There were many occasions in the history of Israel and Judah when to obey the injunction of separateness from other nations placed upon them by their prophets, speaking the words of God, seemed humanly speaking, the exact opposite of common sense. Such a situation arose during the reign of Ahab (869-850 B.C.). He had been attacked by Benhadad of Syria, and at first he had been fainthearted and had yielded to his enemy’s demand for the payment of tribute. When the Syrians returned for more, however, the Israelitish king decided to trust in God for aid. He was rewarded by two resounding victories over Benhadad. Then, however, he faltered and, instead of following up his victory by utterly destroying Syrian power, he made an alliance with the Syrians. This proceeding was entirely out of harmony with the Divine will and the prophet denounced the king and told him that his folly would mean much trouble for Israel.
From a merely human point of view the position seemed much different, for about this time the grim shadow of Assyria was creeping over Palestine and Syria, which were peopled by small nations, completely inferior in power to Assyria. It was therefore clearly not the time for the smaller and weaker peoples to be at war with each other. Such strife could only make the Assyrian task easier. The only hope was for kingdoms like Israel and Syria to unite and present a united front to their common enemy. No doubt it was a consideration of this nature that moved Ahab to make his alliance with Benhadad. He had, however, forgotten the very recent lesson, which ought to have taught him that when he trusted in God he was safe, but that when he trusted in himself he was lost. For the growing power of Assyria became such that even a coalition of the smaller nations was unable to resist it. It was not until the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, who finally put his confidence in God that the Assyrians were really defeated.
Already a great warrior had appeared in Assyria and had been pushing his conquests during the struggles between Ahab and Benhadad. This was Assur-nasir-pal who reigned from 883-859 B.C. He organised the Assyrian army into an over-whelming machine, especially equipping it with characters who struck terror far and wide. The monuments of Assyria show that the people were accomplished sculptors and builders. In warfare, however, they were the most cruel nation of the ancient world, treating those whom they conquered with the utmost barbarity. This is shown by an inscription of Assur-nasir-pal. Writing of his dealings with a city of a certain Khulai, he says:
“Six hundred of their warriors I put to the sword; three thousand captives I burned with fire: I left not a single one of them alive to serve as a hostage. Khulai their governor I captured alive.Their corpses I piled into heaps; their young men and maidens I burned in the fire. Khulai their governor I flayed and his skin I spread upon the wall of the city of Damdamusa: the city I destroyed, I ravaged, I burned with fire.”
This was the people who were about to fall upon the small kingdoms of Israel and Judah and inflict upon them much suffering. It is not surprising that the Bible should refer to the Assyrians as a rod (Isa. 10. 5) ; a razor (Isa. 7. 20) and a flood (Isa. 8. 7, 8).
Shalmaneser III
Assur-nasir-pal was succeeded by Shalmaneser III (859-824 B.C.). This monarch also is not mentioned in the Bible but, as his monuments shew, he was involved in warfare with Israel. He undertook a campaign against Irhuleni, king of Hamath, who raised a coalition of twelve kings against him. On the Kurkh Stele, now in the British Museum, Shalmaneser records the names of the monarchs concerned and among them he specifies “200 chariots and 10,000 men of Ahab the Israelite”. A battle took place in 853 B.C. at Qarqar. The stele claims an Assyrian victory with great loss to the coalition. It seems doubtful, however, whether the victory was so complete as was claimed, for it was three years at least before any further invasion of Syria was attempted.
During 841-840 B.C. Shalmaneser made a further advance. In the meantime Irhuleni had been assassinated and Hazael had succeeded him. The latter was besieged in his capital city, Damascus, but the Assyrians were unable to take it. Accordingly they turned westward to the Mediterranean Sea. On a headland facing the sea, Shalmaneser erected an effigy of himself. Here he says,
“I received the tribute of the people of Tyre and Sidon and of Jehu, son of Omri”.
These words occur in the inscription on the famous Black Obelisk, also in the British Museum. In addition there is, on the monument, a representation of Jehu paying tribute to the Assyrian king. He is beardless and wears a sleeveless mantle over a long fringed and girdled tunic. He is followed by thirteen men, whose facial characteristics shew them to be Hebrews, bearing gifts to Shalmaneser. The gifts are not large and it seems likely that Jehu’s submission was only a token surrender. They are described on the monument as follows:
“The tribute of Jehu, son of Omri. Silver, gold, a golden bowl, a golden vase, golden cups, golden buckets, tin, a staff for the royal hand (?) puruhati fruits.”
The figure of Jehu is the only known contemporary representation of any Israelite king.
