invasion

November 29, 2017

Yahweh recalls his saving action in Canaan (Mic 6:5-6:5)

“O my people!

Remember now

What King Balak

Of Moab devised!

Remember now

What Balaam,

The son of Beor,

Answered him!

Remember now

What happened

From Shittim

To Gilgal!

Thus,

You may know

The saving acts

Of Yahweh.”

Yahweh, via Micah, wanted his people to remember his saving acts when they first came to Canaan.  They were to remember King Balak of Moab and his interaction with the prophet Balaam, as in Numbers, chapters 22-24, when they were first approaching Canaan.  Then they were also to remember what happened between Shittim and Gilgal.  Gilgal was the first camp in Canaan, while Shittim was the last camp in their invasion of this country, as outlined in Numbers, chapter 25.  Remembering these events was very important.

October 6, 2017

The lost crop (Hos 8:7-8:7)

“They sow the wind.

But they shall reap

The whirlwind.

The standing grain

Has no heads.

It shall yield

No meal.

If it were to yield

Anything,

Foreigners

Would devour it.”

The northern Israelites were in a unique position. They would sow with the wind, but it suddenly would become a whirlwind. The planted grain would never mature in the field, since there would be no heads of grain. Therefore, there would be no harvesting of the grain for meals. Even if it yielded any grain, foreigners, and not them, would devour it, because of the invasion of the Assyrians.

February 8, 2017

Yahweh and the battle in Babylon (Jer 51:11-51:14)

“Sharpen the arrows!

Fill the quivers!

Yahweh has stirred up

The spirit of the kings

Of the Medes.

His purpose concerning Babylon

Is to destroy it.

That is the vengeance of Yahweh,

That is the vengeance

For his temple.

Raise a standard

Against the walls of Babylon!

Make the watch strong!

Post sentinels!

Prepare the ambushes!

Yahweh has both planned

As well as done

What he spoke

Concerning the inhabitants

Of Babylon.

You who live

By mighty waters,

Rich in treasures,

Your end has come.

The thread of your life

Is cut.

Yahweh of hosts

Has sworn by himself.

Surely I will fill you

With troops,

Like a swarm of locusts.

They shall raise

A shout of victory

Over you.”

Here there is a serious of commands from Yahweh, via Jeremiah. The warriors were to have their quivers ready full of arrows. Yahweh has stirred up the Medes, the people to the north of Babylon with the Persians. They were going to destroy Babylon because of Yahweh’s vengeance for what the Babylonians had done to his temple in Jerusalem. There was going to be an invasion of Babylon with wise watchmen and sentinels as well as strong ambushes. Yahweh had planned and carried out his word against Babylon, the land of mighty waters such as the Euphrates and the Tigris, with all their treasures. Their end has come. The thread of their life has been cut. There will be troops in Babylon, like swarms of locusts, shouting about victory.

January 28, 2017

The shame of Moab (Jer 48:13-48:15)

“‘Then Moab

Shall be ashamed

Of Chemosh,

As the house of Israel

Was ashamed

Of Bethel,

Their confidence.

How can you say?

‘We are heroes!

We are the mighty warriors!

The destroyer of Moab

With his towns

Has come up.

The choicest

Of his young men

Have gone down

To slaughter.’

Says the King,

Whose name is

Yahweh of hosts.”

King Yahweh was speaking about Moab, since it was going to be ashamed of their national god Chemosh since his towns were going to be destroyed. Chemosh was compared to the northern Israelite worshiping place of Bethel, the competing place with Jerusalem for worshippers, before the northern kingdom collapsed. There may even have been some Chemosh worshippers in Jerusalem. However, Moab with its heroes and mighty warriors would not be able to withstand the coming attack. Many of its best young men would be slaughtered in the coming invasion.

December 3, 2016

The punishment by the king of Babylon (Jer 25:8-25:9)

“Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts.

‘Because you have not obeyed

My words,

I am going to send

For all the tribes of the north.’

Says Yahweh.

‘I am going to send

Even for King Nebuchadnezzar

Of Babylon,

My servant.

I will bring them

Against this land

With its inhabitants.

I will bring them

Against all these nations around.

I will utterly destroy them.

