A Good Start, but What about the Finish?

A look in the books of history of those given the opportunity of governing the Israelite 12
Tribal Nation will reveal terrifying truths that one can’t help but to wonder how could our
ancestors treat Yah our power in the way that they did; direct apostasy and rebellion.

Let us look back in the biblical record of our past and see what went wrong. We do not
want any repeats that lead to the children of Israel being rejected again, or shall we say,
maybe you being left out from Yah’s presence!

Ever since Yah heard and granted the Children of Israel’s request to have a man over them
at Ramah, there has been an up and down relationship in the quality of leadership
performed by the role of men as King.

This study will snatch the covers off of the accomplishment’s and the crimes committed by
the Kings of Israel and Judah. We may find to our surprise that things haven’t changed
much since the days of our fathers; total rebellion!

So we see, that early on the Children of Israel got tired of Yah being their King, and was
somewhat afraid of the presence of Yah when He came, please read;

Deuteronomy 5:23-27

23
All of you approached me with your tribal leaders and elders when you heard the
voice from the darkness and while the mountain was blazing with fire. 24 You
said, 'Look, Yah our God has shown us His glory and greatness, and we have heard
His voice from the fire. Today we have seen that Yah speaks with a person, yet he
still lives. 25 But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us and we will
die if we hear the voice of Yah our God any longer. 26 For who out of all mankind
has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the fire, as we have,
and lived? 27 Go near and listen to everything Yah our God says. Then you can tell
us everything Yah our God tells you; we will listen and obey. (A) '

Cross references:

A. Deuteronomy 5:27 : Ex 20:18-21;

1
Exodusdus 20:19

19
"You speak to us, and we will listen," they said to Moses, "but don't let Yah speak
to us, or we will die." (A)

Cross references:

A. Exodusdus 20:19 : Dt 5:25;, 27

Now that we are able to see hindsight 20/20, and if we think about the actions of
our ancestors, it seems that we had a habit that when we knew that Yah or His
representative was present and watching, we stayed somewhat compliant with
Yah’s commandments. Once the physical presence of Yah or His representative
was out of sight, many times the Children of Israel did evil. A good example is
when Moses went to get the Ten Commandments;

Exodusdus 32:7
And Yah said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for your people, which you brought out of
the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

So no wonder our people would rather have a King and not Yah; they knew it was
certain death to be in Yah’s presence acting a fool and sinning, so now all of a
sudden we have a request for a King;

1 Samuel 8

Israel Requests a King

1
As Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel. 2 Joel and
Abijah, his oldest sons, held court in Beersheba. 3 But they were not like their
father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted
justice.
4
Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. 5
“Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a
king to judge us like all the other nations have.”
6
Samuel was displeased with their request and went to Yah for guidance. 7 “Do
everything they say to you,” Yah replied, “for it is me they are rejecting, not you.
They don’t want me to be their king any longer. 8 Ever since I brought
them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other
gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment.

2
9
Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over
them.”

Samuel Warns against a Kingdom

10
So Samuel passed on Yah’s warning to the people who were asking him for a
king. 11 “This is how a king will reign over you,” Samuel said. “The king will draft
your sons and assign them to his chariots and his charioteers, making them run
before his chariots. 12 Some will be generals and captains in his army,[a] some will
be forced to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, and some will make his
weapons and chariot equipment.
13
The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and
make perfumes for him. 14 He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards
and olive groves and give them to his own officials. 15 He will take a tenth of your
grain and your grape harvest and distribute it among his officers and attendants.
16
He will take your male and female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle[b]
and donkeys for his own use. 17 He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you will
be his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are
demanding, but then Yah will not help you.”
19
But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a
king,” they said. 20 “We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will
judge us and lead us into battle.”
21
So Samuel repeated to Yah what the people had said, 22 and Yah replied, “Do as
they say, and give them a king.” Then Samuel agreed and sent the people home.

If we are to question our ancestor’s behavior, then we must see what they did and
how it leads to our nation being punished by Yah. Why did the establishment of a
king for Israel and Judah end up hurting us?

Also of great importance is the example of leadership that these Kings of Judah and
Israel exercised. Did these earthly leaders cause the Nation to sin, or do
righteousness?

A Warning from Moses:

Deuteronomy 31:29
For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside
from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter
days; because ye will do evil in the sight of Yah, to provoke him to anger through
the work of your hands.

3
Deuteronomy 4:25 (New Living Translation)

25
“In the future, when you have children and grandchildren and have lived in the
land a long time, do not corrupt yourselves by making idols of any kind. This is evil
in the sight of Yah your God and will arouse his anger.

26
“Today I call on heaven and earth as witnesses against you. If you break my
covenant, you will quickly disappear from the land you are crossing the Jordan to
occupy. You will live there only a short time; then you will be utterly
destroyed. 27 For Yah will scatter you among the nations, where only a few of you
will survive. 28 There, in a foreign land, you will worship idols made from wood and
stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. 29 But from there you
will search again for Yah your God. And if you search for him with all your heart
and soul, you will find him.

We see that Yah’s promise spoken about; quoting from above, “You will live
there only a short time” came to pass. It is explained and now understood that
we were going into a very brutal slavery were our kings did many things evil in the
sight of Yah of Hosts. Our kings at times paid tribute or a tax to people of nations
that conquered us, and many times took on their customs and gods against the
Savior of Israel; Yah of Hosts. We find that the following book helps the reader to
keep in mind just what our forefathers lived through and set up for us ongoing
conditions to live in, please read;

1 Maccabees

1Mac.1
[1] After Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian, who came from the land of Kittim, had defeated Darius, king of
the Persians and the Medes, he succeeded him as king. (He had previously become king of Greece.)
[2] He fought many battles, conquered strongholds, and put to death the kings of the earth.
[3] He advanced to the ends of the earth, and plundered many nations. When the earth became quiet before
him, he was exalted, and his heart was lifted up.
[4] He gathered a very strong army and ruled over countries, nations, and princes, and they became tributary to
him.
[5]

After this he fell sick and perceived that he was dying.

[6] So he summoned his most honored officers, who had been brought up with him from youth, and divided his
kingdom among them while he was still alive.

4
[7] And after Alexander had reigned twelve years, he died.
[8]

Then his officers began to rule, each in his own place.

[9] They all put on crowns after his death, and so did their sons after them for many years; and they caused many
evils on the earth.
[10]

From them came forth a sinful root, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the king; he had been a
hostage in Rome. He began to reign in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the
Greeks.

[11]

In those days lawless men came forth from Israel, and misled many, saying, "Let us go and make a
covenant with the Gentiles round about us, for since we separated from them many evils have come
upon us."

[12] This proposal pleased them,

[13] and some of the people eagerly went to the king. He authorized them to observe the ordinances of the
Gentiles.
[14] So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, according to Gentile custom,
[15] and removed the marks of circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant. They joined with the Gentiles
and sold themselves to do evil.
[16]

When Antiochus saw that his kingdom was established, he determined to become king of the land of
Egypt, that he might reign over both kingdoms.

[17] So he invaded Egypt with a strong force, with chariots and elephants and cavalry and with a large fleet.
[18] He engaged Ptolemy king of Egypt in battle, and Ptolemy turned and fled before him, and many were
wounded and fell.
[19] And they captured the fortified cities in the land of Egypt, and he plundered the land of Egypt.
[20]

After subduing Egypt, Antiochus returned in the one hundred and forty-third year. He went up against
Israel and came to Jerusalem with a strong force.

5
[21] He arrogantly entered the sanctuary and took the golden altar, the lampstand for the light, and all its
utensils.
[22] He took also the table for the bread of the Presence, the cups for drink offerings, the bowls, the golden
censers, the curtain, the crowns, and the gold decoration on the front of the temple; he stripped it all off.
[23] He took the silver and the gold, and the costly vessels; he took also the hidden treasures which he found.
[24] Taking them all, he departed to his own land. He committed deeds of murder,
and spoke with great arrogance.
[25] Israel mourned deeply in every community,
[26] rulers and elders groaned,
maidens and young men became faint,
the beauty of women faded.
[27] Every bridegroom took up the lament;
she who sat in the bridal chamber was mourning.
[28] Even the land shook for its inhabitants,
and all the house of Jacob was clothed with shame.
[29]

Two years later the king sent to the cities of Judah a chief collector of tribute, and he came to Jerusalem
with a large force.

[30] Deceitfully he spoke peaceable words to them, and they believed him; but he suddenly fell upon the city,
dealt it a severe blow, and destroyed many people of Israel.
[31] He plundered the city, burned it with fire, and tore down its houses and its surrounding walls.
[32] And they took captive the women and children, and seized the cattle.
[33] Then they fortified the city of David with a great strong wall and strong towers, and it became their citadel.
[34] And they stationed there a sinful people, lawless men. These strengthened their position;
[35] they stored up arms and food, and collecting the spoils of Jerusalem they stored them there, and became a
great snare.
[36] It became an ambush against the sanctuary,
an evil adversary of Israel continually.
[37] On every side of the sanctuary they shed innocent blood;
they even defiled the sanctuary.
[38] Because of them the residents of Jerusalem fled;
she became a dwelling of strangers;
she became strange to her offspring,
and her children forsook her.
[39] Her sanctuary became desolate as a desert;
her feasts were turned into mourning,
her sabbaths into a reproach,
her honor into contempt.

6
[40] Her dishonor now grew as great as her glory;
her exaltation was turned into mourning.
[41]

Then the king wrote to his whole kingdom that all should be one people,

[42] and that each should give up his customs.

[43] All the Gentiles accepted the command of the king. Many even from Israel gladly adopted his religion; they
sacrificed to idols and profaned the sabbath.
[44] And the king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah; he directed them to follow
customs strange to the land,
[45] to forbid burnt offerings and sacrifices and drink offerings in the sanctuary, to profane sabbaths and
feasts,
[46] to defile the sanctuary and the priests,
[47] to build altars and sacred precincts and shrines for idols, to sacrifice swine and unclean animals,
[48] and to leave their sons uncircumcised. They were to make themselves abominable by everything unclean
and profane,
[49] so that they should forget the law and change all the ordinances.
[50] "And whoever does not obey the command of the king shall die."
[51]

In such words he wrote to his whole kingdom. And he appointed inspectors over all the people and
commanded the cities of Judah to offer sacrifice, city by city.

[52] Many of the people, every one who forsook the law, joined them, and they did evil in the land;
[53] they drove Israel into hiding in every place of refuge they had.
[54]

Now on the fifteenth day of Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-fifth year, they erected a desolating
sacrilege upon the altar of burnt offering. They also built altars in the surrounding cities of Judah,

[55] and burned incense at the doors of the houses and in the streets.
[56] The books of the law which they found they tore to pieces and burned with fire.
[57] Where the book of the covenant was found in the possession of any one, or if any one adhered to the law,
the decree of the king condemned him to death.
[58] They kept using violence against Israel, against those found month after month in the cities.
[59] And on the twenty-fifth day of the month they offered sacrifice on the altar which was upon the altar of
burnt offering.
[60] According to the decree, they put to death the women who had their children circumcised,

7
[61] and their families and those who circumcised them; and they hung the infants from their mothers' necks.
[62]

But many in Israel stood firm and were resolved in their hearts not to eat unclean food.

[63] They chose to die rather than to be defiled by food or to profane the holy covenant; and they did die.
[64] And very great wrath came upon Israel.

Now we will look at Leadership worth mentioning, but read closely because many a
time the sons of these great men did evil in Yah’s sight after their father died;

Examining Leadership that Walked in Righteousness before Yah

2 Kings 20

Hezekiah’s Life Extended

1
In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of
Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says Yah: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall
die, and not live.’”
2
Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to Yah, saying, 3 “Remember now, O
Yah, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done
what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4
And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of
Yah came to him, saying, 5 “Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says
Yah, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears;
surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of Yah.

6
And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of
the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake, and for the sake of My
servant David.”’”

7
Then Isaiah said, “Take a lump of figs.” So they took and laid it on the boil, and he
recovered.
8
And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What is the sign that Yah will heal me, and that I shall go
up to the house of Yah the third day?”
9
Then Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from Yah, that Yah will do the thing which He
has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?”

8
 (The shadow is the way they kept time with a sundial or clock)

10
And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees; no,
but let the shadow go backward ten degrees.”
11
So Isaiah the prophet cried out to Yah, and He brought the shadow ten degrees
backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.

The Babylonian Envoys

12
At that time Berodach-Baladan[a] the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a
present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 And Hezekiah was
attentive to them, and showed them all the house of his treasures—the silver and
gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all[b] his armory—all that was found among his
treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did
not show them.
14
Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men
say, and from where did they come to you?”
So Hezekiah said, “They came from a far country, from Babylon.”
15
And he said, “What have they seen in your house?”
So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among
my treasures that I have not shown them.”

16
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of Yah: 17 ‘Behold, the days are coming
when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall
be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says Yah. 18 ‘And they shall take away some of
your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs
in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”
19
So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of Yah which you have spoken is good!” For he
said, “Will there not be peace and truth at least in my days?”

Death of Hezekiah

20
Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah—all his might, and how he made a pool and a
tunnel and brought water into the city—are they not written in the book of the chronicles
of the kings of Judah? 21 So Hezekiah rested with his fathers. Then Manasseh his son
reigned in his place.

Footnotes:

a. 2 Kings 20:12 Spelled Merodach-Baladan in Isaiah 39:1

9
 b. 2 Kings 20:13 Following many Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac, and Targum; Masoretic
Text omits all.

(Added)
1 Kings 13

The Message of the Man of Yah

1
And behold, a man of Yah went from Judah to Bethel by the word of Yah, and Jeroboam
stood by the altar to burn incense. 2 Then he cried out against the altar by the word of
Yah, and said, “O altar, altar! Thus says Yah: ‘Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be
born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who
burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burned on you.’” 3 And he gave a sign the
same day, saying, “This is the sign which Yah has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart,
and the ashes on it shall be poured out.”

4
So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who cried
out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying,
“Arrest him!” Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could
not pull it back to himself. 5 The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from
the altar, according to the sign which the man of Yah had given by the word of Yah. 6 Then
the king answered and said to the man of Yah, “Please entreat the favor of Yah your God,
and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.”

So the man of Yah entreated Yah, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as
before. 7 Then the king said to the man of Yah, “Come home with me and refresh yourself,
and I will give you a reward.”
8
But the man of Yah said to the king, “If you were to give me half your house, I
would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. 9 For so it
was commanded me by the word of Yah, saying, ‘You shall not eat bread, nor drink water,
nor return by the same way you came.’” 10 So he went another way and did not return by
the way he came to Bethel.

Death of the Man of Yah

11
Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that
the man of Yah had done that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he
had spoken to the king. 12 And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” For his
sons had seen[a] which way the man of God went who came from Judah. 13 Then he said to
his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on

10
it, 14 and went after the man of Yah, and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to
him, “Are you the man of Yah who came from Judah?”
And he said, “I am.”

15
Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”
16
And he said, “I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor
drink water with you in this place. 17 For I have been told by the word of Yah, ‘You
shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’”
18
He said to him, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word
of Yah, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink
water.’” (He was lying to him.)

19
So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.
20
Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of Yah came to the prophet who
had brought him back; 21 and he cried out to the man of Yah who came from Judah,
saying, “Thus says Yah: ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of Yah, and have not
kept the commandment which Yah your God commanded you, 22 but you came back, ate
bread, and drank water in the place of which Yah said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no
water,” your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’”

23
So it was, after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey
for him, the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 When he was gone, a lion met him
on the road and killed him. And his corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey
stood by it. The lion also stood by the corpse. 25 And there, men passed by and saw the
corpse thrown on the road, and the lion standing by the corpse. Then they went and told
it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

26
Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard it, he said, “It is
the man of Yah who was disobedient to the word of Yah. Therefore Yah has delivered him
to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word of Yah which He
spoke to him.” 27 And he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they
saddled it. 28 Then he went and found his corpse thrown on the road, and the donkey and
the lion standing by the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse nor torn the donkey.

29
And the prophet took up the corpse of the man of Yah, laid it on the donkey, and
brought it back. So the old prophet came to the city to mourn, and to bury him. 30 Then he
laid the corpse in his own tomb; and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!” 31
So it was, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I am dead,
then bury me in the tomb where the man of Yah is buried; lay my bones beside his
bones.
32
For the saying which he cried out by the word of Yah against the altar in Bethel,
and against all the shrines[b] on the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will

11
surely come to pass.”
33
After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again he made priests from
every class of people for the high places; whoever wished, he consecrated him, and he
became one of the priests of the high places. 34 And this thing was the sin of the
house of Jeroboam, so as to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth.
Footnotes:

a. 1 Kings 13:12 Septuagint, Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate read showed him.
b. 1 Kings 13:32 Literally houses (Added↓)

Now we can see just who it was that the prophet had spoken about in prophesy
concerning someone coming that would be 100% for Yah of Hosts in taking action
to cure the idolatry and sins of our nation.

The question now forms in our minds as to what is the significance in the future,
and how does it relate to you and me right now?

2 Chronicles 34

Josiah Rules in Judah

Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-
one years. 2 He did what was pleasing in Yah’s sight and followed the example of his
ancestor David. He did not turn away from doing what was right.

