FINDING BIBLE TRUTH - HISTORIES AND PROPHETS

The canon of `The Prophets' includes four historical works - Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, the Latter Prophets - the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets - Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

HISTORIES.

If the post-Solomon histories are compared with contemporary histories from other sources it can be seen that they are, considered relatively, marvels of accurate and independent recording. While records of events from Egypt or Mesopotamia appear as little more than attempts to glorify the persons and achievements of the current king, the Hebrew historians recorded things as they saw them (or wanted them seen) without fear or favour to the temporal authority. Certainly there are distortions and selectivity, but the bias is usually a religious one, and if one individual is particularly favoured the purpose is religious rather than personal or political. The scribes were under the control of the Priests and between them and the holders of temporal power there was often little love lost.

For all the anecdotes of personalities and events, the detail of wars and conquests, it is primarily a theological history, actual events being selected to provide a coloured frame for the story of God's interaction with his chosen people. Every tale has a moral, and not infrequently the historical detail seems to have been adjusted to point up the moral.

Archaeological studies at Biblical sites such as Jericho, Arad, Heshbon, Ai and Gibeon do not show destruction levels dating around the thirteenth century, at Jericho the original walls were found to have collapsed many centuries earlier, in an earlier bronze age and not re-constructed in any substantial form. Recently archeologists at Tel Aviv University and elsewhere have claimed that there was never a period of exile in Egypt, no Exodus, no Mt Sinai, no invasion of Canaan, but that the Hebrews developed from a group of indigenous tribes that gradually spread their influence over the area. It would however perhaps be truer to say, at least for the present, that archaeology has failed to find evidence for the Bible's version, rather than to assert that there is archeological evidence that proves the Bible untrue. Later evidence is more supportive of the Bible account and the broad historical outline of the period from the time of the Davidic Kings generally agrees with information from archaeology and external sources. There is great difficulty in accepting, other than on the basis of dogma, the many miraculous events that are chronicled. Some writers, such as Velikovsky, have tried to produce rational explanations for these events, in an attempt to counter those who reject them as fabrications, but such attempts are rarely convincing and often absurd. One approach is to reject any that conflict irreconcilably with natural law, such as the sun standing still in Joshua 10.13, and to maintain an open mind on the rest.

One point should be clear, The histories are compilations from source documents which have been lost. A typical note in Kings might be: "Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah . . . are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?". Other books mentioned are the Acts of Solomon, the book of Samuel the Seer, the book of Nathan, the book of Gad, the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia. Similar attributions appear in the later book of Chronicles. In Samuel we find a recurrence of the doublets that are such a feature of the Pentateuch. For example there are two accounts of the origin of the monarchy - 1 Samuel 9:1-10:16 and 1 Samuel 10: 17-27, two accounts of the first meeting of Saul and David - 1Samuel 16 and 1Samuel 17, among others. As with the Pentateuch the most likely explanation lies in variations between differing sources. It seems inevitable that the compilations will have been affected by the prejudices and priorities of the compilers.

The regular appearance of phrases such as "to this day" as in "nor has the like been seen to this day" suggests that a substantial time elapsed between the event and its final recording, while the way in which this phrase is liberally sprinkled through the Histories supports the idea of a common compiler. The Histories were probably compiled after the 'discovery' of Deuteronomy in the rule of Josiah since they use it as a reference. Jewish Talmudic scholars suggest Jeremiah as the author but an alternative view is that they were all compiled around 550 BC, during the Babylonian Exile, by an unidentified group of scribes - the so-called Deuteronomic school. For the Jewish nation the Histories provide further direct evidence of the relationship between God and his chosen people; of the rewards for keeping their side of the contract with God and the penalties for failing to do so. Their lesson for non-Jews or for the Christian faith is less clear.

What we have in the Bible cannot be a complete reproduction of the source documents but extracts which appear to have been drawn specifically to show how the redactors wanted to record the interaction of God and man, rather than any precise historical actuality. The broad canvas shows a steady corruption of religious observance by the Hebrews, from a high point after the conquest of Southern Canaan, through the complaisance of Kings, the failure of Priests and the struggles of Prophets. This falling away is matched by periodic declines in the fortunes of the Jewish nation. The writers were intent on showing that any setback, whether personal or national, was the result of failure to observe the Law - the destruction of the Northern state of Israel was the result of the wickedness of Israel, not of the ambitions of Assyria. According to Jeremiah, Nebuchadnezzar was acting as a servant of God when he carried Judah off to captivity in Babylon, (but perhaps he was rather responding to broken treaties by Judah, a need to cut Egypt from its allies, and to crush a minor nation that was making a thorough nuisance of itself).

An example of how history may have been fudged can be found in the story of David's census in 2 Samuel 24. God (in the same story in Chronicles, blame is put on Satan), angry with Israel, tells David to carry out a census, which he does against the strong advice of priests and Army. David then feels that he has committed a sin in ordering the census and in punishment a plague is inflicted on Israel taking some seventy thousand lives. This can only make sense if God is seen as acting as an `agent provocateur' as he has previously with Pharoah, in a devious scheme to discipline the northern tribes of Israel. The background to the story is an Israel that never wholly accepted David as their King; the census was in all probability seen as a further attack on tribes that were trying to maintain a degree of independence, resulting in harshly suppressed civil disorder. This had to be shown as a punishment by God, not as a natural result of a foolish decision. The Chronicles version of the incident, putting the blame on Satan, makes a little more sense - which may be why the change was made.

