Summary of the period

This last turbulent period in Judah’s history following the fall of Samaria (722 BC), the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, was marked by extreme swings between apostasy and revival. These were closely linked with the relationship between Judah and Assyria. There were powerful reforms led by Hezekiah and Josiah, the two best kings since David, between which was the terrible time of apostasy under Manasseh, the worst of Judah’s kings. During the reigns of Hezekiah and Josiah, Judah was relatively free from Assyrian control, but Manasseh was a loyal vassal of Assyria.

It can be debated whether the periods of revival were made possible by the weakness in the foreign powers, or whether the foreign powers were weak because Judah was ruled by a godly king who trusted in Yahweh, thus demonstrating the sovereignty of God over history. It seems more than just a co-incidence that Judah ‘just happened’ to be ruled by a godly king at times when Assyria was weak. In the curses of Deuteronomy, God warned that if the people broke the covenant, then the Lord will cause them to be defeated by their enemies (Deut 28:25). But if they obeyed his commandments, then God promised that he will cause their enemies to be defeated before them (Deut 28:7). Daniel recognised God’s sovereign power over the nations, when he blessed the Lord, saying, “He changes times and seasons, deposes kings and sets up kings” (Dan 2:21).

Before Hezekiah

Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah, ruled from 735 to 715 BC. He is dismissed in the book of Kings as an evil king who even caused his son to pass through the fire, according to the practices of the Canaanites (2 Kg 16:2-4, 2 Chr 28:2-3). His reign was a period of apostasy, probably connected with his policy of appeasing Assyria. He asked for Assyrian help against coalition of Syria and Israel in Syro-Ephraimite war (2 Kg 16:7). This request caused him to lose his independence in order to become an Assyrian vassal. He had to pay tribute to Tiglath-pileser III (16:8) and replaced the bronze altar of burnt offering with a copy of a pagan altar in Damascus, where he had met the Assyrian king (16:10-16). This probably demonstrates that Ahaz adopted the worship of Assyrian gods as part of his treaty with Tiglath-pileser, and even brought idolatry into the temple. Through the rest of his reign, Ahaz maintained a policy of remaining submissive to Assyria, and refused to trust God for deliverance (Is 7:12).

During the reign of Ahaz, the northern kingdom of Israel had finally fallen to the Assyrians. Shalmaneser V had begun the siege of Samaria, and Sargon II had completed it after Shalmaneser had died. The northern kingdom had come under God’s judgment for their continued idolatry (2 Kg 17:7ff), and for ignoring the warnings of the prophets sent by God (17:13ff).

Hezekiah

The dates for Hezekiah’s reign are thought to have been from 715 to 686 BC. However there are some problems with these dates. Samaria fell to Sargon of Assyria in 722 BC, which be during the reign of Ahaz (735 - 715 BC). However the book of Kings states that Hezekiah became king in the third year of Hoshea of Israel (2 Kg 18:1), six years before the fall of Samaria (2 Kg 18:10).

It is likely that Hezekiah ruled as co-regent for many years before the death of his father Ahaz, probably from as early as 729 BC, the date suggested in Kings. Co-regency was frequently used in Judah to give continuity to the throne, and to avoid times of weakness and instability when the king reached his old age and died. Assyria evidently did not use co-regency system, as the death of the king was often followed by rebellions, which the new king had to suppress in order to establish his rule over the empire.

Hezekiah’s reforms

Right from the start of his reign (probably once his father died in 715 BC), Hezekiah made a commitment to worship Yahweh. He totally reversed the policies of his father, Ahaz, and led his people in a renewal of the covenant, and repaired the temple (2 Chr 29). He also sent letters, inviting those from the northern tribes to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Even though most mocked and scoffed, a few people did humble themselves and come to Jerusalem (2 Chr 30:1-12). The book of Chronicles describes this Passover celebration as the best since the time of Solomon (2 Chr 30:26). After this, people went out to tear down the places of idol worship around Judah, and even in Ephraim and Manasseh in the north (2 Chr 31:1). Unlike previous reforms in Judah, even the high places were torn down, and he broke up the bronze serpent originally made by Moses in the wilderness (Num 21:9), because the people now worshipped it as an idol (2 Kg 18:4). Hezekiah also appointed different orders of priesthood to minister to the Lord, and arranged for the collection of tithes from the people (2 Chr 31). Because of these wide-ranging reforms, Hezekiah was considered as one of the most godly kings of Judah, doing what was right before the Lord, as his father David had done (2 Kg 18:3,5-6, 2 Chr 31:20- 21). Because of his faithfulness to the Lord, he prospered (2 Kg 18:7).

