After the House of David Over Judah

 Nadene Goldfoot                                           

                                         Babylonia

After King Zedekiah was captured and blinded by the Babylonians in 586 BCE (he was imprisoned in Babylon rather than killed), the Kingdom of Judah was completely dismantled and transformed into a Babylonian province. 

The prophet Jeremiah prophesies (625- BCE)  the downfall of Jerusalem to King Zedekiah(597-586 BCE)  (painting by Joseph Stallaert)  To the people, Baal was the principal God of the sky and of fertility, so very important in those days happening in the field and the womb. That's what they had adopted to believe in, along with the  Babylonians

Our prophet, Ezekiel  may have served in the Temple before it's destruction in (586 BCE).  He was exiled  to Tel Abib on the smaller river, Kebar in  Babylonia where he had to live for 22 years.  .  

The Burning of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar's Army by Juan de la Corte

Juan de la Corte (Spanish, 1580-1663), The Burning of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar's Army, 1630-60, oil on canvas, 66 x 112 cm (25.9 x 44.1 in), Fundación Banco Santander, Madrid, Spain (Photo by VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Images) 

                  Destroying the Temple in Jerusalem 

Destruction of Jerusalem: The Babylonian army under Nebuchadnezzar II burned the city of Jerusalem, destroyed Solomon’s Temple, and tore down the city walls in 587/586 BCE or in my Jewish history records (597-586 BCE)  .

Appointment of Gedaliah ben Ahikam,: A  righteous governor  Nebuchadnezzar II appointed a Jewish man named Gedaliah as the military governor to rule over the remaining population from Mizpah.  Assassination of Gedaliah: After only two months, Gedaliah was assassinated by Ishmael, a member of the former royal house, along with his supporters.  

                Babylonians driving Judeans to Babylonia      

    Jeremiah, realizing he also is deported to Babylon  with others

Third Deportation and Flight:

Fearing Babylonian retaliation for Gedaliah’s murder, many remaining Judeans—along with the prophet Jeremiah—fled to Egypt, while a third wave of captives was deported to Babylon in 582 BCE.

                                                     

The Babylonian Exile: The sovereign Kingdom of Judah ceased to exist, beginning the decades-long Babylonian Exile until the rise of the Persian Empire.  The revolt continued, perhaps because there were rumours about political troubles in Babylon. In 589 BCE, the Babylonian armies again marched against the Kingdom of Judah and, after a long siege, took Jerusalem in 586 BCE.                                 

  Babylonia, land of Shinar or the Kasdim (Chaldees)

Nevertheless, the Kingdom of Judah disappeared from the map and the region of Judea (Yehud in Aramaic) was now a province of the Babylonian Empire. 

 Abraham had left his city of Ur on the Euphrates River  which ran North to Babylonia, that wild city full of Baal religionists who worshipped a Bull and believed in  human sacrificing.  He had wanted his descendants to have nothing to do with all this.  That's why he moved to Canaan.  

From Abraham's day, let's say in 1948 BCE he had hoped his move would have a good outcome of morally righteous people. That took place  3,974 or 4,000 years ago. 

Moses was born in 1391 BCE and started off at age 80 trying to share his awareness and connectivity to a moral life, so that was 1,311 + 2026= 3,339 years ago.  Did anyone succeed?  Look at us today.  Who is righteous and who has wronged us?  

The Persian Empire took over the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 539 BCE.  (Like immediately).  It was lost in 586 BCE. 

• Battle of Opis: Persian forces defeated the Babylonian army in September 539 BCE.
Fall of Babylon: Persian troops entered the city of Babylon on October 12, 539 BCE, led by general Gubaru (Gobryas).
Cyrus's Entry: King Cyrus the Great entered the city later that month on October 29, 539 BCE, ending Babylonian independence and absorbing the region into the Achaemenid Empire.  



     The Persian king Cyrus the Great allowed the Jewish people to leave Babylon and return to Jerusalem. This happened 47 to 50 years after losing their Babylonian homes and were  nudged to return to Jerusalem now.  

DANIEL Prophet Of Today's Age, and How It Was Written, Part 3

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                

What do we know of the Biblical Book of Daniel, mentioned in Ezek. 14:14. Ezekiel was a Prophet of the 6th century BCE, and most likely a member of the priestly family of Zadok who served in the Temple before its destruction in 586 BCE. He was also exiled to Babylon before Jews were exiled to Tel Abib on the river Kebar in Babylonia where he prophesied over a period of 22 years (592-570 BCE).

 Daniel was named along with Noah and Job.  He was an ancient sage; is referred to in Ezek. 28:3 (which is the source of the phrase, "A Daniel come to judgment" in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice). 

