Line of kings
of Judah, 640-586BC
Josiah, reigned 31 years, 640/639 to 609BC
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Jehoahaz, reigned 3 months, 609BC
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Jehoiakim, reigned 11 years, 608-598BC
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Jehoiachin (Jeconiah), reigned 3 months, 598/597BC
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Zedekiah, reigned 11 years, 597-586BC
Babylonian captivity and destruction of the Temple,
Jehoahaz, king of Judah, 609BC
Even though Jehoahaz was two
years younger than his brother Jehoiakim (Eliakim), he was chosen to succeed
his father Josiah at age 23. He
ended up reigning for only three months,
before being deposed by Pharaoh Necho II. Here’s why he only reigned three months. In the spring or early summer of 609BC, Necho II went to war against
Babylon in order to aid the Assyrians, in hopes of perhaps reviving their
empire as a counterbalance to the rising threat of the Babylonians. Necho II moved his forces along the coast
route of the Via Maris [Way of the Sea] into Syria. As he traveled along the lowlands of
Philistia and Sharon and prepared to cross the ridge of hills which shuts in on
the south of the Jezreel Valley, he found his passage blocked at Megiddo by the
Judean army led by Josiah, who sided with the Babylonians. I have already mentioned Josiah’s motives for
doing this. After a fierce battle Josiah
was killed (cf. 2nd Kings 23:29 and 2nd Chronicles
35:20-24). The Assyrians and their
allies the Egyptians fought the Babylonians at Haran. After defeating Josiah’s army at Megiddo
Pharaoh Necho II proceeded with his campaign against the Babylonians, joining
forces with the Assyrian king Ashur-uballit II [see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashur-uballit_II]
and together they crossed the Euphrates and laid siege to Haran, which they
failed to capture, and retreated back to northern Syria, and the Assyrian
Empire collapsed. On his return from the
Babylonian campaign, Necho dealt with the Judeans who had fought for the wrong
side. He found that the Judeans had
selected Jehoahaz to succeed his father Josiah (who had so valiantly opposed
Necho II and his army in a very bloody battle). As a result of this, Necho II deposed Jehoahaz and appointed his older
brother Jehoiakim (Eliakim) as king. He
also imposed a tribute of 100 talents of silver and a talent of gold on
Judah. That explains a little bit of the
background and reason why Jehoahaz only reigned three months. 2nd Kings 23:31-34, “Jehoahaz was twenty-three
years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of
Jeremiah of Libnah [not Jeremiah the Prophet]. And the he did evil in the
sight of the LORD, according to all
that his fathers had done. Now Pharaoh
Necho put him in prison at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he imposed on the
land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. Then Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of
Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and changed his name to
Jehoiakim. And Pharaoh took Jehoahaz and went to Egypt, and he died there.” He disregarded the reforms of his father
Josiah. In Jeremiah chapter 22 God
through Jeremiah has a lot to say about these three kings, Shallum (Jehoahaz),
Jehoiakim and Jeconiah. For Jehoahaz he
says this, Jeremiah 22:11, “For thus
says the LORD concerning Shallum [Jehoahaz, 2nd Kings 23:34] the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah
his father, who went from this place: He
shall not return here anymore, but he shall die in the place where they have
led him captive, and shall see this land no more.”
