The Arrogant Sennacherib

Sennacherib (ruled 705–681 BC) was the youngest son of the Assyrian Emperor Sargon II. Before his father’s death, Sennacherib served as a military governor in the northern provinces of Assyria, commanding a massive army. When Sargon II was killed in 705 BC, Sennacherib seized the throne. He later quelled rebellions in both the eastern and […]

The Euphrates River

The Euphrates River is a famous river in the Middle East, originating in the Anatolian mountains within Turkey and fed by rain and snow. Together with the Tigris River to its east, it forms the Mesopotamia (meaning “between two rivers”) region, which is one of the cradles of ancient civilizations. In the Bible, the Euphrates […]

First Temple Period Earring

In November 2020, the Temple Mount Sifting Project (TMSP) in Israel announced the discovery of a First Temple period earring, likely the netifot described in Isaiah 3:19. It is made of four layers of tiny gold beads forming a petal shape. Gold jewelry is rarely found among artifacts from the First Temple period. Isaiah 3:18-23 […]

Isaiah’s Prophecy Against Tyre

Tyre (Greek: Τύρος) is located on the eastern Mediterranean coast, just 12 miles north of the Israel-Lebanon border. Today, we can only see shadows of its past. Tyre was once part of the Roman Empire and later sent envoys to the Eastern Han Dynasty, where its king was bestowed with a “golden seal and purple […]

Isaiah’s Prophecy Against Babylon

The southern part of modern-day Iraq is the location of the ancient kingdom of Babylon, situated between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Babylon was a nation that despised and did not fear God. Its people were also given to idolatry, divination, necromancy, and other evil practices, which greatly angered God. Therefore, God used prophets to […]

Beating Swords into Plowshares, and Spears into Pruning Hooks

[Isaiah 2:2-4] “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: ‘Come, let us […]

Introduction to the Book of Isaiah

The Hebrew name for the Book of Isaiah is “Yeshayahu” (יְשַׁעְיָה), meaning “Yahweh has saved.” The Book of Isaiah was likely completed after 723 BC. It contains background information about the Kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem, detailing the sins committed by the people of Judah before the LORD, and revealing the judgments and acts of […]

Introduction to the Latter Prophets

The Latter Prophets period falls between the 8th and 5th centuries BC, overlapping with the final centuries of the Former Prophets period. The Latter Prophets were literate individuals who recorded and preserved their own messages or instructed scribes to do so. The books of the Latter Prophets are divided into two sections: the Major Prophets […]

Conclusion of the Book of Kings

In the Book of Kings, every king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel is consistently critiqued for committing “the sin of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, which he caused Israel to commit,” by using golden calves to impersonate God. As for the good kings of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, with the exception of Hezekiah and […]

Zedekiah, the Last King of Judah

Zedekiah (Hebrew: צִדְקִיָּהוּ) was the last monarch of the Kingdom of Judah. He was the brother of Jehoahaz. In Hebrew, Zedekiah means “The Lord is my righteousness.” In 597 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon captured Jerusalem, took King Jehoiachin captive, and renamed Jehoiachin’s uncle, Josiah’s son, to Zedekiah, making him king. Zedekiah “did what […]