 They say "Daniel" was also found in an ancient tale discovered in a Ugaritic text as well. Ugaritic texts originate from the ancient city-state of Ugarit, located on the Mediterranean coast of modern-day Syria. Specifically, the texts were discovered at Ras Shamra (the tell of Ugarit) and nearby Ras Ibn Hani. These texts provide valuable insights into the language and culture of the ancient Near East, including aspects of Northwest Semitic religion. 

In our  Tanach (Old Testament), Daniel is listed under "Writings" and is almost at the end, coming after Esther's story.  Daniel was from the tribe of Judah living in exile in Babylon  and lived in  300 BCE.   It's writing about the future !

He has amazing and unusual experiences at the courts of King Nebuchadnezzar , Darius the Mede, and Belshazzar.  Chapters 7-12 are apocalyptic;  the visions relate to ancient times, but the reference seems to be to the 4persecuting kingdoms of Babylonia  Media, Persia and Greece.

They allude to historical events down to the period of Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria (175-163 BCE) whose wicked rule is to be succeeded by the kingdom of heaven.  His visions seems tocome to Judah at the beginning of the  Maccabean revolt ofabout 165 BCE.  The Book of Daniel contains Aramaicwriting of chapters 2:4-7; and 28 which caused a profoundinfluence on subsequent mysticism.  

                          Aramaic, the Bible's 3rd language

Aramaic was the language of the Jews from the 5th century BCE to the 11th century CE. They wrote many of their religious books in it, including the Babylonian Talmud, Targumim, Midrash, and some parts of the Tanakh.  It became the international language used by many people.   Additionally, the Hebrew square script evolved from the Aramaic script in the 2nd century BCE.

Bible's Promised Land To The Jews

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                

The Promised Land in the Bible is the land of Canaan, which is now known as Israel.  God promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit this land.  Yes, Jews are in full knowledge of the Palestinians Arabs being their very distant cousins, as DNA now hints at this.  The Arabs separated from Abraham's family group long ago with Isaac  and Ishmael;  and then again and again.  Arabs began converting to Islam in the 7th century CE. The process of conversion was gradual, with most tribes of the Arabian Peninsula converting to Islam by the time of the prophet Muhammad's death in 632 CE.   During the entire history of Jews in the Promised land, there was no country of Palestine.  They were part of other empires if they continued to live. 

                                                 THE LAND 

17,500 square miles of which 45% is in Transjordan is the total surface of the Promised Land  with frontiers determined in the bible.  The extent of the Promised Land reached the Pelusium arm of the Nile Delta, the gulf of Elath, and the Euphrates River opposite the city of Aleppo in Syria in the East.  It included most of Syria and altogether covered about 58,000 square miles.   This entire area was populated by the Israelites under Kings David and his son after he died, Solomon (I Kings 5:4).  The Israelites were the ancestors of today's Jews, for it it is an inherited group of people who rarely intermarried with others. 

The Promised Land, also known as Canaan, was approximately 300,000 square miles. The Israelites settled in a portion of the Promised Land that was about 10,000 square miles. The total area of the State of Israel today is 22,145 sq.km (8,630 sq. miles), of which 21,671 sq. km is land area. Israel is some 420 km in length and about 115 km across at the widest point. The country is bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the southwest and the Mediterranean Sea to the west.

The land was called Mesopotamia in the beginning.  Mesopotamia was a country in SW Asia and is now called Iraq.  Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq. In the broader sense, the historical region of Mesopotamia also includes parts of present-day Iran, Turkey, Syria and Kuwait.  

It's the land Abraham left behind.  He reached out to live in land located in Assyrian Empire holdings that Nebuchadnezzar ultimately held anyway.

The Sumerians and Akkadians, each originating from different areas, dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of recorded history (c. 3100 BC) to the fall of Babylon in 539 BCE.

When Solomon died in 933 BCE, the 10 northerly tribes of the 12 had split from  the land of Israel over taxes after a revolt led by Jeroboam against King Rehoboam, Solomon's son and successor,  in 933 BCE; land sometimes then called the kingdom of Samaria because Samaria became the capital in about 890 BCE.  Israel had been an empire since Saul was king (about 1030 to 1010 BCE) till 933 BCE, which was about 97 years, when Solomon died.  The kings of Israel were:  Saul, David, Solomon, Jeroboam, Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri or Omri-887-876 BCE, Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehoram, Jehu, Jehoshaz, Johoash, Jeroboam II (785-745 BC; Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, Hoshea (730-721 BCE);  a total of 21 kings over 212 years. 