Jehoiakim, king of Judah 608-598BC
Jehoiakim (Eliakim) was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years, from 608BC to 598BC. He, as we just saw, was installed as king of Judah by Pharaoh Necho II, who had just deposed his younger brother Jehoahaz. Jehoiakim ruled originally as a vassal of the Egyptians, paying a heavy tribute, which he had to tax from an already financially depleted people (2nd Kings 23:35). However, when the Egyptians were defeated by the Babylonians at Carchemish in 605BC, Jehoiakim changed allegiances, paying tribute now to Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon (2nd Kings 24:1,7). Now he did something stupid. After three years (605-3 years = 602BC), with the Egyptians and Babylonians still at war, he switched back to the Egyptians and ceased paying the tribute to Babylon. In 599BC Nebuchadnezzar II invaded Judah and laid siege to Jerusalem. In 598BC Jehoiakim died and was succeeded by his son Jeconiah. Jerusalem fell within three months. Jeconiah was deposed by Nebuchadnezzar, who then installed Zedekiah, Jehoiakim’s elder brother, in his place. What might have prompted Jehoiakim to make such a stupid decision? I would say it would be God. In Jeremiah 36:1-8, God had Jeremiah transmit the words of his dire prophecy to Judah, from the time of Josiah to the very present time of Jehoiakim, to Baruch to write down on a scroll, to be read in the Temple, in the hopes that they would repent (Baal worship---remember?). It was to be read in the temple during a day of fasting. In verses 9-10 it shows Baruch read this scroll to all the people in the Temple on a day when they were fasting, in the 5th year of Jehoiakim. Word was passed to all the king’s princes, who requested Baruch’s presence with the scroll, to read to them, which he did. I love this, verse 16, “Now it happened, when they had heard all the words, that they looked in fear from one to another, and said to Baruch, ‘We will surely tell the king of all these words.’ And they asked Baruch, saying, ‘Tell us now, how did you write all these words---at his [Jeremiah’s] instruction?’ So Baruch answered them, ‘He proclaimed with his mouth all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink in the book.’ Then the princes said to Baruch, ‘Go and hide, you and Jeremiah; and let no one know where you are.’” Oops, doesn’t sound good for Jeremiah or Baruch. King Jehoiakim has the scroll brought to him at his winter house where he’s got a fire burning. He orders the scroll to be read to him. After reading three or four columns he cut it up with the scribe’s knife and threw it into the fire, and it was consumed. God had Jeremiah and Baruch write another scroll, and also pronounced this to Jehoiakim: “Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night…” Do you think God caused him to switch allegiances to Egypt from Babylon? I do. (Read Jeremiah 36:1-32 for the whole account.)
Jeconiah king of Judah, 598BC
As we saw, in 599BC Nebuchadnezzar II invaded Judah and laid siege to Jerusalem. In 598BC Jehoiakim died and was succeeded by his son Jeconiah, who was only 18 years old. Jerusalem fell within three months. This is the famous smaller captivity where Daniel, Shadrach, Meshak and Abed-Nego, Daniel’s three companions, where taken to Babylon, as well as many of the elite and craftsmen of Judah. Jeconiah was deposed by Nebuchadnezzar, who then installed Zedekiah, Jehoiakim’s elder brother. Just as God had said, Jehoiakim wouldn’t have a son to sit on the throne of David. The Babylonian Chronicles back all this up. Jeconiah, in his short three month reign, must have done something to really anger God as well. In Babylon the deported Jews continued to regard Jeconiah as the legitimate king of Judah. We see what God said about Jeconiah in Jeremiah 22. Jeremiah 22:24-30, “‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet on my right hand, yet I would pluck you off; and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you fear---the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of the Chaldeans. So I will cast you out, and your mother who bore you, into another country where you were not born; and there you shall die. But to the land to which they desire to return they shall not return. ‘Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol---a vessel in which is no pleasure? Why are they cast out, he and his descendants, and cast into a land which they do not know? O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the LORD: Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days: For none of his descendants shall prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling anymore in Judah.’” Now that really sounds like God had a bone to pick with Jeconiah, whom he called a nasty diminutive of his original name, ‘Coniah.’
Zedekiah, reigned 598 to 587/586BC
Zedekiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II in 597BC at the age of twenty-one. The kingdom was at that time a tributary to Nebuchadnezzar II. Eight years went by. Then, in spite of repeated warnings from Jeremiah, Baruch ben Neriah and his other family advisors, as well as the example of Jehoiakim, he revolted against Babylon and entered into an alliance with Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar’s predictable response, he immediately invaded Judah and began a siege of Jerusalem in January of 590/589BC. During this siege, which lasted about thirty months “every worst woe befell the devoted city, which drank the cup of God’s fury to the dregs” (cf. 2nd Kings 25:3). 2nd Kings 24:18-20, “Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah [not Jeremiah the Prophet, who remained unmarried]. He also did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For because of the anger of the LORD this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, that he finally cast them out from his presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.” Definitely not a smart move. Eight years with things sort of going alright, and you do something like anger the king of the Babylonian Empire. 2nd Kings 25:1-21, “Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month [year 590BC], that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all around. So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. But the ninth day of the fourth month [587BC] the famine had become so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled at night by way of the gate between two walls, which was by the king’s garden, even though the Chaldeans were still encamped all around against the city. And the king went by way of the plain. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his army scattered from him. So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they pronounced judgment on him. Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon. And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month (which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard [i.e. commanding general of Nebuchadnezzar’s army], a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the LORD and the king’s house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire. And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls of Jerusalem all around. Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive the rest of the people who remained in the city and the defectors who had deserted to the king of Babylon, with the rest of the multitude. But the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers. The bronze pillars that were in the house of the LORD, and the carts and the bronze Sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried the bronze to Babylon. They also took away the pots, the shovels, the trimmers, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils with which the priests ministered. The firepans and the basins, the things of solid gold and solid silver, the captain of the guard took away. The two pillars, one Sea, and the carts, which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure. The height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the capital on it was of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits, and the network and pomegranates all around the capital were all of bronze. The second pillar was the same, with a network. And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three doorkeepers. He also took out of the city an officer who had charge of the men of war, five men of the king’s close associates who were found in the city, the chief recruiting officer of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city. So Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, took these and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. Then the king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own land.” Notice one thing, everyone in the land of Judah was taken captive except a few poor vinedressers and farmers. Whereas key elements from the ten tribes of Israel in the northern House of Israel had been allowed to evade Assyrian captivity. There was a degree of repentance in Israel, but over a 54 year period from the beginning of Josiah’s reign to the end of Zedekiah’s reign the people and their leaders never really repented of their idolatry and Baal worship which they had learned under evil king Manasseh. God is fair. He also had a different purpose for Judah than he had for the ten tribes of Israel, whoever and wherever they are right now. That subject is not a part of this website, and this history series will not go beyond 500BC in following who Israel might be on a national level right now or any time after 500BC, as interesting as those speculative studies might be. What’s next? We’re not done yet. Now we go to the period of time right after the fall of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 39 through 44
When Judah fell, the Babylonians let Jeremiah go free and gave him money and offered to assist him to go anywhere he wanted to go. I’m sure Nebuchadnezzar had good knowledge of Jeremiah’s ministry and close friendship with king Josiah who had actually fought and died in battle trying to stop Pharaoh Necho II from invading Babylonian forces in order to assist the Assyrians. Jeremiah, as we’ll see by Nebuchadnezzar’s actions (he was a king of actions, not words), was highly regarded by Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah 39:11-15, “Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying, ‘Take him and look after him, and do him no harm; but do to him just as he says to you.’ So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent Nebushasban, Rabsaris, Nergal-Sharezer, Rabmag, and all the king of Babylon’s chief officers; then they sent someone to take Jeremiah from the court of the prison, and committed him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, that he should take him home. So he dwelt among the people.” Nebuchadnezzar basically cut Jeremiah a blank check, “Go where you want, do what you want, I’ll pay your way.” He also had his immediate needs taken care of, like getting him out of prison and putting him in the home of the leader he’s assigning to take charge of those who were to remain in the land of Judah. Jeremiah 40:2-6, “And the captain of the guard [Nebuzaradan] took Jeremiah and said to him: ‘The LORD your God has pronounced this doom on this place. Now the LORD has brought it, and has done just as he said. Because you people have sinned against the LORD, and not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing has come upon you. And now look, I free you this day from the chains that were on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you. But if it seems wrong for you to come with me to Babylon, remain here. See, all the land is before you; wherever it seems good and convenient for you to go, go there.’ Now while Jeremiah had not yet gone back, Nebuzaradan said, ‘Go back to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people. Or go wherever it seems convenient for you to go.’ So the captain of the guard gave him rations and a gift and let him go. Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, to Mizpah, and dwelt with him among the people who were left in the land.” And if things hadn’t been bad enough for Jeremiah, a certain Johanan the son of Kareah uncovered a plot by the king of the Ammonites along with a Jewish prince of the royal line who had been hiding in Moab and Ammon, to murder Gedaliah. Verses 13-14, “Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and said to him, ‘Do you certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to murder you?’ But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe him.” Wrong choice. So we see Nebuzaradan, Nebuchadnezzar’s commanding general in the field set a leader up over the poverty-stricken Jews who were to be left behind in the land of Judah, and just told Jeremiah to go lodge with him, or go anywhere he wanted to go, again repeating Nebuchadnezzar’s blank check offer to him. But just as Jeremiah’s settling in, another not so nice Jewish leader of the royal line of Judah who had been hiding out in Ammon during Judah’s conquest came back to Judea, conspired to kill this Jewish leader Nebuzaradan had installed over the remaining Jews, and took over. Jeremiah 41:1-3, 10-18, “Now it came to pass in the seventh month that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family and of the officers of the king [king Zedekiah, that is], came with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. And there they ate bread together in Mizpah. Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him, arose and struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land. Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with him, that is, with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war” Lucky for Jeremiah and Baruch, they must not have been around. “Then Ishmael carried away captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, the king’s daughters [i.e. Zedekiah’s daughters, who were under Jeremiah’s care], and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the king’s guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive and departed to go over to the Ammonites.” This Ishmael doesn’t get too far, but he’s a slippery character. “But when Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces that were with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah; and they found him by the great pool that is in Gibeon. So it was, when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, that they were glad. Then all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah went to Johanan the son of Kareah. But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the Ammonites.” Didn’t I tell you this Ishmael was a slippery character. But now all these Jews, soldiers and all, are scared to death. “Then Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, took from Mizpah all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah after he had murdered Gedaliah the son of Ahikam---the mighty men of war and the women and the children and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. And they departed and dwelt in the habitation of Chinham, which is near Bethlehem, as they went on their way to Egypt, because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had murdered Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had made governor in the land.” They initially plan to flee to Egypt, but then decide to ask Jeremiah to pray about the matter. God tells Jeremiah to tell them no, but to stick around. Then, against God’s instructions, and naturally fearing for his life, this Johanan led the remaining Jews including Jeremiah, Baruch and king Zedekiah’s daughters (as captives) and fled to Tahpanhes in Egypt. Jeremiah here gives them God’s answer, Jeremiah 42:13-22, “But if you say, ‘We will not dwell in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the LORD your God, saying, ‘No, but we will go to the land of Egypt where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor be hungry for bread, and there we will dwell’---Then hear now the word of the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: If you wholly set your faces to enter Egypt and go to dwell there, then it shall be that the sword which you feared shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; the famine of which you were afraid shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there you shall die. So shall it be with all the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to dwell there. They shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. And none of them shall remain or escape from the disaster that I will bring upon them.’ For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘As my anger and my fury have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will my fury be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And you shall be an oath, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more.’ The LORD has said concerning you, O remnant of Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt!’ Know certainly that I have admonished you this day. For you were hypocrites in your hearts when you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the LORD our God, and according to all that the LORD your God says, so declare to us and we will do it.’ And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, or anything which he has sent you by me. Now therefore, know certainly that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to dwell.” Nebuchadnezzar, probably through his general Nebuzaradan, invaded Egypt. Jeremiah 43:5-11, “But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces took all the remnant of Judah who had returned to dwell in the land of Judah, from all the nations where they had been driven---men, women, children, and the king’s daughters, and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah. So they went to the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the LORD. And they went as far as Tahpanhes.” Notice, Zedekiah’s daughters, Jeremiah and Baruch are captives on this journey. “Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, ‘Take large stones in your hand, and hide them in the sight of the men of Judah, in the clay in the brick courtyard which is at the entrance to Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes; and say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and bring Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden. And he will spread his royal pavilion over them. When he comes, he shall strike the land of Egypt and deliver to death those appointed for death, and to captivity those appointed for captivity, and to the sword those appointed for the sword.” Now if God said he’d send Nebuchadnezzar down to Tahpanhes, he did so. It actually happened in Nebuchadnezzar’s 37th year. But political instabilities and civil war in Egypt under the reign of Pharaoh Hophra (Apries, 589BC to 570BC) probably secured the release of Jeremiah, Baruch and Zedekiah’s daughters long before this time [see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hophra ] At this late date the Pharaoh’s were ruling from Tanis, from the time of Rehoboam onward, so my guess is that the Biblical Tahpanhes was Tanis, on the northwest part of the Nile Delta.
Jeremiah 44:1, 11-14, 27-28, 30, “The word the came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwell in the land of Egypt, who dwell at Migdol, at Tahpanhes, at Noph, and in the country of Pathros…Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will set my face against you for catastrophe and for cutting off all Judah. And I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to dwell there, and they shall all be consumed and fall in the land of Egypt. They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine. They shall die, from the least to the greatest, by the sword and by famine; and they shall be an oath, an astonishment, a curse and a reproach! For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, so that none of the remnant of Judah who have gone into the land of Egypt to dwell there shall escape or survive, lest they return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return and dwell. For none shall return except those who escape….(verses 27-28, 30) “Behold, I will watch over them for adversity and not for good. And all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end to them. [vs. 28, 30 next] “Yet a small number who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah; and all the remnant of Judah, who have gone to the land of Egypt to dwell there, shall know whose words will stand, mine or theirs’…Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy who sought his life.” .” Now God had promised protection to all who were under Jeremiah’s care. Does God revoke his promises to his servants? No. So it is obvious Jeremiah must have escaped during whatever calamities overtook this group of Jewish refugees. A civil war ensued in Egypt, causing Pharaoh Hophra to flee. Civil wars bring anarchy and disorder for awhile, and famine and sword. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hophra to view this period of time. If Jeremiah escaped northward and met Babylonian forces, which verse 28 implies, they would have given him a Carte Blanche check to go anywhere again, and evidence indicates that he secured passage with Zedekiah’s daughters and Baruch on a ship going west across the Mediterranean Sea. It is right there that we lose sight of Jeremiah in the Bible record. Where did he go? Ancient Irish histories state:
“About 585BC a ‘notable man’…’a patriarch’…came to…Ireland, accompanied
by a princess, the daughter of an eastern king, and…Simon Brach…” There is an exact match between the
consonants of the Irish name “Brach” and the Biblical name “Baruch.”
