SPECIAL TOPIC: HISTORICAL SETTING OF EIGHTH CENTURY PROPHETS

A. The biblical material is found in

1. 2 Kings 14:3-17:6

2. 2 Chronicles 25-28

3. Amos (Israel)

4. Jonah (Israel)

5. Hosea (Israel)

6. Isaiah (Judah)

7. Micah (Judah)

B. A good summary of the idolatry (see
SPECIAL TOPIC: FERTILITY WORSHIP OF THE ANE) among God’s people
can be seen in Hosea.

1. 2:16, “will no longer call Me Baali” (called Ba’al
husband)

2. 4:12-14, ” . . . daughters play the harlot . . .” (fertility worship)

3. 4:17, “Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone” (no hope of
repentance)

4. 13:2 “men kiss calves!” (ritual of the golden calf worship at Bethel and
Dan)

C. Social setting

1. It was a time of economic prosperity and military
expansion for both Israel and Judah. However, this prosperity was beneficial
only to the wealthy class. The poor were exploited and abused. It almost seems
that “the buck and the gun” became idols!

2. The social stability and property of both Israel and
Judah are related to several causes.

a. the long and prosperous reigns of Jeroboam II
(786-746 b.c.) in the North and Uzziah (783-742 b.c.) in the South

b. Assyrians’ defeat of Syria by Adad-Nirari III in
802 b.c.

c. the lack of conflict between Israel and Judah

d. the taxation and exploitation of the trade
routes from north to south through the land bridge of Palestine caused rapid
economic growth, even extravagance for the wealthy class

3. The “Ostraca of Samaria,” which are dated during the
reign of Jeroboam II, seem to indicate an administrative organization much like
Solomon’s. This seems to confirm the widening gap between the “haves” and “have
nots.”

4. The dishonesty of the wealthy is clearly depicted in
Amos, who is called “the prophet of social justice.” The bribery of the
judiciary and the falsification of commercial weights are two clear examples of
the abuse that was common apparently in both Israel and Judah.

D. Religious Setting

1. It was a time of much outward religious activity, but
very little true faith. The fertility cults of Canaan had been amalgamated into
Israel’s religion. The people were idolaters but they called it YHWHism. The
trend of God’s people toward political alliances had involved them in pagan
worship and practices.

2. The idolatry of Israel is spelled out in 2 Kgs. 17:7-18.

a. In 2 Kgs. 17:8 they followed the worship practices of
the Canaanites.

(1) fertility worship (cf. Lev. 18:22-23)

(a) high places, 2 Kgs. 17:9, 10, 11

(b) sacred pillars (Ba’al), 2 Kgs. 17:10,
16

(c) Asherim, 2 Kgs. 17:16, these were
wooden symbols of the female consort of Ba’al. They were either carved stakes or
live trees.

(2) divination, 2 Kgs. 17:17. This was condemned in
Leviticus 19-20 and Deuteronomy 18.

b. In 2 Kgs. 17:16 they continued the worship of the two
golden calves, symbolizing YHWH, set up at Dan and Bethel by Jeroboam I (1 Kgs.
12:28-29).

c. In 2 Kgs. 17:16 they worshiped the astral deities of
Babylon: sun, moon, stars, and constellations.

d. In 2 Kgs. 17:18 they worshiped the Phoenician fertility
fire god, Molech, by sacrificing their children (cf. Lev. 18:21; 20:2-5). This
practice is called molech; it was not the name of the god.

3. Ba’alism (cf. W. F. Albright’s Archaeology and the
Religion of Israel, p. 82ff)

a. Our best archaeological source is “Ba’al Epic
from Ugarit.”

(1) It depicts Ba’al as a seasonal dying and
rising god. He was defeated by Mot and confined to the underworld. All life on
earth ceased. But, helped by the female goddess (Anat), he rises and defeats
Mot
each spring. He was a fertility deity who was worshiped by imitation magic.

(2) He was also known as Hadad.

b. El is the chief deity of the Canaanite pantheon,
but Ba’al’s popularity usurped his place.

c. Israel was most influenced by Tyrian Ba’alism
through Jezebel who was the King of Tyre’s daughter. She was chosen by Omri for
his son, Ahab, to marry.

d. In Israel Ba’al was worshiped at local high
places. He was symbolized by an uplifted stone. His consort,
Asherah, is
symbolized by a carved stake symbolizing the tree of life.

4. Several sources and types of idolatry are mentioned.

a. the golden calves at Bethel and Dan set up by
Jeroboam I, to worship YHWH.

b. the worship of the Tyrian fertility god and
goddess at local high places

c. the necessary idolatry involved in political
alliances of that day

E. Brief summary of the invasions of Assyria and Babylon during the
eighth century which affected Palestine.

1. The four eighth-century prophets were active during the
rise of the Tigris-Euphrates empire of Assyria. God would use this cruel nation
to judge His people, particularly Israel.

a. The specific incident was the formation of a
transJordan political and military alliance known as the “Syro-Ephramatic
League” (735 b.c.). Syria and Israel tried to force Judah to join them against
Assyria. I nstead Ahaz sent a letter to Assyria for help. The first powerful
empire-minded Assyrian king, Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727 b.c.), responded to
the military challenge and invaded Syria.

b. Later, Assyria’s puppet king, Hoshea (732-722
b.c.), in Israel also rebelled, appealing to Egypt. Shalmaneser V (727-722
b.c.)
invaded Israel again. He died before Israel was subdued but his successor,
Sargon II (722-705 b.c.), captured Israel’s capital of Samaria in 722
b.c.
Assyria deported over 27,000 Israelites on this occasion as Tiglath-Pileser had
exiled thousands earlier in 732 b.c.

2. After Ahaz’s death (735-715 b.c.) another military
coalition was formed by the trans-Jordan countries and Egypt against Assyria
(714-711 b.c.). It is known as the “Ashdod Rebellion.” Many Judean cities were
destroyed when Assyria invaded again. Initially Hezekiah supported this
coalition, but later withdrew his support.

3. However, another coalition again tried to take advantage
of the death of Assyria’s powerful king, Sargon II, in 705 b.c., along with the
many other rebellions which occurred throughout the Assyrian empire.

a. Hezekiah fully participated in this rebellion.
In light of this challenge Sennacherib (705-681 b.c.) invaded (701
b.c.) Palestine and camped near the city of
Jerusalem (2 Kings 18-19; Isaiah 36-39),
but his army was miraculously destroyed by God.

b. There is some question among scholars as to how
many times Sennacherib invaded Palestine (e.g., John Bright has one invasion in
701 b.c. and another possible one in 688
b.c., cf. The History of Israel, p.
270).

c. Hezekiah was spared an Assyrian takeover, but
because of his prideful exhibition of the treasures of Judah to the Babylonian
delegation, Isaiah predicted Judah’s fall to Babylon (39:1-8). Jerusalem fell to
Nebuchadnezzar in 587-586 b.c.

4. Isaiah specifically predicted the restoration of God’s
people under Cyrus II, the Medo-Persian ruler (41:2-4; 44:28; 45:1; 56:11). Nineveh (capital of Assyria) fell in 612 b.c.
to Babylon, but the city of
Babylon fell in 539 b.c. to Cyrus’ army. In 538 b.c.
Cyrus issued a decree that
all exiled people, including the Jews, could return home. He even provided funds
from his treasury for the rebuilding of the national temples. He was a
superstitious person and wanted all the gods to favor him.