3
During the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to
seek the God of his ancestor David. Then in the twelfth year he began to purify
Judah and Jerusalem, destroying all the pagan shrines, the Asherah poles, and the
carved idols and cast images. 4 He ordered that the altars of Baal be demolished
and that the incense altars which stood above them be broken down. He also made
sure that the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images were smashed
and scattered over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5 He burned
the bones of the pagan priests on their own altars, and so he purified Judah and
Jerusalem. (Why was the bones burned, what did it symbolize? Could it be rectifying the past?) ADDED
6
He did the same thing in the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, even as
far as Naphtali, and in the regions[a] all around them. 7 He destroyed the pagan
altars and the Asherah poles, and he crushed the idols into dust. He cut down all
the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Finally, he returned to Jerusalem.
8
In the eighteenth year of his reign, after he had purified the land and the
Temple, Josiah appointed Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of

12
Jerusalem, and Joah son of Joahaz, the royal historian, to repair the Temple of Yah
his God. 9 They gave Hilkiah the high priest the money that had been collected by
the Levites who served as gatekeepers at the Temple of Yah. The gifts were
brought by people from Manasseh, Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, as
well as from all Judah, Benjamin, and the people of Jerusalem.
10
He entrusted the money to the men assigned to supervise the restoration of
Yah’s Temple. Then they paid the workers who did the repairs and renovation of
the Temple. 11 They hired carpenters and builders, who purchased finished stone
for the walls and timber for the rafters and beams. They restored what earlier kings
of Judah had allowed to fall into ruin.
12
The workers served faithfully under the leadership of Jahath and Obadiah,
Levites of the Merarite clan, and Zechariah and Meshullam, Levites of the Kohathite
clan. Other Levites, all of whom were skilled musicians, 13 were put in charge of the
laborers of the various trades. Still others assisted as secretaries, officials, and
gatekeepers.

Hilkiah Discovers Yah’s Law

14
While they were bringing out the money collected at Yah’s Temple, Hilkiah the priest
found the Book of the Law of Yah that was written by Moses. 15 Hilkiah said to Shaphan the
court secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in Yah’s Temple!” Then Hilkiah gave the
scroll to Shaphan.

16
Shaphan took the scroll to the king and reported, “Your officials are doing
everything they were assigned to do. 17 The money that was collected at the
Temple of Yah has been turned over to the supervisors and workmen.” 18 Shaphan
also told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” So Shaphan read it to
the king.
19
When the king heard what was written in the Law, he tore his clothes in despair.
20
Then he gave these orders to Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of
Micaiah, [b] Shaphan the court secretary, and Asaiah the king’s personal adviser: 21
“Go to the Temple and speak to Yah for me and for all the remnant of Israel and
Judah. Inquire about the words written in the scroll that has been found. For Yah’s
great anger has been poured out on us because our ancestors have not obeyed the
word of Yah. We have not been doing everything this scroll says we must do.”
22
So Hilkiah and the other men went to the New Quarter[c] of Jerusalem to consult
with the prophet Huldah. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas,
[d]
the keeper of the Temple wardrobe.

13
23
She said to them, “Yah, the God of Israel, has spoken! Go back and tell the man
who sent you, 24 ‘This is what Yah says: I am going to bring disaster on this city[e]
and its people. All the curses written in the scroll that was read to the king of Judah
will come true. 25 For my people have abandoned me and offered sacrifices to
pagan gods, and I am very angry with them for everything they have done. My
anger will be poured out on this place, and it will not be quenched.’
26
“But go to the king of Judah who sent you to seek Yah and tell him: ‘This is
what Yah, the God of Israel, says concerning the message you have just heard: 27
You were sorry and humbled yourself before Yah when you heard his words
against this city and its people. You humbled yourself and tore your clothing in
despair and wept before me in repentance. And I have indeed heard you, says
Yah. 28 So I will not send the promised disaster until after you have died
and been buried in peace. You yourself will not see the disaster I am going to
bring on this city and its people.’”

So they took her message back to the king.

Josiah’s Religious Reforms

29
Then the king summoned all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30 And the king went up
to the Temple of Yah with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, along with the priests and
the Levites—all the people from the greatest to the least. There the king read to them the
entire Book of the Covenant that had been found in Yah’s Temple. 31 The king took his
place of authority beside the pillar and renewed the covenant in Yah’s presence. He
pledged to obey Yah by keeping all his commands, laws, and decrees with all his heart and
soul. He promised to obey all the terms of the covenant that were written in the scroll. 32
And he required everyone in Jerusalem and the people of Benjamin to make a similar
pledge. The people of Jerusalem did so, renewing their covenant with Yah, the God of
their ancestors.

33
So Josiah removed all detestable idols from the entire land of Israel and
required everyone to worship Yah their God. And throughout the rest of his
lifetime, they did not turn away from Yah, the God of their ancestors.

Footnotes:

a. 2 Chronicles 34:6 As in Syriac version. Hebrew reads in their temples, or in their

ruins. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
b. 2 Chronicles 34:20 As in parallel text at 2 Kgs 22:12; Hebrew reads Abdon son of
Micah.
c. 2 Chronicles 34:22 Or the Second Quarter, a newer section of Jerusalem. Hebrew
reads the Mishneh.

14
 d. 2 Chronicles 34:22 As in parallel text at 2 Kings 22:14; Hebrew reads son of
Tokhath, son of Hasrah.
e. 2 Chronicles 34:24 Hebrew this place; also in 34:27, 28.

2 Kings 22

Josiah Rules in Judah

Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one
years. His mother was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah from Bozkath. 2 He did what was
pleasing in Yah’s sight and followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn
away from doing what was right.

3
In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent Shaphan son of Azaliah and
grandson of Meshullam, the court secretary, to the Temple of Yah. He told him, 4
“Go to Hilkiah the high priest and have him count the money the gatekeepers have
collected from the people at Yah’s Temple. 5 Entrust this money to the men
assigned to supervise the Temple’s restoration. Then they can use it to pay workers
to repair the Temple of Yah. 6 They will need to hire carpenters, builders, and
masons. Also have them buy the timber and the finished stone needed to repair the
Temple. 7 But don’t require the construction supervisors to keep account of the
money they receive, for they are honest and trustworthy men.”

Hilkiah Discovers Yah’s Law

8
Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the court secretary, “I have found the Book of
the Law in Yah’s Temple!” Then Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan, and he read it.

9
Shaphan went to the king and reported, “Your officials have turned over the
money collected at the Temple of Yah to the workers and supervisors at the
Temple.” 10 Shaphan also told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.”
So Shaphan read it to the king.
11
When the king heard what was written in the Book of the Law, he tore his
clothes in despair. 12 Then he gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of
Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the court secretary, and Asaiah the king’s
personal adviser: 13 “Go to the Temple and speak to Yah for me and for the people
and for all Judah. Inquire about the words written in this scroll that has been
found. For Yah’s great anger is burning against us because our ancestors have not
obeyed the words in this scroll. We have not been doing everything it says we must
do.”

15
14
So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the New
Quarter[a] of Jerusalem to consult with the prophet Huldah. She was the wife of
Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, the keeper of the Temple wardrobe.
15
She said to them, “Yah, the God of Israel, has spoken! Go back and tell the man
who sent you, 16 ‘This is what Yah says: I am going to bring disaster on this city[b]
and its people. All the words written in the scroll that the king of Judah has read
will come true. 17 For my people have abandoned me and offered sacrifices to
pagan gods, and I am very angry with them for everything they have done. My
anger will burn against this place, and it will not be quenched.’
18
“But go to the king of Judah who sent you to seek Yah and tell him: ‘This is
what Yah, the God of Israel, says concerning the message you have just heard: 19
You were sorry and humbled yourself before Yah when you heard what I said
against this city and its people—that this land would be cursed and become
desolate. You tore your clothing in despair and wept before me in
repentance. And I have indeed heard you, says Yah. 20 So I will not send the
promised disaster until after you have died and been buried in peace. You
will not see the disaster I am going to bring on this city.’”

So they took her message back to the king.

Footnotes:

a. 2 Kings 22:14 Or the Second Quarter, a newer section of Jerusalem. Hebrew reads
the Mishneh.
b. 2 Kings 22:16 Hebrew this place; also in 22:19, 20.

2 Kings 23

Josiah Restores True Worship

1
Now the king sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him. 2 The
king went up to the house of Yah with all the men of Judah, and with him all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and
great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had
been found in the house of Yah.

3
Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before Yah, to follow Yah and to
keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his
soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the
people took a stand for the covenant. 4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest,

16
the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers,
, for ,[a] and
;[b] and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried
their ashes to Bethel.

5
Then he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to
and in the places all around
Jerusalem, and , , to , to
6
, and . And he brought out the wooden
[c]
image from the house of Yah, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at
the Brook Kidron and ground it to ashes, and threw its ashes on the graves of the common
people.

7
Then he tore down the ritual booths of the perverted persons[d] that were in the house
of Yah, where the women wove hangings for the wooden image.

Another version of 2 Kings 20:7 (New Living translation)

*** 2 Kings 23:7

He also tore down the living quarters of the male and female shrine prostitutes that were
inside the Temple of Yah, where the women wove coverings for the Asherah pole. *****

2 Kings 23 verse 8 resumed…….

8
And he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where
the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; also he broke down the high
places at the gates which were at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua the governor of the
city, which were to the left of the city gate. 9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places
did not come up to the altar of Yah in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among
their brethren.

10
And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son[e] of Hinnom, that no man
might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech. 11 Then he
removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to
the house of Yah, by the chamber of Nathan-Melech, the officer who was in the court; and
he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

12
The altars that were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah
had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of
Yah, the king broke down and pulverized there, and threw their dust into the Brook Kidron.

17
13
Then the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the
south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon king of Israel had built for
Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the
Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the people of Ammon. 14 And he broke in
pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images, and filled their places with the
bones of men.

15
Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of
Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down;
and he burned the high place and crushed it to powder, and burned the wooden image.
16
As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs that were there on the mountain. And he sent and
took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar, and defiled it
according to the word of Yah which the man of Yah proclaimed, who proclaimed these
words. 17 Then he said, “What gravestone is this that I see?”
So the men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of Yah who came from Judah
and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.”

18
And he said, “Let him alone; let no one move his bones.” So they let his bones alone,
with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.
19
Now Josiah also took away all the shrines of the high places that were in the cities of
Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke Yah[f] to anger; and he did to
them according to all the deeds he had done in Bethel.
20
He executed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned
men’s bones on them; and he returned to Jerusalem.

21
Then the king commanded all the people, saying, “Keep the Passover to Yah
your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”

22
Such a Passover surely had never been held since the days of the judges who judged
Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. 23 But in the
eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was held before Yah in Jerusalem. 24
Moreover Josiah , the
, all
, that he might perform the words of the law which were written
in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of Yah. 25 Now before him there
was no king like him, who turned to Yah with all his heart, with all his soul, and
with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.

18
 Impending Judgment on Judah

26
Nevertheless Yah did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with which His
anger was aroused against Judah, because of all the provocations with which
Manasseh had provoked Him. 27 And Yah said, “I will also remove Judah from My sight,
as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the
house of which I said, ‘My name shall be there.’”[g]

Josiah Dies in Battle

28
Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of
the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 29 In his days Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went to
the aid of the king of Assyria, to the River Euphrates; and King Josiah went against him.
And Pharaoh Necho killed him at Megiddo when he confronted him. 30 Then his
servants moved his body in a chariot from Megiddo, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried
him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, anointed
him, and made him king in his father’s place.

The Reign and Captivity of Jehoahaz

31
Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three
months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
32
And he did evil in the sight of Yah, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 Now
Pharaoh Necho put him in prison at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign
in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and a
talent of gold. 34 Then Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place of his
father Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Pharaoh took Jehoahaz and went
to Egypt, and he[h] died there.

What was the worship of the Sun, and was Israel and Judah guilty of worshipping these
Idols? The following is inserted to help reveal to you how YOU may have been or are
currently in the pagan worship of the SUN GOD;

19
 PAGAN SUN WORSHIP AND CATHOLICISM
THE PAGAN SUN WHEEL, THE OBELISK AND BAAL

Above is a Roman coin from the 3rd century A.D. (Probus, A.D. 276-282) which on
the reverse depicts the pagan sun god driving a chariot drawn by four horses (Sol
in Quadriga). The inscription reads SOLI INVICTO - The Invincible Sun.]

At right is a similar mosaic found in the Vatican grottoes under St. Peter's Basilica,
on the vaulted ceiling of the tomb of the Julii (also known as "Mausoleum M"). It
depicts Christ as the sun-god Helios / Sol riding in his chariot, and is dated to the
3rd century A.D. The two left horses were destroyed when the hole was made to
enter the tomb. Other mosaics in this Christian tomb depicted Jonah and the
whale, the good shepherd carrying a lamb, and fishermen. This
blending
of paganism with Christianity is syncretism, and
apostasy.
At left is a pagan sun wheel in the temple at Kararak India,
which is associated with occultism and astrology. It
resembles a chariot wheel doesn't it?

Note the following verse-

2 Ki 23:11 And he took away the horses that the kings of

Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of
Yah, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain,
which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun
with fire.
From the book

20
 "The New Illustrated Great Controversy"
Copyright © LLT Productions
Used by Permission

When Israel apostatized, they made chariots dedicated to the sun god, who it was thought, traveled across the
sky in a great chariot. Hence the origin of the sun wheel.

The Symbols of Baal, Ishtar and Shamash

Below is an artifact unearthed in the holy of holies of the pagan temple in the Canaanite city of Hatzor / Hazor, in
northern Israel. It is described as follows:

"Of special interest is a square basalt altar for burning incense. On

one of its sides, a circle with a cross in the center – the divine
symbol of the Canaanite storm god – is carved in low relief."

"... a basalt offering table, pillar-shaped, with a carved symbol of

the storm god Baal on its side. That symbol was a circle with a
cross in the center"

Sources:
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hatzor: "The Head of all those Kingdoms"
University of Illinois, Religious Studies, Hazor

... The Akkadian Ishtar is also, to a greater extent, an astral deity, associated with the planet Venus: with
Shamash, sun god, and Sin, moon god, she forms a secondary astral triad. In this manifestation her symbol is a
star with 6, 8, or 16 rays within a circle. ...

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica Online, article on Ishtar.

The Star of Ishtar

Because some astronomical objects move through the sky in repeated and known intervals of time, the behavior
of the celestial gods associated with them can be symbolized numerically. Ishtar, as the planet Venus, perhaps
was handled this way in the eight-pointed star that usually stands for her on Babylonian boundary stones.

References to Venus as early as 3000 BC are known from evidence at Uruk, an important early Sumerian city in
southern Iraq. One clay tablet found at the site says "star Inanna," and another contains symbols for the words
"star, setting sun, Inanna." Inanna is Venus, known later as Ishtar, and the Uruk tablets specify her celestial
identity with the symbol for "star": an eight-pointed star.

21
 Source: The Star of Ishtar, Iraq Resource Information Site.

So can the star within a circle, or sun wheel, be found in the Vatican in Rome? Indeed it can!

Here is a photo of the papal palace with

the pope at the window of his apartment.
Note the many eight-pointed stars of
Ishtar in the decorative work above the
windows. Some are within a darker circle.

Detail from a photo by Adam J. Polczyk-Przybyla

DHD Photo Gallery

Here you see a view of the piazza or plaza at the

Vatican, also known as St. Peter's square. The papal
palace is on the right edge of the photo. The large
eight-rayed sun wheel design, symbolic of Ishtar, is
immediately noticeable. Look closely in the center of
the wheel. What you see there is an obelisk, a
genuine Egyptian obelisk shipped from Heliopolis to
Rome by the Roman emperor Caligula. The obelisk is,
of course, a phallic symbol,* but it also was used in
sun worship. Click on the image to view a larger
version of the same image.

* It is claimed that the word 'obelisk' literally means 'Baal's

shaft' or 'Baal's organ of reproduction'. Source: Masonic
and Occult Symbols Illustrated, by Dr. Cathy Burns, pg. 341.

22
 Here is an old photo of the center of St. Peter's square,
and note that around the obelisk, at the center of the
huge eight-point sun wheel, is a smaller four-pointed
sun wheel, the same symbol as found on the altar stone
in the temple of Baal in Hatzor!

Here you see the reverse side of a coin celebrating the pontificate of
John Paul II, and on it is the obelisk and sun wheel of St. Peter's piazza,
and a very distinct sunburst emanating from the Basilica itself. The
correlation of the symbology is striking.

Pope John Paul II, at World Youth Day Pope Pius XII wearing the same stole.
2000, was wearing a crimson and gold
stole, which bears the symbols of Baal
/ Shamash within an eight-pointed
star of Ishtar. An enlargement is
shown below.

