Nadene Goldfoot
Found in II Kings 23:11 is a section that tells how even the Kohenim were breaking rules in worshipping foreign religions such as Baal right in the Temple. It happened during king Josiah's reign from 637 BCE to 608 BCE just before the Babylonian attack led by Nebuchadnezzar when the Jews of Judah were kidnapped and taken to Babylonia in 597 BCE and again in 586 BCE.
Josiah's father, King Amon, who ruled only from 638 to 637 BCE , had been murdered when Josiah was but 8 years old so he was crowned king at that early age. When he reached the age of manhood, probably at 21, he began a program of religious reform and removed the foreign cults which had taken hold in Judah and re-established the pure monotheistic religion of Judaism.
Do we ever read about this period? We get so caught up in the many holidays we have with their history and all that somehow we forget how fragile our religion is and that possibly the culture around it with its strange accompaniments to help us remember, have had reasons for their being. Look how quickly our ancestors forgot and accepted these weird thoughts.
In the course of repairing the First Temple, the high priest Hilkiah announced the discovery of a BOOK OF THE LAW, a scroll, which so influenced Josiah that he convened an assembly of the entire people during Passover in 621 BCE at which a solemn covenant was made with G-d. Many scholars have identified this book with Deuteronomy. Josiah removed the high places and centralized worship at the Jerusalem Temple.
Josiah was busy cleaning everything foreign out of the Temple. First, he read out loud to the crowd of Judeans he had called for from this newly discovered Book of the Covenant that had been found in the Temple. To think that it had been in some corner somewhere not used is shocking, but that's what happened with a king who had been murdered which affected the whole community. Such information stopped with him and his son had not been old enough to know the procedure.
Manasseh had been king before Amon from 697 to 638 BCE, a long stretch of time.
The priests during King Josiah's childhood, the Kohens-descendants of Aaron, had been burning offerings to Baal. They were the ones who should have been reading to the king from the Book of Law. It is indeed shocking to us. King Josiah (he) also abolished the horses that the kings of Judah had designated for worship of the sun which would race from the entrance to the Temple of Hashem to the office of Netan-melech, the officer in the outlying area of the city. He burned the chariots of the sun in fire. (The worship of the sun consisted in racing out towards the east at daybreak in horse-drawn chariots, to "greet" the rising sun).
We'll skip ahead in time 2,600 years and see that the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University discovered an ancient bulla seal impression bearing the inscription BELONGING TO NATHAN-MELECH, SERVANT OF THE KING, in the City of David (Jerusalem) just outside the Old City of Jerusalem, according to an announcement on Sunday, April 2019 as read about in the newspaper, The Jerusalem Press of April 5th. This shows verification of history being true as originally written in Kings II. Dr. Anat Mendael-Geberovich of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Center for the Study of Ancient Jerusalem was the one who deciphered the seal, and said in a statement that "Although it is not possible to determine with complete certainty that the Nathan-Melech, who is mentioned in the Bible, was in fact the owner of the stamp, it is impossible to ignore some of the details that link them together.
There he is; Natan-Melech named as an officer in the court of King Josiah. The bulla was discovered in a 1st Temple period public building that is part of the excavations in the City of David National Park's Givati Parking Lot. It was "uncovered by Israeli archaeologist Yuval Gadot’s team during the ongoing Givati Parking Lot Excavation". This does verify, corroborate, substantiate, and confirm that what was written in our OLD TESTAMENT/TANAKH/II KINGS was about real people.
Melech means king in Hebrew. He had taken the surname of Melech. Perhaps it would be read, Natan, of the King, meaning that he served the king. In that period, people were like, David, son of Moshe which read as David ben Moshe. So Natan here was not the son of the king. ( My favorite song learned in Israel was (David, melech Yisrael, chai, chai, .vik ah yeh nu. )...
Now, back in time to King Manasseh, who ruled from 692 to 638 BCE. He had succeeded his father, Hezekiah, at the age of 12 and was one of the worst Jewish monarchs. Here's where our Judeans slid away from Judaism. He was the problem. He canceled his father's reforms, reintroduced PAGAN PRACTICES and so shocked the faithful that the destruction of the Temple was attributed to his wickedness as read in II KINGS 21: 11-17. He had been forcefully opposed by the loyal monotheists, many of whom he put to death! Manasseh paid tribute to Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal of Assyria and according to one report, spent some time as a captive in Babylon according to II Chron. 33:11-19. It has been suggested that his pagan innovations were the result of Assyrian pressure.
The Assyrians had raided the 10 Northern Tribes of Judah/Israel in 722-721 BCE and took as their slaves the best of the population. That was only about 30 years previously, so they may have left their impression and beliefs somehow.
I can't blame Jezebel, because she was married to the king of Israel, Ahab, who ruled from 876 BCE to 853 BCE. She's the one who introduced Baal to his Israelites. She was the introduction of problems before the Assyrians had even attacked. Maybe that's what made them weak, putting trust into clay statues instead of an unseen G-d that had showed the people strength many times over in the past.
I think we have seen what happens to a people whose king no longer respects his people's G-dly worship. Judaism was replaced with Baal and reintroduced whenever there was a weakness in the kingly leadership. Baal was ugly. They believed in human sacrifice. Josiah came along just in time to clean house.