Internally, Hezekiah’s reforms would be supported by those who desired political independence for Judah, but particularly from those who wanted the freedom to worship Yahweh, and to remain faithful to his laws and covenant. It is very likely that many would been warned by the destruction of the northern kingdom because of their apostasy, as well as the predictions of judgement brought by the prophets because the nation had been unfaithful to the covenant.

Hezekiah’s efforts at reforms were probably also encouraged by the wider political situation. At the beginning of the reign of Sargon II in 721 BC, there were major rebellions around his empire. With the help of the king of Elam, the ruler of Babylon, Marduk-apaliddina (known as Merodach-baladan in the Bible) seized control of Babylon. It took Sargon twelve years to regain control. He also faced problems from enemies in Asia Minor, and to the north in Urartu. King Mitas (Midas) of Phrygia stirred up a rebellion by Carchemish, which was an Assyrian vassal. In response, Sargon destroyed Carchemish and deported its population. Urartu had been weakened by Tiglath-pileser, so now Sargon took the opportunity to conquer that region and remove their threat to Assyrian power. Because Sargon was so busy fighting elsewhere, he left Palestine alone, allowing Hezekiah to pursue a path towards independence.

Assyrian kings would have seen Hezekiah’s reforms as rebellion against their rule. Hezekiah had decided to serve Yahweh, and not the king of Assyria (2 Kg 18:7). To reject the worship of Assyrian gods would be seen as rebellion against Assyrian rule. Hezekiah took great risks and showed great trust in Yahweh through his reign.

Egypt had been weak during the fall of Samaria, so could not be any help to Israel in their final years. Both the 23rd dynasty and the short-lived 24th dynasty were weak. At this time, the king of Ethiopia, Piankhi, took control of first upper, then lower Egypt by 701 BC, establishing the stronger 25th (Ethiopian) dynasty. With Egypt becoming stronger, Assyrian vassals in Palestine were encouraged to look to Egypt for help against Assyria. Isaiah frequently rebuked Judah for seeking help from Egypt (eg. Is 30:1-2, challenging them to seek help from Yahweh alone, and saying that to look to Egypt will only lead to humiliation.

Sargon’s invasion

In 711 BC, the king of Ashdod led a rebellion against Assyria, encouraged by Egypt. Hezekiah was tempted to join this rebellion. However, Isaiah warned through his enacted prophecy of walking naked and barefoot like someone being taken into exile, that Assyria will lead Egypt, in whom the Philistines had trusted, away into exile (Is 20). Hezekiah heeded the warning from Isaiah and refrained from joining the rebellion. Isaiah’s message that it was folly to trust in Egypt was proved to be correct when Sargon besieged Ashdod and quickly captured the city (7,8). In his records, Sargon also claimed to have invaded Judah, but this is not mentioned in the OT. Although the majority of scholars relate this prophecy of Isaiah to Sargon’s invasion, some scholars fit it into later history, either the invasion of Sennacherib in 705 BC, or of Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BC.

Hezekiah’s illness

About this time Hezekiah became seriously ill and nearly died, but his life was extended by 15 years after he prayed to the Lord, who promised to deliver Jerusalem from Assyria (Is 38:1-6). His illness probably happened before Sennacherib’s invasion (3), even though the timing is indeterminate in the account in Isaiah and Kings. Although the biblical accounts contain many details, they are not necessarily in chronological order. However, after 701 he did live for a further 15 years, and eventually died in 686 BC.

