The Religion of Judah

I •XVVî'lViVi KINCBOM OF GOD SERIES IE RELIGION OF JIJDAH. — iininnnimnfi-nnftinnniTT "mi JOHN BAYNE ASCHAM ^^jis^f^^mce^^ cAL %m Division OSl I ^^ Section - A C KINGDOM OF GOD SERIES ^^ÔFPfiW'C, ^^ KINGDOM OF GOD SERIES OCT it) 19: -^^ The Religion of Judah BY JOHN BAYNE ASCHAM THE ABINGDON PRESS NEW YORK CINCINNATI Copyright, 1920, by JOHN BAYNE ASCHAM The Bible text used in this book, except that appearing in italic, is taken from the American Standard Edition of the Revised Bible, copyright, 1901, by Thomag Nelson & Sons, and is used by permission. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAQB I. The Story op Judah From Rehoboam to Ahaz 7 II. The Early Prophecies op Isaiah 17 III. Isaiah and the Judêan Crisis of 735 b. c 27 IV. Isaiah and the Assyrian Invasion 36 V. Isaiah and the Messianic Hope 48 VI. The Message op Micah 59 VII. The Deuteronomic Reform 69 VIII. Deuteronomic Provisions for Worship 79 IX. Deuteronomic Provisions for Social Welfare . 90 X. Jeremiah: Prophet op Judah's Decline 100 XI. Jeremiah: Prophet op Personal Religion 109 XII. Ezekiel: Watchman Unto the House of Israel. 119 XIII. In the Wake of the Exiles 129 XIV. Two Nameless Kingdom Builders 140 XV. Tasks and Hopes of the Returning Exiles 152 XVI. From Zechariah to Nehemiah 163 XVII. Nehemiah: Builder and Reformer 174 XVIII. The Development of Jewish Law 185 XIX. Job: A Study in Jewish Piety 197 XX. Jewish Life in the Persian Period 209 XXI. The Jewish Sage 220 XXII. The Maccabean Crisis 231 XXIII. Jewish Religious Parties 242 XXIV. The Jewish Messianic Hope 256 XXV. The Jewish Scriptures 270 XXVI. The Developing Kingdom of God 281 Index 293 CHAPTER I THE STOEY OF JUDAH FROM REHOBOAM TO AHAZ United Israel came to its fullness of national spirit and achievement in the reign of Solomon, during the middle of the tenth century B. C. The death of Solomon pre- cipitated the revolt of the northern portion of the state. Israel, as the northern kingdom is known, pursued a tragic career until the nation perished in the destruction of Samaria in 722 B. C. The southern part of Solomon's kingdom, the inhabitants of the territory lying almost wholly south of Jerusalem, remained loyal to his son. For almost two centuries after the disruption of the kingdom that had been established by Saul, David, and Solomon, the southern state, known as Judah, moved on uneventfully until it too came into collision with Assyria. During this period religious conditions for the most part were the same in Judah as in Israel. The Political Histoky Two Centuries of Kings: 937-735 B. C— (a) Reliohoam, 937-917.—In addition to the war with Israel (1 Kings 14. 30) the chief event of this king's reign is narrated in 1 Kings 14. 25-28. For the treasures of the Temple see 7. 51. To despoil the Temple to pay tribute or to pur- chase an alliance was not an infrequent resort of Judah's kings. See in 2 Chronicles 11. 5-12 the list of cities forti- fied by Rehoboam. (6) Ahijah, son of Rehohoam, 920-917.—War continued between him and Jeroboam. No details of his reign are given by the editor of Kings. A typical instance of the historical methods of the chronicler is 2 Chronicles 13. (c) Asa, son of AUjah, 917-876.—Head 1 Kings 15. 16-22. Since Ramah was only a few miles from Jerusa- lem, the desperate strait of Asa is easily understood. Read 7 8 THE RELIGION OF JUDAH 2 Chronicles 16. 7-10 for the prophetic attitude toward Asa's policy. This is the second inroad upon the Temple's treasures. Note the first hint of the efforts of Judah's kings to reform the cultus (1 Kings 15. 12, 13). (d) Jehoshaphat, son of Asa, 876-851.—Jehoshaphat ended the long feud between Judah and Israel by a marriage alliance with the house of Ahab (2 Kings 8. 18). One of the first issues of this alliance was a campaign against Damascus to recover Israelitish territory in Gilead. See 1 Kings 22. 1-37 for the disastrous results. The chronicler's parallel is found in 2 Chronicles 18. 1 to 19. 3. What other acts are ascribed to him in 1 Kings 22. 46-49 ? (e) Jelioram, son of Jehoshaphat, 851-8Jf 3,—Read 2 Kings 8. 16-18 for his marriage and 8. 20-22 for his disastrous campaign against Edom. The passage 2 Chron- icles 21. 2-4 is probably a bit of authentic history that the writer of Kings took no pains to record. (/) Ahaziah, son of Jehoram, or Joram, 8Jf3-842.—He reigned a little less than a year. There is little to record about him. He went to Samaria to visit Jehoram, his brother-in-law, the king of Israel, who was ill (2 Kings 8. 