6. The Times of the Nations |
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Nabopolassar was the founder of the Second (New) Babylonian Empire. The dominance of Assyria was overthrown when the Babylonians and Medes joined forces at Nineveh in 612 B.C.. This relationship was greatly strengthened by the marriage of Nabopolassar's son, Nebuchadnezzar II, with Cyaxares' (king of Medes) daughter, Amytis.
Under Nebuchadnezzar II, the Babylonians underwent a religious and cultural renaissance. The rest is history!
Many of the Assyrian kings are well-known to Bible readers. In particular,
Shalmaneser IV attacked Samaria and died just before the city surrendered.
His successor, Sargon II, was responsible for deporting the Israelites
throughout his empire. Following Sargon came Sennacherib who is most famous
for his threats against Jerusalem during the time of Hezekiah and the
subsequent death of 185,000 of his army at the hand of the Lord.
Egypt
Joseph entered Egypt in 1678 B.C. (Chapter 3), four years before the Hyksos
took control of the country. The Hyksos were largely a Semitic people who
ruled Egypt from their capital in the Delta. They are held responsible for
introducing the horse and chariot into Egypt. The fact that foreigners were
ruling Egypt explains why Joseph, another foreigner, was able to rise to power
as he did.
After the Hyksos were expelled from Egypt in 1565 B.C., the Egyptians regained control and established the ``New Kingdom''. Thus, ``there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph'' (Exo 1:8 RSV) and began to oppress Israel.
According to this chronology, Moses was brought up during the reigns of Tuthmosis I and II. It seems highly likely that the daughter of Pharaoh who adopted Moses was the famous Queen Hatshepsut (Exo 2:10). It was probably Tuthmosis III (reigning jointly with his step mother) who tried to kill Moses (Exo 2:15).
Tuthmosis III was the greatest military leader in Egyptian history and repeatedly led campaigns into Canaan and Syria. It may be that Moses was the general of his army as Josephus indicates (Jos Ant 2.5). Tuthmosis III was also a great builder and is known to have employed Semitic captives as brick layers (see Exo 5:6-19). In one inscription the taskmasters of these labourers are saying ``The rod is in my hand; be not idle.'' This picture accords well with the biblical description of him oppressing Israel: ``They put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labour.'' (Exo 1:11)
A further piece of evidence that Tuthmosis III was the Pharaoh of the oppression is that he reigned for over 40 years. This is necessary since Moses returned to Egypt shortly after the death of the Pharaoh having been in Midian 40 years (Exo 2:23 - 3:10; Acts 7:30).
We should therefore expect a new Pharaoh to have begun to reign shortly before the Exodus. Our expectations are met in Amenophis II who began to reign in 1450 B.C., four years before the Exodus. So it was probably Amenophis II whose heart was hardened, who witnessed the mighty power of God in the plagues, and whose eldest son died in the plague of the first-born (Exo 12:29).
Again, archaeology provides circumstantial evidence for this identification. On the side of the Sphinx at Gizeh, the Dream Stela of Tuthmosis IV recounts a prophecy that the young Tuthmosis would one day be Pharaoh. If he was the first-born son and legal heir to the throne, such a prophecy would be obvious. But it rings true if his elder brother died in the tenth plague and Tuthmosis IV became Pharaoh in his place.
There are three kings of Damascus known to have had the name `Benhadad'. From the dates of their reigns it can be deduced that the Benhadad mentioned in 1 Kings 15 and 2 Chronicles 16 is Benhadad I. The Benhadad, king of Aram, in 1 Kings 20 is Benhadad II, either a son or grandson of Benhadad I. Naaman was probably commander of the army of Benhadad II (2Kgs 5:1). Other references to Benhadad II are 2Kgs 6:8,24; 8:7-15. Hazael usurped the throne after murdering Benhadad II in 843 B.C. (2Kgs 8:7-15). He was succeeded by his son Benhadad III (2Kgs 13:3,24).
Rezin (not to be confused with Rezon in 1Kgs 11:23-25) was another king of Damascus who was constantly at war against Judah. He was finally killed by Tiglath-Pileser III, king of Assyria, when Damascus was overthrown in 732 B.C. (2Kgs 15:37; 16:5-9; 2Chr 28:5; Isa 7:1-9).