I will make them

An object of horror.

A hissing,

An everlasting disgrace.’”

Yahweh declared, via Jeremiah, that the people of Judah had not obeyed his words. Therefore, there would be an invasion from the north. In particular, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who was the servant of Yahweh, was going to come to this land in order to take away its inhabitants. Note that the king of Babylon was considered a servant of Yahweh, not his opponent. This usage indicates Jeremiah’s favoritism towards Babylon. Yahweh was going to utterly destroy them and their neighbors, so that they would be an object of horror, with people hissing at them in disgrace.

October 26, 2016

The invaders from the north (Jer 6:22-6:23)

“Thus says Yahweh.

‘See!

A people is coming

From the north country.

A great nation is stirring

From the farthest parts of the earth.

They grasp the bow.

They grasp the javelin spear.

They are cruel.

They have no mercy.

Their sound is

Like the roaring sea.

They ride on horses.

They are equipped

Like a warrior for battle,

Against you,

O daughter Zion!’”

Yahweh, via Jeremiah, tells them of the invasion coming from the north country. This invader was a great nation coming from far away that had bows and arrows along with spears. They were a cruel merciless group that made the sounds of a roaring sea. These well equipped warriors would be riding on their horses in battle against Zion.

October 19, 2016

The failure of the leaders (Jer 4:9-4:9)

“Yahweh says.

‘On that day,

Courage shall fail the king.

Courage shall fail the officials.

The priests shall be appalled.

The prophets astounded.’”

Yahweh, via Jeremiah, says that on that day of invasion and destruction the kings and officials will lack courage. The priests will be appalled, while the prophets will be astonished. Their leaders will fail their people.

August 22, 2016

The invasion of Assyrian King Sennacherib (Isa 36:1-36:1)

“In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah,

King Sennacherib of Assyria

Came up against

All the fortified cities of Judah.

He took them.”

This is exactly word for word from 2 Kings, chapter 18. In fact, this whole appendix is closely related to the stories about King Hezekiah of Judah and the Assyrian invasion in 2 Kings, chapters 18-20. Despite all the goodness of King Hezekiah of Judah (716-687 BCE), he suffered a defeat, since King Sennacherib of Assyria (706-681 BCE) took over Judah and its fortified cities. According to an account of King Sennacherib, he had taken 46 towns, but not Jerusalem.

July 16, 2016

The first defeat (Isa 9:1-9:1)

“There will be no gloom

For those who are in anguish.

In the former time,

He brought into contempt

The land of Zebulun

With the land of Naphtali.

But in the latter time

He will make glorious

The way of the sea,

The land beyond the Jordan,

Galilee of the nations.”

Isaiah indicates that the first defeat was to be in the northern tribe territories of Zebulun and Naphtali, which were closer to Syria around the Sea of Galilee. Perhaps, this is the invasion of the Assyrian King Tiglath-pileser III (745-727 BCE) when King Pekah (737-732 BCE) was the king of Israel. King Tiglath-pileser III captured the northern territory of Israel, including all of Naphtali, as in 2 Kings, chapter 15. He was the first to displace the Israelites since he took captives from these northern cities and brought them to Assyria, probably around 732 BCE. Isaiah speaks of it as a former time. As for the latter time, “The Way of the Sea” was the name of Assyria province set up in what later will be called Galilee in Naphtali. The land on the other side of the Jordan River will also be taken.

July 2, 2016

The situation at Jerusalem (Isa 1:8-1:9)

“The daughter of Zion is left

Like a booth in a vineyard,

Like a shelter in a cucumber field,

Like a besieged city.

If Yahweh of hosts

Had not left us

A few survivors.”

There is no doubt that this reference to the daughter of Zion is the besieged city of Jerusalem, as in 2 Kings, chapter 18. Jerusalem is like a tent in a vineyard or a shelter in a cucumber field, a safe haven. This is an obvious reference to the invasion of King Sennacherib of Assyria (705-681 BCE) on Jerusalem around 702 BCE, the 14th year of King Hezekiah (716-687 BCE) of Judah. Yahweh, however, left some survivors. In fact, there will be no attack on Jerusalem, as indicated in 2 Kings, chapter 19.