I love your videos!!! Much of your content is exactly the answer to the questions that I’ve been asking! I have been really confused concerning the genealogies, the quoting of OT in the NT, and the historical context of the prophets. I do hope you continue to make content!
Thank you so much for your precious work which is a great blessing to every viewer in our understanding of the bible 🙂. May the Lord reward you for all the good you are doing to people interested in the bible 👍 AMEN !
I am an Assyrian Christian from the heart of Assyria currently living in Canada. I really feel so much unjust toward us from the bible interpreters and believers. We are portrayed as vicious people just for the fact that our kings attacked the Israelite ,on top of that we are portrayed as we had been paid for our viciousness by being either instinct or scattered around the world, while in fact is that the bible is very clear why Jews were handed to the hands of Assyrians and that was bc of their repeated sins and transgressions against the Lord. Now the reason Assyrians were being punished according to the bible has nothing to do with the way they dealt with the Jews rather bc of the foolishness of the king and the fact that he thought he thought big of himself and not believing that The Lord God enabled him to do that . So he was punished for not believing and NOT bc of what he did to the Jews.
I really appreciate being able to listen to your perspective. I think that, even besides the discrimination you describe, in the last decade there has been a massive propaganda campaign in the West against Syria, against Assad, etc, in order to justify the role of the US and Saudi Arabia (and surely Israel also) in the horrific war brought upon that nation by extremist Sunni militant groups and the former Iraqi military who had nothing else to do to live.... even with how much that truth is totally hidden in all US media, with the Syrian conflict always being described as a civil war fought by the people of Syria against their evil tyrant leader for the sake of Western Values like Democracy and Freedom etc nonsense, to the point that most people have no clue what an active role the US played in making that horrific conflict occur... like even if they failed to take Syria, which was always the objective, at least it is now in ruins and showing another example to nations like Iran and Venezuela of how ruthless the Capitalist West is in ever expanding its empire. And then all the Syrian refugees who were living peacefully and happily in Syria before this, are used to drum up support for fascist political parties all over Europe, just like the US media obsesses over "illegal immigrant caravans" from Latin America. Sigh. Sorry if that felt like a rant... it's just very interesting to me to hear the perspective of someone who grew up in Syria, etc... thank you.
Thank you for another wonderful video, this one actually makes me sympathize with Sennacharib a little bit, knowing how his assault on Jerusalem ends, when he was only trying to keep his kingdom together caused by a provoker. Oh, and thanks for explaining why Hezekiah showed off his house, I was taught that he had so much pride that he showed off his wealth, your explanation makes more sense.
@@schwertdesgeistes I did say, "a little bit," not "entirely." It did make Sennacharib a little more real and understandable for me, but, yes, I agree, he was (and this goes for Assyrian kings in general) very cruel. But thank you for bringing that to my attention. 😉
Nice video again! All three accounts of these events in the OT appear to put Hezekiah's sickness and recovery and his visit from the Babylonians after the siege of Jerusalem. What's your take on this?
Thank you so much, I was so hoping someone would ask this question!!! It's an astute observation and something I wrestled with while making this video. *Why have the biblical authors placed Hezekiah's sickness and his visit from the Babylonians after the siege of Jerusalem?* Obviously, no one knows for sure. But I personally believe our answer can be found in Isaiah 39:5-7 "5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 Days are coming when all that is in your house, and that which your ancestors have stored up until this day, *shall be carried to Babylon*; nothing shall be left, says the Lord. 7 Some of your own sons who are born to you shall be taken away; they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” In these verses, Isaiah informs Hezekiah that one day Babylon will attack Jerusalem. Therefore, I believe there has been a deliberate rearrangement of the events so that the final message of Isaiah is a warning about the coming Babylonian attack. The author wants his audience to know that while God did save Jerusalem from the Assyrian attack, He will not extend this grace for the Babylonian attack. In other words, an editor of Isaiah rearranged these events to temper the belief in Zion's inviolability. But, of course, take this with a grain of salt. No one truly knows. Thank you again for this great question Levi. It was a pleasure answering it. I hope we talk again. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: 1) A clear sign that the sequence of events is not in order can be found in God's promise to heal Hezekiah (Isaiah 38:4-6) The following passage is after the Assyrian siege has ended: "4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of your ancestor David: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. 6 *I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and defend this city.*" God's promise to deliver the city from the hand of the Assyrian king makes no sense in this context since "both Hezekiah and Jerusalem had been rescued in the preceding chapter" [Mordechai Cogan and Hayim Tadmor, II Kings: A new translation with introduction and commentary, p.255] 2) The prophet Isaiah lived in the 8th Century, yet Isaiah 39:5-7 show an awareness that Babylon would be a world superpower. "5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 Days are coming when all that is in your house, and that which your ancestors have stored up until this day, *shall be carried to Babylon*; nothing shall be left, says the Lord. 7 Some of your own sons who are born to you shall be taken away; they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” As we know the Babylonian king, Nabopolassar, alongside the Medes, will bring down the Assyrian empire in 612 BC. After this, Babylon becomes the dominant force in the Near East. Awareness of this coming rise of Babylon within proto-Isaiah is also found in chapters 13-23 in which Isaiah systemically denounces Judah's surrounding nations. Among the nations which are cursed are Babylon ( in chapter 13 and 21). This shows an awareness on the part of the author that Babylon was/will be a world power. My theory speculates that an individual at a time when Babylon was a world power edited Isaiah 1-39 by rearranging the sequence of events about the Assyrian siege, Hezekiah's sickness and the Babylonian envoy. The editor also inserted chapter 13 and 21 which seem to assume that Babylon is already a world superpower. For further discussion on all these issues I highly recommend: "Hezekiah and the Dialogue of Memory" By Song-Mi Suzie Park
@@thestudyofchristianity Makes sense, thanks for the reply! I for my part am usually somewhat suspicious of redactional hypotheses for being highly speculative, but your proposal regarding the ordering of the narrative is certainly not unreasonable. If I remember correctly, it is nowhere explicitly stated that the siege of Jerusalem precedes Hezekiah's sickness etc., but sure, there has to be a reason for the arrangement. Personally, I also see some messianic typology here, though that, of course, is as least as speculative.