29), and, being there at the time of Jehu's revolution, was slain (9.27,28). (g) Athaliah, daughter of Ahdh of Israel and mother of Ahaziah, 842-836.—Reaid 2 Kings 11. 1-3 for Athaliah's seizure of the throne. Athaliah had carried into Jerusalem the Tyrian Baalism wliich her mother Jezebel had im- ported into Israel (11. 18). What measures did she take to secure herself on the throne ? Jehu had already rooted out the foreign Baalism in Israel. How is Athaliah's prolonged success accounted for? Read 2 Kings 11. 4-20 for the revolt under Jehoiada and the enthronement of Joash. 2 Chronicles 22. 11 states that Jehoiada was the priest of the Temple and the husband of Jehoshabeath, the aunt of Joash, whose life she saved. {h) Joash, or Jehoash, son of Ahaziah, 836-796.—Read 2 Kings 12. 4-16 for the king's repair of the Temple. Up to this time the expense of the upkeep of the Temple was — FROM REHOBOAM TO AHAZ 9 borne by the king. Now the expense is to be borne by the people. At first Joash decreed that two sources of priestly revenue should be expended by the priests for repairs namely: Temple dues, or taxes, imposed by the priests for this purpose, and free-will offerings. For several years the priests collected this money but failed to expend it as di- rected. Then the chest was introduced, and the expendi- ture of the money placed in the hands of the royal secre- tary and the chief priest. The second plan worked successfully and continued in force probably until the destruction of the Temple. Read 2 Kings 12. 17, 18 for the Syrian aggression and the tribute of Joash. This is the third recorded despoliation of the Temple to pay tribute or to bribe an ally. It is stated in 2 Chronicles 24. 17-22 that the chief priest, Zechariah, was stoned by royal order, and that the king's assassination was in revenge for the priest's death. (i) Amaziali, son of Joash, 796-782.—Read 2 Kings 14. 1-7. After an introduction in the usual Deuteronomic style note the two incidents taken from the older historical records—namely, the execution of the murderers of Joash and Amaziah's victory over the Edomites. The first of these is noteworthy. Observe the statement "the children of the murderers he put not to death." What was the older practice? See Joshua 7. 24; 2 Kings 9. 26. This is a distinct advance in jurisprudence. Later the practice of limiting guilt to the actual transgressor was embodied in the Deuteronomic Code (see Deuteronomy 24. 16). Em- boldened by his success over Edom, Amaziah dared Israel to battle. The challenge and the disastrous results are told in 2 Kings 14. 8-14. Again the Temple was despoiled. Undoubtedly Amaziah's folly with regard to Israel occa- sioned the insurrection that ended in his death (14. 19, 20). (;) Azariah (Uzziah), son of Amaziah, 782-7JfO.—His son Jotham was regent from 751 until his father's death, when he assumed the throne. The editor of Kings gives only two events of Uzziah's long reign: 2 Kings 14. 22; 15. 5. The longer account in 2 Chronicles 26. 6-15 throws additional light upon the military activities and commer- — 10 THE EELIGION OF JUDAH cial prosperity of Judah under the rule of Uzziah. It is quite probable that Isaiah 2. 6-21, with its suggestions of trade and wealth, describes conditions in the closing years of Uzziah's reign. Putting all these references together, what may be inferred concerning the political and social conditions in Judah in the days of Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah ? (k) JotJiarriy son of Azariah, regent 751-7^0; Icing 7^0- 735.—The occasion for the regency is explained in 2 Kings 15. 5. A rare prophetic summary of his reign, 15. 32-38, states that "he built the upper gate of the house of Jehovah.'^ As the Temple came more and more to be the sanctuary of Judah, the need of the new approaches be- came pressing. According to 2 Kings 15. 37 the Syrian invasion was threatening at the time of his death. A few other details are added in 2 Chronicles 27. 3-6. Summary of Political History.—The two centuries of Judah's history from the death of Solomon to the Assyrian period were less eventful than Israel's stormy career. For the first one hundred years there was constant friction between the two kingdoms. This open antagonism was ended by the marriage alliance arranged by Jehoshaphat and Ahab.

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