23
 Symbol of Baal
found in Hazor, Israel Symbol of the
pagan sun-god Shamash
Detail from the Stela of
Source: University of Illinois,
Detail of the symbol on the papal stole. Shamshi-Adad V
Religious Studies, Hazor
The British Museum

The Obelisk
The Egyptian obelisk that stands in the square of St. John
Lateran (shown at left) is the largest in existence. Originally
carved during the reign of Pharaoh Thutmoses III, it stood in the
Temple of Amon in Thebes (Karnak), but was removed to Rome
by emperor Constantius (A.D. 317-361), and placed in the Circus
Maximus. In 1587 Pope Sixtus V unearthed the fallen, broken
and long forgotten obelisk and had it repaired and placed in the
Piazza S. Giovanni in Laterano. Interestingly enough, it is
possible that Moses saw this very obelisk when he was in Egypt.
Now this obelisk, meant to honor the sun god, stands beside
what Catholics call the supreme "Mother of all Churches", the
official cathedra of the bishop of Rome, the Pope, which brings
to mind Revelation 17: 5 and the apostate Mother
Church, Mystery Babylon, the mother of harlots, who stands
accused of fornication, a mixing of the sacred with the profane,
truth with error.

Mysteries of the Nile (NOVA)

Egypt - Amazing Discoveries

OBELISK. Of the several functions of the PILLAR among early peoples, the Egyptian obelisk was worshipped as the
dwelling place of the sun-god.

24
 Source: Illustrated Dictionary of Symbols in Eastern and Western Art by James Hall, published by HarperCollins,
1994, page 75.

The pagan association of the obelisk was something well understood by the church. The Jesuit scholar,
Athanasius Kircher in his book Obeliscus Pamphilius, published in 1650, gives an account of the ancient views of
the obelisk as the digitus solis, or "finger of the sun".

Pope Sixtus V (1585 - 1590) had the Egyptian obelisks erected all over Rome, as Counter-Reformation
monuments.

The word matstsebah in Hebrew means standing images or obelisk and it can be found in many places of the
Bible. Here is Strong's definition of the Hebrew word matstsebah-

H4676. matstsebah, mats-tsay-baw'; fem. (causat.) part. of H5324; something stationed, i.e. a column or
(memorial stone); by anal. an idol:--garrison, (standing) image, pillar.

In the following verses matstsebah has been translated as image(s)-

Exodus 23:24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt
utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

Exodus 34:13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:

Lev 26:1 Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set
up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am Yah your God.

Deuteronomy 7:5 But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and
cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.

Deuteronomy 12:3 And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and
ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.

1 Ki 14:23 For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green
tree.

2 Ki 3:2 And he wrought evil in the sight of Yah; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the
image of Baal that his father had made.

2 Ki 10:26 And they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burned them.

2 Ki 10:27 And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the house of Baal, and made it a draught
house unto this day.

25
2 Chr 14:3 For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and
cut down the groves:

2 Chr 31:1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake
the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah
and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of
Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.

Jer 43:13 He shall break also the images of Bethshemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods
of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire.

Micah 5:13 Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt
no more worship the work of thine hands.

Another Hebrew word is also used for "sun images" or obelisks, the word chamman. Again, here is the Strong's
definition-

H2553. chamman, kham-mawn'; from H2535; a sun-pillar:--idol, image.

Chamman is also translated as simply image(s) in the King James:

Isaiah 17:8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers
have made, either the groves, or the images.

Isaiah 27:9 By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin;
when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall
not stand up.

2 Chronicles 34:4 And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high
above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and
made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.

Here is a close-up of the obelisk in front of St.

Peter's. Have you ever given any thought to the
origin of the church steeple? Could it be a
modern representation of the pagan obelisk?
Indeed!

From the book

"The New Illustrated Great Controversy"
Copyright © LLT Productions

26
 Used by Permission

So in St. Peter's square, the symbol

of Baal is within the symbol of Ishtar,
and at the center is an Egyptian
obelisk, all representing pagan sun
worship.

Pope Celebrates Palm Sunday at Pagan Sun Pillar

Images © 2000 by CTV

Above are pictures of John Paul II, dressed in scarlet, celebrating Palm Sunday in St. Peter's square on April 16th,
2000, with a "grove" of potted palms and hundred-year-old olive trees placed around the standing solar pillar
(matstsebah) or obelisk, in the center of the Vatican's large pagan solar wheel symbolizing Baal and Ishtar.

27
Deuteronomy 16:21 Thou shalt not plant thee a grove (asherah) of any trees
near unto the altar of Yah thy God, which thou shalt make thee.
Deuteronomy 16:22 Neither shalt thou set thee up any image (matstsebah /
pillar); which Yah thy God hateth.

Now below are two photos of a statue in St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome.

© SCALA Florence

It is supposedly a statue of Peter enthroned. Notice the sun wheel above his head? This statue is thought by
some to actually be a pagan statue of Jupiter, removed from the Pantheon in Rome (a pagan temple), moved into
St. Peter's and renamed Peter. The extended right foot has been nearly worn away from the many pilgrims who
kiss it in homage. Note also that the pattern on the wall behind the statue utilizes the symbol of Baal / Shamash!

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia online article Portraits of the Apostles:

The famous bronze statue of St. Peter in the basilica of this Apostle in Rome is by some regarded as a work of the
fifth or sixth century, by others as pertaining to the thirteenth. The latter date is adopted by Kraus and Kaufmann
among others; Lowrie, however, maintains that "no statue of the Renaissance can be compared with this for
genuine understanding of the classic dress", and, therefore, this writer holds for the more ancient date. The
marble statue of St. Peter taken from the old basilica, now in the crypt of the Vatican, was originally, in all
probability, an ancient consular statue which was transformed into a representation of the Prince of Apostles.

28
Picture of Christ, - notice the Sun Dial in the background of his head and also the position of his hands

Here you see a photo looking up into the dome of St.

Peter's. Notice the very obvious 16 ray sun wheel.
Indeed the light from the sun streams into the center
hub of the dome making a genuine sun-lit sunburst
image at the center of the wheel.

As you can see from the Bible verses quoted above,

these symbols were associated with sun worship,
which is strongly condemned in scripture. So why are
they so prevalent in the Roman Catholic Church, if
they are associated with paganism and apostasy?

From the book Art Treasures of the Vatican

© 1974 by Smeets Offset B.V.
Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Ezekiel 8:16 And he brought me into the inner court of Yah’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of
Yah, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of
Yah, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.

29
Ezekiel 8:17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that
they commit the abominations which they commit here?
You can recognize Sun worship in its many names; Sunday school, Sunday Worship, Easter Sunrise Service (At
cemeteries), and also in the Book of Ezekiel were women and men are “Weeping for Tammuz”

Ezekiel 8

Idolatry in the Temple

1
Then on September 17, [a] during the sixth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, while the
leaders of Judah were in my home, the Sovereign Yah took hold of me. 2 I saw a figure
that appeared to be a man. From what appeared to be his waist down, he looked like a
burning flame. From the waist up he looked like gleaming amber.[b] 3 He reached out what
seemed to be a hand and took me by the hair. Then the Spirit lifted me up into the sky and
transported me to Jerusalem in a vision from Yah. I was taken to the north gate of the
inner courtyard of the Temple, where there is a large idol that has made Yah very jealous.

4
Suddenly, the glory of the God of Israel was there, just as I had seen it before in the
valley.

5
Then Yah said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” So I looked, and
there to the north, beside the entrance to the gate near the altar, stood the idol
that had made Yah so jealous.
6
“Son of man,” he said, “do you see what they are doing? Do you see the
detestable sins the people of Israel are committing to drive me from my Temple?
But come, and you will see even more detestable sins than these!” 7 Then he
brought me to the door of the Temple courtyard, where I could see a hole in the
wall. 8 He said to me, “Now, son of man, dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall
and found a hidden doorway.
9
“Go in,” he said, “and see the wicked and detestable sins they are committing in
there!” 10 So I went in and saw the walls engraved with all kinds of crawling
animals and detestable creatures. I also saw the various idols[c] worshiped by the
people of Israel. 11 Seventy leaders of Israel were standing there with Jaazaniah
son of Shaphan in the center. Each of them held an incense burner, from which a
cloud of incense rose above their heads.
12
Then Yah said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the leaders of Israel are
doing with their idols in dark rooms? They are saying, ‘Yah doesn’t see us; he
has deserted our land!’” 13 Then Yah added, “Come, and I will show you even more
detestable sins than these!”

30
14
He brought me to the north gate of Yah’s Temple, and some women were sitting
there, weeping for the god Tammuz. 15 “Have you seen this?” he asked. “But I
will show you even more detestable sins than these!”
16
Then he brought me into the inner courtyard of Yah’s Temple. At the entrance to
the sanctuary, between the entry room and the bronze altar, there were about
twenty-five men with their backs to the sanctuary of Yah. They were facing
east, bowing low to the ground, worshiping the sun! (This is Easter Sunrise
Service)
17
“Have you seen this, son of man?” he asked. “Is it nothing to the people of
Judah that they commit these detestable sins, leading the whole nation into
violence, thumbing their noses at me, and provoking my anger? 18 Therefore, I will
respond in fury. I will neither pity nor spare them. And though they cry for mercy, I
will not listen.”

Footnotes:

a. Ezekiel 8:1 Hebrew on the fifth day of the sixth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar
calendar. This event occurred on September 17, 592 b.c.; also see note on 1:1.
b. Ezekiel 8:2 Or like burnished metal.
c. Ezekiel 8:10 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung.

If you notice on page 20 above you will see that the Pope’s stole has the symbols of the Sun god worship, and
that his clothing is the color red. There are scriptures that talk about this type of worship under the name of
Bozrah.

What does “Weeping for Tammuz” mean?

While the actual sins enumerated by God in the Bible are considered passé, there are new “sins” being
chiseled into the tablets of our modern legal code by the zealots of a neo-pagan religion that is
overshadowing America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and culture.

Just as Ezekiel witnessed so many centuries ago, Americans today worship the creation rather than the
Creator. They demand sacrifices at the altar of “global warming.” They lose their inhibitions and frolic in
the groves. They look to the sun and the moon and stars for meaning and signs.

As in the days of Ezekiel, they are “weeping for Tammuz.”

What does that mean? Who was Tammuz? And why do I say Americans are weeping for him?

Does the name Nimrod mean anything to you?

31
When I was a kid, it was a common name of derision. That guy’s a Nimrod. I don’t know exactly what
that was supposed to mean. I know it wasn’t anything good. But I can tell you there are a lot of Nimrods
around today.

Nimrod was one of Noah’s great-grandsons. He was in rebellion against the God of the universe. It didn’t
take long after the worldwide flood for rebellion to begin again. Nimrod was the arch-rebel – and a very
important biblical figure for us to understand today.

Even his name means “to rebel.”

We first learn about him in Genesis 10:8. Nimrod was the leader of the rebellion that prompted the
building of the Tower of Babel. Standing
hundreds of feet high, the tower was
built so that Nimrod and his priest could worship the sun, the
moon and the stars.
What happens when you worship the sun, the moon and the stars instead of the One True God of the
Universe?

You open yourself up to the deception of the power of the air – Satan and his demons.

I think that’s exactly what happened to Nimrod.

In effect, Nimrod and his wife, Semiramis, followed the same path as Adam and Eve – believing Lucifer
that they could become gods or like gods themselves, that the One True God that Nimrod’s great-
grandfather Noah worshipped was withholding the key to truth from them.

Before too long, Nimrod and Semiramis were requiring their subjects to worship them. And what we
have with Nimrod and Semiramis is the beginning of all the false pagan religion systems that have
followed and that are still with us today.

Yah saw how successful the Nimrod perversion had become, so it was at that time, we read in Genesis
11, He confused the one common language of the human race. The word Babel actually means
“confusion.”

We know more about Nimrod and Semiramis than the Bible alone reveals. Babylonian history shows us
this couple gave themselves other god names – some of which will be very familiar to you.

Nimrod became known as Kronos, Bel and Baal. Nimrod died at the age of 40 from a
hunting accident. He was gored to death by a wild boar. That seems odd to me for a
god, but not to the Babylonians. After Nimrod’s death, Semiramis elevated the worship
of her husband as the sun god, asserting that he had ascended into heaven and
would supernaturally impregnate her.

32
Naturally, as you might imagine, she gave birth to a son, whom she named
Tammuz. He became known as the son of the sun god and the reincarnation of
his father.
After Nimrod’s death, his subjects wept bitterly for him and soon began to worship his son Tammuz. A
new tradition began in which each year all the people would weep for 40 days (Lent) for Nimrod – one
day for each year of his life. Later, when Tammuz became the focus of worship, followers began weeping
for him.

That’s what Ezekiel was talking about. In Israel, at the time of Ezekiel, many were “weeping for
Tammuz.”

Yah does not countenance (show His presence) when His people embrace the ways of pagans and sun
worshippers and idolaters.

I have news for you: There are lots of Americans practicing similar forms of pagan rituals today. They
are still weeping for Tammuz.

Make no mistake about it; neo-paganism is the official religion of the USA in 2008. It is the one taught in
every public school in American today when they teach evolution. It is the one preached in most of the
news media when you hear about man-made catastrophic global warming. It is the one you watch on
television and in movies that instructs you to lose your inhibitions and do your own thing.

Christianity is not the dominant religion of our time.

Islam is not the dominant religion of our time.

Humanism is the dominant religion of our time. And humanism is a form of paganism. It is the man-
centered religion. It is the religion of nature worship. It is the religion that denies an all-powerful, all-
mighty, all-knowing God. It is a descendant of the first false religion founded by those who built the
Tower of Babel.

There’s nothing new under the sun. And there’s nothing new about people who worship the sun and the
moon and the stars.

Lots of people are still weeping for Tammuz.

The Two Babylon’s by Reverend Hislop illustrates that the Papal System adopted the Nimrod system of
pagan worship that was strongly pushed into worship by his wife, now replicated as the Queen of
Heaven;

33
 CHAPTER V

Myths of Tammuz and Ishtar

Forms of Tammuz--The Weeping Ceremony--Tammuz the Patriarch and the Dying God--Common Origin of Tammuz and
other Deities from an Archaic God--The Mediterranean Racial Myth--Animal Forms of Gods of Fertility--Two Legends of the
Death of Tammuz--Attis, Adonis, and Diarmid Slain by a Boar--Laments for Tammuz--His Soul in Underworld and the Deep-
-Myth of the Child God of Ocean--Sargon Myth Version--The Germanic Scyld of the Sheaf--Tammuz Links with Frey,
Heimdal, Agni, &c.--Assyrian Legend of "Descent of Ishtar"--Sumerian Version--The Sister Belit-sheri and the Mother Ishtar-
-The Egyptian Isis and Nepthys--Goddesses as Mothers, Sisters, and Wives--Great Mothers of Babylonia--Immortal
Goddesses and Dying Gods--The Various Indras--Celtic Goddess with Seven Periods of Youth--Lovers of Germanic and
Classic Goddesses--The Lovers of Ishtar--Racial Significance of Goddess Cult--The Great Fathers and their Worshippers--
Process of Racial and Religious Fusion--Ishtar and Tiamat--Mother Worship in Palestine--Women among Goddess
Worshippers.

AMONG the gods of Babylonia none achieved wider and more enduring fame than Tammuz, who
was loved by Ishtar, the amorous Queen of Heaven--the beautiful youth who died and was
mourned for and came to life again. He does not figure by his popular name in any of the city
pantheons, but from the earliest times of which we have knowledge until the passing of Babylonian
civilization, he played a prominent part in the religious life of the people

Tammuz, like Osiris of Egypt, was an agricultural deity, and as the Babylonian harvest was the gift of
the rivers, (Could this be an imitation of Moses drawn from the river?) it is probable that one of his
several forms was Dumu-zi-abzu, "Tammuz of the Abyss". He was also
p. 82

"the child", (Christ) "the heroic lord", "the sentinel", "the healer", and the patriarch who
[paragraph continues]
reigned over the early Babylonians for a considerable period. "Tammuz of the Abyss" was one of the
members of the family of Ea, god of the Deep, whose other sons, in addition to Merodach, were Nira, an
obscure deity; Ki-gulla, "world destroyer", Burnunta-sa, "broad ear", and Bara and Baragulla, probably
"revealers" or "oracles". In addition there was a daughter, Khi-dimme-azaga, "child of the renowned
spirit". She may have been identical with Belit-sheri, who is referred to in the Sumerian hymns as the
sister of Tammuz. This family group was probably formed by symbolizing the attributes of Ea and his
spouse Damkina. Tammuz, in his character as a patriarch, may have been regarded as a hostage from the
gods: the human form of Ea, who instructed mankind, like King Osiris, how to grow corn and cultivate
fruit trees. As the youth who perished annually, he was the corn spirit. He is referred to in the Bible by
his Babylonian name.

When Ezekiel detailed the various idolatrous practices of the Israelites, which included the worship of the
sun and "every form of creeping things and abominable beasts"--a suggestion of the composite monsters
of Babylonia--he was brought "to the door of the gate of Yah's house, which was towards the north; and,
behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz". 1

The weeping ceremony was connected with agricultural rites. Corn deities were weeping
deities, they shed fertilizing tears; and the sowers simulated the sorrow of divine mourners

34
when they cast seed in the soil "to die", so that it might spring up as
corn. This ancient custom, like many others, contributed to the poetic
p. 83

imagery of the Bible. "They that sow in tears", David sang, "shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and
weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with
him." 1 In Egypt the priestesses who acted the parts of Isis and Nepthys, mourned for the slain corn god
Osiris.