After his recovery from illness, Hezekiah received envoys from Merodach-baladan, the king of Babylon (Is 39:1), who had rebelled first against Sargon and again against Sennacherib. His motive in sending envoys to Hezekiah was probably not just to congratulate him on recovering from his illness, but to see how much Hezekiah could contribute to his own struggle against the Assyrians, if he joined in the anti-Assyrian coalition.

Sennacherib’s invasion

After the death of Sargon in 705, Sennacherib faced several rebellions around the empire. Merodach-baladan again led Babylon into rebellion, but was expelled by Sennacherib in 703 BC, who installed an Assyrian prince as a vassal king. Hezekiah was blamed by Sennacherib for leading a rebellion in Palestine, probably encouraged by a stronger Egypt, who promised to support him.

Facing an Assyrian invasion, Hezekiah strengthened the defences of Jerusalem, and produced shields and weapons (2 Chr 32:5) (10). He also dug a tunnel, 540 m (1,777 feet) long, from Spring of Gihon to the Pool of Siloam to bring the water supply into Jerusalem (2 Kg 20:20, Is 22:9), so the city could survive a siege for longer. An inscription has been discovered which describes the meeting of the diggers in the middle of the tunnel.

In the 14th year of Hezekiah’s reign as sole monarch (701 BC), Sennacherib brought his army against Judah and captured 46 cities (2 Kg 18:13), in order to re-impose Assyrian rule over the rebellious province of Judah. While Sennacherib was besieging Lachish on the border of Egypt, Hezekiah sued for peace, and offering to pay tribute if the Assyrians would agree to withdraw (2 Kg 18:14). The Rabshakeh threatened Hezekiah and tried to intimidate the people of Jerusalem, claiming it was folly to trust in Yahweh, and asking whether any gods had been able to save their people from the army of Assyria (2 Kg 18:28-25). Hezekiah tore his clothes and cried out to God. In response God spoke through Isaiah, saying that he will cause Sennacherib to hear a rumour and return to his own land, where he will fall by the sword (2 kg 19:1-7).

In his records, including the Taylor Prism, Sennacherib claimed to take 200,150 people captive, and to have shut Hezekiah up in Jerusalem like a bird in a cage. It has been suggested that this represented a third and far greater exile than those following the capture of Samaria (722 BC) and Jerusalem (586 BC). This number may be an Assyrian exaggeration, or otherwise indicated the number of the whole population who were counted for exile, but not actually taken.

Hezekiah received a letter from Sennacherib at Libnah, when he had heard that Pharaoh Tirhakah of Egypt had set out to fight against Assyria. This letter again threatened Hezekiah and pointed out the folly of trusting in God (2 Kg 19:8-13). Hezekiah went into the temple with the letter and cried out to God, asking for his help against Assyria. Again, Isaiah brought a word from God, saying that Sennacherib will not enter the city, but God will make him return the same way that he came (2 Kg 19:20-34). That night the angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 of the Assyrian army, after which Sennacherib returned home, and later was assassinated by two of his sons (2 Kg 19:35-37).

Some scholars have suggested that Sennacherib actually led two separate campaigns against Judah. The first was in 701 (2 Kg 18:13-19:7), when he threatened Jerusalem, but following the word about rumours from Isaiah, he heard that Babylon was rebelling against his rule. He returned north to suppress the rebellion, after boasting that he shut Hezekiah up like a bird in a cage. His second campaign would then have been around 688 BC (2 Kg 19:8-36). After he had subdued Babylon, he heard that Tirhakah was advancing out of Egypt. This time he wrote to Hezekiah, who cried out to God, who in response to Hezekiah’s prayers, wiped out the Assyrian army (10,12). In support of this view scholars note the mention of King Tirhakah of Egypt (2 Kg 19:9). They say that Tirhakah was too young and was not called king in 701 BC. However, recent studies have shown that he would have been at least 20 years old by 701, and was at least called king by the time the account was written over 20 years later following the death of Sennacherib in 681 BC. It would not be surprising that Sennacherib made no mention of a second campaign, as Assyrian kings did not normally admit to suffering such a crushing defeat.

