Bible In One Year Day 199 (Isaiah 16-17, Joel 3, Proverbs 10:2-24)

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Day 199: Times for War

Agape Bible Study 
Isaiah 16-17 

HISTORICAL SUMMARY 

Timeline (dates may vary according to source):

• The prophet Jonah is sent to call the people of the Assyrian capital of Nineveh to repentance in c. 759 BC.
• Tiglath Pileser III is king of Assyria (745-727 BC) and begins to rebuild the empire.
• Isaiah begins his prophetic ministry in 740 BC, in the year King Uzziah of Judah died.
• Damascus and the Northern Kingdom of Israel form an alliance and go to war against the Southern Kingdom of Judah in 735-34 BC.
• Ahaz king of Judah makes an alliance with Assyria and becomes a vassal of the Assyrians in c. 734 BC.
• Assyrian king Tiglath Pileser III conquers all the cities of the Mediterranean coast from Phoenicia to the Philistia to Egypt and returns to conquer the Israelite tribes of the Galilee and Gilead in 733-732 BC.
• The Assyrians take the Israelite population of the Galilee and Gilead and into exile in 732 BC.
• Damascus is destroyed by Assyrian king Tiglath Pileser III in 732 BC.
• Babylon is conquered by Tiglath Pileser III in 729 BC.
• Shalmaneser V becomes king of Assyria (727-722 BC).
• Samaria, capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, is destroyed by Shalmaneser V in 722 BC.
• Sargon II becomes king of Assyria (722-705 BC).
• The entire population of Israel is deported into Assyrian lands to the east in 722/721 BC, and five Gentiles groups are resettled in what was the Northern Kingdom but becomes the Assyrian province of Samaria. They will become the Samaritans.
• Hezekiah son of Ahaz is king of Judah c. 716-687 BC (727 in other sources).
• Nubians establish the 25^th Dynasty in Egypt (715 to 663 BC).
• Assyrians re-conquer rebellious Philistine cities, including Ashdod in c. 711 BC.
• Sennacherib becomes king of Assyria (705-681 BC).
• King Sennacherib lays siege to Jerusalem in 701 BC, but he returns to Nineveh without taking the city. He is murdered by his elder sons and succeeded by his youngest son, Esarhaddon who rules from 681-669 BC.
• Manasseh son of king Hezekiah of Judah rules Judah 687-643/2 BC.
• Assyrians conquer Egypt in 663 BC.
• Assyrian capital of Nineveh is destroyed by the Babylonians in 612 BC.
• King Josiah of Judah is killed by Pharaoh Necho at the Battle of Megiddo in 609 BC.
• Assyrians and their Egyptian allies are defeated by the forces of the Babylonians in 605 BC at the Battle of Carchemish, signaling the end of the Assyrian Empire.
• 1^st Babylonian deportation of children of royal and influential families of Jerusalem in 605 BC (Daniel); Babylonians take King Jehoiachin/Jechoniah into exile and make his uncle king.
• 2^nd Babylonian deportation of citizens of Judah 597 BC (Ezekiel).
• Jerusalem is conquered by the Babylonians 587/6 BC; the Davidic king is executed and the remaining population of Judah is sent into exile in Babylon (3^rd deportation).
• Babylon is defeated by the armies of King Cyrus of Persia 539 BC.
• Edict of Cyrus allows the return of all the peoples taken into exile by the Babylonians 539 BC.
• 539/38 BC a remnant of the citizens of Judah return to the Promised Land.