It will be noticed that the Assyrians referred to Jehu as the son of Omri, whereas the Bible states that he was the son of Nimshi. Omri, the builder of Samaria, who receives little mention in the Bible, which deals mainly with his spiritual standing in the sight of God, was from a human point of view an important monarch and the Assyrians used to speak of Israel as the house or land of Ornri, and thought that any ruler of Israel must be a descendant of Omri.
Although the submission of Jehu to Shalmaneser is not referred to in the Scriptures, it is thought possible that the Israelitish king may have been trying to buy the support of the Assyrians against Hazael who constantly raided the northern part of Israel (2 Kings 10. 31) but, if this was so, he was not successful (see 2 Kings 13:3,22).
Adad-Nirari III
The next Assyrian king who troubled Palestine was Adad-Nirari III (810-782 B.C.). Again the monarch is not mentioned in the Old Testament, but the effect of his activities on the history of Israel can be deduced from Scripture. The main Assyrian attack fell on Damascus, which was defended by Hazael. This monarch had been threatening the Philistines and Jerusalem and had received tribute, including some of the temple treasures, from king Joash or Jehoash of Judah. Adad-Nirari claims to have received tribute from Tyre, Sidon, Israel (Samaria), Edom and Philistia, and it was probably his attack on Damascus that forced Hazael to cease operations against the south ( Judah and Philistia). It also became possible, because of the pre-occupations of Hazael, for Joash or Jehoash of Israel to recapture some of the towns which his father, Jehoahaz, had lost to Hazael. Damascus was also attacked by Shalmaneser IV ( 781-772 B.C. ), Adad-Nirari’s successor, and his onslaught enabled Jereboam II, who succeeded Joash, to extend the boundaries of Israel as far as “the entering in of Hamath” (2 Kings 14. 25-28).
Tiglath Pileser Ill
Both Adad-Nirari and Shalmaneser IV were limited in their foreign excursions, because they had to defend Assyria from the attacks of the Arartu people from the Caspian Sea area, a task which also accupied their immediate successors, Assur-Dan III ( 772-755 B.C.) and Assur-Nirari V ( 755 – 745 B.C.). Even some of the Assyrian governors themselves were able to act independently of the rulers. One of these was Shamshi-ilu of Bit-Adini, and it is thought probable that this person is idenical with “him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden” (Bit-Adini) of Amos 1. 5.
The successor of Assur-Nirari V was Tiglath Pileser III (743-732 B.C.). He is mentioned in the Old Testament:
“And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tiglath Pileser, king of Assyria, and he carried them away, ‘,even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day” (1 Chron. 5. 26).
This passage seems to suggest that two kings of Assyria, Pul and Tiglath Pileser, were involved. This is not so, for they are one and the same person. Tiglath Pileser’s original name was Pul, or Pulu. He was a usurper and after seizing the throne changed his name to Tiglath Pileser, the name of a previous ruler of Assyria, hoping that the people would forget his lowly origin.
Mention has already been made of the enlargement of Israel’s borders by Jeroboam II. During the remaining twenty-five years or so of Israel’s independence things changed radically. There were five kings, three of whom were murdered, one taken captive and the other died naturally. Zechariah, Jeroboam’s immediate successor, was killed by Shallum, but after a month the latter was assassinated by Menahem. Menahem reigned for three years before he died in his bed, but Pekahiah who followed was killed by an army captain called Pekah after two years.
Pekah made an alliance with Rezin, king of Damascus, and tried to invade Judah in the reign of Ahaz. Their united proposal was to depose Ahaz and substitute a certain Ben Tabeel. In his extremity Ahaz appealed to Tiglath Pileser for help. The Assyrian responded and, marching westwards, laid tribute on Judah, Ammon, Edom and Moab, also taking numbers of people into captivity from the Galilee and Gilead districts of Israel. The fortress of Hazor was destroyed and the kingdom of Israel was reduced to a tiny vassal state (734-732 B.C.).
In 732 B.C. Tiglath Pileser, as stated in 2 Kings 16. 29, attacked Damascus and took it. In the same year Pekah, king of Israel, was murdered by Hoshea, who reigned in his place, either put there by the Assyrians or with their connivance.
There are several references in Tiglath Pileser’s records to the events of these times. He states that he received tribute from Rezin and Menahem. Of the latter he records:
“As for Menahem I overwhelmed him like a snowstorm and he fled like a bird alone, and bowed to my feet. I returned him to his place and imposed tribute on him.”
As regards the killing of Pekah he writes:
“They (Israel) overthrew their king Pekah (Paqaha) and I placed Hosea (Ausi) over them as king.”
He also states that he received tribute from Jehoahaz of Judah. It is thus possible to compare the Bible records with the Assyrian annals step by step and to note how they co-incide, as a Bible believer would expect to be the case. The earth teaches us the accuracy of Bible history when “spoken to” with the spade.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One