Posted by Bronwen Manning on June 30, 2008 under History | 
Yahweh in the Exile
Ezekiel’s vision of the presence of God in Babylon had been an important step in rejuvenating the religion of Yahweh in the exile. The presence of God no longer rested in a temple or resided within the kingdoms of men, but he was omnipresent. Yahweh had followed his people into Babylon and he had called to himself a prophet from out of his people. Contact had been established.
A New Jerusalem in Babylon
The Jews from Judah were grouped together and settled into a place referred to by a cuneiform text dated to 498 BCE as the “al Yahuda” the “city of the Judahites” in Babylon. From other texts we know already that deportees normally retained the names of their old towns- for example the cities of Ashkelon and Gaza reappeared in Babylon with the arrival of Philistine slaves, as too with the new city of Tyre with the arrival of the Phoenicians. Knowing this, it is not too far to assume that the “city of the Judahites” is nothing less then a referral to the people of Judah living in the New Jerusalem in Babylon! In fact this same phrase “city of the Judahites”, is clearly used in reference to Jerusalem when they mention how they besiege and destroyed the city all those years ago!
This helps us visualize the new environment of the Judean deportees in exile. They were settled together, meaning that they could rebuild a sense of community again. Furthermore we know that the royal family and the priesthood were taken into captivity- meaning that to a degree we can assume that the royal and religious hierarchies were also involved in the rebuilding work that took place in the New Jerusalem in Babylon and that there was a religious framework in place to help the community through their present-day crisis.
An Old King Freed
Not only were the Jews living together with a religious framework in place but also there was positive news about their imprisoned king, king Jehoiachin. Now king Jehoiachin had been captured and exiled when Nebuchadnezzar first came against Jerusalem in 597BCE. However after 37 years of being in prison he received a royal pardon from the king and was invited to eat and dine at the Kings table daily. This story told in the bible and confirmed from cuneiform texts tells us of the hope this community must have began to establish that one day, religiously and politically, they would be free again.
[smartads]
Posted by Bronwen Manning on June 23, 2008 under History |
The Babylonians Arrive
Three hundred and fifty years of kings had ruled over the kingdom of Judah before Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian armies arrived at the gates of Jerusalem. For three hundred and fifty years Jerusalem had been growing as the center of Yahweh worship with temple based worship as its focus. This all came to an end the moment the Babylonians laid a devastating siege on the city, sucking dry the power of Judah, destroying the city and temple and exiling the population into servitude.
End of Temple-sanctioned Yahwism
The religious political and social lives of the people of Judah were over; they were citizens of a country that no longer existed. Israelite Yahwism had essentially ended the moment the temple was destroyed. The temple that represented the House of Yahweh on earth, lay in ruins, and sacrifices could no longer be brought to the altar. Furthermore the borders of Judah, which demarcated in the Judeans minds the domain of Yahweh, were breached. They were pulled away, not only from the place of worship, but also from the realm of God’s influence. In a state of servitude and a feeling of abandonment from their God and hopelessness the Judeans walked from the Mediterranean Sea to the Chebar River in modern day Iraq.
The Future?
If History were on their minds during this long trek into exile, they would surely have recalled the similar fate of their brothers in the Kingdom of Israel who were exiled over a hundred years before by the Assyrians. These “ten tribes” as we fondly recall them today disappeared from history, assimilated into the cultures they were artificially planted in, and lost their religion.
This would be our fate, the Judeans were thinking.
God becomes Bigger?
Israelite Yahwism at this point offered no hope of redemption- for Yahweh was not present in the lands of Babylon with their multiplicity of gods. This idea however dramatically changed when a Judean priest had a mighty vision of Yahweh by the Chebar river. He saw a mighty chariot with wheels, wings and animals carrying the presence of Yahweh who appeared in the likeness of a human. Yahweh spoke with him and called him to become a prophet to his people, his name was Ezekiel. (Ezekiel 1:1-3:5)
The ramifications of this vision were awesome. For not only was God bigger and more powerful than they had ever imagined him to be- for he could transverse over foreign lands were other gods were worshipped proving himself above them all, but more importantly, he was still speaking to the people of Israel.
[smartads]
Posted by Bronwen Manning on June 9, 2008 under History |
An Israelite Princess
Athaliah (pronounced Ataliyah) was a young Israelite princess who married into the Davidic dynasty and rose-up to the prominent position of Queen Mother in Judah with first her husband and then her son ruling over the kingdom. What makes Athaliah’s position unique from other women is that for a period of seven years, she actually ruled and reigned from Jerusalem as the supreme monarch.
The Marriage-Alliance
The royal Israelite House of Omri was accustomed to making political alliances with other countries by arranged marriages. For example King Omri’s son Ahab was married to a Sidonian princess by the name of Jezebel. Likewise Ahab’s sister, Athaliah, was married to the crown prince of Judah, Jehoram, in a marriage that put to end over fifty years of hostilities between the kingdom of Israel since the division of Solomon’s kingdom.
A Betrayal in the North
Athaliah became Queen of Jerusalem through her marriage to Jehoram, and again Queen Mother when her son Ahaziah began to reign after the death of her husband. Her position at this stage was largely ceremonial although in the absence of her husband her influence in court must have increased due to her relation with the current king. This position changed dramatically however when her son was murdered while visiting his cousin the king of Israel in the north. Her son and the Israelite king were killed along with those who were descendants of the Davidic and Omride dynasties living in the north, in a huge elaborate plot set into play by an ambitious military commander by the name of Jehu.
A New Monarch in Jerusalem
With the sudden death of her son Athaliah found herself in a precarious position. It would not be long before a new male heir from the Davidic dynasty would be nominated to the empty throne. She would no longer hold the title of Queen Mother and her political role and authority would come to a rapid end. Thus in order to secure absolute power she preceded to follow the same route that the usurper Jehu the new King of Israel had implemented; the assassination of all the royal family. She sought out and murdered all the surviving male heirs of the legendary King David- and in her success reigned unhindered for seven years from Jerusalem.
The Temple Produces an Heir
Her reign was not supported by all those in Judea however. She was an Israelite Princess who had gained the throne by murdering the Judean Royal Family. Those in the Temple in particular were opposed to her introduction of Baal worship to the area, and there with some in the military who wished for a return to a Judean way of life, and a Judean king on the throne. It was at this point that the High Priest revealed a young boy, Joash, who had been reared as a child within the Temple, and declared him to be the grandson of Athaliah- a boy rescued and sheltered when the assassination in Jerusalem began. As in a day Athaliah came to the throne, so too in a moment she left it. The priests and the citizens of Judah rallied around the young boy and deposed and killed Athaliah as she stood in the Royal Palace. Her grandson was installed as king and Judah regained not only its monarchy, but its Judean way of life.
[smartads]
Yahweh in the Exile