Historical background 735-729 BC: In 735 BC the Aramaean kingdom of Damascus and the Northern Kingdom of Israel formed an alliance to destroy the Southern Kingdom of Judah and plan to put a puppet king on the throne of Judah, ending the rule of the Davidic Kings (2 Kng 16:5; Is 7:4-7). The combined armies marched on Judah, conquering Judean cities on their way to Jerusalem and besieging Jerusalem in 734 BC. In Isaiah chapter 7, God promised Davidic king Ahaz of Judah that he had nothing to fear from the Aramaeans and Israel; God would protect him and protect the eternal covenant He made with David (2 Sam 7:16). Ahaz, however, refused to put his trust in Yahweh. In c. 734 BC, Assyrian king Tiglath Pileser III received an appeal from Ahaz king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah to save his kingdom from the armies of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Aramaean Kingdom of Damascus. Ahaz also sent a substantial gift to cement an alliance between Judah and the Assyrians (2 Kng 16:5-8).

The Kingdom of Tiglath Pileser III was on its way to becoming one of the greatest empires in world history. Tiglath Pileser III was the first ruler to establish a standing professional army that he used to conquer Upper Mesopotamia and to threaten the old Babylonian Empire. After receiving King Ahaz's offer to become an Assyrian vassal, Tiglath Pileser III turned his attention westward to address the Syro-Ephraimite alliance between the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Aramaean kingdom of Damascus. In 734 BC, Tiglath Pileser III marshaled his armies and began a conquest of the cities along the Mediterranean coast, taking the coastal cities from Phoenicia all the way through Philistia and on to Egypt. Next, he returned to the Northern Kingdom of Israel where he destroyed their army and claimed the northern territories of the Galilean tribes of Zebulun, Naphtali, and the tribes on the east side of the Jordan River of Reuben, Gath and Manasseh. The Assyrians deported the entire population of Israel into Assyrian lands to the east (2 Kng 15:29-31), and then brought in five different groups of Gentile peoples to settle what was now the Assyrian province of Samaria (2 Kng 17:24-41).

King Pekah of Israel was murdered by Hoshea who became king (ruled 732-724 BC), and submitting to the Assyrians was recognized by them as the king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The Assyrian army also attacked Damascus where Tiglath Pileser III captured the city, killed King Razon/Rezin, and deported its population into Assyrian lands to the east in 732 BC (2 Kng 16:9). In 729 BC Assyrian king Tiglath Pileser III conquered Babylon and all the territories formerly under Babylonian control, becoming the greatest empire the region had ever seen.

Isaiah 16:1-6 ~ The Moabites' Petition

In the era of the United Monarchy, the Moabites were vassals of the King David and his son Solomon. When the United Kingdom failed and divided into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah, Moab was a vassal of Israel until King Mesha of Moab declared his independence from Israel in the 9^th century BC. In this passage, the Moabites are sending a lamb sacrifice to the Davidic king in Jerusalem (daughter of Zion) with a petition.

Question: What is the Moabites' petition to Judah and her king in verses 3-5?
Answer: The Moabites are appealing to the king of Judah who is a descendant of David to offer them his protection and asylum as refugees from their devastated land. If he will do this, when the conflict is over, they will submit to Judah again as a vassal state.

Isaiah 16:7-12 ~ Moab's Lament

Northern Moab was known for their vineyards and for growing a fine quality grape that produced a fine quality wine enjoyed all across the region. Soreq is the same variety of grape as in Isaiah's vineyard parable in 5:2.

Question: The Moabites will offer sacrifices on the high places and will pray in their temple for deliverance, why will this accomplish nothing?

Answer: They are offering sacrifice and praying to false gods who are not capable of saving them.

Isaiah 16:13-14 ~ Yahweh's Judgment on Moab

A hired worker counts the years from harvest season to harvest season. The harvest of that year would count as "year #1", so within two years as we count this prophecy will be fulfilled. It is difficult to pin-point the date the prophecy is made or when it will be fulfilled. The Assyrians rampaged through the region at least four times. Assyrian kings Tiglath Pileser III, Sargon II, Sennacherib V, and Esarhaddon all claimed victories over the Moabites according to documents discovered in the Assyrian archives. Since Jerusalem isn't under siege yet, the army may be that of Sennacherib who ruled 705-601 BC and who laid siege to Jerusalem in 701 BC.

