendants of Judah and Benjamin.
The other 10 tribes were in the kingdom of Israel in the northern part of the Holy Land. Its capital
was Samaria, reigned by kings of various dynasties.
The Israeli kings, fearing that their subjects, who visited the temple in Jerusalem, would
wish to again become loyal to the kings Judah, prevented them from making pilgrimage to Jeru-
salem. They built pagan sanctuaries in different parts of Israel to tend to the spiritual needs of the
people, and encouraged the people to worship idols. The temptation of idolatry was strong, be-
cause all the nations that surrounded Israel worshipped various deities. Phoenician god Baal was
especially popular. Together with idol worship, the Jews borrowed rude and immoral heathen
In this time of hardship for the religion, God sent His prophets to Israel to impede the spiri-
tual decay and restore the piety among the people. The first Israeli prophets, Elijah and Elisha,
lived under Ahab, Jehu and Jehoahaz, kings of Israel, from 900 B.C. till 825 B.C. They did not
leave any records of their preaching to the posterity, though the miracles they worked and some
of their teachings were put down in the First and Second Books of Kings.
During the long reign of Jeroboam II (782-740 B.C). the Israeli kingdom reached the highest
prosperity. The weakened neighboring kingdoms of Syria, Phoenicia, Moabites, Ammonites and
Edomites did not bother the Jews. Peace and prosperity accompanied the expansion of the bor-
ders of the kingdom of Israel. These were the blooming days of arts and commerce. But at the
same time the morality started to degrade rapidly. The rich oppressed the poor, judges acquitted
for bribes, depravity was rampant among the superstitious public. The prophets Joel, Amos and
Hosea fought against these evils.
Jonah has a special place amongst the prophets because he did not preach to the Jews, but
did it in Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. After his preaching and the repentance of the Ninevites,
the Assyrian kingdom started to strengthen, expand and subsequently became a mighty military
power. In two centuries, the Assyrian Empire spread over the territories of modern Iran, Iraq,
Syria, Jordan and Israel. In 738 B.C. the king of Israel was forced to pay an enormous tribute to
Tiglathpileser of Assyria. As the demands of Assyrian kings were increasing, the Israeli kings
had to seek allies among the kings of the neighboring countries. King Tekoah of Israel together
with Rezin the king of Syria attempted to force Ahab the king of Judea into a union against As-
syria. Scared Ahab called for help from Tiglathpileser III. In 734 Tiglathpileser invaded Israel
again, attached Galilee and Damascus to his kingdom and led many Israelites to captivity. While
Tiglathpileser was alive, Israeli king Hoshea was submissively paying the regular tribute to As-
syria. But after his death an alliance with Egypt was made. Then Shalmaneser IV the king of
Assyria invaded Israel and devastated it and his successor Sargon conquered and devastated
Samaria, the capital of Israel, in 722. Israelites were expatriated to different parts of the vast As-
syrian Empire, and neighboring peoples were relocated to their land. Such was the end of the
kingdom of Israel. Samaritans, the descendants of Israelites mixed with pagans, later settled in
the area. The prophets Joel, Amos and Hosea predicted the forthcoming adversities to Israel.
They saw the repentance as the only way for the Jewish people to escape them.
The Judean kingdom existed for more than a hundred years after the collapse of Israel.
When Samaria fell, the pious king Hezekiah (725-696) reigned in Judaea. Following the politics
of his father Ahab, he maintained the alliance with Assyria. However, after the death of Sargon
Hezekiah joined the coalition of the neighboring countries, trying to overthrow the Assyrian
yoke. In 701 the Assyrian army led by king Sennacherib invaded Judaea and devastated several
Judean cities. Hezekiah bought out with a large tribute. Soon Sennacherib invaded Judaea again,
intending to collect new tribute needed to support his military power, and threatened to destroy
Jerusalem. Relying on God's help, Hezekiah decided to defend Jerusalem. Then the prophet
Isaiah stepped forth and predicted that Sennacherib's designs would fail and God would save the
Jews. Indeed, during the following night an angel of the Lord defeated the 185,000-strong Assyr-
ian army. Ashamed, Sennacherib returned to Assyria and was soon murdered by conspirators (2
Kings 20). Isaiah provided a flourishing manifestation of the gift of prophecy. His book is a re-
markable monument of the prophetic writing. We will discuss it later in more detail. The proph-
ets Micah and Nahum prophesied around the same time.
Hezekiah's impious son Manasseh (696-41 B.C). was the opposite of his faithful and kind
father. His reign turned out to be the darkest period in the history of the Jewish people. It was the
time when prophets were persecuted and faith ruined. Manasseh made a union with Assyria and
set himself a goal of making paganism the prevailing religion in his country. He mercilessly
murdered the advocates of the faith. The great Isaiah was martyred during his reign, which lasted
around fifty years and caused unrecoverable harm to the faith. The few prophets who survived
the persecutions were hiding, and nothing is known about their activities. In his old age Manas-
seh attempted to get rid of the dependence on Assyria, but paid for it dearly. Eventually he recog-
nized his guilt before God and repented, but neither the aging Manasseh, nor his successors man-
aged to restore the faith among the people.
The pious king Josiah (639-08 B.C). reigned after Manasseh. Eager to revitalize the people's
belief in God, he zealously undertook a religious reform, and regular services resumed in the
Temple. However, the success of his reforms was mostly superficial. Pagan traditions and super-
stitions had taken deep root in the people. The upper class was morally degraded. Yet the proph-
ets Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk and particularly Jeremiah tried to wake the people for repen-
tance and restore the faith in God. In 608 the Egyptian army of Pharaoh Nechoh II made war with
Assyria and passed through Judaea. Josiah wanted to remain loyal to Assyria and faced Pharaoh
Nechoh in a battle, but was defeated at Megiddo. For a short time Judaea became subject to
This was the time of loss of power of Assyria and strengthening of the Babylonian monar-
chy. Joined armies of Nabopellessar of Babylon (king of the Chaldeans) and Xerxes of Media de-
stroyed Nineveh in 606. This was the end of the militant Assyrian Empire, which sent dismay
and devastation throughout the neighboring countries for a hundred and fifty years. Nabopelles-
sar's successor Nebuchadrezzar (Nabuchodonosor) on a victorious march to Egypt invaded
Judaea, and in 604 king Jehoiakim became a Babylonian subject. Despite the warnings of
Jeremiah, Jehoiakim's son Jehoiachin raised a revolt against Babylon and with many of his court
was led to captivity in Babylon (It was the first Babylonian captivity in 597). The prophet Ezekiel
was among the captives. In 588, under king Zedekiah, Judaea rebelled against Babylon (Chaldea)
again. In 586 Jerusalem was besieged and taken. The Temple was burned down, and the city was
destroyed. The blinded king with other subjects was led away into Babylonian captivity. It was
the beginning of the second Babylonian captivity. The Jews spent in captivity about 70 years,
Kings of Judah Prophets Principal Developments
In 446 Artaxerxes
Foundation of Rome 750
Darius I. Restoration of the
Beginning of the Weeks of