Resource; Tanakh, The Stone Edition
The Jewish Press, April 5, 2019
https://www.thetrumpet.com/18864-nathan-melech-found
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
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| Sacrificing the first born in Baal worship to bring in a great harvest-and good luck-a Babylonian and Canaanite belief that spread to the Israelite 12 tribes. Baal Peor was a local Canaanite deity worshipped with sexual orgies. This may be why it was such a popular belief! People really change very little. The Baal belief has a lot to do with what was recently found. |
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| The horse-drawn chariots used to greet the sun |
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| King Josiah learning about Judaism Prophets Nahum, Zephaniah and Jeremiah no doubt were educating him as well during his formative years. |
Josiah's father, King Amon, who ruled only from 638 to 637 BCE , had been murdered when Josiah was but 8 years old so he was crowned king at that early age. When he reached the age of manhood, probably at 21, he began a program of religious reform and removed the foreign cults which had taken hold in Judah and re-established the pure monotheistic religion of Judaism.
Do we ever read about this period? We get so caught up in the many holidays we have with their history and all that somehow we forget how fragile our religion is and that possibly the culture around it with its strange accompaniments to help us remember, have had reasons for their being. Look how quickly our ancestors forgot and accepted these weird thoughts.
In the course of repairing the First Temple, the high priest Hilkiah announced the discovery of a BOOK OF THE LAW, a scroll, which so influenced Josiah that he convened an assembly of the entire people during Passover in 621 BCE at which a solemn covenant was made with G-d. Many scholars have identified this book with Deuteronomy. Josiah removed the high places and centralized worship at the Jerusalem Temple.
Josiah was busy cleaning everything foreign out of the Temple. First, he read out loud to the crowd of Judeans he had called for from this newly discovered Book of the Covenant that had been found in the Temple. To think that it had been in some corner somewhere not used is shocking, but that's what happened with a king who had been murdered which affected the whole community. Such information stopped with him and his son had not been old enough to know the procedure.
Manasseh had been king before Amon from 697 to 638 BCE, a long stretch of time.
The priests during King Josiah's childhood, the Kohens-descendants of Aaron, had been burning offerings to Baal. They were the ones who should have been reading to the king from the Book of Law. It is indeed shocking to us. King Josiah (he) also abolished the horses that the kings of Judah had designated for worship of the sun which would race from the entrance to the Temple of Hashem to the office of Netan-melech, the officer in the outlying area of the city. He burned the chariots of the sun in fire. (The worship of the sun consisted in racing out towards the east at daybreak in horse-drawn chariots, to "greet" the rising sun).
 |
| picture from Wnd, small clay object |
We'll skip ahead in time 2,600 years and see that the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University discovered an ancient bulla seal impression bearing the inscription BELONGING TO NATHAN-MELECH, SERVANT OF THE KING, in the City of David (Jerusalem) just outside the Old City of Jerusalem, according to an announcement on Sunday, April 2019 as read about in the newspaper, The Jerusalem Press of April 5th. This shows verification of history being true as originally written in Kings II. Dr. Anat Mendael-Geberovich of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Center for the Study of Ancient Jerusalem was the one who deciphered the seal, and said in a statement that "Although it is not possible to determine with complete certainty that the Nathan-Melech, who is mentioned in the Bible, was in fact the owner of the stamp, it is impossible to ignore some of the details that link them together.
There he is; Natan-Melech named as an officer in the court of King Josiah. The bulla was discovered in a 1st Temple period public building that is part of the excavations in the City of David National Park's Givati Parking Lot. It was "uncovered by Israeli archaeologist Yuval Gadot’s team during the ongoing Givati Parking Lot Excavation". This does verify, corroborate, substantiate, and confirm that what was written in our OLD TESTAMENT/TANAKH/II KINGS was about real people.
Melech means king in Hebrew. He had taken the surname of Melech. Perhaps it would be read, Natan, of the King, meaning that he served the king. In that period, people were like, David, son of Moshe which read as David ben Moshe. So Natan here was not the son of the king. ( My favorite song learned in Israel was (David, melech Yisrael, chai, chai, .vik ah yeh nu. )...
Now, back in time to King Manasseh, who ruled from 692 to 638 BCE. He had succeeded his father, Hezekiah, at the age of 12 and was one of the worst Jewish monarchs. Here's where our Judeans slid away from Judaism. He was the problem. He canceled his father's reforms, reintroduced PAGAN PRACTICES and so shocked the faithful that the destruction of the Temple was attributed to his wickedness as read in II KINGS 21: 11-17. He had been forcefully opposed by the loyal monotheists, many of whom he put to death! Manasseh paid tribute to Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal of Assyria and according to one report, spent some time as a captive in Babylon according to II Chron. 33:11-19. It has been suggested that his pagan innovations were the result of Assyrian pressure.
The Assyrians had raided the 10 Northern Tribes of Judah/Israel in 722-721 BCE and took as their slaves the best of the population. That was only about 30 years previously, so they may have left their impression and beliefs somehow.
 |
| Baal idol |
I can't blame Jezebel, because she was married to the king of Israel, Ahab, who ruled from 876 BCE to 853 BCE. She's the one who introduced Baal to his Israelites. She was the introduction of problems before the Assyrians had even attacked. Maybe that's what made them weak, putting trust into clay statues instead of an unseen G-d that had showed the people strength many times over in the past.
 |
| Worshipping Baal on Mt. Carmel |
I think we have seen what happens to a people whose king no longer respects his people's G-dly worship. Judaism was replaced with Baal and reintroduced whenever there was a weakness in the kingly leadership. Baal was ugly. They believed in human sacrifice. Josiah came along just in time to clean house.
Resource; Tanakh, The Stone Edition
The Jewish Press, April 5, 2019
https://www.thetrumpet.com/18864-nathan-melech-found
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
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