During Asa's long and prosperous reign of 41 years (911-870 BC), things were not so peachy in Israel. We have already mentioned how Jeroboam's dynasty hardly outlasted him, with his son Nadab murdered after only two years. However, Baasha was hardly any better.
1 Kings 16:1-7 -- The prophet Jehu was a busy man, and appears more than once in our story. In 887 BC, after Baasha was forced to defend Galilee from the turncoat, Ben-hadad of Syria, Jehu came to see him. Having continued the sins of Jeroboam, Baasha was to reap the same ignoble end. There would be no heirs to the throne from that household ruling long.
16:8-14 -- Elah managed to survive two years. It is fair to assume that this one story finds him doing his usual thing. He sat in the house of his chamberlain, Arza, roaring drunk. While thus indisposed, one of his two cavalry commanders came in and murdered him. It appears Elah used the cavalry as his bodyguard, because the army was off in battle. Arza was probably in on the plan, and arrange the party as a set up. The assailant's name was Zimri, and his first royal command after usurping the throne was to kill all the surviving males of Baasha's household, to include many of their political supporters. The writer notes this is just recompense for the sins of that family.
16:15-20 -- Zimri lasted a week. His messengers declared his assumption of the throne, as was the custom. It took half of that week for them to catch up with the troops of Israel, again besieging Gibbethon of the Philistines. Recall that a siege was often a relaxed affair at least part of the time. It was simply a matter of keeping the inhabitants of the city surrounded until they starved or decided to fight, all the while staying out of range of wall-top archers. How long it took depended on how well the city was stocked, and whether the residents had access to water. The Israeli troops, when they got the news, decided to challenge Zimri by making their commander, Omri, the king instead. They left off the siege of Gibbethon and marched back to Tirzah. In about three days, the army had moved siege operations to their own capital. It's not likely the job was all that hard, since most of the nation's troops were outside attacking, rather than inside defending. The city fell probably the same day, and Zimri decided not to face his opposition. Entering the fort that served as his castle, he burned it down around himself. Again, we note this was a just end for his sins.
16:21-28 -- While the troops were already promoting Omri as king, it seems the rest of the nation preferred a man named Tibni. The civil war between the two parties lasted five years, but in the about 880 BC, Omri prevailed and Tibni was killed. Shortly after he secured his throne, Omri decided to quit the ruined palace of Tirzah and purchased a hill about 10 miles (16km) to the west. Thus, echoing David's purchase of land in Jerusalem, it was a personal possession. The location was very strategic, straddling a major trade route. He built his new capital there and named it Samaria, after the previous land owner, Shemer. Omri's reign lasted another seven years, and was even worse than Jeroboam's, because he intensified the sins of idolatry. However, he managed to make his name known beyond the Euphrates, for the city and nation were known ever after by his name in that region. Thus, he should be regarded as an evil, but otherwise capable, ruler.
16:29-34 -- About the time Asa began to suffer in his feet, Omri's son, Ahab, succeeded to the throne of Israel. He was by far the most evil of the Kings of Israel up to this time. Besides the pagan temples, numerous shrines, male and female temple prostitutes, and so forth, Ahab was married to the daughter of a singularly satanic man. By this time, Hiram of Tyre was long gone, and ruling in the other great city of Phoenicia was Ethbaal of Sidon. This man had resurrected the awful practices of Molech. The god of Sidon was named Melkarth, and he required children burned alive on his altar. His daughter, Princess Jezebel, was also a high priestess of this despicable religion. In marrying her, Ahab gave the worship of Melkarth a central place in Israel. Ahab dedicated a new temple to this Baal in his capital. Satan's power was so pervasive that all manner of strange things came about. For example, in defiance of the curse laid by Joshua on Jericho, someone from Bethel rebuilt that ancient city. His name was Hiel, and as prophesied, his eldest died in laying the foundation, and his youngest in erecting the gates. While not clearly stated, it is hinted he may have offered his sons for sacrifice at those events, fulfilling the curse voluntarily -- all the more evil. We note the Omride dynasty is marked with lavish building programs throughout the kingdom.
2 Chronicles 17:1-6 -- In 873 BC, one year before Ahab became king, Asa was succeeded by his son Jehoshaphat. Thus, he begins to rule before his father died, according to this account. We should envision him gradually taking up his duties during co-regency with his ailing father. His first order of business was to reinforce all the fort cities of Judah, particularly in the cities taken from Israel. Since he was a man after God's heart, like David in his early years, the Lord insured this was not wasted effort. Jehoshaphat was so in love with the Lord that he aggressively removed all the pagan shrines still standing.
17:7-19 -- To further his efforts to revive holiness in the land, he sent out several court officers, along with an entourage of teaching Levites and priests. Their mission was to hold teaching sessions on the Law of Moses, copies of which they carried with them. As a consequence, the Lord brought fear on the bordering nations. Even the Philistines brought tribute out of fear of Jehoshaphat. In many ways, it was indeed a return to the early Davidic rule. The revival of faithfulness brought with it a revival of exemplary military leadership. The fame of his commanders warranted recording their names for posterity, just as in David's time. Jehoshaphat's combined regional forces numbered 780,000 in Judah and 380,000 in Benjamin. This would include every man available for conscription in wartime. Meanwhile, Jehoshaphat became gloriously wealthy himself.
We stop for a moment to note from outside sources several important events. Omri was evil, but highly intelligent. He made a strong alliance with Phoenicia by marrying their princess to his son. This assured a perfect for Israel's agricultural products, since the Phoenicians grew little. This alliance gave Israel a strong position to discourage Damascus from any further adventures in Galilee or Gilead. Ahab continued this shrewd policy of peaceful alliances by coming to terms with Judah, eventually.
During this time frame, Aramaen Assyria rose to great power under Asshurbanipal. Just a few decades prior, the Assyrians had managed to finally break the remnants of the second Hittite Empire. For the previous five centuries, these Aramaens had been terrorizing the Mesopotamian Valley, with their harsh tactics and even harsher treatment of fallen foes. Even those who capitulated were humiliated. Having taken from the Hittites their one advantage -- iron weapons -- they had a far better political organization. They were more warlike than any previous people in that part of the world. Yet their society internally was quite orderly. It was they who began requiring women to stay inside the home out of public view, and allowing them out in public only with when veiled. Here, too, was one of the first great libraries of ancient times, with the imperial court funding a massive project of collecting cuneiform clay tablets from all over the region.
Asshurbanipal II (883-848 BC) carried expansion farther. During his reign, they crossed the Euphrates and took over some Syrian city-states, including Hamath and parts of Zobah, reaching to shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Asshurbanipal had his eye on Damascus. This looming threat is the background for what follows.
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Ed Hurst
11 December 2004
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