               Rehoboam, son of Solomon, king of Israel/Judah

At the same time, the Recognized state of Judah, with some of Benjaminites, reorganized with Rehoboam  as king.  Following was Abijam, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Ahaziah, Athalia, Joash, Amaziah, Azariah or Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah (720-692 BCE), Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, Jehoahaz , Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah (597-586 BCE).  It had lasted as a state with 23 kings  for 347 years.  The USA has only been a state for 249 years since 1776.  

Babylon or Babylonia was an ancient state of Western Asia, also known in the Bible as the land of Shinar or of the Kasdim (Chaldees).  This is where Abraham's family came from; Ur of the Chaldeans.   Abraham and his group had migrated to  Eretz Yisrael where he later fought Amraphel, king of Shinar (Gen.14).  Babylon had a bad reputation and Abraham wanted a better culture for his future children. 

336 years later, The Babylonian Nebuchadnezar II (604-561 BCE) inherited the Assyrian Empire.  He had conquered the state of Judah (597, and 586 BCE) and had exiled many Jews to Babylon.  The Jewish king Jehoiachin was king of Israel/Judah at the time.  He was crowned king at age 18 during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem.  he reigned for 3 months and 10 days before capitulating to Nebuchadnezzar. he was then taken to exile in Babylonia, remaining in detention until the accession of Evil-Merodach (561 BCE) when he was released (II kings 24-5);  II Chron.36:8-10).  Official Babylonian records relating to his captivity have been recovered.  

Amel-Marduk succeeded Nebuchadnezzar II as king of Babylon in 562 BCE. However, Amel-Marduk was murdered after two years and replaced by his brother-in-law, Neriglissar.                          

Cyrus II of Persia c. 600 – 530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, and that's where our history of Purim comes in.   Hailing from Persis, he brought the Achaemenid dynasty to power by defeating the Median Empire and embracing all of the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanding vastly and eventually conquering most of West Asia and much of Central Asia to create what would soon become the largest polity in human history at the time. The Achaemenid Empire's largest territorial extent was achieved under Darius the Great, whose rule stretched from Southeast Europe in the west to the Indus River valley in the east.After conquering the Median Empire, Cyrus led the Achaemenids to conquer Lydia and eventually the Neo-Babylonian Empire.

Ancient Near East prior to the invasion of Babylon by Cyrus the Great of Persian Empire

The Babylonian captivity initiated by Nebuchadnezzar came to an end with the fall of Babylon to the Achaemenid king Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE. Within a year of their liberation, some exiled Jews returned to their homeland. Their liberation did little to erase the memory of five decades of imprisonment and oppression. Instead, Jewish literary accounts ensured that accounts of the hardship endured by the Jews, as well as of the monarch responsible for it, would be remembered for all time. The Book of Jeremiah calls Nebuchadnezzar a "lion" and a "destroyer of nations".

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

Tanakh, Stone Edition (Bible)

https://biblemapper.com/blog/index.php/2022/12/18/borders-of-the-promised-land/

Why Soloman Built The Temple

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                 

 Solomon's royal court and house of Israel were built up with oriental magnificence, and sumptuous buildings housed the royal family and harem that consisted of 1,000 wives and concubines. To keep the peace with nations, he married their daughters.  It worked.

  

When King Solomon ruled Israel, the country was made up of the tribes of Judah   and Simeon and the northern tribes, which included Benjamin, Reuben,  Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Ephraim, and half of Manasseh.  The tribes of Israel were named after the sons and grandsons of Jacob, who was renamed Israel after wrestling with an angel of the Lord. The tribes settled in different regions of the Land of Canaan on either side of the Jordan River. Jacob had to earn the name of Israel in this manner.  

When God changed Jacob's name to Israel, it meant "let God prevail" or "one who prevails with God". The name change was a sign that Jacob had changed and was now seeking God instead of relying on deception. Deuteronomy 18: Predicts that the Lord would raise up a prophet like Moses from among the people, and that people should listen to him. The prophet would speak for God, mediating between God and the people. Deuteronomy 18:20: Warns that false prophets would speak presumptuously in God's name, saying things that God had not commanded them to say.  You can widen this and take it that Israel is not a kingdom of deception, but relies on telling the truth.  

King Solomon (961-920 BCE) of tribe of Judah , son of King David and Bathsheba (1000-960 BCE of the tribe of Judah, with David, youngest son of Jesse, born in Bethlehem) , was also king of Israel, and Solomon built the Temple.  David at age 25 had the job of armor-bearer of King Saul (1st king of Israel, son of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin.  