Did I miss something? 2 Kings 18:9 says that Shalmaneser went to Samaria and beseiged it in the 4th year of Hezekiah and in his 6th year he took it. That was the end of Samaria after 3 years of seige. Somewhere after this Sargon shows up. Then 8 years later in Hezekiah's 14th year, Sennacherib came to Jerusalem, God heard Hezekiah's prayer and Isaiah says no seige will be placed and not even an arrow will be shot. Sennacherib loses 185,000 of his army and returns home. It is after this that Hezekiah gets sick, as seen in 2 Kings 20. It has Hezekiah in turmoil because of his sickness, but God hears him, heals him and grants him 15 more years to his life. 14+15 is 29 which was the duration of his reign. It was after Sennacherib losing his 185,000, then his recovery from a serious sickness that Merodach-Baladan sent letters and a gift. In part 2, you have Sennacherib arriving 21 years after Samaria and not 8 years as mentioned in the Bible.
Where is Taharqa? Kings 2 19:9 that King Sennacherib received news that “Tirhaka”, the King of Cush, was marching out against him. Both the Bible and nonbiblical records show that the Assyrian army withdrew because of this and Jerusalem was saved from destruction. It was an important triumph in both Hebrew and world history because Judaism, a fledgling religion during this time, was protected and allowed to evolve by this victory.
How many beardy guys kings of Mesopotamian related Kingdom destroy Israel? Shalmanessar, Sargon the Great, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar ll, and many more : " Yes!"
It happened to depose the idolatrous Ahaz. Ahaz abdicated in favor of his Hezekiah, and the Assyrians retreated without firing a single arrow at Jerusalem. But Ahaz sent his treacherous men in the dark of night and slaughtered 185,000 Assyrian Jewish soldiers, blaming this his heinous war crime on "the angel of the Lord with the two-edged sword." The naive Hezekiah then paid the price for his father's war crimes - the Babylonians invaded Israel and destroyed the whole country and mainly Jerusalem including the first temple.
@@thestudyofchristianity hi, In the account at 2 kings 19-20 Hezekiah Repels Sanacherib first...then in chapter 20 he becomes sick and is visited by baladan. . "12 At that time the king of Babylon, Be·roʹdach-balʹa·dan son of Balʹa·dan, sent letters and a gift to Hez·e·kiʹah, for he had heard that Hez·e·kiʹah had been sick. "
@@CharlesLewis Great question Charles!! It's an astute observation and something I wrestled with while making this video. Why have the biblical authors placed Hezekiah's sickness and his visit from the Babylonians after the siege of Jerusalem? Obviously, no one knows for sure. But I personally believe our answer can be found in Isaiah 39:5-7 "5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 Days are coming when all that is in your house, and that which your ancestors have stored up until this day, *shall be carried to Babylon*; nothing shall be left, says the Lord. 7 Some of your own sons who are born to you shall be taken away; they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” In these verses, Isaiah informs Hezekiah that one day Babylon will attack Jerusalem. Therefore, I believe there has been a deliberate rearrangement of the events so that the final message of Isaiah is a warning about the coming Babylonian attack. The author wants his audience to know that while God did save Jerusalem from the Assyrian attack, He will not extend this grace for the Babylonian attack. In other words, an editor of Isaiah rearranged these events to temper the belief in Zion's inviolability. But, of course, take this with a grain of salt. No one truly knows. Thank you again for this great question Charles. It was a pleasure answering it. I hope we talk again.
@@eduardodias983 use your brain. 185,000 people. Good wouldn’t kill his own people like that. Historical written account explain what really happened. Hezekiah paid tribute to the King of Assyria and that was that