Judaism glorifies David as the archetype of kingly virtue, and Solomon as the embodiment of wisdom

For Solomon the Bible paints a picture of wise government and ostentatious wealth, however everything written about him seems wildly exaggerated. Traditionally the source of his wealth lay, other than in gold from Ophir, in the copper mines in the Timna valley, however archaeology has shown that this was an Egyptian site and was not being worked in Solomon's time. Ophir, the legendary source of gold, precious stones and 'almug' wood has never been identified. Archaeology fails to show any sign of ostentatious wealth at any Solomonic site and suggests that it was a time of low material culture. Similarly at Sheba (now Yemen) there is no evidence of the sort of wealth implied by the story of the Queen of Sheba. Solomon's Temple was a small building and there is no way that it could have employed the work force of over 180,000 detailed in 1 Kings 5.

It is also interesting to compare the careers of Solomon and Herod the Great; both built a magnificent Temple in Jerusalem as well as many other major developments throughout the country; both virtually bankrupting the nation in the process; both on occasions broke the Law - Solomon in particular falling away into gross self-indulgence and apostasy. Solomon's bias towards the interests of Judah and Benjamin seems to have been largely responsible for the breakup of the Hebrew nation into the separate kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and the verdict of secular history often is that the reign of Solomon was ultimately a disaster. Yet Solomon's reputation survived while Herod was despised and hated.

David's reputation is much more securely based. As King he secured Israel's borders, re-occupied Jerusalem and established it as his capital. He tried hard, although with something less than complete success, to unite the independent tribes around Jerusalem and ruled with sensitivity and wisdom. At the same time any problems and failures in David's reign are plainly recorded. It may be that Judaism required its heroes, so it picked and built up the reputations of the best it could find. It is a tribute to the integrity of the Bible that it was not later edited to conceal the defects of those heroes.

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THE LATTER PROPHETS.

ISAIAH.

The first, and perhaps the most valuable, of the major Prophets is Isaiah. The earlier part can be identified as having been written at a very turbulent time in the histories of Judah and Israel (Ephraim), during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Israel, sometimes allied to Syria, and Judah, warred with each other, and it was feared that in time Assyria, and Assyria's vassal state of Babylon, would try to annex both Israel and Judah. Egypt was an occasional but unreliable ally and the Philistine cities of the coast were a constant problem. Towards the end of this period Assyria did in fact destroy Israel and carry off a large part of its people, replacing them with groups from other conquered nations.

Isaiah seems to have had four main aims: to condemn corruption, to condemn the failure of the Jews to maintain the Law of Moses, to condemn her many enemies, to rally and encourage the people in difficult times. The assurance of God's ultimate justice on his enemies seems to have been the intent of his prophesy rather than any deliberate futurism.

The first part of Isaiah seems to end at Ch 35. Chapters 36 - 39, a straightforward narrative concerning King Hezekiah, have been taken practically word for word from 2 Kings 18:13-20:18, and clearly does not belong. At the end of this period Isaiah would have been some 80 years old.

After the fine poetry of Ch 40 we seem to enter a new period altogether. The main enemy is now Babylon (Chaldea), feared but never a serious problem in the time of the earlier historical Isaiah, except as a vassal state of Assyria. Jerusalem has been destroyed, Assyria has long completed the destruction of Ephraim. New ideas are introduced, God as the Redeemer of Israel, the concept of the Servant, and the old targets dropped. There is an entirely new attitude to Gentiles. Textual critics find substantial differences in the underlying language and conclude that Isaiah 40 to 55 was written by a second and much later individual whom they call Isaiah II, and 56 on by an Isaiah III. It may be noted that the existence of Isaiah II, dated around 550 BC is recognised by some Jewish biblical authorities. After Ch 56 the themes change again - there is no more 'Servant' and the writer draws a picture of a glorious future for Israel as a leader of all nations. There are many references, such as Isaiah 64:10-11, which confirm that it was written after the Exile to Babylon.

The verses on 'Immanuel' (God with us) in Isaiah 7:13-17 are traditionally supposed to refer to Christ, but surely 7:16 refers to Ephraim and Syria and fixes the Immanuel period firmly in the current time-frame. Isaiah's prophecies are further discussed in the article on Prophesy.

Harsh comment has been made in an earlier article on the way God is portrayed in Joshua; surely the God of the Isaiahs, in some of the finest poetry ever written, offers a more accurate picture.

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JEREMIAH.

