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2 Kings 18; 2 Chronicles 28
Of all the five kings after Jeroboam, only one died upon his bed. The history sounds much like this—B murdered A, and reigned in his stead; C murdered B, and reigned in his stead; D murdered C, and reigned in his stead; E murdered D, and reigned in his stead. Jeroboam’s son Zechariah, was, in the first year of his reign, publicly assassinated by one Shallum, who mounted the throne, but occupied it only one little month, being then in his turn slain by Menahem, who of course ostensibly avenged the murder of Zechariah, but who, instead of seating the heir of Jehu’s house upon the throne—and such doubtless existed—sat down in it himself. One locality refused to recognize him; but was treated by him with such ferocious barbarity, as effectually checked all further opposition. It was in this reign that the Assyrians under Pul, first threatened the land of Israel. Menahem well knew his incapacity to cope with a power so formidable. He did not attempt it, but sent a thousand talents of silver to propitiate the invader, and induce him to forego his purpose. Pul, having other important work on hand, took the money, and turned aside for the present, allowing the kingdom a respite, during which Menahem died on his bed, leaving his throne to his son Pekahiah, who, lacking the military experience and fierce energy of his father, was unable to maintain his influence over the army, but was after two years assassinated by Pekah, the chief captain of the war-chariots—a step on which he would hardly have ventured, but in the assurance that the army would sustain him in it.
It was in the reign of this Pekah that both Uzziah and his son Jotham died in Judah. It was in this reign also that the Assyrians, under their new king Tilgath-Pileser, appeared once more with hostile purposes against Israel—purposes not so easily turned aside as those of Pul had been. If the Assyrians regarded Menahem as a tributary prince under their protection, the murder of his son, and the establishment of a new dynasty in the person of the usurper, without their concurrence, may well have supplied to the Assyrians an ostensible casus belli had any been wanted. But it is likely that this great conquering people did not condescend to want or to allege any ground or pretext for their incursions. Tilgath-Pileser seems to have wanted not only the plunder of the country, but the persons of the people— to be sent for the replenishment of his own land, not peopled in proportion to its extent—and to replace, by useful captives, the large drafts upon the industrious population, which their schemes of extensive conquest obliged them to make for military service. Tilgath-Pileser seems, however, contrary to the expectations and fears of the nation, to have satisfied himself with sweeping away the tribes east of the Jordan, and with the possession of all their wealth. His object does not appear to have been territorial acquisition—for he established no hold upon the land he had desolated, but, satiated with the rich plunder and the abundant slaves the east afforded, and perhaps called away from the prosecution of the enterprise by other objects—Pekah was left in undisturbed possession of the western territory.
About this time the kingdom of Damascus, under Rezin, again rises into temporary importance; and the king of Israel, as well as all the neighboring potentates, who have all had occasion to feel their impotence singly against the power of Assyria, hasten to contribute their united help against the common enemy. Damascus was, by its geographical position, in the van of the great conflict, and the common support which was agreed to be rendered to it in this great emergency, accounts for the temporary importance it once more acquires. As for the Israelites, all their hopes of future safety rested upon the opposition which Damascus, thus supported, might be able to offer to the further progress of the Assyrian arms. Judah, however, not having been hitherto molested by the Assyrians, prudently kept itself aloof from this great alliance; and it was this, probably, with other unknown causes, which drew upon it the arms of Rezin and of Pekah, both of whom separately defeated Ahaz in battle, and inflicted great miseries upon the people. Ater his victories, Pekah marched off a great number of prisoners to Samaria; but, amid this history of bloodshed and war, it is pleasant to find that the Israelites were not forgetful of the ancient brotherly covenant between the tribes. Their hearts were smitten at the misery of their brethren, when the unhappy captives appeared under the walls of Samaria; and a prophet named Oded, stood forth, and with the full sanction of public approbation and applause, forbade the king to hold them captive; and Pekah, finding that he expressed the feeling of the princes and people, consented, with good grace, to release them. They were tenderly treated by the Israelites; they were well fed; other clothes were given to replace those which the soldiers had rent from them; they were mounted on asses, and conducted carefully to Jerusalem, where they were delivered up to their countrymen. Such instances of amenities in ancient warfare engage our special sympathy and interest, from the extreme rarity of their occurrence; and they are valuable for the indications which they offer, of the warm undercurrent of true and humane feeling and sympathy, beneath the hard and frozen surface of public strife.
The war, however, went on. The kings of Syria and Israel united their forces, with no less purpose than that of deposing the house of David altogether, and of setting up some obscure person, known only as “Tabeal’s son,” upon whose subserviency they could calculate.
This unwise menace united all parties in Jerusalem in a stout resistance; and, while the besiegers held possession of the open country, the siege was protracted, until matters became so urgent, that Ahaz ventured upon the desperate remedy of applying to the king of Assyria for deliverance. This application was accompanied by professions of homage, and with an offering of the gold and silver of the palace and the temple. Tilgath-Pileser willingly accepted such handsome payment, for doing what he was ready to have done without pay. Marching down upon Damascus, he compelled its king to turn back and attend to his own affairs. Rezin was defeated and slain in battle; and the conqueror took possession of the extinguished kingdom.
Soon after Ahaz proceeded to Damascus to pay his respects to the Assyrian conqueror, to whom he had in fact tendered his submission in the words—“I am thy servant and thy son,” when he applied for aid. The payment of tribute was the price of protection; and the relations of submission were made so heavy and galling, that although thus temporarily relieved, he was rather distressed than strengthened in the result; besides that he incurred much odium by having thus voluntarily rendered himself tributary to Assyria, and subjected his people to the heavy exactions necessary for the payment of the tribute. He had moreover greatly failed, by manifesting so little reliance upon the Divine protection, which had been promised him by the prophet Isaiah.
His visit to Damascus was also otherwise damaging to him. He saw there an elegant altar, and resolved to have one like it in the temple at Jerusalem, to be used for the regular services, while the old brazen altar was set aside for occasional use. The high-priest Urijah did not resist this so far as he ought to have done. But when the king proceeded further, and sought to introduce more distinctly idolatrous matters, he appears to have been resisted; and then he shut up the temple altogether, and set up altars at every corner of Jerusalem, besides establishing high-places for the worship of strange gods in every city. There seems, in fact, to have been no abomination of idolatry into which this infatuated king did not fall. He is even said “to have burned his children in the fire,” in the fatal valley of Ben-Hinnom. He died at last, unlamented by the righteous, and his body was not allowed a place in the sepulchres of the kings.