Other scholars believe that Sennacherib only made a single campaign against Judah in 701 BC. It is possible that the account in Kings does in fact describe two separate campaigns, but they are not made distinct. Although Sennacherib made one or maybe two attempts to subdue Hezekiah, he never succeeded, and in his records, he makes no claim to have conquered Jerusalem. In 681 BC, Sennacherib was killed by two of his sons in Nineveh, and another son called Esar-haddon succeeded him to the throne (Is 37:38).

Manasseh

Hezekiah’s son Manasseh stands in complete contrast to his godly father. He undid all the reforms of his father, rebuilding the high places, worshipping the host of heaven and following in the ways of Ahab of Israel in worshipping foreign gods, and even sacrificing his own son (2 Kg 21:2-3). The books of Kings and Chronicles condemn him severely as doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord, even worse than the Canaanites the Lord drove out of the land (2 Kg 21:9). Because of his evil, God pronounced judgement on Jerusalem and Judah, saying that the city will be destroyed, and the people exiled, just had he had done to Samaria (2 Kg 21:10-15). He was also condemned for shedding much innocent blood, probably of those who stood against his paganism. Traditionally this included the prophet Isaiah, who according to legend was sawn in half (Heb 11:37). His reign has much similarity to that of his grand-father Ahaz. Because he reigned for so many years, his paganism became deeply rooted in the country.

Manasseh probably began to rule as a co-regent in 696 BC, and ruled in his own right for 45 years as king following the death of Hezekiah in 686 BC, until 642 BC - the longest reign of all the kings of Judah. During most of his reign, Assyria was very strong and Manasseh was their loyal and obedient vassal, which involved both political and religious loyalty. In contrast to Hezekiah, who took great risks in order to remain faithful to Yahweh, Manasseh was a political pragmatist who remained loyal to Assyria to ensure peace.

During the reigns of Esar-haddon and Ashurbanipal, Assyria expanded to their greatest extent, by conquering Egypt in 662 BC, and appointing Psammetichus I as a vassal king to rule over Egypt, founding the 26th Dynasty. Assyria now had complete domination of the region. However, Assyria had over-extended themselves, and their control of Egypt only lasted a few years until 654 BC, when they withdrew their garrisons. Manasseh may also have made an alliance with Tyre, which also involved the re-establishment of worship of Baal and other pagan practices, but it is difficult to imagine that Assyria would allow him to make treaties with any foreign powers except themselves.

The book of Chronicles also includes an account of Manasseh being taken captive by the king of Assyria to Babylon. Probably as a result of this experience, he repented and called out to God, who restored him to his kingdom. After he returned, he cleansed the land from idols and re-established the worship of Yahweh (2 Chr 33:10-17). The Apocrypha contains the so-called ‘Prayer of Manasseh’, which is a moving prayer of repentance, but which was written several centuries after the time of Manasseh. It is difficult to say how effective Manasseh’s reforms were, but they were again reversed by his son Amon.

In 652 BC, Shamash-shum-ukin, the brother of Ashurbanipal, and ruler of Babylon led a rebellion against Assyria. It is possible that Manasseh was involved, and was encouraged by him to rebel against Assyria. This rebellion was joined by Elamites and other northern peoples. At the same time Psammetichus had become free of Assyrian control, and instigated revolts in Palestine. There were also rebellions east of the Jordan, in Edom and Moab and north to Syria. All these rebellions caused great instability in the whole Assyrian empire. It may be that Manasseh’s turning to God and his limited reforms occurred at this time, when Assyria’s power was temporarily weakened.

By 640, Ashurbanipal had quelled the rebellions and re-established his authority over the empire, although it was impossible for him to recapture Egypt. Bright suggests that Ashurbanipal was lenient towards Manasseh and allowed him to strengthen his fortifications in order to have a loyal vassal on the border of Egypt.

During Amon’s short reign, he maintained his father’s policy of loyal obedience to Assyria, worshipping the same idols as his father (2 Chr 33:22), but after two years, palace officials conspired against him, and killed him. The people of the land then conspired against those officials and made Josiah king (2 Kg 21:23).