Gods and men before the face of the gods are weeping for thee at the same time, when they behold me! . . .
All thy sister goddesses are at thy side and behind thy couch,
Calling upon thee with weeping--yet thou are prostrate upon thy bed! . . .
Live before us, desiring to behold thee. 2

It was believed to be essential that human beings should share the universal sorrow caused by the death
of a god. If they remained unsympathetic, the deities would punish them as enemies. Worshippers of
nature gods, therefore, based their ceremonial practices on natural phenomena. "The dread of the
worshippers that the neglect of the usual ritual would be followed by disaster, is particularly intelligible",
writes Professor Robertson Smith, "if they regarded the necessary operations of agriculture as involving
the violent extinction of a particle of divine life." 3 By observing their ritual, the worshippers won the
sympathy and co-operation of deities, or exercised a magical control over nature.

The Babylonian myth of Tammuz, the dying god, bears a close resemblance to the Greek myth of
Adonis. It also links with the myth of Osiris. According to Professor Sayce, Tammuz is identical with
"Daonus or Daos, the shepherd of Pantibibla", referred to by Berosus as the ruler of one of the mythical
ages of Babylonia. We
p. 84

have therefore to deal with Tammuz in his twofold character as a patriarch and a god of fertility.

The Adonis version of the myth may be summarized briefly. Ere the god was born, his mother, who was
pursued by her angry sire, as the river goddesses of the folk tales are pursued by the well demons,
transformed herself into a tree. Adonis sprang from the trunk of this tree, and Aphrodite, having placed
the child in a chest, committed him to the care of Persephone, queen of Hades, who resembles the
Babylonian Eresh-ki-gal. Persephone desired to retain the young god, and Aphrodite (Ishtar) appealed to
Zeus (Anu), who decreed that Adonis should spend part of the year with one goddess and part of the year
with the other.

It is suggested that the myth of Adonis was derived in post-Homeric times by the Greeks indirectly
from Babylonia through the Western Semites, the Semitic title "Adon", meaning "lord", having
been mistaken for a proper name. This theory, however, cannot be accepted without qualifications. It
does not explain the existence of either the Phrygian myth of Attis, which was developed differently from
the Tammuz myth, or the Celtic story of "Diarmid and the boar", which belongs to the archæological
"Hunting Period". There are traces in Greek mythology of pre-Hellenic myths about dying harvest

35
deities, like Hyakinthos and Erigone, for instance, who appear to have been mourned for. There is every
possibility, therefore, that the Tammuz ritual may have been attached to a harvest god of the
pre-Hellenic Greeks, who received at the same time the new name of Adonis. Osiris of
Egypt resembles Tammuz, but his Mesopotamian origin has not been proved. It would appear
probable that Tammuz, Attis, Osiris, and the deities represented by Adonis and Diarmid were all
developed
p. 85

from an archaic god of fertility and vegetation, the central figure of a myth which was not only as ancient
as the knowledge and practice of agriculture, but had existence even in the "Hunting Period". Traces of
the Tammuz-Osiris story in various forms are found all over the area occupied by the Mediterranean or
Brown race from Sumeria to the British Isles. Apparently the original myth was connected with tree and
water worship and the worship of animals. Adonis sprang from a tree; the body of Osiris was concealed
in a tree which grew round the sea-drifted chest in which he was concealed. Diarmid concealed
himself in a tree when pursued by Finn. The blood of Tammuz, Osiris, and Adonis reddened the
swollen rivers which fertilized the soil. Various animals were associated with the harvest god, who
appears to have been manifested from time to time in different forms, for his spirit pervaded all nature. In
Egypt the soul of Osiris entered the Apis bull or the ram of Mendes.

Tammuz in the hymns is called "the pre-eminent steer of heaven", and a popular
sacrifice was "a white kid of the god Tammuz", which, however, might be
substituted by a sucking pig. Osiris had also associations withswine, and the Egyptians,
according to Herodotus, sacrificed a pig to him annually. When Set at full moon
hunted the boar in the Delta marshes, he probably hunted the boar form of Osiris, whose human
body had been recovered from the sacred tree by Isis. As the soul of Bata, the hero of the Egyptian folk
tale, 1 migrated from the blossom to the bull, and the bull to the tree, so apparently did the soul of Osiris
pass from incarnation to incarnation. Set, the demon slayer of the harvest god, had also a boar form; he
was the black pig who devoured the waning moon and blinded the Eye of Ra.
p. 86

In his character as a long-lived patriarch, Tammuz the King Daonus or Daos of Berosus, reigned in
Babylonia for 36,000 years. When he died, he departed to Hades or the Abyss. Osiris, after reigning over
the Egyptians, became Judge of the Dead.

Tammuz of the Sumerian hymns, however, is the Adonis-like god who lived on earth for a part of the
year as the shepherd and agriculturist so dearly beloved by the goddess Ishtar. Then he died so that he
might depart to the realm of Eresh-ki-gal (Persephone), queen of Hades. According to one account, his
death was caused by the fickle Ishtar. When that goddess wooed Gilgamesh, the Babylonian Hercules, he
upbraided her, saying:

36
On Tammuz, the spouse of thy youth,
Thou didst lay affliction every year.
King's Translation.

References in the Sumerian hymns suggest that there also existed a form of the legend which gave an
account of the slaying of the young god by someone else than Ishtar. The slayer may have been a Set-like
demon--perhaps Nin-shach, who appears to have symbolized the destroying influence of the sun. He was
a war deity, and his name, Professor Pinches says, "is conjectured to mean 'lord of the wild boar'". There
is no direct evidence, however, to connect Tammuz's slayer with the boar which killed Adonis. Ishtar's
innocence is emphasized by the fact that she mourned for her youthful lover, crying:

Oh hero, my lord, ah me! I will say;

Food I eat not . . . water I drink not . . .
Because of the exalted one of the nether world, him of the radiant face, yea radiant,
Of the exalted one of the nether world, him of the dove-like voice, yea dove-like. 1

p. 87

The Phrygian Attis met his death, according to one legend, by self-mutilation under a sacred tree.
Another account sets forth, however, that he was slain by a boar. The Greek Adonis was similarly killed
by a boar. This animal was a form of Ares (Mars), god of war and tempest, who also loved Aphrodite
(Ishtar). The Celtic Diarmid, in his character as a love god, with lunar attributes, was slain by "the green
boar", which appears to have been one of the animals of a ferocious Hag, an earth and air "mother" with
various names. In one of the many Fingalian stories the animal is

. . . That venomous boar, and he so fierce,

That Grey Eyebrows had with her herd of swine. 1

Diarmid had eloped with the wife of Finn-mac-Coul (Fingal), who, like Ares, plotted to
[paragraph continues]
bring about his rival's death, and accordingly set the young hero to hunt the boar. As a thunder god Finn
carried a hammer with which he smote his shield; the blows were heard in Lochlann (Scandinavia).
Diarmid, like Tammuz, the "god of the tender voice and shining eyes", had much beauty. When he
expired, Finn cried:

No maiden will raise her eye

Since the mould has gone over thy visage fair . . .
Blue without rashness in thine eye!
Passion and beauty behind thy curls! . . .
Oh, yesternight it was green the hillock,
Red is it this day with Diarmid's blood. 2

Tammuz died with the dying vegetation, and Diarmid expired when the hills apparently were assuming
their purple tints. 3 The month of Tammuz wailings was from
p. 88

37
 20th June till 20th July, when the heat and dryness brought forth the demons of pestilence.
[paragraph continues]
The mourners chanted:

He has gone, he has gone to the bosom of the earth,

And the dead are numerous in the land . . .
Men are filled with sorrow: they stagger by day in gloom .
In the month of thy year which brings not peace hast thou gone.
Thou hast gone on a journey that makes an end of thy people.

The following extract contains a reference to the slaying of the god:

The holy one of Ishtar, in the middle of the year the fields languish . . .
The shepherd, the wise one, the man of sorrows, why have they slain? . . .
In his temple, in his inhabited domain,
The child, lord of knowledge, abides no more . . .
In the meadows, verily, verily, the soul of life perishes.

There is wailing for Tammuz "at the sacred cedar, where the mother bore thee", a
reference which connects the god, like Adonis and Osiris, with tree worship:
The wailing is for the herbs: the first lament is, "they are not produced".
The wailing is for the grain, ears are not produced.
The wailing is for the habitations, for the flocks which bring forth no more.
The wailing is for the perishing wedded ones; for the perishing children; the dark-headed people create no more.

The wailing is also for the shrunken river, the parched meadows, the fishpools, the cane
[paragraph continues]
brakes, the forests, the
p. 89

plains, the gardens, and the palace, which all suffer because the god of fertility has departed. The
mourner cries:

How long shall the springing of verdure be restrained?

How long shall the putting forth of leaves be held back?

Whither went Tammuz? His destination has already been referred to as "the bosom of the earth", and in
the Assyrian version of the "Descent of Ishtar" he dwells in "the house of darkness" among the dead,
"where dust is their nourishment and their food mud", and "the light is never seen"--the gloomy
Babylonian Hades. In one of the Sumerian hymns, however, it is stated that Tammuz "upon the flood was
cast out". The reference may be to the submarine "house of Ea", or the Blessed Island to which the
Babylonian Noah was carried. In this Hades bloomed the nether "garden of Adonis".

The following extract refers to the garden of Damu (Tammuz) 1:--

38
Damu his youth therein slumbers .
Among the garden flowers he slumbers; among the garden flowers he is cast away .
Among the tamarisks he slumbers, with woe he causes us to be satiated.

Although Tammuz of the hymns was slain, he returned again from Hades. Apparently he came back as a
child. He is wailed for as "child, Lord Gishzida", as well as "my hero Damu". In his lunar character the
Egyptian Osiris appeared each month as "the child surpassingly beautiful"; the Osiris bull was also a
child of the moon; "it was begotten", says Plutarch, "by a ray of generative light falling from the moon".
When the bull of Attis was sacrificed his worshippers were drenched
p. 90

with its blood, and were afterwards ceremonially fed with milk, as they were supposed to have "renewed
their youth" and become children. The ancient Greek god Eros (Cupid) was represented as a wanton boy
or handsome youth. Another god of fertility, the Irish Angus, who resembles Eros, is called "the ever
young"; he slumbers like Tammuz and awakes in the Spring.

Apparently it was believed that the child god, Tammuz, returned from the earlier Sumerian Paradise of
the Deep, and grew into full manhood in a comparatively brief period, like Vyasa and other super-men of
Indian mythology. A couplet from a Tammuz hymn says tersely:

In his infancy in a sunken boat he lay.

In his manhood in the submerged grain he lay. 1

The "boat" may be the "chest" in which Adonis was concealed by Aphrodite when she confided him to
the care of Persephone, queen of Hades, who desired to retain the young god, but was compelled by Zeus
to send him back to the goddess of love and vegetation. The fact that Ishtar descended to Hades in quest
of Tammuz may perhaps explain the symbolic references in hymns to mother goddesses being in sunken
boats also when their powers were in abeyance, as were those of the god for part of each year. It is
possible, too, that the boat had a lunar and a solar significance. Khonsu, the Egyptian moon god, for
instance, was associated with the Spring sun, being a deity of fertility and therefore a corn spirit; he was a
form of Osiris, the Patriarch, who sojourned on earth to teach mankind how to grow corn and cultivate
fruit trees. In the Egyptian legend Osiris received the corn seeds from Isis, which suggests that among
Great-Mother-worshipping
p. 91

peoples, it was believed that agricultural civilization had a female origin. The same myths may have been
attached to corn gods and corn goddesses, associated with water, sun, moon, and stars.

That there existed in Babylonia at an extremely remote period an agricultural myth regarding a Patriarch
of divine origin who was rescued from a boat in his childhood, is suggested by the legend which was
attached to the memory, of the usurper King Sargon of Akkad. It runs as follows:

"I am Sargon, the mighty King of Akkad. My mother was a vestal (priestess), my father an alien, whose brother inhabited the
mountain. . . . When my mother had conceived me, she bare me in a hidden place. She laid me in a vessel of rushes, stopped
the door thereof with pitch, and cast me adrift on the river. . . . The river floated me to Akki, the water drawer, who, in

39
drawing water, drew me forth. Akki, the water drawer, educated me as his son, and made me his gardener. As a gardener, I
was beloved by the goddess Ishtar."

It is unlikely that this story was invented by Sargon. Like the many variants of it found in other countries,
it was probably founded on a form of the Tammuz-Adonis myth. Indeed, a new myth would not have
suited Sargon's purpose so well as the adaptation of an old one, which was more likely to make popular
appeal when connected with his name. The references to the goddess Ishtar, and Sargon's early life as a
gardener, suggest that the king desired to be remembered as an agricultural Patriarch, if not of divine, at
any rate of semi-divine origin.

What appears to be an early form of the widespread Tammuz myth is the Teutonic legend regarding the
mysterious child who came over the sea to inaugurate a new era of civilization and instruct the people
how to
p. 92

grow corn and become great warriors. The Northern peoples, as archæological evidence suggests, derived
their knowledge of agriculture, and therefore their agricultural myths, from the Neolithic representatives
of the Mediterranean race with whom they came into contact. There can be no doubt but that the Teutonic
legend refers to the introduction of agriculture. The child is called "Scef" or "Sceaf", which signifies
"Sheaf", or "Scyld, the son of Sceaf". Scyld is the patriarch of the Scyldings, the Danes, a people of
mixed origin. In the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf poem, the reference is to "Scyld", but Ethelweard, William of
Malmesbury, and others adhered to "Sceaf" as the name of the Patriarch of the Western Saxons.

The legend runs that one day a boat was seen approaching the shore; it was not propelled by oars or sail.
In it lay a child fast asleep, his head pillowed upon a sheaf of grain. He was surrounded by armour,
treasure, and various implements, including the fire-borer. The child was reared by the people who found
him, and he became a great instructor and warrior and ruled over the tribe as king. In Beowulf Scyld is
the father of the elder Beowulf, whose grandson Hrothgar built the famous Hall. The poem opens with a
reference to the patriarch "Scyld of the Sheaf". When he died, his body, according to the request he had
made, was laid in a ship which was set adrift:

Upon his breast lay many treasures which were to travel with him into the power of the flood. Certainly they (the mourners)
furnished him with no less of gifts, of tribal treasures, than those had done who, in his early days, started him over the sea
alone, child as he was. Moreover, they set besides a gold-embroidered standard high above his head, and let the flood bear
him--gave him to the sea. Their soul was sad, their spirit sorrowful. Who

p. 93

received that load, men, chiefs of council, heroes under heaven, cannot for certain tell. 1

Sceaf or Scyld is identical with Yngve, the patriarch of the Ynglings; with Frey, the harvest and boar god,
son of Njord, 2 the sea god; and with Hermod, referred to as follows in the Eddic "Lay of Hyndla":

To some grants he wealth, to his children war fame,

Word skill to many and wisdom to men,
Fair winds to sea-farers, song craft to skalds,
And might of manhood to many a warrior.

40
Tammuz is similarly "the heroic lord of the land", the "wise one", the "lord of knowledge", and "the
sovereign, lord of invocation".

Heimdal, watchman of the Teutonic gods, also dwelt for a time among men as "Rig", and had human
offspring, his son Thrall being the ancestor of the Thralls, his son Churl of churls, and Jarl of noblemen.

Tammuz, like Heimdal, is also a guardian. He watches the flocks and herds, whom he apparently guards
against the Gallu demons as Heimdal guards the world and the heavens against attacks by giants and
monsters. The flocks of Tammuz, Professor Pinches suggests, "recall the flocks of the Greek sun god
Helios. These were the clouds illuminated by the sun, which were likened to sheep--indeed, one of the
early Sumerian expressions for 'fleece' was 'sheep of the sky'. The name of Tammuz in Sumerian is
Dumu-zi, or in its rare fullest form, Dumu-zida, meaning 'true or faithful son'. There is probably some
legend attached to this which is at present unknown." 3
p. 94

So the Sumerian hymn-chanters lamented:

Like an herdsman the sentinel place of sheep and cattle he (Tammuz) has forsaken . . .
From his home, from his inhabited domain, the son, he of wisdom, pre-eminent steer of heaven,
The hero unto the nether herding place has taken his way. 1

Agni, the Aryo-Indian god, who, as the sky sentinel, has points of resemblance to Heimdal, also links
with Tammuz, especially in his Mitra character:

Agni has been established among the tribes of men, the son of the waters, Mitra acting in the right way. Rigveda, iii, 5, 3.

Agni, who has been looked and longed for in Heaven, who has been looked for on earth--he who has been looked for has
entered all herbs. Rigveda, i, 98. 2

Tammuz, like the Egyptian lunar and solar god Khonsu, is "the healer", and Agni "drives away all
disease". Tammuz is the god "of sonorous voice"; Agni "roars like a bull"; and Heimdal blows a horn
when the giants and demons threaten to attack the citadel of the gods. As the spring sun god, Tammuz is
"a youthful warrior", says Jastrow, "triumphing over the storms of winter". 3 The storms, of course, were
symbolized as demons. Tammuz, "the heroic lord", was therefore a demon slayer like Heimdal and Agni.
Each of these gods appear to have been developed in isolation from an archaic spring god of fertility and
corn whose attributes were symbolized. In Teutonic mythology, for instance, Heimdal was the warrior
form of the patriarch Scef, while Frey was the deified agriculturist who came over the deep as a child. In
Saxo's mythical history of Denmark,
p. 95

Frey as Frode is taken prisoner by a storm giant, Beli, "the howler", and is loved by his hag
[paragraph continues]
sister in the Teutonic Hades, as Tammuz is loved by Eresh-ki-gal, spouse of the storm god Nergal, in the
Babylonian Hades. Frode returns to earth, like Tammuz, in due season.