Icon Joel 

Isaiah 17:1-14 ~ Oracle against Damascus and Israel

 

Isaiah 17:2-3 ~ Oracle against Damascus

Question: What does Isaiah foresee as the fate of Damascus and Israel (Ephraim) in verses 1-3? The word "glory" is used sarcastically.
Answer: The great city of Damascus will lose its sovereignty and will become a heap of ruins. Israel will lose its defenses becoming a vassal of Assyria as will those people who survive the destruction of Damascus.

Tiglath Pileser III response to King Ahaz's gift and petition for an alliance was swift.
Question: What happened to Damascus? See 2 Kng 16:9.
Answer: Damascus was conquered by the Assyrians, the king was executed, and the people were exiled into Assyrian lands to the east.

Isaiah 17:4-14 ~ Oracle against Israel

Isaiah prophesies the destruction of the Northern Kingdom by a vast foreign army (verses 12-14).
Question: What kind of imagery does Isaiah use to describe Israel's devastation in verses 4-6?
Answer: He uses agriculture imagery. Just as little remained in the Valley of Rephaim after the harvest, in the same way little would remain to glean in Israel after the harvest of God's judgment.

Question: What does the sparse grain, fruit and berries in verses 5-6 represent?
Answer: The few people who will survive the devastation.

Question: Who is the "Rock" in verse 10? See Dt 32:4, 15, 18, 30, 31; Ps 18:2.
Answer: The "Rock" is Yahweh.

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A Daily Defense 

DAY 199 He Knew Her Not Until

CHALLENGE: “Matthew states that Joseph ‘knew her [Mary] not until she had borne a son.’ This implies that he did have sexual relations with her later.”

DEFENSE :This overtaxes the meaning of “until.”

The term “until” (Greek, heōs) commonly indicated a particular state existed to a certain point, as in “John worked at his desk until five o’clock.” 

The existing state often changes when the point is reached (thus, at five o’clock, John may go home). But change is not always indicated.

In 2 Samuel 6:23, Saul’s daughter Michal scoffed at King David’s enthusiasm for the Lord, and we read that she had no child “until” the day of her death. The word in the Septuagint Greek translation of the Old Testament is heōs. The passage d es not mean Michal had a child after the day of her death. It means she never had children.

We see the same in the New Testament. In Matthew 13:33, Jesus tells a parable in which he says, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” The use of “till” (heōs) does not mean that the leaven was later taken out of the flour.

Similarly, in Matthew 14:22, Jesus is at the Sea of Galilee and “he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while [heōs] he dismissed the crowds.” This does not mean that the disciples turned around and returned to shore as soon as Jesus dismissed the crowds. They continued their journey to the other side, which resulted in their meeting Jesus as he was walking on the water (Matt. 14:25).

Similarly, in Matthew 1:25, the evangelist’s point is that Joseph did not have sex with Mary before Jesus was born. His concern is to emphasize the virgin birth, not to address what happened later. This is consistent with the uses of “until” (heōs) documented above.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist

Bible In One Year Day 198 (Isaiah 14-15, Joel 1-2, Proverbs 10:17-20)

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Day 198: The Day of the Lord 

Agape Bible Study 
Isaiah 14 - 15 

Chapter 14: The End of the Exile and the Death of the King of Babylon

Isaiah 14:1-2 ~ The Return of the Refugees

When the Judahites return in the 6^th century BC, many men will have married pagan women who will return with their husbands. Those women who did not convert but retained their pagan gods and influenced their children to worship pagan gods will be a problem for the returning people and their leaders (see the Book of Ezra chapters 9-10).

