Israel's Danger By Becoming Vassal Of Big Brother Nation

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                      

           Assyrian Empire in 650 BCE-the deep gold color                                                                       

    Judah, the tiny state,  became a vassal of Assyria,  the large empire.  

Ahaz, king of Judah, son of King Jotham, ruled from 735 BCE to 720 BCE.  They were attacked by the northern Kingdom of Israel and Syria at the time when the Edomites and Philistines were attacking his southern territory. In desperation, he asked Assyria for assistance and they invaded Syria and Israel  even though the prophet Isaiah told him not to ask them.  This caused Judah to become a vassal of Assyria and were also subjected to Assyrian idolatry, which they were very much against.  Becoming a vassal has its problems, all right, owing a lot to the larger and stronger country. 

By 721, Assyria swept in again and attacked, exiling 27,290 of the best people with them to Assyria after gaining Samaria in a battle.  Sargon, king of Assyria(721-712 BCE)  was the leader of this attack.  

As it so happened, when Solomon, king of Israel, son of David and Bathsheba,  died in 920 BCE, he left his people anxious to stop paying his very high taxes now that he was dead.  The taxes went into paying for the Temple that Solomon had promised to finish.  

Solomon, known to be such a wise king, was also powerful, leaving his realm extending from Egypt to the Euphrates.  It was the nation of producing the most, so very active.  In the cultural sphere, the arts of historiography, parable and elegant writing were developed as well as several biblical works such as Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Psalm 72, 

  Becoming a vassal has its problems, all right, owing a lot to the larger and stronger country. 

But the nation of Israel had split in half with a Civil War over the taxing which included work for several months without pay.  The 10  northern tribes separated from Judah who selected  Rehoboam (933-917 BCE) as Solomon's successor.  He was Solomon's son by Naamah, his Ammonite wife.  He refused to accede to a popular demand for relief from taxation.  Simeon and most of Benjamin remained loyal to him.  Shishak of Egypt took the opportunity  to invade the country and plunder the Temple, which was in Judah.  

At the same time, the North needed a king as well, so they chose Jeroboam (933-910 BCE). He was the superintendent of forced labor during Solomon's days from the tribe of Ephraim. He had led the revolt against Rehoboam and was forced to find refuge in Egypt.  Jeroboam selected Shechem as his first capital but had to move to Penuel in Transjordan and then to Tirzah.  5 years later, Egypt attacked 60 towns in northern Israel.  To combat the influence of popularity of the Temple, he set up new shrines at Bethel and Dan around golden calves.  He knew nothing of Israel's destiny and history.

This is why 11 kings later, Ahaz of Judah needed help fighting Israel, their own former cousins.  Pekah was Israel's king then from 735 to 730 BCE. Pekah was possibly of Gileadite origin, and had been the captain of his predecessor, King Pekahiah, whom he killed after a conspiracy, taking his throne.  His ally was Rezin of Aram-Dammesek (Syria)  and attacked Judah. They were successful, but this led to Ahaz of Judah getting help from Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria.  He invaded  their allied kingdom and abolished Syria as a state, then stripped Israel of Galilee and Gilead.  In the end, Pekah was murdered by Hoshea, the last ruler of Israel (732-724 BCE). Hoshea had taken the throne with Assyrian help and had a kingdom confined to the surroundings of Mt. Ephraim.  Finally, even he rebelled against the Assyrians, only to be imprisoned for it by Shalmaneser who then besieged and captured Samaria.   According to Biblical records, Hoshea had reigned for 20 years, but it doesn't reconcile with Assyrian records.  Our Jewish records are known for telling the truth, even if it puts us in a bad light, so I'll take the Bible records anytime.  Other countries have the reputation of wanting to make themselves look good, which Egypt was known to do.                               