41
It is evident that there were various versions of the Tammuz myth in Ancient Babylonia. In one the
goddess Ishtar visited Hades to search for the lover of her youth. A part of this form of the legend
survives in the famous Assyrian hymn known as "The Descent of Ishtar". It was first translated by the
late Mr. George Smith, of the British Museum. A box containing inscribed tablets had been sent from
Assyria to London, and Mr. Smith, with characteristic patience and skill, arranged and deciphered them,
giving to the world a fragment of ancient literature infused with much sublimity and imaginative power.
Ishtar is depicted descending to dismal Hades, where the souls of the dead exist in bird forms:

I spread like a bird my hands.

I descend, I descend to the house of darkness, the dwelling of the god Irkalla:
To the house out of which there is no exit,
To the road from which there is no return:
To the house from whose entrance the light is taken,
The place where dust is their nourishment and their food mud.
Its chiefs also are like birds covered with feathers;
The light is never seen, in darkness they dwell. . . .

[paragraph continues] When the goddess reaches the gate of Hades she cries to the porter:

Keeper of the waters, open thy gate,

Open thy gate that I may enter.
If thou openest not the gate that I may enter
I will strike the door, the bolts I will shatter, p. 96
I will strike the threshold and will pass through the doors;
I will raise up the dead to devour the living,
Above the living the dead shall exceed in numbers.

The porter answers that he must first consult the Queen of Hades, here called Allatu, to
[paragraph continues]
whom he accordingly announces the arrival of the Queen of Heaven. Allatu's heart is filled with anger,
and makes reference to those whom Ishtar caused to perish:

Let me weep over the strong who have left their wives,
Let me weep over the handmaidens who have lost the embraces of their husbands,
Over the only son let me mourn, who ere his days are come is taken away.

[paragraph continues] Then she issues abruptly the stern decree:

Go, keeper, open the gate to her,

Bewitch her according to the ancient rules;

that is, "Deal with her as you deal with others who come here".

As Ishtar enters through the various gates she is stripped of her ornaments and clothing. At the first gate
her crown was taken off, at the second her ear-rings, at the third her necklace of precious stones, at the
fourth the ornaments of her breast, at the fifth her gemmed waist-girdle, 1 at the sixth the bracelets of her

42
hands and feet, and at the seventh the covering robe of her body. Ishtar asks at each gate why she is thus
dealt with, and the porter answers, "Such is the command of Allatu."

After descending for a prolonged period the Queen of Heaven at length stands naked before the Queen of
Hades. Ishtar is proud and arrogant, and Allatu, desiring to punish her rival whom she cannot humble,

Click to enlarge
ISHTAR IN HADES
From the Painting by E. Wallcousins.

p. 97

commands the plague demon, Namtar, to strike her with disease in all parts of her body. The effect of
Ishtar's fate was disastrous upon earth: growth and fertility came to an end.

Meanwhile Pap-sukal, messenger of the gods, hastened to Shamash, the sun deity, to relate what had
occurred. The sun god immediately consulted his lunar father, Sin, and Ea, god of the deep. Ea then
created a man lion, named Nadushu-namir, to rescue Ishtar, giving him power to pass through the seven
gates of Hades. When this being delivered his message

Allatu . . . struck her breast; she bit her thumb,

She turned again: a request she asked not.

[paragraph continues] In her anger she cursed the rescuer of the Queen of Heaven.

May I imprison thee in the great prison,

May the garbage of the foundations of the city be thy food,
May the drains of the city be thy drink,
May the darkness of the dungeon be thy dwelling,
May the stake be thy seat,
May hunger and thirst strike thy offspring.

She was compelled, however, to obey the high gods, and addressed Namtar, saying:

43
Unto Ishtar give the waters of life and bring her before me.

Thereafter the Queen of Heaven was conducted through the various gates, and at each she
[paragraph continues]
received her robe and the ornaments which were taken from her on entering. Namtar says:

Since thou hast not paid a ransom for thy deliverance to her (Allatu), so to her again turn back,
For Tammuz the husband of thy youth.
The glistening waters (of life) pour over him .
In splendid clothing dress him, with a ring of crystal adorn him.

p. 98

Ishtar mourns for "the wound of Tammuz", smiting her breast, and she did not ask for "the precious eye-
stones, her amulets", which were apparently to ransom Tammuz. The poem concludes with Ishtar's wail:

O my only brother (Tammuz) thou dost not lament for me.

In the day that Tammuz adorned me, with a ring of crystal,
With a bracelet of emeralds, together with himself, he adorned me, 1
With himself he adorned me; may men mourners and women mourners
On a bier place him, and assemble the wake. 2

A Sumerian hymn to Tammuz throws light on this narrative. It sets forth that Ishtar descended to Hades
to entreat him to be glad and to resume care of his flocks, but Tammuz refused or was unable to return.

His spouse unto her abode he sent back.

[paragraph continues] She then instituted the wailing ceremony:

The amorous Queen of Heaven sits as one in darkness. 3

Mr. Langdon also translates a hymn (Tammuz III) which appears to contain the narrative on which the
Assyrian version was founded. The goddess who descends to Hades, however, is not Ishtar, but the
"sister", Belit-sheri. She is accompanied by various demons--the "gallu-demon", the "slayer", &c.--and
holds a conversation with Tammuz which, however, is "unintelligible and badly broken". Apparently,
however, he promises to return to earth.
. . . I will go up, as for me I will depart with thee . . .
. . . I will return, unto my mother let us go back.

p. 99

Probably two goddesses originally lamented for Tammuz, as the Egyptian sisters, Isis and Nepthys,
lamented for Osiris, their brother. Ishtar is referred to as "my mother". Isis figures alternately in the
Egyptian chants as mother, wife, sister, and daughter of Osiris. She cries, "Come thou to thy wife in
peace; her heart fluttereth for thy love", . . . "I am thy wife, made as thou art, the elder sister, soul of her
brother". . . . "Come thou to us as a babe". . . . "Lo, thou art as the Bull of the two goddesses--come thou,

44
child growing in peace, our lord!" . . "Lo! the Bull, begotten of the two cows, Isis and Nepthys". . . .
"Come thou to the two widowed goddesses". . . . "Oh child, lord, first maker of the body". . . . "Father
Osiris." 1

As Ishtar and Belit-sheri weep for Tammuz, so do

Isis and Nepthys weep for Osiris.

Calling upon thee with weeping--yet thou art prostrate upon thy bed!
Gods and men . . . are weeping for thee at the same time, when they behold me (Isis).
Lo! I invoke thee with wailing that reacheth high as heaven.

[paragraph continues] Isis is also identified with Hathor (Ishtar) the Cow. . . . "The cow weepeth for thee with her
voice." 2

There is another phase, however, to the character of the mother goddess which explains the references to
the desertion and slaying of Tammuz by Ishtar. "She is", says Jastrow, "the goddess of the human
instinct, or passion which accompanies human love. Gilgamesh . . . reproaches her with abandoning the
objects of her passion after a brief period of union." At Ishtar's temple "public maidens accepted
temporary partners, assigned to them by
p. 100

Ishtar". 1 The worship of all mother goddesses in ancient times was accompanied by
[paragraph continues]
revolting unmoral rites which are referred to in condemnatory terms in various passages in the Old
Testament, especially in connection with the worship of Ashtoreth, who was identical with Ishtar and the
Egyptian Hathor.

Ishtar in the process of time overshadowed all the other female deities of Babylonia, as did Isis in Egypt.
Her name, indeed, which is Semitic, became in the plural, Ishtaráte, a designation for goddesses in
general. But although she was referred to as the daughter of the sky, Anu, or the daughter of the moon,
Sin or Nannar, she still retained traces of her ancient character. Originally she was a great mother
goddess, who was worshipped by those who believed that life and the universe had a female origin in
contrast to those who believed in the theory of male origin. Ishtar is identical with Nina, the fish goddess,
a creature who gave her name to the Sumerian city of Nina and the Assyrian city of Nineveh. Other forms
of the Creatrix included Mama, or Mami, or Ama, "mother", Aruru, Bau, Gula, and Zer-panitum. These
were all "Preservers" and healers. At the same time they were "Destroyers", like Nin-sun and the Queen
of Hades, Eresh-ki-gal or Allatu. They were accompanied by shadowy male forms ere they became wives
of strongly individualized gods, or by child gods, their sons, who might be regarded as "brothers" or
"husbands of their mothers", to use the paradoxical Egyptian term. Similarly Great Father deities had
vaguely defined wives. The "Semitic" Baal, "Yah", was accompanied by a female reflection of himself--
Beltu, "the lady". Shamash, the sun god, had for wife the shadowy Aa.

45
 Click to enlarge
WINGED HUMAN-HEADED COW (?)
From Kouyunjik (Nineveh): now in the British Museum.
Photo. Mansell.

p. 101

As has been shown, Ishtar is referred to in a Tammuz hymn as the mother of the child god of fertility. In
an Egyptian hymn the sky goddess Nut, "the mother" of Osiris, is stated to have "built up life from her
own body." 1 Sri or Lakshmi, the Indian goddess, who became the wife of Vishnu, as the mother goddess
Saraswati, a tribal deity, became the wife of Brahma, was, according to a Purana commentator, "the
mother of the world . . . eternal and undecaying". 2

The gods, on the other hand, might die annually: the goddesses alone were immortal. Indra was supposed
to perish of old age, but his wife, Indrani, remained ever young. There were fourteen Indras in every "day
of Brahma", a reference apparently to the ancient conception of Indra among the Great-Mother-
worshipping sections of the Aryo-Indians. 3 In the Mahàbhàrata the god Shiva, as Mahadeva, commands
Indra on "one of the peaks of Himavat", where they met, to lift up a stone and join the Indras who had
been before him. "And Indra on removing that stone beheld a cave on the breast of that king of mountains
in which were four others resembling himself." Indra exclaimed in his grief, "Shall I be even like these?"
These five Indras, like the "Seven Sleepers", awaited the time when they would be called forth. They
were ultimately reborn as the five Pandava warriors. 4

The ferocious, black-faced Scottish mother goddess, Cailleach Bheur, who appears to be identical with
Mala Lith, "Grey Eyebrows" of Fingalian story, and the English "Black Annis", figures in Irish song and
legend as "The Old Woman of Beare". This "old woman" (Cailleach) "had", says Professor Kuno Meyer,
"seven
p. 102

periods of youth one after another, so that every man who had lived with her came to die of old age, and
her grandsons and great-grandsons were tribes and races". When old age at length came upon her she
sang her "swan song", from which the following lines are extracted:

Ebb tide to me as of the sea!

Old age causes me reproach . . .
It is riches

46
Ye love, it is not men:
In the time when we lived
It was men we loved . . .
My arms when they are seen
Are bony and thin:
Once they would fondle,
They would be round glorious kings . . .
I must take my garment even in the sun:
The time is at hand that shall renew me. 1

Freyja, the Germanic mother goddess, whose car was drawn by cats, had similarly many lovers. In the
Icelandic poem "Lokasenna", Loki taunts her, saying:

Silence, Freyja! Full well I know thee,

And faultless art thou not found;
Of the gods and elves who here are gathered
Each one hast thou made thy mate.

Idun, the keeper of the apples of immortal youth, which prevent the gods growing old, is similarly
addressed:

Silence, Idun! I swear, of all women

Thou the most wanton art;
Who couldst fling those fair-washed arms of thine
About thy brother's slayer.

p. 103

Frigg, wife of Odin, is satirized as well:

Silence, Frigg! Earth's spouse for a husband,

And hast ever yearned after men! 1

The goddesses of classic mythology had similar reputations. Aphrodite (Venus) had many divine and
mortal lovers. She links closely with Astarte and Ashtoreth (Ishtar), and reference has already been made
to her relations with Adonis (Tammuz). These love deities were all as cruel as they were wayward. When
Ishtar wooed the Babylonian hero, Gilgamesh, he spurned her advances, as has been indicated, saying:

On Tammuz, the spouse of thy youth,

Thou didst lay affliction every year.
Thou didst love the brilliant Allalu bird
But thou didst smite him and break his wing;
He stands in the woods and cries "O my wing".

[paragraph continues] He likewise charged her with deceiving the lion and the horse, making reference to obscure
myths:

47
Thou didst also love a shepherd of the flock,
Who continually poured out for thee the libation,
And daily slaughtered kids for thee;
But thou didst smite him and didst change him into a leopard,
So that his own sheep boy hunted him,
And his own hounds tore him to pieces. 2

These goddesses were ever prone to afflict human beings who might offend them or of whom they
wearied. Demeter (Ceres) changed Ascalaphus into an owl and Stellio into a lizard. Rhea (Ops)
resembled

The tow’red Cybele,

Mother of a hundred gods,

p. 104

the wanton who loved Attis (Adonis). Artemis (Diana) slew her lover Orion, changed Actæon into a stag,
which was torn to pieces by his own dogs, and caused numerous deaths by sending a boar to ravage the
fields of Œneus, king of Calydon. Human sacrifices were frequently offered to the bloodthirsty
"mothers". The most famous victim of Artemis was the daughter of Agamemnon, "divinely tall and most
divinely fair". 1 Agamemnon had slain a sacred stag, and the goddess punished him by sending a calm
when the war fleet was about to sail for Troy, with the result that his daughter had to be sacrificed.
Artemis thus sold breezes like the northern wind hags and witches.

It used to be customary to account for the similarities manifested by the various mother goddesses by
assuming that there was constant cultural contact between separate nationalities, and, as a result, a not
inconsiderable amount of "religious borrowing". Greece was supposed to have received its great
goddesses from the western Semites, who had come under the spell of Babylonian religion.
Archæological evidence, however, tends to disprove this theory. "The most recent researches into
Mesopotamian history", writes Dr. Farnell, "establish with certainty the conclusion that there was no
direct political contact possible between the powers in the valley of the Euphrates and the western shores
of the Ægean in the second millennium B.C. In fact, between the nascent Hellas and the great world of
Mesopotamia there were powerful and possibly independent strata of cultures interposing." 2

The real connection appears to be the racial one. Among the Mediterranean Neolithic tribes of Sumeria,
Arabia, and Europe, the goddess cult appears to have
p. 105

been influential. Mother worship was the predominant characteristic of their religious systems, so that the
Greek goddesses were probably of pre-Hellenic origin, the Celtic of Iberian, the Egyptian of proto-
Egyptian, and the Babylonian of Sumerian. The northern hillmen, on the other hand, who may be
identified with the "Aryans" of the philologists, were father worshippers. The Vedic Aryo-Indians
worshipped father gods, 1 as did also the Germanic peoples and certain tribes in the "Hittite confederacy".
Earth spirits were males, like the Teutonic elves, the Aryo-Indian Ribhus, and the Burkans, "masters", of
the present-day Buriats, a Mongolian people. When the father-worshipping peoples invaded the
dominions of the mother-worshipping peoples, they introduced their strongly individualized gods, but

48
they did not displace the mother goddesses. "The Aryan Hellenes", says Dr. Farnell, "were able to plant
their Zeus and Poseidon on the high hill of Athens, but not to overthrow the supremacy of Athena in the
central shrine and in the aboriginal soul of the Athenian people." 2 As in Egypt, the beliefs of the father
worshippers, represented by the self-created Ptah, were fused with the beliefs of the mother worshippers,
who adored Isis, Mut, Neith, and others. In Babylonia this process of racial and religious fusion was well
advanced before the dawn of history. Ea, who had already assumed manifold forms, may have originally
been the son or child lover of Damkina, "Lady of the Deep", as was Tammuz of Ishtar. As the fish, Ea
was the offspring of the mother river.

The mother worshippers recognized male as well as female deities, but regarded the great goddess as the
First Cause. Although the primeval spirits were grouped in
p. 106

four pairs in Egypt, and apparently in Babylonia also, the female in the first pair was more strongly
individualized than the male. The Egyptian Nu is vaguer than his consort Nut, and the Babylonian Apsu
than his consort Tiamat. Indeed, in the narrative of the Creation Tablets of Babylon, which will receive
full treatment in a later chapter, Tiamat, the great mother, is the controlling spirit. She is more powerful
and ferocious than Apsu, and lives longer. After Apsu's death she elevates one of her brood, named
Kingu, to be her consort, a fact which suggests that in the Ishtar-Tammuz myth survives the influence of
exceedingly ancient modes of thought. Like Tiamat, Ishtar is also a great battle heroine, and in this
capacity she was addressed as "the lady of majestic rank exalted over all gods". This was no idle flattery
on the part of worshippers, but a memory of her ancient supremacy.