Isaiah 14:3-8 ~ The Taunt against the King of Babylon
This satirical poem for a fallen tyrant is directed against the king of Babylon, but it could also be directed against every fallen tyrant of every age to whom the poem should serve as a warning. The accusation of "arrogance" in verse 4 has been repeated throughout the condemnation prophecies; it was included among the sins of the Israelites and their leaders and will continue to be among the list of chief sins (Is 9:9; 10:12; 13:11; 16:6; 37:29).

The mention of the felling of the cedars of Lebanon in verse 8 refers to how the oppressive regime of the Babylonians (and the Assyrians before them) stripped the natural resources of conquered nations. It was a pattern of behavior for conquerors in the past and continues in our modern age.

Isaiah 14:9-15 ~ Sheol welcomes the King

Sheol, the abode of the dead, is personified as welcoming the Babylonian king/kings who will now be a citizen/citizens of his kingdom in the company of other dead rulers of earthly kingdoms. It is the dead who now address the fallen king of Babylon in 10b-15, asking how someone who made so many great boasts could come to such an end.

The Fathers of the Church (Origen, Augustine, Jerome, and others), citing verse 12 and arguing that humans do not fall from heaven, interpreted the 5 "I shall/I will" boasts of the king of Babylon in verses 13- 14 as symbolic of the arrogant and prideful boasts of Satan against God in the great heavenly rebellion that took place prior to the Fall of Adam and which is recorded in the Book of Revelation: And now war broke out in heaven, when Michael with his angels attacked the dragon. The dragon fought back with his angels, but they were defeated and driven out of heaven. The great dragon, the primeval serpent, known as the devil or Satan, who had led all the world astray, was hurled down to the earth and his angels were hurled down with him (Rev 12:7-9).

It is St. Jerome in his Latin Vulgate translation who translated the Hebrew word "heylel", meaning "brightness" as in the "Daystar/Morning star" as "Lucifer" and identified him with the prince of demons. Jerome wrote: "For greater ease of understanding we translated this phrase as follows: How you have fallen from heaven, Lucifer, who arose in the morning.' But if we were to render a literal translation from the Hebrew, it would red, How you have fallen from heaven, howling son of the dawn.' Lucifer is also signified with other words. And he who was formerly so glorious that he was compared to a bearer of lightning is now told that he must weep and mourn" (Commentary on Isaiah, 5:14.12-14). In their interpretation of these verses the Fathers wrote that the 5 "I shall/I will" boasts of Satan were answered by the 5 bloody wounds on the Body of Christ as He suffered on the Cross: the 2 wounds in each of His hands, the 2 wounds in each of His feet, and the blood from the crown of thorns on His head. See CCC 391-395, 550.

Isaiah 14:15-21 ~ The Taunt Continues and the Ghosts of Sheol address the King of Babylon
The taunt continues:"15 Now you have been flung down to Sheol, into the depths of the Abyss! 16 When they see you, they will scrutinize you and consider what you have become, Is this the man who made the world tremble, who overthrew kingdoms? 17 He made the world a desert; he levelled cities and never freed his prisoners to go home.' 18 All other kings of nations, all of them, lie honorably, each in his own tomb; 19 but you have been thrown away, unburied, like a loathsome branch, covered with heaps of the slain pierced by the sword who fall on the rocks of the abyss like trampled carrion.' 20 You will not rejoin them in the grave, for you have brought your country to ruin and destroyed your people. The offspring of the wicked leave no name behind them. 21 Prepare the slaughter for his sons for the guilt of their father! Never again must they rise to conquer the world and cover the face of the earth with their cities."

Isaiah 14:22-23 ~Yahweh's final decree
22 "I will raise against them, declares Yahweh Sabaoth, and deprive Babylon of name, remnant, offspring and posterity, declares Yahweh. 23 I shall turn it into the haunt of hedgehogs, a swamp. I shall sweep it with the broom of destruction", declares Yahweh Sabaoth.