Jeremiah, as previously pointed out, knew the Israelite-Phoenician trade and naval alliance had colonies “beyond the sea”, ie the Mediterranean Sea (Jeremiah 25:14-28, esp. verse 22). Hibernia, ancient Ireland was one of those colonies obviously, since in ancient Irish annals the founding tribe of Ireland was named Tuatha de Danaan, which is Gaelic for “tribe of Dan.” This great patriarch was called in Irish annals “Ollam Fodhla.” One author wrote this about Ollam Fodhla:
“…his influence caused a national reformation, and
the establishment of a new code of law…The famous Four Courts of Dublin…were
decorated with large medallions of the world’s greatest lawgivers. They included Alfred, Solon, Confucius, Moses
and Ollam Fodhla.”
Jeremiah, Baruch and Zedekiah’s daughters, after their forced withdrawal to Egypt, somehow escaped northward back into Judah as Jeremiah 44:28 indicates, where again the Babylonians gave him the ability to travel anywhere he wanted. As before, Nebuzaradan would have asked Jeremiah what he wanted to do and/or where he wanted to go. Historic accounts in ancient Irish history show he obviously asked for shipping transport to Kirjath-Hadeschath (Carthage). From there, Jeremiah would have contracted for transportation on a Phoenician-Carthaginian ship to Hibernia (Ireland), which would have safely taken this tiny party to Ireland. So we find the line of David, through one of Zedekiah’s daughters, was transplanted to the Irish line of kings, where they intermarried. [for more about Ollam Fodhla, see http://www.cai.org/bible-studies/has-jeremiah-become-known-ollam-fodhla ] Next, we’re not quite done with the Scythian-Israelites. I just want to show you that historically, God has not forgotten them or abandoned them, as he said he wouldn’t do in Jeremiah 51:5a. These next two historic accounts straight from Herodotus will amaze you.
1st Major Scythian-Persian War: 530BC
(or “don’t mess with the Scythians,” part I)
King Cyrus was trying to expand the northern border of the Persian Empire. He was one of the founding military rulers of the Persian Empire, and he was trying to expand it. He went north with a good sized army and attacked a Scythian tribe called the Massagetae, along with another one called the Dahae. Tamara Rice shows that the Scythians were expanding into the region east of the Caspian Sea soon after the Black Sea Scythians returned to their new homeland just north of Armenia. She says in her book The Scythians:
“The Scythians had ruled a large portion of western
Asia for twenty-eight years. They were
now back in Urartu…at this date…some turned eastward again, to occupy the tract
of steppe lying between the Caspian and Sea of Aral, blending there with the
Dahai kinsmen to form an ethnic group from which the Parthians were to spring
some three hundred years later. Others
may have pushed as far as India…whilst others remained in Armenia.”
So just around 530BC king Cyrus of Persia invaded the Scythians who were located east of the Caspian Sea. The specific tribes mentioned as being attacked by Cyrus were the “Massagetae” as well as the “Dahae”, which would equate to the Israelite tribes of Manasseh and Dan. The Encyclopedia Britannica says the “Dahae” are also called the “Dana” or “Dahans.” Their queen was named Tomyris. Herodotus tells us the Massagetae were Scythians, so again we have another identifying name that ties the Scythians to the ten tribes of Israel. These eastern Scythians were the descendants of the three and a half tribes who were taken captive in 745BC, east past Assyria and they were sunworshippers. This fits when we read the next quote. Just before the Persian invasion Queen Tomyris sent this message to Cyrus: “King of the Medes, cease to be so eager to do what you are doing…rule over your own people, and endure to look upon us governing ours.” After the fighting began she sent another message to Cyrus, warning him, “If you do not so, I swear by the sun, the lord of the Massagetae, that, for all your insatiability of blood, I will give you your fill of it.” Cyrus should have listened to Queen Tomyris’ warning. Herodotus went on to describe the bloody battle that followed. Obviously this invading Persian army was annihilated on the spot. We don’t have casualty figures, but we do know Persia wielded huge armies, most conscripts coming from the conquered countries which they brought into their empire. Here is Herodotus’ description of the battle:
“Tomyris, since Cyrus would not listen to her,
gathered all her host together and fought him. Of all the battles that were fought among the barbarians, I judge this
to have been the severest…finally the Massagetae got the upper hand. The most of the Persian army died on the spot,
and among them, Cyrus himself…Tomyris sought out his corpse among the Persian
dead, and…she filled a skin with human blood and fixed his head in the skin,
and, insulting over the dead, she said: ‘I am alive and conqueror, but you
have…rob[bed] me of my son [Tomyris’ son died in the war]…Now…I will give you
your fill of blood, even as I threatened.’ There were many stories of the death of Cyrus, but this…seems to me the
most convincing.”