Jeremiah is a figure well attested to in the Bible, and there is little or no controversy about the period of his life or of the authorship of the contents of the Book of Jeremiah. The word 'contents' is used deliberately since it is evident that the book has been compiled by a later authority, who has collected and roughly sorted the material. The version of Jeremiah in the Septuagint orders the text differently and is substantially different in length, but is close to a version found with the Dead Sea Scrolls

Jeremiah's initial aim is to reform Judah. Subsequently, after the destruction of Solomon's temple, he teaches that their exile to Babylon is direct punishment for their abandonment of the Law, and that Babylon was acting as the servant of God. Later still he assures the people that the Exile is for a limited time only and that they would eventually be restored. It is significant that when Ezra (in Chronicles) looks for a source of prophesy regarding the end of the exile, he turns to Jeremiah rather than Isaiah.

Jeremiah also foresees a new Covenant to replace the old one made with the Patriarchs, which had become too remote and had been broken too many times. The new Covenant would involve and instruct the people as individuals rather than as a race. Traditionally Jeremiah has been considered to be the author of Lamentations; this is unlikely.

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EZEKIEL.

Ezekiel prophesied in the period 593-571 BC. He was among the first group of Judah's leaders to be exiled to Babylon from where he saw the destruction of the Temple and the further exile of the elite. Most scholars accept that the main body of the book was written in this 6th century BC, with the inclusion of some later additions. Stripped of its dramatic literary forms and devices his message is very similar to that of Jeremiah. The belief of Ezekiel and Jeremiah in the ultimate establishment of a new covenant between God and the people of Israel is likely to have provided support and justification for the postexilic reconstruction and reorganisation of Judaism by Ezra and Nehemiah. Chapters 40 to 48 contain a description of a new temple, certain rites, and a new division of the land of Israel between the tribes. These do not appear to have been adopted and the section is considered to be a later addition to the book and not attributable to Ezekiel.

Ezekiel initiated the literary form known as apocalypticism - the view that in time of disaster God would intervene to save the faithful remnant and that this intervention would be accompanied by dramatic, cataclysmic events.

The prophets were not afraid to challenge existing doctrine. Both Ezekiel and, less positively, Jeremiah, challenged the words of Ex 20:5, which says that God visits the iniquity of one generation upon succeeding ones. Ezekiel teaches that this is false doctrine - a man should not carry any responsibility for the sins of his father.

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THE MINOR PROPHETS.

Hosea: Prophesied in the last days of Israel against a nation that had abandoned God. Hosea distinguished between the love of God as a formal requirement of the Covenant and the love that should result from true spiritual knowledge of God. This vision of a spiritual love is portrayed in a parable in which Hosea represents God, and his wife the erring Israel.

Joel: There seems to be no agreement as to the date of Joel or to the meaning of the events he relates. The general import is the common one of calamity occurring as a punishment and requiring a return to God. It concludes with an Apocalypse while reference to 'Greeks' shows that it was written late in the period.

Amos: A very influential book dating to the latter half of the 8th century BC. His main targets are social injustices, both in Israel and in neighbour states. He forecast the collapse of Israel's religious life and the later restoration of the Davidic Kings.

Obadiah: Probably post-exile. Condemns Edom for failing to support Judah.

Jonah: Significant because it is one of the earliest indications that some Jews felt that Jehovah belonged to the whole world, and not just the Hebrews. Probably written sometime between 500 and 350 BC (or perhaps even 250 BC), the message of Jonah protested against the exclusiveness of a post-exilic Judaism, with its policy of a pure blood race of Jews that the reformers Ezra and Nehemiah had implemented in the 5th century. There is no historical support from Assyrian records and the similarity of the story of the whale to Indian legend has led to a widespread assumption that it is pure parable.

Micah: 8th Century, with a similar message to that of Amos. Micah 4:2, referring to Bethlehem, is used by Matthew to link Christ with the Jewish Messiah.

Nahum: Probably written around 612 BC (the date of the destruction of Nineveh, the Assyrian capital). The book celebrates the belief that Yahweh has saved Judah from the Assyrians.

Habakkuk: Around 600 BC. Habakkuk complains that God is doing nothing to counter evil ways in Judah. God's reply is that Babylon will destroy Judah, but be destroyed in its turn - ultimately righteousness will always prevail.

Zephaniah: Late 7th Century. Theme is idolatry in Judah before the Deuteronomic reforms. Chapter 3:14-20, a psalmlike passage praising God for the future glorious restoration of the remnant of Judah, is commonly accepted as a later addition.

Haggai: Writing after the return from exile in Babylon Haggai urges the rebuilding of the Temple.

Zechariah: Contemporary of Haggai and supporter of those who returned from Babylon in their quarrels with those who had remained in Judah during the exile. The work includes the well known 'Court' scene in which Satan, as prosecutor, calls on God to ignore Joshua (High Priest of the exiles). This is commonly interpreted as an attempt to blacken the image of those who opposed the returned exiles. Chapters 9-14 are thought to be insertions, dated to the 3rd and 4th centuries BC. A Messianic reference from 9:9 - a king riding on the foal of an ass - is used in the New Testament to link Messiah and Christ.

Malachi: Perhaps written from about 500-450 BCE, the book is concerned with spiritual degradation, religious perversions, social injustices, and unfaithfulness to the Covenant. This would refer to a period between the re-building of the Temple and Ezra's major reforms.

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