The And The Arab Inhabitants Of Judea Were Going Through Before The Babylonian Exile

After conquering northern Israel in 722 B.C.E., the Assyrians engendered centuries of political intrigue and laid the foundation for future unscrupulous kingdoms and idolatrous people.1 Once the Babylonian empire overthrew Josiah, the King of Judah, Habakkuk began to compose a prophetic book, questioning the ways of God. Above all, Habakkuk could not comprehend why “the evil circumvented the just”2; he thought that the impiety of the world did not correlate with a supposedly just God.3 Throughout his narrative, this biblical prophet came to understand that “the just man, because of his faith, shall live” (Hb 2,4). Eventually discovering that righteousness and faith in God lead to justice, Habakkuk cried out to the people of Judah through

While the Israelites originated in Mesopotamia then lived as slaves in Egypt, before escaping. The Mesopotamians had a much gloomier outlook on life after death. Despite Mesopotamian and Egyptian differences, both of these cultures were polytheistic, meaning they believed in multiple gods (course readings, section 3). This was different than the Hebrew people, who settled in the land between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Judaism believed in one god and one god only. In Egypt and Mesopotamia, the numerous gods behaved like humans. Humans understood the gods; they just couldn’t control them. The Judaic god was all-powerful. Everything was part of God’s plan, Humans had to keep faith and follow the laws that God laid down.

Jesus in Mathew 23, spoke to the Pharisee about judgment, culminating in the seven “woe” statement. On leaving the temple in chapter 24, the disciples called his attention to the buildings on the temple mount. Jesus in verse 2, tells them forthrightly that “not one stone here will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down.” A prophecy fulfilled in 70AD when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem. The magnificent Temple was destroyed.

Reflecting back to the Bible during the time of captivity, the spiritual condition of the people had mixed results. Many of them rebuked God and idolized other gods to help them restore their lives. The Israelites also fell into spiritual slothfulness and disobeyed the laws of marriage and their loyalty to God. However, some rejoiced, “The sons of Israel who returned from exile and all those who had separated themselves from the impurity of the nations of the land to join them, to seek the Lord God of Israel, ate the Passover. And they observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had caused them to rejoice, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to encourage them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel” (Ezra 6:21-22). Then many fell from God’s realm and didn’t trust what was in store for them so they did not want to leave the place they were once captive, so they became part of the community.

The surrounding nations had an influence on the people of Israel and this was not pleasing to God. They wanted a king. They wanted to be like other nations and have a leaded. A king they could see.

Knowing the historical context of a work is crucial to understanding both its general meaning and its deeper essence. Often times, authors use their works as outlets to freely express their personal feelings toward a social trend or issue. As such, the time in which a story is written can have a strong influence on the message the author is trying to convey to his or her reader. Their personal reflections can be asserted in many ways; among the most common being through the characters themselves and their development throughout the work, the setting, and the implied themes.

The prophets Ezekiel and Deutero-Isaiah believed that Yahweh had used the Babylonian Empire to punish the Israelites for their sins, and he therefore had the power to redeem them from captivity if they repented. The Babylonian exiles' messianic hope for a restored Judean kingdom under the leadership of a scion of the royal house of David seemed to have been justified when Cyrus the Great, after conquering Babylon in 539 BC, permitted a repatriation of subject populations and a restoration of local temples. The restored Judean commonwealth did not fully realize this hope, however, because the Persians did not allow the reestablishment of a Judean monarchy, but only a temple-state with the high priest as its chief administrator. A truly monotheistic religion developed as the God of Israel came to be seen as the God ruling universal history and the destiny of all nations (Rich 2).

The Jewish religion makes Israel’s culture in 722 B.C. - 540 B.C. distinctive. Israel’s religion is important in the fact that it started the Catholic culture. Though most Christians do not do the same things the Jews did back then, the bases for their beliefs and ideas came from the Jews. The Israelites’ way of life was influenced by their religion. They maintained their faith even when they were being exiled. Their work, customs, laws, and other things were all influenced by their Jewish religion. The geography of Southern Israel was also important in the way that the location affected their way of life and work. These folkways and work are important since their religion influenced them. Religion was their structure of life.