The repeating of history I see is how Israel of today is beholding to the USA.  Israel is playing the part of being a vassal of the USA.  This attack on Gaza right now, with Israel being in the 19th day of the war, and is held up in entering Gaza by the USA's wishes shows our dependency on our one friend in this whole world. Right now they are busy protecting their own assets of men and their war machines.  They are also pushing to find all their civilians kidnapped by Hamas that are being held, most likely in their tunnels to satisfy their own American citizens. The soldiers have been gathered up and have been waiting; training during this wait.                 

Iron Dome is an Israeli mobile all-weather air defense system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems  and Israel Aerospace Industries.

We may not have the iron dome today had it not been for the USA who get credit for it, too.  Why did we need the Iron Dome?  Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, fired rockets into northern Israeli population centers in the 1990s, posing a security challenge for the Israel Defense Forces. Israel had floated the idea of its own short-range antimissile system, but U.S. defense officials cautioned that it would be "doomed to fail." 

During the 2006 Second Lebanon War, approximately 4,000 Hezbollah-fired rockets (the great majority of which were short-range Katyusha rockets) landed in northern Israel, including on Haifa, the country's third largest city. The rocket barrage killed 44 Israeli civilians and caused some 250,000 Israeli citizens to evacuate and relocate to other parts of Israel while an estimated 1 million Israelis were confined in or near bomb shelters during the conflict.

On 17 May 2012, when Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, the Pentagon issued a statement from the Secretary saying in part, "I was pleased to inform Minister Barak that the President supports Israel's Iron Dome system and directed me to fill the $70 million in assistance for Iron Dome that Minister Barak indicated to me Israel needs this fiscal year."

On 18 May 2012, the House of Representatives passed the Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, H.R. 4310, with $680 million for Iron Dome in Section 227. The report accompanying the bill, 112–479, also calls for technology sharing as well as co-production of Iron Dome in the United States in light of the nearly $900 million invested in the system since 2011.  

    Americans visiting family in Israel;  what a picnic they had planned for.  

The civilians could amount to quite a few Muslim Americans who were visiting relatives;  part of the Muslim population.  A few could be Jewish Americans, like those who came for the Music Festival among those 1,400 who were butchered, from communities along the border of Gaza. 

Of course, we all think of history repeats with Haman of Persia who was the Chief minister of Ahasuerus, king of Persia,  wanting to kill all Jews in the Empire and had actually started.  Hitler repeated that goal, almost.  If it wasn't for the Allies, Hitler may have succeeded. 

                         Truman with Jacobson, his partner 

Those under President Truman of USA didn't back Israel's creation, but Truman was the 1st to do so. He had had a Jewish partner in the haberdashery business  that had made an important  impression on him. Truman and Eddie Jacobson opened their clothing store on November 28, 1919.  If Truman had listened to his advisors, there may not be an Israel today. 

Edited Title: 10/30/23

Resource;
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia     

Judah when Assyrians Carried Away the 10 Northern Tribes

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                      

Jacob was the father of 12 tribes of which 10 of them had settled in the northern part of Israel.  2 of them were in the southern part;  Judah, which was the largest with a population of 76,500 during the 2nd and last census going into Canaan, and Benjamin, the smallest with 45,600.

                                                 

          Assyrians leading away the 10 northern tribes.  

The Assyrians attacked in 721 BCE and took away several thousand of the best of the 10 northern tribal members. According to Assyrian records, 27,290 Hebrews were taken into that captivity. Judeans never heard from them again.  They've been referred to as the 10 Lost Tribes.  What was Judah doing at the time?  About the only way of communication was runners, or sounding of the Shofar.  What had been going on?

We know that in 921 BCE King Solomon of the tribe of Judah had died, and his son, Rehoboam took the throne in 933 BCE.  He was not popular as he continued the taxes his father had issued, and there was a rebellion with something like a Civil War.  The North had separated from the South, and Judah was separated from the North, who kept the name, Israel.  

The North commenced to elect their king as Jeroboam, who was from the tribe of Ephraim and had been the superintendent of forced labor during the reign of Solomon.  Later, he led the revolt against the burden imposed on the people, the taxes,  by the monarchy.  When Solomon died, he led a delegation representing the northern Israelite tribes which met Rehoboam of Judah at Shechem, demanding changes in the system of taxation and forced labor.  The request was refused and their independence was declared and Jeroboam had become the king.