Therefore, Solomon was the 3rd in the line of kings, and took on the responsibility to do this.  Solomon did not have to fight off enemies like his father, David, did.  He lived a safer life, giving him the opportunity to fulfill God's promise to David, and to serve as a place of worship, prayer, and reconciliation for the people of Israel: 2 Samuel 7:  God promised David that his son would build a house for the Lord and that his kingdom would be established forever.1 Chronicles 28:  David gave his son Solomon plans for the temple, including how to divide the priests and Levites, how to use the objects in the temple, and how much gold and silver to use for each item. David also told Solomon to be strong and courageous, and that God would not fail him. 1 Chronicles 29:  David provided resources for the temple's construction, including gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and precious stones.

The Temple of Solomon was built around 990–931 BCE on the spot where God created Adam. It was destroyed 400 years later and replaced by the Second Temple. The site of the temple is considered a holy place by Jews, Muslims, and Christians.  

The Temple was destroyed in 586 BCE by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia (605-562 BCE).  What had happened to cause them to do this was that the Judeanshad revolted in 597, so Neb. dispatched contingents which captured Jerusalem, andhad replaced young King Jehoiachin with his choice of Zedekiah, and exiled 8,,000of the head Judean aristocracy to Babylon. 

 8 years later, Zedekiah rebelled which ledto 586 BCE's takeover, and destroying the Temple.  laying waste to cities and exilingmasses of the population.  The king was taken to Riblah, where Neb. had Zedekiah killed.

All people of this day had Temples to their gods.  The Canaanites had tripartite temples discovered in digs in Lachish, Bet-Shean, etc. A tripartite temple is a temple with a tripartite plan, which means it has a long rectangular central hall with rooms on either side. The White Temple of Uruk in ancient Sumer is an example of a tripartite temple. A close replica is the one found in Syria near a royal palace of the 9th to 8th century BCE. 

Solomon's Temple was used as a shrine for the Ark of the Covenant.  the sacred vessels, and offerings, with a court for worshippers.  It consisted of a hall, shrine, and inner sanctum called the "holy of holies" which do not exist among oriental shrines.

The Temple was rebuilt from 538 to 515 BCE and called the 2nd Temple of Solomon.  According to the Bible, Zerubbabel led the Jews of Babylon back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple, as authorized by the Persian King Cyrus the Great in 538  BCE; he was appointed as the governor of Judah and oversaw the construction of the Second Temple.  Zerubbabel was the grandson of King  Jehoiachin (reigned from 597-BCE at age 18, during Babylonian siege of Jerusalem)  one of the 1st Jews to return to Judah from Babylon. 

Ezra tells us that he was a bodyguard of King Darius I (522-486 BCE) who had inherited the Persian throne of Cyrus from whom he had permission to rebuild Jerusalem, which conflicts with other biblical accounts. Zerubbabel is associated with the political revivals in Judah in Darius' reign; was the  last satrap of Davidic descent in Jerusalem and after his time, the high priest had influence, a consequence of Persian apprehension concerning the  renewal of the Davidic dynasty.  Some think he was recalled to Persia.   Jews feel that Cyrus was son of Queen Esther and King Ahasueros, and Darius was their grandson.   

Non-Jewish history has this:  In the lands that were conquered by his empire, Darius followed the same Achaemenid tolerance that Cyrus had shown and later Achaemenid kings would show. He supported faiths and religions that were "alien" as long as the adherents were "submissive and peaceable", sometimes giving them grants from his treasury for their purposes. He had funded the restoration of the Israelite temple which had originally been decreed by Cyrus, was supportive towards Greek cults which can be seen in his letter to Gadatas, and supported Elamite priests. He had also observed Egyptian religious rites related to kingship and had built the temple for the Egyptian god, Amun.                                                              

Arch of Titus records the event in Rome of the Judean captives forced to carry the Temple loot for the Romans.  

During the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, the Temple was used as a center of military activity and was destroyed by the conquering Romans in 70 CE after brutalizing the Jewish population physically and by starving them to death, but even so, some managed to escape. A Roman Temple was later built on the site, and since the Moslem Period, a mosque has stood there in its place, the Mosque of Omar.    

                                    Dome of the Rock and foreground is the mosque

The Second Temple of Solomon is believed to be located on Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque are now located. The Second Temple was a Jewish place of worship from 520 BC to 70 AD, when it was destroyed by Roman soldiers.              

  On right side is the the main remaining structure from the Second Temple which is the Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall or the Kotel. This is a remnant of the Second Temple courtyard and is considered the holiest site in Judaism. 

The exact location of Solomon's Temple is unknown, but it's believed to have been on the same hill as the Second Temple. According to the Bible, Solomon's Temple was built on Mount Moriah, where an angel of God appeared to David. 

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia