Assyria
Assyria
1. Archeology can not prove inspiration, but it can verify the historical accuracy of the Bible and help illustrate it.
2. The Bible was not written as a history book or science book, but it contains history and scientific facts.
3. If the Bible is the word of God it will be compatible with true history and science.
Why Study Assyria?
1. We need to understand the seriousness of sin and the severity of God when He judges His people.
2. These are not the worst of times. Many saying times are so bad that the Lord must be coming soon. This is from an ignorance of history.
3. Understand how corrupt man can be and the sin from which God has redeemed us.
4. A study of Assyria helps illustrate God’s grace towards sinners.
When we understand the character of the Assyrians, we can better understand why Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh, the capital city. Jonah knew that if they listened to his message and repented, God would spare them, and he did not want them to be spared. Yet, God was willing to forgive the Assyrians when they did repent.
Later, when they went back into their sins, they were destroyed. Jonah was around 760 BC and Nineveh was destroyed by the Babylonians in 612 BC.
(7 years before the 1st captivity in which Daniel was taken – 605 BC)
Graphics (Chronological order)
Ashurnasirpal II – the lion hunter. The leaders were portrayed as hunters of lions to show how strong they were and build up their image as the protector of the people.
Shalmaneser III – the Bible doesn’t mention the battle involving Ahab, but the Biblical accounts are very brief. There is much that happened that the Bible never mentions.
Jehu was “unequally yoked” with Shalmaneser.
Jehoahaz – The Bible doesn’t mention Jehoahaz paying tribute to the Assyrians, but once the practice began, the Assyrians would not let it stop. Compromise with sin is often this way.
Easy to start, but difficult to stop. The Arameans attacked Jehoahaz and he may have paid tribute at that time (2 Kings 13:1-3)
Jonah was a prophet from Galilee. He was familiar with the armies of the Assyrians and would want to see them destroyed. As wicked as the Assyrians were, God was still giving them an opportunity to repent. God had “compassion” on the city. (Jonah 4:11)
Tiglath Pileser – “Pul” was the name the Babylonians called him.
Sargon – For many years, critics claimed the Bible was in error because Isaiah 20:1 was the only known reference to Sargon. In 1843, Paul Botta discovered Khorsabad, 14 miles NE of Nineveh. It was the site of a 25 acre palace built by Sargon in 706 BC.
Sennacherib – Hezekiah knew what had happened in Samaria after a 3 year siege. Samaria was only 35 miles from Jerusalem.
Prophecies concerning Sennacherib’s invasion: Isaiah 8:5-8; 10:28-34; 14:24-27; 30 (30:31);
31 (31:8); The invasion - Isaiah 36 – 37.
Esarhaddon – Pictured with two prisoners begging for mercy.
Destruction of Nineveh
Nahum 1:1-3, 7-8, 9-15,
2:3-6, 13
3:1-7, 19
Prophecy Of The Kingdom
Isaiah 19:22-25
22 And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the LORD, and He will respond to them and will heal them.
23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
24 In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth,
25 whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, "Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance."
Verses On Assyria
2 Kings 15:27-29
27 In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years.
28 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin.
29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon and Abel-beth-maacah and Janoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria.
2 Kings 16:5-9
5 Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to wage war; and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.
6 At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram, and cleared the Judeans out of Elath entirely; and the Arameans came to Elath, and have lived there to this day.
7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying,” I am your servant and your son; come up and deliver me from the hand of the king of Aram, and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.”
8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria.
9 So the king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and captured it, and carried the people of it away into exile to Kir, and put Rezin to death.
2 Kings 17:1-3
1. In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned nine years.
2 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, only not as the kings of Israel who were before him.
3 Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his servant and paid him tribute.
2 Kings 17:6-7
6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
7 Now this came about, because the sons of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and they had feared other gods
2 Kings 18:1-7
1 Now it came about in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king.
2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.
3 And he did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done.
4 He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.
5 He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him.
6 For he clung to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses.
7 And the LORD was with him; wherever he went he prospered. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.
2 Kings 19:1
1 And when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the LORD.
2 Kings 19:6
6 And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the LORD,” Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.
2 Kings 19:14-19
14 Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.
15 And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, who art enthroned above the cherubim, Thou art the God, Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. Thou hast made heaven and earth.
16 “Incline Thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open Thine eyes, O LORD, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God.
17 “Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands
18 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.
19 “And now, O LORD our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou alone, O LORD, art God.”
2 Kings 19:22-28
22 ‘Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? And against whom have you raised your voice, And haughtily lifted up your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel!
23 ‘Through your messengers you have reproached the Lord, And you have said, “With my many chariots I came up to the heights of the mountains, To the remotest parts of Lebanon; And I cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypresses. And I entered its farthest lodging place, its thickest forest.
24 “I dug wells and drank foreign waters, And with the sole of my feet I dried up All the rivers of Egypt.”
25 ‘Have you not heard? Long ago I did it; From ancient times I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, That you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
26 ‘Therefore their inhabitants were short of strength, They were dismayed and put to shame; They were as the vegetation of the field and as the green herb, As grass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up.
27 ‘But I know your sitting down, And your going out and your coming in, And your raging against Me.
28 ‘Because of your raging against Me, And because your arrogance has come up to My ears, Therefore I will put My hook in your nose, And My bridle in your lips, And I will turn you back by the way which you came.
2 Kings 19:28
28 ‘Because of your raging against Me, And because your arrogance has come up to My ears, Therefore I will put My hook in your nose, And My bridle in your lips, And I will turn you back by the way which you came.
1 Chronicles 5:26
26 So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria, even the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away into exile, namely the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and to the river of Gozan, to this day.
2 Chronicles 32:7-8
7 “Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria, nor because of all the multitude which is with him; for the one with us is greater than the one with him.
8 “With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
Isaiah 8:6-7
6 “Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, And rejoice in Rezin and the son of Remaliah;
7 “Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the strong and abundant waters of the Euphrates, Even the king of Assyria and all his glory; And it will rise up over all its channels and go over all its banks.
Isaiah 14:24-27
24 The LORD of hosts has sworn saying, “Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand,
25 to break Assyria in My land, and I will trample him on My mountains. Then his yoke will be removed from them, and his burden removed from their shoulder.
26 “This is the plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations.
27 “For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”
Isaiah 19:22-25
22 And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the LORD, and He will respond to them and will heal them.
23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
24 In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth,
25 whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”
Isaiah 28:14-18
14 Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.”
16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.
17 “And I will make justice the measuring line, And righteousness the level; Then hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, And the waters shall overflow the secret place.
18 “And your covenant with death shall be canceled, And your pact with Sheol shall not stand; When the overwhelming scourge passes through, Then you become its trampling place.
Jeremiah 2:36-37
36 “Why do you go around so much Changing your way? Also, you shall be put to shame by Egypt As you were put to shame by Assyria.
37 “From this place also you shall go out With your hands on your head; For the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust, And you shall not prosper with them.”
Hosea 7:8-12
8. Ephraim mixes himself with the nations; Ephraim has become a cake not turned.
9 Strangers devour his strength, Yet he does not know it; Gray hairs also are sprinkled on him, Yet he does not know it.
10 Though the pride of Israel testifies against him, Yet they have neither returned to the LORD their God, Nor have they sought Him, for all this.
11 So Ephraim has become like a silly dove, without sense; They call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.
12 When they go, I will spread My net over them; I will bring them down like the birds of the sky. I will chastise them in accordance with the proclamation to their assembly.
Hosea 12:1
1. Ephraim feeds on wind, And pursues the east wind continually; He multiplies lies and violence. Moreover, he makes a covenant with Assyria, And oil is carried to Egypt.
Nahum 1:1-3
1. The oracle of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
2. A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; The LORD is avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies.
3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, And the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is His way, And clouds are the dust beneath His feet.
Nahum 1:7-8
7 The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him.
8 But with an overflowing flood He will make a complete end of its site, And will pursue His enemies into darkness.
Nahum 1:9-14
9. Whatever you devise against the LORD, He will make a complete end of it. Distress will not rise up twice.
10 Like tangled thorns, And like those who are drunken with their drink, They are consumed As stubble completely withered.
11 From you has gone forth One who plotted evil against the LORD, A wicked counselor.
12 Thus says the LORD, “Though they are at full strength and likewise many, Even so, they will be cut off and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no longer.
13 “So now, I will break his yoke bar from upon you, And I will tear off your shackles.”
14 The LORD has issued a command concerning you: “Your name will no longer be perpetuated. I will cut off idol and image From the house of your gods. I will prepare your grave, For you are contemptible.”
Nahum 1:15
15. Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, Who announces peace! Celebrate your feasts, O Judah; Pay your vows. For never again will the wicked one pass through you; He is cut off completely.
Nahum 2:13
13 “Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of hosts. “I will burn up her chariots in smoke, a sword will devour your young lions, I will cut off your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard.”
Nahum 3:1
1 Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage; Her prey never departs.
Nahum 3:5
5 “Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of hosts; “And I will lift up your skirts over your face, And show to the nations your nakedness And to the kingdoms your disgrace.
Nahum 3:19
19 There is no relief for your breakdown, Your wound is incurable. All who hear about you Will clap their hands over you, For on whom has not your evil passed continually?