200 years later, the Assyrians attacked.  Ahaz, son of Jotham, was still king of Judah, having served from 735 BCE.  His kingdom was attacked by Israel and Syria, while the Edomites and Philistines harried his southern territory.  Despite the opposition of the prophet, Isaiah, Ahaz asked for aid from Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria, who of course, invaded Syria and Israel in 733 BCE.  Judah, however, became an Assyrian vassal and was also subjected by Assyria to Assyrian idolatry. By 721 BCE, the Assyrians had taken away the 10 northern Tribes.  720 BCE Ahaz had died.                                       

   

                                              

Most of the world's 2-4 million Assyrians live around their traditional homeland, which comprises parts of northern Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. In recent years, many have fled to neighboring countries to escape persecution from both Sunni and Shiite militias during the Iraq War and, most recently, by ISIS.

King Hezekiah was just the prince in 721 BCE when Assyria took his cousins.  He was the replacement of his father, Ahaz in 720 BCE.  He aimed to break the country's dependence on Assyria.  To this end, he freed religious worship from Assyrian influence, purged the palace and Temple of images and pagan altars, and renewed the pure monotheistic religion.  These reforms were supported by the prophets, especially Isaiah who wielded great influence in affairs of state.

Hezekiah allied himself with neighboring rulers, fortified Jerusalem, and constructed the SILOAM tunnel to improve is water supply.  

Hezekiah faced Assyria's army in 701 BCE when King Sennacherib and his army invaded Judah, calling on Hezekiah to surrender.  The Egyptians challenged his rear.  Assyria invaded but did not occupy Jerusalem. Instead, Hezekiah was forced to pay a large indemnity and cede 43 cities.  After Sennacherib returned home, Hezekiah recaptured these towns from the Philistines to whom they had been consigned.  Hezekiah was king until 692 BCE.  According to Kings 19:35-37, Sennacherib attacked Judah a 2nd time, but then had to leave because of a plague in his camp.  

The Babylonians took over the Assyrian baton and land and people 104 years later in 597 BCE and again 11 years later in 586 BCE and took away many of the Judeans to Babylonia. It has been estimated that some 70,000 Jews were taken to Babylon during these campaigns (and this doubtless included some of those of the northern kingdom who had remained in Canaan). They were held for 70 years until told they could return to Judah.  

Perhaps the lesson here is that the separation of the tribes was the kiss of Israel becoming weaker, weak enough for larger empires to overtake them.  Strength comes with unity.  

There is a tradition among the Pashtuns of being descended from the exiled lost tribes of Israel. This tradition was referenced in 19th-century Western scholarship and was also incorporated in the "Lost Tribes" literature popular at the time (notably George Moore's The Lost Tribes of 1861). Recently (2000s), interest in the topic has been revived by Jerusalem anthropologist Shalva Weil, who was quoted in the popular press to the effect that "Taliban may be descended from Jews".

The traditions surrounding the Pashtuns being remote descendants of the "Lost Tribes of Israel" is to be distinguished from the historical presence of the Jewish community in eastern Afghanistan which flourished from about the 7th century to the early 20th century, but has essentially disappeared due to its emigration to Israel since the 1950s.

                                                  

Taliban fighters in Laghman Province in March 2020. The group is resurgent as the US leaves.  The Taliban were removed from power in Afghanistan by US-led forces in 2001, but the group has gradually regained strength since and is seizing territory again.  They are killing their own people.  They may also be of the Pashtun tribes, but are not following their culture or ethics; have gone wild and are just a killing force of anyone not just like them.  

The Taliban or Taleban, who refer to themselves as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamist movement and military organization in Afghanistan, currently waging war within the country. Since 2016, the Taliban's leader has been Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada.

Resource;

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_captivity

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-11451718

https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/1322-what-happened-to-the-ten-lost-tribes