The 2nd Scythian-Persian War: 512BC
(or “don’t mess with the Scythians,” part II)
This time, Darius, the father of Xerxes, attempted to attack the Black Sea Scythians. The Persians having learned the hard way, he did not consider attacking the Massagetae and Dahae again. So Darius marched north to the Bosporus with a 700,000 man army, having his army engineers construct a bridge-of-ships across the Bosporus. He then marched his army through northern Greece (Thrace) and up the western coast of the Black Sea, in what is now Bulgaria and Romania. The Black Sea Scythians, wishing to avoid a direct battle fought a battle of deadly skirmishes coupled to strategic retreats farther and farther northward into the Russian Steppes, until the Persian supply-lines were stretched dangerously thin. The Scythians finally sent Darius a strange message in the form of a bird, a mouse, a frog and five arrows. The Persians were told to discern the meaning of the message themselves, which they accurately deduced to mean “If you do not become like birds and fly away into the sky or become like mice and burrow into the earth or become frogs and leap into the lakes, there will be no homecoming for you, for we will shoot you down with our arrows.” The Black Sea Scythians had also attempted to get the Greeks to destroy a strategic bridge across the Danube which would have cut off the Persian’s retreat, but the Greeks refused to cooperate. If they had cooperated, the entire Persian army would have been cut off in their retreat and destroyed. The Persians did manage to flee across the bridge, abandoning their wounded as they ran for safety. Next project, God willing, Ezra, Esther, Xerxes, Leonidas and Themistocles to Alexander the Great.
Chart of the Kings of Judah and Israel
Saul, king of Israel, 1043-1011BC
David, King of Judah & Israel, 1011-971BC
Solomon, king of Judah & Israel, 971-931BC
House of Judah House
of Israel
Rehoboam, 931-915BC Jeroboam,
931-910BC
Abijam, 913-910BC Nadab,
910-909BC
Asa, 910-869BC Baasha,
909-886BC
Elah,
886-885BC
Zimri,
885BC
Tibni/Omri,
885-880,
Omri,
880-874BC
Jehoshaphat, 875-847BC Ahab,
874-853BC
Ahaziah,
853-852
Jehoram (+Athaliah), 853-841 Jehoram,
852-841
Ahaziah, 841/840BC Jehu,
841-814BC
Athaliah842-835BC
Joash (Jehoash), 835-796BC Jehoahaz,
814-798BC
Amaziah, 797-767BC Jehoash,
798-782BC
Uzziah, 767-750BC JeroboamII,782-753
Jotham, 750-735BC Zechariah,
753-752
Shallum,
752BC
Menahem,
752-742BC
745 BC, Shalmananeser III
captures 3.5 tribes of Israel,
Gad,
Reuben, Naphtali, half tribe Manasseh Pekah,
752-732BC
Ahaz, 735-715BC Hoshea,
731-723BC
721BC, Sargon II conquers Samaria in a 3 year siege,
27,290
Ephraimites taken captive from Samaria, end
of
the ten tribed House of Israel in Palestine
Hezekiah, 715-686BC [co-regency,
729-716BC]
Manasseh, 686-642BC
Amon, 642-640BC
Josiah, 640/639 to 609BC
Jehoahaz, 609BC
Jehoiakim 609/608 to 598BC
Jeconiah, 598-597BC (3 months)
Zedekiah, 597 to 587/586BC
Nebuchadnezzar II conquers Judah and Jerusalem, takes
all but a few Jews captive to Babylon, 587/586BC Jeremiah set free, Baruch, Zedekiah’s daughters under his care. Taken captive by renegade Jews to Egypt. Disappears historically.
END ARTICLE |