Josiah

Josiah became king at the age of eight, after his father Amon was assassinated in 640 BC. It is almost certain that elders of Israel ruled the nation as a Council of State while Josiah was still a child. These elders probably continued the pro-Assyrian policy of Amon and Manasseh. In the eighth year of his reign, he began to seek the Lord (2 Chr 34:3). He would have been 16 years old. This probably indicated the time when Josiah began to rule as king in his own right, free to decide his own policies. Instead of submitting to Assyria, as his father and grand-father had done, he began to consider himself a ruling an independent nation, free from the obligation to worship foreign gods.

In the twelfth year of his reign (628 BC), at the age of 20, he began to purge first Jerusalem, then Judah of idolatry (34:3-5), beginning the most sweeping reforms of the whole history of Judah. This links closely with the beginning of the rapid decline of Assyria following the death of Ashurbanipal.

Ashurbanipal died in 627 BC, after which Assyria quickly fell apart. His son Sin-shar-ishkun had ruled as co-regent for the previous two years, while his father was in his old age, but he was not a strong enough ruler to hold the empire together. From 627 to 624 there was general rebellion and civil war throughout the Assyrian empire. Egypt under Psamtik I was also increasing in strength, and was able to gain control of Philistia. Assyria lost control of much of the outlying parts of their previous empire, including Judah, so Josiah found himself ruling an independent country.

Josiah stepped into the power vacuum left by Assyria, and was able to extend his reforms into regions of the old northern kingdom of Israel, previously controlled by them, including Samaria and Galilee (2 Chr 34:6). He even established a link to the coast and built a fortress south of Joppa. By this time, he would not have faced any resistance from Assyrian forces, and was probably welcomed by the local population.

In the 18th year of his reign in 622 BC, the book of the law was discovered while repairs were being made on the temple (2 Kg 22:8). Scholars have traditionally assumed that this was a copy of the Book of Deuteronomy, which had been lost during the long years of Manasseh. Deuteronomy is suggested because it contains the curses for unfaithfulness to Yahweh, commands for the centralisation of worship in Jerusalem as well as instructions for the Passover. However, liberal or critical scholars have claimed that Deuteronomy was written at this time. The shocked Josiah responded in repentance, tearing his clothes, calling his advisors to seek the Lord because his wrath is kindled against the nation because of the disobedience of their ancestors (2 Kg 22:11-13). God’s reply through the prophetess Huldah was that because of Josiah’s repentance, the promised judgement will be delayed until after his death (2 Kg 22:14-20). The discovery of the book of the law stimulated further extensive reforms, including the destruction of the altar at Bethel originally built by Jeroboam I (2 Kg 23:1-20), fulfilling the prediction of the man of God 300 years earlier (1 Kg 13:2). He led the nation in renewing the covenant with the Lord (2 Chr 34:29-35). This would act as a formal rejection of Assyrian gods and a declaration of independence from Assyrian control. By this time, Assyria was too weak to prevent this. He also celebrated the best Passover since the days of Samuel and the judges (2 Kg 23:21-23, 2 Chr 35:1-19).

Josiah’s reforms would be motivated by a combination of religious and national desires. Josiah was committed to worship Yahweh alone, but he also desired to remove Assyrian domination of his country and the syncretism it involved, and to seek re-unification with the north. Josiah would be encouraged in his reforms through the words from the prophets Jeremiah and Zephaniah, who both warned of God’s wrath on the idolatry characteristic of the reign of Manasseh, and called God’s people to repentance before it was too late. However, Jeremiah criticised Josiah’ reforms as being too superficial, and not really changing the hearts of the people.

Little is known about events in Judah during the later years of Josiah. During this time, Babylon gained independence under Napopolassar in 626 BC. Then, together with the Medes, Babylon besieged, captured and destroyed the city of Nineveh, the Assyrian capital in 612 BC.