Reference has been made to the introduction of Tammuz worship into Jerusalem. Ishtar, (Pronounced as
Easter) as Queen of Heaven, was also adored by the backsliding Israelites as a deity of battle and harvest.

When Jeremiah censured the people for burning incense and serving gods "whom they knew not", he
said, "neither they, ye, nor your fathers", they made answer: "Since we left off to burn incense to the
queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been
consumed by the sword and the famine". The women took a leading part in these
practices, but refused to accept all the blame, saying, "When we burned
incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we
make our cakes and pour out drink offerings unto her without our men?" 1 That
the husbands, and the children even, assisted at the ceremony is made evident
in another reference to goddess worship:

Click to enlarge
Female figure in adoration before a goddess

49
 Click to enlarge
The winged Ishtar above the rising sun god, the river god, and other deities

Click to enlarge
Gilgamesh in conflict with bulls

(see page 176)

CYLINDER-SEAL IMPRESSIONS
(British Museum)

p. 107

[paragraph continues] "The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the
dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven". 1 (Hot Crossed Buns served on Easter)

Jastrow suggests that the women of Israel wept for Tammuz, offered cakes to the mother goddess, &c.,
because "in all religious bodies . . . women represent the conservative element; among them religious
customs continue in practice after they have been abandoned by men". 2 The evidence of Jeremiah,
however, shows that the men certainly co-operated at the archaic ceremonials. In lighting the fires with
the "vital spark", they apparently acted in imitation of the god of fertility.

The women, on the other hand, represented the reproductive harvest goddess in providing the food
supply. In recognition of her gift, they rewarded the goddess by offering her the cakes prepared from the
newly ground wheat and barley--the "first fruits of the harvest". As the corn god came as a child, the
children began the ceremony by gathering the wood for the sacred fire. When the women mourned for
Tammuz, they did so evidently because the death of the god was lamented by the goddess Ishtar. It would
appear, therefore, that the suggestion regarding the "conservative element" should really apply to the
immemorial practices of folk religion. These differed from the refined ceremonies of the official cult in
Babylonia, where there were suitable temples and organized bands of priests and priestesses. But the
official cult received no recognition in Palestine; the cakes intended for a goddess were not
offered up in the temple of Abraham's God, but "in the streets of Jerusalem" and those of
other cities. 3
p. 108

The obvious deduction seems to be that in ancient times women everywhere played a prominent part in
the ceremonial folk worship of the Great Mother goddess, while the men took the lesser part of the god

50
whom she had brought into being and afterwards received as "husband of his mother". This may account
for the high social status of women among goddess worshippers, like the representatives of the
Mediterranean race, whose early religion was not confined to temples, but closely associated with the
acts of everyday life.

Bozrah
1. Isaiah 34:6
The sword of Yah is filled with blood, It is made overflowing with fatness, With the
blood of lambs and goats, With the fat of the kidneys of rams. For Yah has a
sacrifice in Bozrah, And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

Isaiah 63

Yah in Judgment and Salvation

1
2. Who is this who comes from Edom,
With dyed garments from Bozrah,
This One who is glorious in His apparel,
Traveling in the greatness of His strength?—

“ I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”

2
Why is Your apparel red,
And Your garments like one who treads in the winepress?

51
3
“ I have trodden the winepress alone,
And from the peoples no one was with Me.
For I have trodden them in My anger,
And trampled them in My fury;
Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments,
And I have stained all My robes.
4
For the day of vengeance is in My heart,
And the year of My redeemed has come.

52
 3. Jeremiah 48:24
On Kerioth and Bozrah, On all the cities of the land of Moab, Far or near.

4. Jeremiah 49:13
For I have sworn by Myself,” says Yah, “that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a
reproach, a waste, and a curse. And all its cities shall be perpetual wastes.”)
5. Jeremiah 49:22
Behold, He shall come up and fly like the eagle, And spread His wings over Bozrah;
The heart of the mighty men of Edom in that day shall be Like the heart of a woman
in birth pangs.

6. Amos 1:12
But I will send a fire upon Teman, Which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.”

Teman (Edom)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Teman (Hebrew: ‫)תמין‬, was the name of an Edomite clan and of its eponym, according to the Bible[1]
and an ancient biblical town of Arabia Petraea. The term is also traditionally applied to Yemenite Jews.

Job's friend Eliphaz was a Temanite.[2]

Start here

Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah

35
So Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give money
according to the command of Pharaoh; he exacted the silver and gold from the people of
the land, from every one according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Necho. 36
Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in
Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37 And he
did evil in the sight of Yah, according to all that his fathers had done.
Footnotes:

a. 2 Kings 23:4 A Canaanite goddess

53
 b. 2 Kings 23:4 The gods of the Assyrians
c. 2 Kings 23:6 Hebrew Asherah, a Canaanite goddess
d. 2 Kings 23:7 Hebrew qedeshim, that is, those practicing sodomy and prostitution in
religious rituals
e. 2 Kings 23:10 Kethib reads Sons.
f. 2 Kings 23:19 Following Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate; Masoretic Text and
Targum omit Yah.
g. 2 Kings 23:27 1 Kings 8:29
h. 2 Kings 23:34 That is, Jehoahaz

Deuteronomy 23:17

Cult Prostitution Forbidden

17
"No Israelite woman is to be a cult prostitute, and no Israelite man is to be a cult
prostitute.

1 Kings 14:24

24
there were even male shrine prostitutes in the land. (A) They imitated all the
abominations of the nations Yah had dispossessed before the Israelites. (B)

Cross references:

A. 1 Kings 14:24 : Dt 23:17;

B. 1 Kings 14:24 : Ex 23:24; Dt 18:9; 2Kg 16:3; 17:15; 21:2; 3Jn 11;

1 Kings 15:12

12
He banished the male shrine prostitutes (A)
from the land and removed all of the
idols that his fathers had made. (B)

Cross references:

A. 1 Kings 15:12 : Dt 23:17; 1Kg 14:24;

B. 1 Kings 15:12 : 1Kg 11:7; 14:23; 2Ch 14:3;, 5;

54
 Israelite Leadership that was against Yah of Hosts

2 Chronicles 33

Manasseh Rules in Judah

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-
five years. 2 He did what was evil in Yah’s sight, following the detestable practices of the
pagan nations that Yah had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the
pagan shrines his father, Hezekiah, had broken down. He constructed altars for the
images of Baal and set up Asherah poles. He also bowed before all the powers of
the heavens and worshiped them.

4
He built pagan altars in the Temple of Yah, the place where Yah had said, “My
name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” 5 He built these altars for all the powers of
the heavens in both courtyards of Yah’s Temple. 6 Manasseh also sacrificed his
own sons in the fire[a] in the valley of Ben-Hinnom. He practiced sorcery,
divination, and witchcraft, and he consulted with mediums and psychics. He
did much that was evil in Yah’s sight, arousing his anger.

7
Manasseh even took a carved idol he had made and set it up in Yah’s
Temple, the very place where Yah had told David and his son Solomon: “My name
will be honored forever in this Temple and in Jerusalem—the city I have chosen
from among all the tribes of Israel. 8 If the Israelites will be careful to obey my
commands—all the laws, decrees, and regulations given through Moses—I will not
send them into exile from this land that I set aside for your ancestors.” 9 But
Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem to do even more evil than the
pagan nations that Yah had destroyed when the people of Israel entered the land.

10
Yah spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they ignored all his warnings. 11
So Yah sent the commanders of the Assyrian armies, and they took Manasseh
prisoner. They put a ring through his nose, bound him in bronze chains, and led
him away to Babylon. 12 But while in deep distress, Manasseh sought Yah his God
and sincerely humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. 13 And when he
prayed, Yah listened to him and was moved by his request. So Yah brought
Manasseh back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh finally realized
that Yah alone is God!

14
After this Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David, from west of the
Gihon Spring in the Kidron Valley to the Fish Gate, and continuing around the hill of
Ophel. He built the wall very high. And he stationed his military officers in all of the
fortified towns of Judah. 15 Manasseh also removed the foreign gods and the idol

55
from Yah’s Temple. He tore down all the altars he had built on the hill where the
Temple stood and all the altars that were in Jerusalem, and he dumped them
outside the city. 16 Then he restored the altar of Yah and sacrificed peace offerings
and thanksgiving offerings on it. He also encouraged the people of Judah to
worship Yah, the God of Israel. 17 However, the people still sacrificed at the
pagan shrines, though only to Yah their God. (They worshiped in the church that
they converted in their day)

18
The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign, his prayer to God, and the words the
seers spoke to him in the name of Yah, the God of Israel, are recorded in The Book
of the Kings of Israel. 19 Manasseh’s prayer, the account of the way God answered
him, and an account of all his sins and unfaithfulness are recorded in The Record of
the Seers.[b] It includes a list of the locations where he built pagan shrines and set
up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself and repented. 20 When
Manasseh died, he was buried in his palace. Then his son Amon became the next
king.

Amon Rules in Judah

21
Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two
years. 22 He did what was evil in Yah’s sight, just as his father, Manasseh, had
done. He worshiped and sacrificed to all the idols his father had made. 23 But unlike his
father, he did not humble himself before Yah. Instead, Amon sinned even more.

24
Then Amon’s own officials conspired against him and assassinated him in his
palace. 25 But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King
Amon, and they made his son Josiah the next king.

Footnotes:

a. 2 Chronicles 33:6 Or also made his sons pass through the fire.
b. 2 Chronicles 33:19 Or The Record of Hozai.

What is a familiar spirit? Strong’s Concordance of the Bible (178) necromancer

Leviticus 19:31 Someone hired to summon or speak to the dead; - this is strictly
forbidden by Yah, and carries a death penalty!

56
Jeremiah 10

Idolatry Brings Destruction

1 2
Hear the word that Yah speaks to you, O Israel! This is what Yah says:

“Do not act like the other nations,

who try to read their future in the stars.
Do not be afraid of their predictions,
even though other nations are terrified by them.
3
Their ways are futile and foolish.
They cut down a tree (Christmas tree), and a craftsman carves an idol.
4
They decorate it with gold and silver
and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails
so it won’t fall over.
5
Their gods are like
helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field!
They cannot speak,
and they need to be carried because they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of such gods,
for they can neither harm you nor do you any good.”
6
Yah, there is no one like you!
For you are great, and your name is full of power.
7
Who would not fear you, O King of nations?

57
 That title belongs to you alone!
Among all the wise people of the earth
and in all the kingdoms of the world,
there is no one like you.

Deuteronomy 4:
Beware of Idolatry

15
“Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when Yah spoke to you at Horeb
out of the midst of the fire, 16 lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved
image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any
animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 the
likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the
water beneath the earth. 19 And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you
see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship
them and serve them, which Yah your God has given to all the (other) peoples under the
whole heaven as a heritage.

1 Samuel 28:8 Saul summoned or used a witch

Witch (3784) ex 22 18 Deuteronomy 18:10

Witchcraft cut off Micah 5:12

Micah 5

A Promised Ruler From Bethlehem

1 [a]
Marshal your troops now, city of troops,
for a siege is laid against us.

58
They will strike Israel’s ruler
on the cheek with a rod.

2
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans[b] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.”
3
Therefore Israel will be abandoned
until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites.
4
He will stand and shepherd his flock
in the strength of Yah,
in the majesty of the name of Yah his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness
will reach to the ends of the earth.
5
And he will be our peace
when the Assyrians invade our land
and march through our fortresses.
We will raise against them seven shepherds,
even eight commanders,
6
who will rule[c] the land of Assyria with the sword,
the land of Nimrod with drawn sword.[d]
He will deliver us from the Assyrians
when they invade our land
and march across our borders.
7
The remnant of Jacob will be
in the midst of many peoples
like dew from Yah,
like showers on the grass,
which do not wait for anyone
or depend on man.
8
The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,
like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
which mauls and mangles as it goes,
and no one can rescue.

59
9
Your hand will be lifted up in triumph over your enemies,
and all your foes will be destroyed.
10
“In that day,” declares Yah,

“I will destroy your horses from among you

and demolish your chariots.
11
I will destroy the cities of your land
and tear down all your strongholds.
12
I will destroy your witchcraft
and you will no longer cast spells.
13
I will destroy your idols
and your sacred stones from among you;
you will no longer bow down
to the work of your hands.
14
I will uproot from among you your Asherah poles[e]
when I demolish your cities.
15
I will take vengeance in anger and wrath
on the nations that have not obeyed me.”

Footnotes:

a. Micah 5:1 In Hebrew texts 5:1 is numbered 4:14, and 5:2-15 is numbered 5:1-14.
b. Micah 5:2 Or rulers
c. Micah 5:6 Or crush
d. Micah 5:6 Or Nimrod in its gates
e. Micah 5:14 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah

When righteous leaders die or are absent, Israel sins

f. Judges 4:1
And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of Yah, when Ehud was
dead.
g. Manasseh (Father) Amon (son)

h. 2 Chronicles 33:22
But he did that which was evil in the sight of Yah, as did Manasseh his father:
for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had
made, and served them;
i. Judges 13:1
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of Yah; and Yah
delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

60
Israel’s Sin Causes Yah to give Israel into Enemies Hand

Judges 3:12
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of Yah: and Yah strengthened
Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of
Yah.

Judges 6:1
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of Yah: and Yah delivered them into
the hand of Midian seven years.)

Numbers 32:13
And Yah's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the
wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of
Yah, was consumed.

Leviticus 18:21
And you shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither
shalt you profane the name of thy God: I am Yah.

2 Kings 23:10
And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no
man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.

Human sacrifice was never authorized by the Living Creator (YHWH) Yah of Hosts, and
when Moses said to Yah, “blot me out of your book of life in place of the children of
Israel being killed by Yah, the Almighty said NO!

Exodus 32:30-335

30
Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, “You have
committed a great sin. So now I will go up to Yah; perhaps I can make atonement for
your sin.” 31 Then Moses returned to Yah and said, “Oh, these people have committed a
great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! 32 Yet now, if You will forgive their
sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.”

61
33
And Yah said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.
34
Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold,
My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will
visit punishment upon them for their sin.”

35
So Yah plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made.

Another good example of how someone CANNOT die for your sins, not even in the story of Jesus Christ, the so
called first born of God, please read;

Micah 6

Yah Pleads with Israel

1
Hear now what Yah says:

“ Arise, plead your case before the mountains,

And let the hills hear your voice.
2
Hear, O you mountains, Yah’s complaint,
And you strong foundations of the earth;
For Yah has a complaint against His people,
And He will contend with Israel.
3
“ O My people, what have I done to you?
And how have I wearied you?
Testify against Me.

4
For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
I redeemed you from the house of bondage;
And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
5
O My people, remember now
What Balak king of Moab counseled,
And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
From Acacia Grove[a] to Gilgal,
That you may know the righteousness of Yah.”

6
With what shall I come before Yah,
And bow myself before the High God?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
With calves a year old?
7
Will Yah be pleased with thousands of rams,
Ten thousand rivers of oil?

62
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8
He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does Yah require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?

Punishment of Israel’s Injustice

9
Yah’s voice cries to the city—
Wisdom shall see Your name:

“ Hear the rod!

Who has appointed it?
10
Are there yet the treasures of wickedness
In the house of the wicked,
And the short measure that is an abomination?
11
Shall I count pure those with the wicked scales,
And with the bag of deceitful weights?
12
For her rich men are full of violence,
Her inhabitants have spoken lies,
And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13
“ Therefore I will also make you sick by striking you,
By making you desolate because of your sins.

14
You shall eat, but not be satisfied;
Hunger[b]shall be in your midst.
You may carry some away,[c] but shall not save them;
And what you do rescue I will give over to the sword.
15
“ You shall sow, but not reap;
You shall tread the olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;
And make sweet wine, but not drink wine.

16
For the statutes of Omri are kept;
All the works of Ahab’s house are done;
And you walk in their counsels,
That I may make you a desolation,
And your inhabitants a hissing.
Therefore you shall bear the reproach of My people.”[d]

63
Footnotes:

a. Micah 6:5 Hebrew Shittim (compare Numbers 25:1; Joshua 2:1; 3:1)
b. Micah 6:14 Or Emptiness or Humiliation
c. Micah 6:14 Targum and Vulgate read You shall take hold.
d. Micah 6:16 Following Masoretic Text, Targum, and Vulgate; Septuagint reads of
nations

So as Israel and Judah was hell bent on being something that they were commanded by
Yah to not be, they practiced ALL of the pagan observances, even beyond the levels of
what the Heathens did, they engaged in all manner of human sacrifice;

Jeremiah 32:35
And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom,
to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech;
which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they
should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

So todays people of the Hebrew Israelite nation fail or don’t care that they mix
different religions with the Hebrew way of life; something strictly forbidden, and we
also fail to properly understand that when you take your child to any church
that does not correctly worship YHWH, you are sacrificing them by
exposing them to a religion not commanded by Yah the Living Creator,

it is the same as sacrificing yourself and them. It is written that when coming
into the presence of the Living God to come with song and praise, so if you are
doing this, but not for Yah, like it or not, you are sacrificing!

Baptismal regeneration, (being baptized) is a ritual that has its roots in idolatry,
and is the same as passing your son or daughter through the fire; this applies to
you IF you are a Hebrew Israelite.

