Day Thirty-Three

If you have 5 minutes!

Read Acts 7:39-43

39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’ 41 That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made. 42 But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:  “‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, house of Israel? 43 You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile’ beyond Babylon.

Stephen continues to turn the screw as he builds closer to his climax. Not only did the people reject God’s appointed deliverer – Moses – but, as soon as they were out of Egypt, they turned from God himself. Stephens then argues that this rebellion against God continued right through the Israelite’s history resulting in their exile into Babylon.

If you have a LOT longer!

Now perhaps you are very familiar with Israel’s history and know exactly what Stephen is referring too. However, maybe you are less sure! If so, hopefully the summaries below will help:

Quick Overview of Israel’s History

Timeline:

So hopefully you’ve all heard of David – the one who killed Goliath with a small stone?! Well, he was the most successful of Israel’s kings both in terms of his commitment to God and the unity that he brought to Israel and so under him, the kingdom was as follows:

Solomon then starts well and the kingdom prospers in wealth and wisdom. However, he also has lots and lots of wives and they slowly turn his heart away from God.

Then, in 930 BC the northern tribes rebel against Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, because he (foolishly!) says that he will reign more harshly than his father Solomon had. Alongside this human reasoning, however, God’s hand is at work as in 1 Kings 11, we see that the prophet Ahijah predicts this split and attributes it to Solomon’s rebellion against God. Thus, the kingdom now looks like this:

(NB. Benjamin was actually part of Judah so should be coloured green not orange!)
Israel becomes, in human terms, the more powerful and prosperous of the two kingdoms but has a succession of bad kings, all of whom rebel against God. God tries to draw the people back to himself again and again through sending various prophets: Ahijah, An Old Man at Bethel!, Iddo, Jehu, Elijah, Micaiah, Elisha, Jonah, Amos and Hosea. However, the people don’t listen and so, in 722 BC, Israel finds itself taken over by the Assyrians – again through the paradoxical union of human and divine factors! (i.e. God warns the people that this exile will be in judgment for their sins but how this actually comes about is through the human choice of the Assyrians to attack, some bad decisions by the Israelite kings and the fact that Israel was in an important and yet vulnerable location.)

Whereas, some time after Judah has been exiled, some of the Israelites are allowed to return home; with Israel, once they’re exiled that’s it! They’re not relocated back to Israel at some later date.

Judah’s History – A Summary of John Drane’s Summary! [1]

In terms of location, Judah was more secure than Israel, which – situated in the midst of major trade routes – existed in a more strategic and thus vulnerable position. Further, during its 192-year existence, Israel was blighted by a high turnover of kings, many of whom were assassinated by their successors. In contrast, Judah had the advantage of a set dynasty: that of King David’s line. Both kingdoms suffered, however, from the split and from the 50 years they spent fighting each other.

Once Israel had been exiled, Judah found itself in a far more vulnerable position. The border of the Assyrian empire was now less than 20 miles from Jerusalem, Judah’s capital. Further, Judah’s king, Ahaz, had pledged allegiance to the Assyrians in return for protection against Israel and Damascas – despite Isaiah’s protests! This caused difficulties for Judah. However, by the time Ahaz’s son, Hezekiah, took over, Assyria had become preoccupied with problems elsewhere giving Palestinian states, such as Judah, a greater amount of freedom. Egypt and Philistine decided to break away from Assyrian rule and tried to persuade Judah to join them. Hezekiah was wiser than his Dad though and, when Isaiah warned him that Assyria was not yet down and out, he listened. It was a good job that he did as Assyria soon crushed the uprising against them.

Hezekiah then led the nation in religious reform, within which he was no doubt politically motivated as well as religiously (establishing a distinctive Judahite identity would be important if any surge for freedom was going to succeed). He also strengthened Judah’s military and dug a water tunnel into Jerusalem in case of siege. Once the current Assyrian king had died (Sargon II), Hezekiah saw a chance for freedom and, this time ignoring Isaiah’s warning, decided to join the Babylonians and Egyptians in their revolt. This backfired and Judah soon found itself under Assyrian attack with Jerusalem spared only by a large pay-off! Jerusalem then found itself under siege, which ended when the Assyrians suddenly withdrew following some mysterious illness (2 Kings 18:17-19:37).

During the following years, whilst Manasseh (Hezekiah’s son) was on the throne, Assyria reached its peak – taking over Egypt’s capital and establishing itself artistically, intellectually and culturally. Judah was no match for its power and lived under its subjection, even worshipping its gods.

Assyria’s power then started to weaken and Manasseh’s grandson, Josiah, saw a chance to make a change. He followed in Hezekiah’s footsteps by implementing serious religious reform, even removing Assyrian alters from the former northern kingdom. The pinnacle of this reform came with the rediscovery of Israel’s law book (undoubtedly the book of Deuteronomy), which was found in Jerusalem’s temple (2 Kings 22:3-20). This led, in turn, to Judah’s recommitment to its ancient faith, as recorded in 2 Kings 23:1-3.

Meanwhile, the Babylonian empire was rising as fast as Assyria was falling, becoming the region’s superpower in 612 BC once Assyria’s capital, Ninevah, had been taken. Inexplicably, Josiah decided to get involved in all of this and was killed for his trouble. Judah then came under Egyptian control for a while before the Babylonians defeated them and took Judah as a vassal. Four years later, when Egypt regained some of its power, Judah decided to make a break for freedom – despite Jeremiah’s protests! This was a seriously misjudged move and the Babylonians responded by tightening their grip on the Egyptians and, in 586 BC, taking the Judahite king – and many leading citizens plus treasure – into exile in Babylon. The new king, Zedekiah, also refused to listen to Jeremiah’s wisdom and, when he thought the coast was clear, decided to side with the Egyptians and break away. It was a big mistake! After an 18-month siege, Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar (Babylon’s king) and the main buildings in Jerusalem, including the temple, were systematically destroyed. This defeat left the people in intense theological shock.  It appeared that either God had deserted them or that Marduk, the god of Babylon, had prevailed.[2]

However, the devastating results of the surrounding nations’ political manoeuvrings and the kings’ foolish decisions were seen by Judah’s prophets as judgment for the people’s rebellion. In their eyes, it was the curses of the covenant that they were now reaping. This covenant, however, was one that could ultimately never be annulled. God would prove faithful thus, even in the midst of such extreme disaster, there was reason for hope.

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[1] See John Drane, “Introducing the Old Testament,” Chapter 6.

[2] Daniel Block, “The Book of Ezekiel, Chapters 1-24,” pgs. 7-8.