Josiah’s reign ended with tragedy, when he unwisely went out to fight against Pharaoh Necho of Egypt. Necho was marching north to Carchemish to support the remnant of Assyria against the rising power of Babylon. Even though Necho said that he had no reason to fight against him, Josiah insisted in opposing his march north. At the Battle of Megiddo in 609 BC, Josiah was severely wounded and later died in Jerusalem (2 Chr 35:20-25). It is not clear why Josiah was opposed to Necho supporting Assyria. It may be that he feared a revival of Assyrian power, and had under-estimated the threat from Babylon.

The death of Josiah was a disaster for Judah, and marked the sudden end of his reforms. Judah quickly slid back into apostasy, and came under political control first by Egypt, then by Babylon, and ending with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC. Each one of the final four kings of Judah after Josiah were vassals of foreign kings and were described as doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord (Jehoahaz - 2 Kg 23:32, Jehoiakim - 2 Kg 23:37, Jehoiachin - 2 Kg 24:9, and Zedekiah - 2 Kg 24:19). There are no accounts of any reforms or revivals during any of their reigns.

Jehoahaz

After the death of Josiah, the people appointed his son Jehoahaz as king (2 Chr 36:1). Pharaoh Necho first confined him at Riblah, charging large tribute, before taking him captive to Egypt, after a reign of only 3 months, in 609 BC (2 Kg 23:31-33). Jeremiah called the people not to weep for the one who was dead (Josiah), but for the one who was taken away, never to return (Jehoahaz, who Jeremiah named Shallum) (Jer 22:10-11). Once again Judah had lost her independence, after the brief period of freedom under Josiah.

Jehoiakim

Necho appointed Eliakim, the eldest son of Josiah, as king and renamed him Jehoiakim (2 Kg 23:34). For the first few years, he ruled as a vassal of Egypt.

In 605 BC, the whole political situation of the ancient Near East changed. Following the Battle of Carchemish, Babylon became world power by defeating the Egyptian garrison there, and wiping out the remnant of Assyria (Jer 46:2). Nebuchadnezzar then had to return to Babylon to be crowned king after the death of his father Nabopolassar. In 604 BC, Nebuchadnezzar marched south to occupy Palestine and now Judah came under the control of Babylon, with Jehoiakim becoming a vassal of Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kg 24:1).

Jehoiakim stands in great contrast to Josiah. When he heard the word of the Lord, Josiah immediately repented, but when Jehoiakim heard the word of the Lord from Jeremiah, he burned it (Jer 36). Jehoiakim built himself a grand palace using forced labour (Jer 22:13ff), encouraged idolatrous worship to become re-established (Ezek 8), and persecuted the prophets (Jer 26:20ff).

In 598 BC, Jehoiakim rebelled against Babylonian rule, hoping for help from Egypt. Together with bands of soldiers from other nations, Nebuchadnezzar besieged and took Jerusalem without destroying it (2 Kg 24:2). This is recorded in the Babylonian Chronicle as happening on the 15th March 597 BC. During the siege Jehoiakim died mysteriously, and his son Jehoiachin became king. The Chronicles account states that Nebuchadnezzar took him in chains to Babylon, together with the sacred vessels from the temple (2 Chr 36:6-7).

Jehoiachin

Jehoiachin ruled for only three months before being taken into exile to Babylon, along with a large number of skilled and upper-class people, probably including Ezekiel the prophet (2 Kg 24:12-16, Ezek 1:2). In his place, Nebuchadnezzar appointed his uncle, Mattaniah, who he renamed Zedekiah, as king.

Zedekiah

Zedekiah was young and inexperienced, and was swayed by the opinion of his ultra-nationalistic advisers. Sometimes he consulted Jeremiah, but did not take his advice (2 Chr 36:12). After being indecisive for several years, he finally joined an anti-Babylonian coalition and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (2 Chr 36:13). Again Nebuchadnezzar brought his army against Jerusalem for a second time, and this time took the city and destroyed it, burning it with fire. Zedekiah was blinded and taken captive to Babylon (2 Kg 25). God’s judgement had finally fallen on Judah because of their continued rebellion against him.