Jeremiah was one of the few who challenged the orthodoxy of Zionist theology. With his Temple sermon he condemned the people for being immoral and because of this nothing could save them not even the temple that was so sacred to them. Another reason was that the temple was held as superstition. Almost as a certain security because theology claimed that Yahweh dwelt in the temple and as long as he was there nothing bad could happen to Israel. But as Jeremiah countered only such securities could come from their faith. In this sermon Jeremiah was pitting Mosaic traditions against Zionist-Davidic theology. After the priests and heard of this condemnation they pressed the king to have him executed. Instead he was barred form entering the temple.

He removed the righteousHigh Priest, Yochanan, from the Temple in Jerusalem, and in his place installed Yochanan'sbrother Joshua, who loved to call himself by the Greek name of Jason.For he was a member of the idol-worshiper party, and he used his high office to spread more andmore of the Greek customs among the priesthood. Jason was later replaced by another man,Menelaus, who had promised the king that he would bring in more money than Jason made.When Yochanan, the former High Priest, protested the spread of the idol-worshiper's influence inthe Holy Temple, the ruling High Priest hired murderers to assassinate him. Antiochus was atthat time engaged in a successful war against Egypt. But messengers from Rome arrived andcommanded him to stop the war, and he had to yield. Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, a rumor spreadthat a serious accident had befallen Antiochus. Thinking that he was dead, the people rebelledagainst Menelaus.The treacherous High Priest fled together with his friends. Antiochus returned from Egyptenraged by Roman interference with his ambitions. When he heard, what had taken place inJerusalem, he ordered his army to fall upon the Jews. Thousands of Jews were killed. Antiochusthen enacted a series of harsh decrees against the Jews. Jewish worship was forbidden; the scrollsof the Law were confiscated and burned. Sabbath rest, circumcision and the dietary laws wereprohibited under penalty of death. Even one of the respected elders of that generation, RabbiEliezer, a man of 90, was ordered by the servants of Antiochus to eat pork so that others woulddo the same. When he refused, they suggested to him that he pick up the meat to his lips toappear to be eating. But Rabbi Eliezer refused to do even that and was put to death.Antiochus's men went from town to town and from village to village to force the

I traveled to a dangerous time, a time when war impacted greatly to their empire. In fact the Assyrians were apart of a lot of wars. “Why were Assyrians in part of so many wars”. Students would ask. Well it’s because The Assyrians were powerful and known to have a ruthless army. When i traveled there Assyrian people would tell me that was the biggest army they had ever seen. That being said Assyrian people felt safe in the walls of the empire. Also you must understand that during the time period Christ and God was not as old as it is today, Making them believe that if they disobeyed the Lord he would allow their lands to be carried away

1-6). They were sent home with many possessions by Joshua (v. 7-9). When the Transjordan tribes returned, they erected a grandiose altar by the Jordan River (v. 10). The other nine-and-a-half tribes heard about it, and assumed that they had turned away from God (v. 11). Israel then decided to wage a war against them because of their perceived apostasy (v. 12-15).

Unlike the other two major religions Judaism evolved form the Israelites who didn't deny the existence of other gods for other nations, though they only worshipped one deity. Its deity was Yahweh, the god of the patriarchs, who was worshipped in a sacrificial cult centered in Jerusalem and later at sanctuaries in the north, where a rival Jewish kingdom was formed. Prophets who warned against the people's reliance on these temple cults saw themselves vindicated when both the northern and southern kingdoms were destroyed by foreign conquerors. The exile of the Judeans to Babylonia in 586 BC was a major turning point in Israelite religion. The prior history of Israel now was reinterpreted

I think there is the author’s certain bias in favor of the Southern Kingdom, Judah, because it lasted longer as an independent kingdom. Judah was more faithful, so the God helped

The Book of Judges talks about ancient Israel, and how they extended their territory by acquiring lands from the non-Israelites. The book narrates how Israelites conquered and reclaimed their lost land from non-Israelites and how they used to turn from God whenever they are satisfied. But it is written in the Bible that, the guilty are by no means cleared, as Exodus (34:7) says this is the reason why the Lord used several Kings and Judges like Deborah to help the people of Israel find their way back to Him. As the book reveals, it is evident that most of the judges were men (as they were most of the times referred to as Judges). The book talks about a great woman Deborah, also referred to as the “bee”, as a key judge in the entire book. This book unveils the importance of women (through acts and strengths of Deborah (mainly) and other heroic female characters) and their power to the readers.