Psalm 100:2
Serve Yah with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.

We are going to show with the chart below the Kings of the Kingdom of both Israel and
Judah, and the particular kings, and the effects of their ruler-ship good or bad.

We should know by now that we have spent very little time in our true homeland, solely for
the reason that our sins caused us to be vomited out for hundreds of years. As we
approach the running out of time given us to repent and never look back, the question is
starring us in the face, will you change permanently and live in the presence of the
Almighty, or die because you didn’t choose Him while you had the chance?

64
Israelite Kings Date Chart
(Based on the chronology of John Bright)

Dennis Bratcher

Good kings, in terms of religious leadership or reforms

Good political leaders, but faulted for lack of commitment to God
Kings that showed mixed traits, with some good actions yet significant failures
Especially bad kings, as either political or religious leaders, or both
Kings assassinated or deposed
Kings with too little information or not evaluated

Underlined names are active links to Old Testament History articles.

The United Monarchy

Dates
Kingdom of the Israelites
(BC)

1020-
Saul
1000

1000-
David
961

961-
Solomon
922

The Divided Kingdoms

Dates Israel Judah Dates

(BC) (Northern) (Southern) (BC)

922-
Rehoboam
915
922-
Jeroboam I
901
915-
Abijah
913

65
901-
Nadab 913-
900 Asa
873

900-
Baasha
877

877-
Elah
876

876 Zimri Tibni

873-
Jehoshaphat
876- 849
Omri
869

869-
Ahab
850

850- 849-
Ahaziah Jehoram
849 843

849- Joram
Ahaziah 843
843 (Jehoram)

Athaliah 843-
843-
Jehu (non-Davidic 837
815
Queen)

815- 837-
Jehoahaz Joash
802 800

802- Jehoash 800-

Amaziah
786 (Joash) 783

786- Uzziah 783-

Jeroboam II
746 (Azariah) 742

746- Jotham (co- 750-

Zachariah
745 regent) 742

66
745 Shallum

745-
Menahem 742-
737 Jotham (king)
735

737-
Pekahiah
736

736-
Pekah
732

735-
732- Ahaz
Hoshea 715
724

721 Fall of Samaria

715-
Hezekiah
687

687-
Manasseh
642

642-
Amon
640

640-
Josiah
609

Jehoahaz 609

Jehoikim 609-
(Eliakim) 598

Jehoiachin 598-
(Jeconiah) 597

Zedekiah 597-
(Mattaniah) 587

Fall of 587

67
 Jerusalem

This chart is based on the chronology of John Bright (A History of Israel, 3rd edition, Westminster,
1981). There are other chronologies of the Israelite kings that differ in some details, for example, that of
J. Maxwell Miller in Harper's Bible Dictionary.

Source: http://www.crivoice.org/israelitekings.html

Who was King Josiah?

Josiah
From Conservapedia
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Josiah (Hebrew ‫יֹאׁשּיָהּו‬,

ִ "supported by YHWH", or Greek Ἰωσίας) (649-r. 641-610 BC according to
Ussher, or 648-r. 640-609 BC according to Thiele[2]) was the fifteenth king of the Southern Kingdom of
[1]

Israel in direct line of descent.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Significance
• 2 Early Life and Family
• 3 Near Eastern politics
• 4 Beginnings of reform
• 5 Political flux
• 6 The Finding of the Book of the Law
• 7 Continued Reforms
• 8 Military tragedy and succession
• 9 References Cited
• 10 See Also

Significance

Some commentators suggest that Josiah, rather than David, qualifies as the greatest of the kings of
ancient Israel.[3] He certainly stands as one of the greatest of Israel's kings and one of that society's two
greatest reformers.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] His reign is also significant for the beginning of the
assembly of the Old Testament[1][2][15][16] and for being king during a pivotal time in Middle Eastern
history.[1][2][9][7]

68
Early Life and Family

Josiah was probably born in 649 BC, the son of Amon and Amon's wife Jedidah. He was six years old
when his grandfather Manasseh died. A mere two years later, he suddenly found himself king when his
father was murdered by a palace conspiracy. The outraged people of the Southern Kingdom arrested and
killed all the conspirators, and then crowned the eight-year-old Josiah king.[1][2][13][12][11][7][6][17]

For the first eight years of his life, he seems to have followed the same idolatrous
worship that his father followed. But at the age of sixteen, he had a change of heart: he began to
seek after God.[18][13][12][11][7][6]

This may suggest that the reformer talked about in scriptures started out
as a sinner, who changed his life around in total and complete loyalty to
Yah in the mannerism of King David’s perfect heart, and also being a
descendent of the lineage of King David! The modern day savoir out of the
lineage of David will start out a life of sin, and then reform; the reform puts
him at risk with the powers of his time, please read;
Isaiah 59:15
Yea, truth fails; and he that departs from evil makes himself a prey: and Yah saw
it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.

Commentary resumed………
Also at sixteen, he married a woman named Zebudah and by her had a son named Jehoiakim, called
Eliakim when he was born. Two years later (at eighteen), he married another woman, named Hamutal,
and by her had a son named Jehoahaz (originally named Shallum). He also had another son by this
woman, named Zedekiah (or Mattaniah at his birth), when he, Josiah, was thirty-one years old.[1]

Josiah did have one other son, named Johanan.[19] His position in the listing in that verse makes him the
firstborn of Josiah's sons. The Bible does not mention him again, however. Possibly he perished by his
father's side in the military fiasco involving Pharaoh Necho II (see below).

Near Eastern politics

The political situation in the ancient Near East at the time was critical to Josiah's activities and the
eventual fate of the Southern Kingdom. The Assyrian king Esarhaddon had died long ago, in 668 BC.[20]
Conventional Assyriologists[2][7] hold that Assur-bani-pal (or "Saosduchinos"), Esarhaddon's successor,
was still on the throne at the time; Ussher[21] states that his successor Ashur-etil-ilani, called "Saraco" or
"Saracen" or Kineladanos" by classical sources, had succeeded to the throne a year after Josiah was born.
At least one other source says that Assur-bani-pal died at this time, and that near-chaos supervened.[12]
Everyone seems to agree, however, that the empire of Assyria was far weaker than it once had been under
men like Esarhaddon and his predecessors. Egypt, under Pharaoh Psammtik I, had broken away from

69
Assyria, and Babylonia would soon see the rise of a new king (Nabopolassar) who would break it away
and supplant Assyria as the dominant power in the region.

Beginnings of reform

When Josiah was twenty years old (in the twelfth year of his reign), he began in ernest to reform the
society of the Southern Kingdom. He started in Jerusalem, systematically destroying all pagan images
and altars of Baal, all Asherah poles, and all the high places that his grandfather had built up after
Hezekiah had destroyed them. He made the most thorough desecration possible of the pagan icons and
their followers:

1. He ground the images (including engraved and cast images) to powder and strewed this powder on the
graves of Baal worshippers.[22]
2. He burned the bones of the priests of Baal on the very altars they had used.[23]

Nor did he stay within what was, strictly speaking, his home territory of Judah and Benjamin. In what
some commentators suggest was part of a bid to regain control of the former territories of the Northern
Kingdom, he ventured into the old tribal territories of Ephraim, Manasseh, Simeon, and Naphtali.[24] The
Assyrian king (whichever was on the throne at the time) was too weak to interfere.

In the thirteenth year of his reign, the prophet Jeremiah began his career, howbeit reluctantly.[25] Baleful
as Jeremiah's message was, Josiah never once molested Jeremiah in any way, shape or form. His sons
would not be so forbearing.

Political flux

In the sixteenth year of his reign came an event of which Josiah appears to have taken little notice at the
time, though it would be relevant to the manner of his death. In that year, Nabopolassar contracted a
military alliance with Astyages of the Medes. Together they attacked Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, and
reduced it to a ruin. Nabopolassar was now in command, and Ashur-etil-ilani was now dead. His
successor (likely Ashur-uballit II) commanded a shadow of what Assyria had recently been.[26]

The Finding of the Book of the Law

In the eighteenth year of his reign, Josiah ordered the priest Hilkiah to begin yet another renovation of the
Temple of Jerusalem. He sent the royal secretary, the royal recorder, and the mayor of Jerusalem to carry
this order to Hilkiah and to give Hilkiah the money, which had been collected at the Temple door, for this
purpose.[27][28]

In the course of clearing out a Temple storeroom, Hilkiah found a scroll.[29][30][11][8] The Bible calls this
"the book of the Law as given by Moses." Most scholars theorize that this was the book of
Deuteronomy[15][16], but at least some hold that this book contained all five of the "Books of Moses"[2][16].
Still others state that even more books of the Old Testament were included in the find.[9]

Malick presents, and effectively refutes, the proposition that Hilkiah's finding was a "late edition" of
Deuteronomy, mainly on the ground that Josiah must have had some education in the laws as stated in
70
Deuteronomy during the first six years of his reform program. He therefore concludes that it was at least
an early edition of Deuteronomy and might indeed have been the entirety of the Torah.[16] Wood[2]
theorizes that Solomon left this book in the Temple when he laid its cornerstones, and that this is why it
survived the destruction, presumably by Manasseh, of all other copies.

Hilkiah gave this scroll to the royal secretary, who read it all the way through. He in turn requested an
audience of the king. The scribe began by giving Josiah a progress report on the renovation. He then said,
simply, "Hilkiah has given me a book," and proceeded to read it. Josiah seems to have listened, rapt, at
the reading. When the reading was concluded, Josiah tore his royal robes. Evidently Josiah had not
realized, until then, just how far the people of his kingdom had strayed from God's law.[31][32]

Josiah's first order was to inquire of a prophet as to the attitude of God toward his people. His scribe, the
priest, and his other advisers found a prophetess named Huldah. She gave a dire warning: that God would
indeed bring a dire judgment on the land, on account of the apostasy, the killing of earlier prophets, and
all the other many provocations that the people had given God. But because Josiah had expressed such
deep sorrow, God granted to him that he would not live to see this calamity.[33][34][8]

Continued Reforms

Josiah worked harder than ever at his reform program after that. First he called an assembly of the people
and read the Book of the Law aloud to all of them.[35][36][10] Then he renewed his religious cleansing
campaign.[37] At this time he fulfilled an earlier prophecy delivered to Jeroboam I concerning Jeroboam's
golden-calf cult: that the bones of the priests who officiated at that altar would be burned upon it. He also
found the bones of the prophet who had uttered that prophecy; those bones he left where they
were.[38][7][15]

He then reinstituted the Passover, exactly as Hezekiah had done, except that Josiah was able to keep it in
the appointed month.[39][40][7]

Military tragedy and succession

In 610 BC, Pharaoh Necho II marched toward Carchemish in an effort to intervene against the rising
empire of Babylonia.[7][2][12][41] Or perhaps he was settling the old score that Egypt had against
Assyria.[1][5]

His march would carry him across the territory of the Southern Kingdom.[6][13] Josiah, for whatever
reason, determined to oppose Necho. Necho sent ambassadors warning him that he was on an errand
from God himself and that Josiah had no business interfering. Nevertheless Josiah joined battle with
Necho at Megiddo.[42]

Josiah was seriously wounded by an arrow early in the battle.[43] Here the Biblical accounts differ. The
author of the Kings books suggests that Josiah died instantly and was brought back dead to Jerusalem.[44]
The Chronicler, on the other hand, stated in detail that Josiah was wounded, asked his charioteer to
evacuate him, and was brought swiftly back to Jerusalem, where he ultimately died of his wounds.[45]
Jeremiah composed a special lamentation for him.[46]

71
Josiah's son Shallum, or Jehoahaz, succeeded him.

References Cited

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 James Ussher, The Annals of the World, Larry Pierce, ed., Green Forest, AR: Master
Books, 2003 (ISBN 0890513600), pghh. 720, 728-9, 732, 737-8, 740-741, 743-44, 746, 750, 754-760
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Leon J. Wood, A Survey of Israel's History, rev. ed. David O'Brien, Grand Rapids,
MI: Academie Books, 1986 (ISBN 031034770X), pp. 310-314
3. ↑ Anonymous, The Greatest King of Israel, 1998. Retrieved April 9, 2007 from Cross Pollen
4. ↑ II_Chronicles 34:2 (KJV)
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Josiah at the WebBible Encyclopedia
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Wayne Blank, Josiah's Reforms, Church of God Daily Bible Study. Retrieved April 9, 2007
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Dennis Bratcher, The Rise of Babylon and Exile (640-538 BC), 2006. Retrieved April
9, 2007.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 David Holt Boshert, Jr., and David Ettinger, Josiah King of Judah, Christ-Centered Mall.
Retrieved April 9, 2007
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Marvin A. Sweeney, King Josiah of Judah: the Lost Messiah of Israel, Oxford University Press,
2001. ISBN 978-0-19-513324-0 Online version retrieved April 9, 2007.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Jennifer Rosania, Josiah: Founded in Faithfulness, Mighty in Spirit, In-touch Ministries, 2006.
Retrieved April 9, 2007
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Emil G. Hirsch and J. F. McLaughlin, Josiah, Jewish Encyclopedia, 202. Retrieved April 9,
2007
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Anonymous, Josiah, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2007. Retrieved April 9, 2007
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Anonymous, King Josiah - Biography, Kings of Israel. Retrieved April 9, 2007
14. ↑ Anonymous, God's Judgment Regarding King Josiah, Kings of Israel. Retrieved April 9, 2007
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 John L. Kachelman, Jr., Josiah: Serving God in Youth, ChristianLibrary.org, 1999. Retrieved
April 9, 2007
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 David Malick, The Book of Josiah's Reform, Bible.org, 2007. Retrieved April 9, 2007
17. ↑ II_Kings 22:1 (KJV)
18. ↑ II_Chronicles 34:3 (KJV)
19. ↑ I_Chronicles 3:15 (KJV)
20. ↑ Ussher, op. cit., pgh. 705
21. ↑ Ussher, op. cit., pgh. 715
22. ↑ II_Chronicles 34:4 (KJV)
23. ↑ II_Chronicles 34:5 (KJV)
24. ↑ II_Chronicles 34:6 (KJV)
25. ↑ Jeremiah 1:1-17 (KJV)
26. ↑ Ussher, op. cit., pgh. 740
27. ↑ II_Chronicles 34:7-13 (KJV)
28. ↑ II_Kings 22:3-7 (KJV)
29. ↑ II_Kings 22:8 (KJV)
30. ↑ II_Chronicles 34:14-15 (KJV)
31. ↑ II_Kings 22:9-11 (KJV)
32. ↑ II_Chronicles 34:16-19 (KJV)
33. ↑ II_Kings 22:12-20 (KJV)
34. ↑ II_Chronicles 34:20-29 (KJV)
35. ↑ II_Kings 23:1-3 (KJV)

72
The place of death of Josiah is named a Megiddo, what is important about
this place?
Plain of Esdraelon Megiddo
E6 on the Map.
(Megiddo). The plain of Esdralon (Greek form of `Jezreel used in Greek writers (Judith 1:8) for general area of
Plain of Megiddo), extends across the breadth of the entire country, between Mount Carmel, Mount Gilboa and
the hills of lower Galilee. The Kishon River runs through the whole length of the valley to the Mediterranean
Sea. The plain of Esdralon, or the Great Valley, was very important for relationship between the coast and the
countries to the north and east. Some of the greatest battles in history of the world have been fought here. The
Bible records battles such as the battle between Deborah and Jabin, king of Hazor (Judg 4-5); and between
Saul and the Philistines (1 Sam 29:1; 31:1 ff); and between Josiah and Pharaoh Necho of Egypt (II Kings
23:29-30).

During the Hellenistic period the Ptolemies built large estates on this fertile plain, and from that time forward it
remained in the hands of the rulers. The plain of Jezreel was conquered by the Maccabees and later formed a
part of Herod's kingdom.

2 Chr. 35:22; Zech. 12:11. See Megiddo and Valley of Jezreel

Maps are shown below to help you get a better picture of the area in ancient times.

73
74
Tel Megiddo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

75
 Biblical Tells – Megiddo, Hazor, Beer Sheba *

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Country Israel

Type Cultural

Criteria ii, iii, iv, vi

Reference 1108

Region ** Asia

Inscription history

Inscription 2005 (29th Session)

76
Ruins atop Tel Megiddo

Megiddo (Hebrew: ; Arabic: , Tell al-Mutesellim) is a tell in modern Israel near Kibbutz
Megiddo, known for its historical, geographical, and theological importance, especially under its Greek
name Armageddon. In ancient times Megiddo was an important city-state. Excavations have unearthed
26 layers of ruins, indicating a long period of settlement. Megiddo is strategically located at the head of a
pass through the Carmel Ridge overlooking the Jezreel Valley from the west.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Etymology
• 2 History
• 3 Archaeology
• 4 Archaeological features
o 4.1 Megiddo Ivories
o 4.2 Megiddo stables
o 4.3 Megiddo church
• 5 See also
• 6 References
• 7 Further reading
• 8 External links

[edit] Etymology

Megiddo is also known as Greek: Μεγιδδώ/Μαγεδδών, Megiddó/Mageddón in the Septuagint; Latin:

Mageddo; Assyrian: Magiddu, Magaddu; Magidda and Makida in the Amarna tablets; Egyptian: Maketi,

77
Makitu, and Makedo. The Book of Revelation mentions apocalyptic military amassment at Armageddon,
a name derived from the Hebrew "Har Megiddo" meaning "Mount of Megiddo". The word has become a
byword for the end of the age.[1]

[edit] History

Megiddo was a site of great importance in the ancient world. It guarded the western branch of a narrow
pass and trade route connecting Egypt and Assyria. Because of its strategic location, Megiddo was the
site of several historical battles. The site was inhabited from approximately 7000 BC to 586 BC (the
same time as the destruction of the First Israelite Temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonians, and
subsequent fall of Israelite rule and exile). Since this time it has remained uninhabited, preserving ruins
pre-dating 586 BC without settlements ever disturbing them. Instead, the town of Lajjun (not to be
confused with the el-Lajjun archaeological site in Jordan) was built up near to the site, but without
inhabiting or disturbing its remains.

Megiddo is mentioned in Ancient Egyptian writings because one of Egypt's mighty kings, Thutmose III,
waged war upon the city in 1478 BC. The battle is described in detail in the hieroglyphics found on the
walls of his temple in Upper Egypt.

Mentioned in the Bible as "Derekh HaYam" or "Way of the Sea," it became an important military artery
of the Roman Empire and was known as the Via Maris.

Circular altar-like shrine Migron 4040

Famous battles include:

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 • Battle of Megiddo (15th century BC): fought between the armies of the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III
and a large Canaanite coalition led by the rulers of Megiddo and Kadesh.
• Battle of Megiddo (609 BC): fought between Egypt and the Kingdom of Judah, in which King Josiah fell.
• Battle of Megiddo (1918): fought during World War I between Allied troops, led by General Edmund
Allenby, and the defending Ottoman army.

Kibbutz Megiddo is nearby less than 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) away to the south. Today, Megiddo Junction
is on the main road connecting the center of Israel with lower Galilee and the north. It lies at the northern
entrance to Wadi Ara, an important mountain pass connecting the Jezreel Valley with Israel's coastal
plain.[2]

In 1964, during Pope Paul VI's visit to the Holy Land, Megiddo was the site where he met with Israeli
dignitaries, including Israeli President Zalman Shazar and Prime Minister Levi Eshkol.[3]

[edit] Archaeology

Megiddo has been excavated three times and is currently being excavated yet again. The first excavations
were carried out between 1903 and 1905 by Gottlieb Schumacher for the German Society for the Study
of Palestine.[4] Techniques used were rudimentary by later standards and Schumacher's field notes and
records were destroyed in World War I before being published. After the war, Carl Watzinger published
the remaining available data from the dig.[5]

City Gate

In 1925, digging was resumed by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, financed by John D.
Rockefeller, Jr., continuing until the outbreak of the Second World War. The work was led initially by
Clarence S. Fisher, and later by P. L. O. Guy, Robert Lamon, and Gordon Loud.[6][7][8][9][10] The Oriental
Institute intended to completely excavate the whole tel, layer by layer, but unfortunately money ran out
before they could do so. Today excavators limit themselves to a square or a trench on the basis that they
must leave something for future archaeologists with better techniques and methods. During these
excavations it was discovered that there were around 8 levels of habitation, and many of the uncovered
remains are preserved at the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem and the Oriental Institute of Chicago.

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Yigael Yadin conducted excavations in 1960, 1966, 1967, and 1971 for the Hebrew University.[11][12] The
formal results of those digs have not yet been published, though in 2005 a grant was issued by the Shelby
White — Leon Levy Program for Archaeological Publications to produce an expedition final report.

Megiddo has most recently (since 1994) been the subject of biannual excavation campaigns conducted by
the Megiddo Expedition of Tel Aviv University, currently co-directed by Israel Finkelstein and David
Ussishkin, with Eric H. Cline of The George Washington University serving as Associate Director
(USA), together with a consortium of international universities.[13][14] One notable feature of the dig is
close on-site co-operation between archaeologists and specialist scientists, with detailed chemical
analysis being performed at the dig itself using a field infrared spectrometer.[15]

In 2010, the Jezreel Valley Regional Project, directed by Matthew J. Adams of Bucknell University in
cooperation with the Megiddo Expedition, undertook excavations of the eastern extension of the Early
Bronze Age town of Megiddo, at the site known as Tel Megiddo (East).[16]

[edit] Archaeological features

View of Jezreel Valley and Mount Tabor from Megiddo

The visitor to Megiddo enters via the Visitor Centre which has some good displays but falls short of a full
explanation of the site, its significance and its remains. The path then leads up through a Solomonic
gateway to a viewing area from where one can look down on the great trench dug by the Oriental
Institute. The most notable object on view is a solid circular stone structure which has been variously
interpreted as an altar or a high place. In either case it dates to the Canaanite period. Further on there is a
hole in the ground like an inverted cone with two stairways spiraling down. This is a grain pit from the
Israelite period, to store provisions in case of siege. Beyond that are the famous stables, originally
thought to date from the time of Solomon but now more securely dated a century and a half later to the
time of Ahab. Finally there is the water system, which consists of a square shaft 35 metres (115 ft) deep,
the bottom of which opens into a tunnel bored through rock for 100 metres (330 ft) to a pool of water.
Visitors leave through the original entrance to the spring, which brings them out at the foot of the tel.

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[edit] Megiddo Ivories

The Megiddo Ivories are thin carvings in ivory found at Tel Megiddo in modern-day Israel. The majority
were excavated by Gordon Loud and are currently on display at the Oriental Institute of Chicago. Some
of the objects are on display at the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem, Israel

The objects were found in the stratum VIIA, or Late Bronze Age layer of the site. Other examples are
held at various other locations. Interestingly, the ivories are carved from hippopotamus incisors from the
Nile. The artistic style of the items is also considered to be influenced by Egyptian conventions and an
ivory pen case was found inscribed with the cartouche of Ramses III.

[edit] Megiddo stables

Megiddo Stables

At Megiddo two stable complexes were excavated from Stratum IVA, one in the north and one in the
south. The southern complex contained five structures built around a lime paved courtyard. The buildings
themselves were divided into three sections. Two long stone paved aisles were built adjacent to a main
corridor paved with lime. The buildings were about twenty-one meters long by eleven meters wide.
Separating the main corridor from outside aisles was a series of stone pillars. Holes were bored into many
of these pillars so that horses could be tied to them. Also, the remains of stone mangers were found in the
buildings. These mangers were placed between the pillars to feed the horses. It is suggested that each side
could hold fifteen horses, giving each building an overall capacity of thirty horses. The buildings on the
northern side of the city were similar in their construction. However, there was no central courtyard. The
capacity of the northern buildings was about three hundred horses altogether. Both complexes could hold
from 450-480 horses combined.

81
The buildings were found during excavations between 1927 and 1934 at Megiddo. The head excavator
originally interpreted the buildings as stables. Since then his conclusions have been challenged by
scholars such as James Pritchard, Dr Adrian Curtis of Manchester University Ze'ev Herzog, and Yohanan
Aharoni. They suggest that the buildings should be interpreted as either storehouses, marketplaces or
barracks. Nevertheless, Yigael Yadin and J. S. Holladay strongly argue against this conclusion. Other
Tripartite Buildings have been found at other sites such as Hazor and Beer-Sheba. The evidence at these
other sites is not absolutely conclusive. It is also possible, as Amihai Mazar suggests, that similarly
shaped buildings in different cities may have been put to different uses.[17]

Hill Country or Valley of Megiddo the Host for the War of Armageddon
Question: "What is the battle of Armageddon?"

Answer: The word “Armageddon” comes from a Hebrew word Har-Magedone, which means “Mount
Megiddo” and has become synonymous with the future battle in which God will intervene and destroy
the armies of the Antichrist as predicted in biblical prophecy (Revelation 16:16; 20:1-3, 7-10). There will
be a multitude of people engaged in the battle of Armageddon, as all the nations gather together to
fight against the Anointed one from Yah.

The exact location of the valley of Armageddon is unclear because there is no mountain called Meggido.
However, since “Har” can also mean hill, the most likely location is the hill country surrounding the plain
of Meggido, some sixty miles north of Jerusalem. More than two hundred battles have been fought in
that region. The plain of Megiddo and the nearby plain of Esdraelon will be the focal point for the battle
of Armadeggon, which will rage the entire length of Israel as far south as the Edomite city of Bozrah
(Isaiah 63:1). The valley of Armageddon was famous for two great victories in Israel’s history: 1) Barak’s
victory over the Canaanites (Judges 4:15) and 2) Gideon’s victory over the Midianites (Judges 7).

Armageddon was also the site for two great tragedies: 1) the death of Saul and his sons
(1 Samuel 31:8) and 2) the death of King Josiah (2 Kings 23:29-30; 2 Chronicles 35:22).

82
Because of this history, the valley of Armageddon became a symbol of the final conflict between the
Hebrew God and the forces of evil. The word “Armageddon” only occurs in Revelation 16:16; “Then
they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.” This speaks of the
kings who are loyal to the Antichrist gathering together for a final assault on Israel. At Armageddon “the
cup filled with the wine of the fury of [God’s] wrath” (Revelation 16:19) will be delivered, and the
Antichrist and his followers will be overthrown and defeated. “Armageddon” has become a general
term that refers to the end of the world, not exclusively to the battle that takes place in the plain of
Megiddo.

So we see that a good part of the pagan-idolatrous worship was fashioned after
people who lived and how they were deified, which means they were turned into
gods by the surviving relatives and peoples of the land; to include the erecting or
building of totem poles, steeples, pillars, statues, and obelisks to represent the
person who died; or that thing that was created as a god. This is how people paid
tribute to them, against the teaching of the Hebrew Israelite God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob.

It is important to note that the belief of reincarnation of people came from those
who were afraid of death and the afterlife;

And how this fear turned into outright hatred for Yah because HE was the one who
guarded the secret of eternal life from mankind, and other beasts in the Garden of
Eden! Please read;

Genesis 3:22
22
And Yah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and
evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat,
and live for ever: (This is talking about Adam)

23
Therefore Yah God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground
from whence he was taken.

24
So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden
Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep (block) the way
of the tree of life.

Choose the right path to Yah your God, and completely drop the teachings of men
that is deeply rooted in pagan and idolatry that results in complete death, and
those few who remained loyal to Yah went into slavery on account of the majority
sinning. So Yah had an interesting plan,

83
Jeremiah 24 talks about some people forced to leave our homeland Jerusalem for
their own good, but Yah would keep an eye on them, meaning to keep a eye on
their linage as they went throughout hundreds of years of slavery/captivity because
of their faithfulness to Yah despite that the majority of our people were sinning, so
Yah would cause them at the proper time in the future to come back home to
Jerusalem, you may have thought that every single sole had sinned in order to be
put out the land, but if this were true, then how do you explain this scripture?

Ezekiel 48:11
It shall be for the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept My
charge, who went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went
astray.

Like them I believe from reading the scriptures below, that there was a few faithful
at the time we were sent into captivity, please read;

Jeremiah 24

1 Yah showed me, and behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of Yah,
after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of
Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from
Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon.

2
One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe; and the other
basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten they were so bad.

3
Then said Yah unto me, "What seest thou, Jeremiah?" And I said, "Figs: the good
figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten they are so evil."

4
Again the word of Yah came unto me, saying,

5
"Thus saith Yah, the God of Israel: `Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge
them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this
place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.

6
For I will set Mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to
this land; and I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and
not pluck them up.

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 7
And I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am Yah; and they shall be My
people, and I will be their God; for they shall return unto Me with their whole heart.

Another version of verses 5-7 above;

Jeremiah 24:5-7 (New Living Translation)

5
“This is what Yah, the God of Israel, says: The good figs represent the exiles I
sent from Judah to the land of the Babylonians.[a] 6 I will watch over and care for
them, and I will bring them back here again. I will build them up and not tear them
down. I will plant them and not uproot them. 7 I will give them hearts that
recognize me as Yah. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will
return to me wholeheartedly.

Jeremiah 24:5-7 (The Message)

Then Yah told me, "This is the Message from the God of Israel: The exiles from
4-6

here that I've sent off to the land of the Babylonians are like the good figs, and
I'll make sure they get good treatment. I'll keep my eye on them so that their lives
are good, and I'll bring them back to this land. I'll build them up, not tear them
down; I'll plant them, not uproot them. (This is the Future)

"And I'll give them a heart to know me, Yah. They'll be my people and I'll be their
7

God, for they'll have returned to me with all their hearts.

Jeremiah 24:5-7 (New International Reader's Version)

5
"I am Yah, the God of Israel. I say, 'I consider the people who were forced to
leave Judah to be like those good figs. I sent them away from this place. I forced
them to go to Babylonia. 6 My eyes will watch over them. I will be good to them.
And I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up. I will not tear them
down. I will plant them. I will not pull them up by the roots.

" 'I will change their hearts. Then they will know that I am Yah. They will be my
7

people. And I will be their God. They will return to me with all their heart.

I believe this is shown to us in scripture between King David and his dear friend
Jonathan;

******* Notice that the people are given a heart or mind, meaning knowledge

85
to know Yah, what must of happened then in the past; there was A Break of the
Knowledge of Yah, caused by hundreds of years of slavery,

Remember,

Psalms 83

A song. A psalm of Asaph.

1
Yah, don't keep silent.
Yah, don't keep quiet. Don't be still.
2
See how your enemies are getting ready for action.
See how they are rising up against you.
3
They make clever plans against your people.
They make evil plans against those you love.
4
"Come," they say. "Let's destroy that whole nation.
Then the name of Israel won't be remembered anymore."
5
All of them agree on the evil plans they have made.
They join forces against you.

*********************************************

Jeremiah 24: verse 8 resumed………..

8
"`And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten they are so evil'" -- surely this says
Yah -- "`so will I deem Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the
residue of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of
Egypt.

9
And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their
hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all places whither I
shall drive them.

10
And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them till they
be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.'"

I believe when Yah watched over the surviving linage of those good figs, that it is
shown to us in scripture citing the story about King David and his dear friend
Jonathan;

86
1 Samuel 20:17
Jonathan had David take an oath again because he loved him. In fact, Jonathan
loved David just as he loved himself.

1 Samuel 20:33
But Saul threw his spear at Jonathan to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father
wanted to kill David.
1 Samuel 20:32-34 (in Context) 1 Samuel 20 (Whole Chapter)

1 Samuel 20:34
So Jonathan got up from the table. He was burning with anger. On that second day of
the month, he refused to eat. He was very sad that his father was treating David so
badly.

1 Samuel 20:42
Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace. In the name of Yah we have taken an oath.
We've promised to be friends. We've said, 'Yah is a witness between you and me.
He's a witness between your children and my children forever.' " Then David left,
and Jonathan went back to the town.

2 Samuel 2:1
[ David Is Anointed to Be King Over Judah ] After Saul and Jonathan died, David
asked Yah for advice. "Should I go up to one of the towns of Judah?" he asked. Yah
said, "Go up." David asked, "Where should I go?" "To Hebron," Yah answered.

2 Samuel 9 (New Living Translation)

David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth

1
One day David asked, “Is anyone in Saul’s family still alive—anyone to whom I can
show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2 He summoned a man named Ziba, who had
been one of Saul’s servants. “Are you Ziba?” the king asked.

“Yes sir, I am,” Ziba replied.

3
The king then asked him, “Is anyone still alive from Saul’s family? If so, I want to
show Yah’s kindness to them.”

Ziba replied, “Yes, one of Jonathan’s sons is still alive. He is crippled in both
feet.”

4
“Where is he?” the king asked.

“In Lo-debar,” Ziba told him, “at the home of Makir son of Ammiel.”

87
5
So David sent for him and brought him from Makir’s home. 6 His name was
Mephibosheth[a]; he was Jonathan’s son and Saul’s grandson. When he came to
David, he bowed low to the ground in deep respect. David said, “Greetings,
Mephibosheth.”

Mephibosheth replied, “I am your servant.”

7
“Don’t be afraid!” David said. “I intend to show kindness to you because of
my promise to your father, Jonathan. I will give you all the property that once
belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will eat here with me at the king’s
table!”

8
Mephibosheth bowed respectfully and exclaimed, “Who is your servant, that you
should show such kindness to a dead dog like me?”

9
Then the king summoned Saul’s servant Ziba and said, “I have given your
master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. 10 You
and your sons and servants are to farm the land for him to produce food for your
master’s household.[b] But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, will eat here at
my table.” (Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)

Ziba replied, 11 “Yes, my lord the king; I am your servant, and I will do all that
you have commanded.” And from that time on, Mephibosheth ate regularly at
David’s table,[c] like one of the king’s own sons.

12
Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica. From then on, all the members of
Ziba’s household were Mephibosheth’s servants. 13 And Mephibosheth, who was
crippled in both feet, lived in Jerusalem and ate regularly at the king’s table.

Our key to success is the whole hearted return to Yah our Husband, our maker,
and to not ever look back, because time is short and the time given us for reform is
nearing a close, time is almost up, choose life and not death!

Yah keeps His promises; we all need to do well in the sight of Yah so that we can
eat at Yah’s table; - or in Yah’s presence in this changing of the times and
seasons!!

88