He Gave Us Prophets: Historical Analysis of ProphecySample

Events of the Assyrian Judgment: 2 Kings 17

What major events took place in the centuries of the Assyrian dominance that have an influence on Old Testament prophetic writings? At least three major historical events took place that are important for our study: first, the Syrian-Israelite coalition; second, the fall of Samaria; and third, the Sennacherib invasion. 

The Syrian-Israelite coalition involved conflict among three small nations under Assyrian control at that time: Syria, northern Israel and Judah. We can read about these events in several places in the Old Testament, but one very interesting passage is Isaiah 7. Around 734, Syria and northern Israel grew tired of paying tribute to the Assyrian empire, so they decided to build a coalition to resist the Assyrians because the Assyrians were experiencing trouble in other parts of their empire. In addition to building their own coalition, Israel and Syria tried to force Judah into joining their ranks. But Ahaz, the king of Judah, refused to join them and appealed for help from Assyria. These events had many results for the people of God, but we should be aware of at least one of those major consequences. Both the North and the South were on a path of conflict with Assyria. Northern Israel had rebelled against Assyria and so the kings of Assyria came, attacked and destroyed northern Israel. Judah aligned herself with Assyria for a while and so she owed great tribute and great taxes to the empire of Assyria. Eventually, however, even Judah rebelled against Assyria, and judgment was going to come against southern Judah as well.  

The second major event of the Assyrian period of judgment was the fall of Samaria. Samaria was the capital of northern Israel and became the object of Assyrian vengeance because of the rebellion of the Syrian-Israelite coalition. We read about this event in 2 Kings 17. The great Assyrian army marched against northern Israel and destroyed Samaria, and the Assyrians sent many northern Israelites into exile. Now, this event marked a new day for the people of God, but the climax of covenant judgment in large-scale exile actually took place for the first time with the destruction of northern Israel at the hands of the Assyrians. 

The third major event of the Assyrian judgment occurred in the Sennacherib invasion of Judah. Judah escaped the wrath of Assyria for a while because they submitted themselves to Assyria to gain protection from the northern kingdom. But later on, even Judah eventually rebelled against Assyria, and they incurred the wrath of this great empire. Several attacks came against Judah, but the worst came around 701 B.C., the Sennacherib invasion. We can read about this event in 2 Kings 18 and 19. The Assyrians destroyed many Judaite cities and came as far as Jerusalem. In fact, it appeared that all was lost until Hezekiah, the king of Judah, turned to Yahweh for help and was miraculously delivered. Now, Judah remained a vassal state of Assyria, but she avoided total destruction in the days of Hezekiah and the Sennacherib invasion. 

So we can see that there were three major events during the Assyrian judgment: first, the Syrian-Israelite coalition in 734; second, the destruction of Samaria in 722 B.C.; and finally, the Sennacherib invasion of 701.