Part of the judgment for the sins of the wicked ruler of Babylon (who is probably not a single ruler but a series of rulers) is that the suffering he caused will not only impact the people he conquered, but the penalty Babylonia will pay will bring suffering to all the Babylonian people and the members of the royal family. God does not judge a son or daughter for the sins of a father or mother, but in war it is inevitable that the defeated nation and the offspring of the leaders should suffer because of the sins of their fathers. When the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem in 587/6 BC, King Zedekiah of Judah, the last reigning Davidic king, was forced to watch the murder of all of his sons (2 Kng 25:6-7).

Joel (Tissot)

Isaiah 14:24-27 ~ Against Assyria

Assyria is destined for destruction and nothing will stop it. After 2 chapters of prophecy against Babylon, Isaiah speaks only 4 verses on Assyria's judgment. It is probably because he already dealt with Assyria in 10:5-34 and will again in 36:1-37:38. Isaiah 14:25 is probably an allusion to the invasion of Assyrian King Sennacherib and his siege of Jerusalem with his army spread across the mountains upon which Jerusalem rested in 701 BC. Yahweh's intervention routed his army; it is a story told in chapters 36-37.

Next Isaiah gives two proclamations in a poetic oracle: one against the Philistines and the second against Moab; territories that bordered Judah on the west and the east and both of which were at one time vassals of the Davidic kings.

Isaiah 14:28-32 ~ Against the Philistines

It is the year of King Ahaz of Judah's death, and he is succeeded by his 25 year old son, Hezekiah. The year is 715 BC (or 727 BC depending on the chronology used for Hezekiah's reign). Other nations often saw the opportunity to take advantage of an untested ruler, which probably accounts for the rejoicing of the Philistines.

Isaiah 15:1-9 ~ Lament over Moab's Condition

Moab territory was along the eastern coast of the Dead Sea, south of the tribal lands of Reuben that at this time had been absorbed into the Aramaean and Ammonite kingdoms and no longer existed. Kings Saul and David conquered Moab in the age of the United Kingdom (1 Sam 14:47; 2 Sam 8:2), and Moab remained a vassal state under the Davidic king Solomon, but Moab regained independence in the days of the divided kingdom. Some battles are recorded in 2 Kings 3:4-27 and 2 Chronicles 20:1-26 and in the famous Mesha stela of King Mesha of Moab.⁽²⁾

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A Daily Defense
DAY 198 Images of Hell 

CHALLENGE: “I can’t take the idea of hell seriously. The idea that a loving God would confine people to a fiery place deep in the earth where devils poke them with pitchforks in a torture chamber is ridiculous.”

DEFENSE: The next world transcends our ability to imagine, and, even at their best, the images we use aren’t meant to be more than pointers.

Like some popular depictions of heaven, popular depictions of hell owe more to artistic imagination than they do to Scripture. The image of devils poking people with pitchforks—or otherwise torturing them—is not found in Scripture but in art and in cartoons. 

Scripture depicts fallen angels in hell alongside fallen humans (Jude 6; Rev. 20:10), not torturing them.

Describing hell, the New Testament uses images like fire (Matt. 13:50; Mark 9:43; Rev. 14:10, 21:8) and being excluded from God’s presence (Matt. 8:12, 22:13, 25:30; 2 Thess. 1:9). These give us a way of picturing the next world, but because that world transcends our imagination, we must recognize the limits of the images.

John Paul II stated: “The images of hell that Sacred Scripture presents to us must be correctly interpreted. They show the complete frustration and emptiness of life without God. Rather than a place, hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy” (General Audience, July 28, 1999).

Consequently, “The thought of hell—and even less the improper use of biblical images—must not create anxiety or despair, but is a necessary and healthy reminder of freedom” (ibid.).

“Hell’s principal punishment consists of eternal separation from God in whom alone man can have the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs” (CCC 1057).

We therefore must leave the details of precisely how hell works—where and how the suffering takes place—to God. What is important for us is to recognize the need to ensure that we are united with God, the source of ultimate and eternal happiness.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist