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The
Gospel Observer "Go therefore
and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe
all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to
the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20, NASB). --------------------
February 9, 2020
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Contents:
1) The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III (David McClister)
2) News & Notes
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-1-
The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
David McClister
One of the most fascinating archaeological finds relating to the
Bible is the Black Obelisk of Shalmanesser III. It is a four-sided
column of black limestone inscribed with words (in the cuneiform
alphabet) and pictures. The Assyrian king Shalmaneser III (who
reigned 858-824 B.C.) had it made to record his achievements through
the first 31 years of his reign. Austen Layard unearthed it in 1846
during his now-famous discovery of Nimrud (Calah), just south of the
capital city of Nineveh. Shalmaneser’s monument was probably set up
in a public place where people passing by could see it and take note
of the king’s accomplishments. It was, in effect, the ancient
Assyrian equivalent of a billboard. The obelisk stands about six
feet tall and is now kept in the British Museum. Copies can be seen
in other museums, such as the Oriental Institute at the University
of Chicago.
What is so amazing about this ancient monument is that it both
mentions and depicts a person from the Bible. In the picture
accompanying this article, which is a detail from one of the panels
on the obelisk, the person bowing down is none other than Jehu, king
of Israel, and the person before whom Jehu is bowing is the Assyrian
king Shalmaneser III. We are sure that this is indeed Jehu because
of the inscription underneath the picture panel, which reads
“tribute of Jehu son of Omri” (Jehu was not Omri’s physical son, but
the word “son” is here used in the sense of “successor”). This is
the only artifact from biblical times that contains a representation
of a biblical character. While the picture is stylized and therefore
probably not intended to be an accurate depiction of Jehu’s
appearance, it is nonetheless striking.
A little background knowledge may help us understand the
significance of this artifact. First, you may recall that Jehu was
the man God chose to replace the wicked family of Ahab of the house
of Omri. Elisha the prophet was commanded to anoint Jehu to be king
over Israel in 1 Kings 19, and the command was carried out in 2
Kings 9 (841 B.C.). With the appointment as king came a command from
God that Jehu destroy the house of Ahab. In this connection, Jehu is
perhaps most remembered for killing the wicked queen Jezebel, the
wife of Ahab and a Baal worshiper from Phoenicia. He also killed
Joram, Ahab’s son who had taken the throne of Israel. Jehu was far
from done, however. He killed Ahaziah, the king of Judah, and his
relatives, and he killed the 70 sons of Ahab who lived in Samaria
and put their heads in two piles at the city gate. Then, using
trickery, he killed all the worshipers of Baal. This killing spree
is sometimes called “the purge of Jehu.”
While we may be repulsed by all this bloodshed, it was God’s
judgment upon the wicked house of Ahab, and it was just. God was
pleased that Jehu carried out his orders (2 Kings 10:30). However,
Jehu did not please God in everything. Jehu allowed the golden
calves, set up by Jeroboam, to remain. He did much to bring Israel
back to God, but he did not finish the job. Apparently Jehu did only
enough to secure his position on the throne of the northern kingdom.
For his failure to cleanse the kingdom of idolatry God allowed
Israel’s enemy, the Syrians, to rise up against Israel. It is
probably in the context of Jehu’s military problems that we should
interpret Shalmaneser’s monument.
The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III records an event that is not
mentioned in the Bible. Nowhere does the Bible mention Jehu going
before the king of Assyria and bowing down before him. However,
there is every good reason to believe that Jehu did exactly this.
When Jehu was anointed he was encamped at Ramoth-gilead (2 Kings
9:1-6), indicating that control of this border town between Israel
and Syria was still being contested. The Syrians had another
problem, however, and that was the rising military strength of
Assyria directly to their east. In the same year that Jehu came to
the throne in Israel (841 B.C.) the Assyrians marched westward into
Syria. According to Shalmaneser’s records the Syrians suffered heavy
losses, but we also know that Shalmaneser was not able to take
Damascus. In this context there are at least three scenarios that
would have prompted Jehu to bow down before the Assyrian monarch:
(1) Jehu saw that Syria (which was a buffer between himself and
Assyria) was losing the war with Assyria and that he would not be
able to withstand the coming Assyrian advance, so he submitted to
their superior military might in order to avoid conflict (which also
left his enemy, the Syrians, alone to face the Assyrians), or (2)
Jehu may have submitted to the Assyrians in return for help against
the Syrians (cf. a somewhat similar tactic by king Asa in 1 Kings
15:17-22; but this is the least likely scenario), or (3) Jehu
submitted when the Assyrian army finally pushed into northern
Palestine (Shalmaneser says that he took tribute not only from Jehu,
but from Tyre and Sidon as well). Either way, it seems that Jehu
(wisely) never entered into any anti-Assyrian alliance with Syria
and that he probably submitted to Assyria to keep his throne. This
is what is being depicted on the obelisk — Jehu bowing before the
king of Assyria, recognizing his power, and presenting his nation’s
tribute payment.
The political effect of Jehu’s action would have been that while
Jehu may have saved his kingdom from destruction (for the moment),
he weakened his kingdom by obligating Israel to hefty annual tribute
payments to Assyria. His capitulation to Assyria also increased
Syria’s animosity toward Israel and the king of Syria, Hazael,
apparently after the Assyrians withdrew, vented his anger against
Jehu and captured all of Israel’s transjordan territory (2 Kings
9:32f). These negative effects only compounded the political crisis
Jehu already faced. When he killed off the house of Ahab (including
Jezebel), he lost favorable relations with the Phoenicians (Jezebel
was a Phoenician), and the Moabites had already successfully
rebelled from Israelite subjugation under Ahaziah (2 Kings 1:1)
about ten years earlier, which meant that Moab’s tribute payments,
which once boosted Israel’s economy, had ceased. So Jehu created
enemies to his north, he lost his territories to the east, and had
lost control of the Moabites to the south. It would not be until the
reign of Jeroboam II that Israel would recover.
There are two brief lessons to consider. The first is about the
historical trustworthiness of the Bible. The Black Obelisk of
Shalmaneser III proves that there really was a man named Jehu who
was the king of Israel, just as the Bible says there was, and that
he lived in the time period which the Bible reports. The name of
Hazael, the king of Syria at that time — who is also mentioned in
the Bible — also appears on the Assyrian king’s monument. The
Bible’s stories are true, they really happened, and the biblical
record is accurate.
The second lesson is a moral one, and has to do with our influence
on the world around us, how others see us. I have always thought it
regrettable that here we have an actual picture of a person in the
Bible — and what is he doing? He is making a fool of himself! Here
was the king of Israel. With God behind him, there was nothing he
could not have accomplished. God would have fought for Israel, and
Israel could have risen to great power and blessing. But Jehu took
advantage of none of this. In times of trouble Jehu looked for human
help rather than looking to God for help. This scene, carved in rock
and preserved for all the world to see, makes me think about the
influence that we, as God’s people today, should have. How do others
see us? Do they see us like they saw Jehu — catering to the world
and bowing down (figuratively) before worldly people, surrendering
ourselves to them and their lifestyle? If all that ever remained of
our lives in the records of the world was that we served the world
instead of God, what kind of legacy have we left?
Whenever I see this panel from Shalmaneser’s monument, I am both
happy and sad. I am happy to know that the biblical record has been
proven to be true and accurate, but I am sad to see that it shows
one of God’s people acting in a faithless way. Let us live so that
we are not remembered like Jehu was.
- Via Truth Magazine, Volume XLV: 1, p10, January 4, 2001.
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News & Notes
Folks to be praying for:
Olivia McCarthy had strep throat last week, but is now doing
better.
Natalie Mackey (Cheryl Corbitt’s granddaughter) had the flu
recently, but is also now better.
Cheryl’s daughterAshlee had her baby last Tuesday.
His name is Khiree Isaiah. He and Ashlee are both doing
fine.
Jan Bartlett is now having radiation treatments 5 days a
week that will continue for four weeks.
Let us also keep the following in prayer: Rick Cuthbertson,
James Medlock, A.J. and Pat Joyner, Rex & Frankie Hadley, John
Bladen, Kelly Stoneheart, Ann Vandevander, the Medlock family, Jim
Lively, Shirley Davis, Brook & Kaydance Richardson, and Kerry
Williams.
1) Hearthe
gospel, for that is how faith comes (Rom. 10:17; John
20:30-31).
2) Believein
the deity of Christ (John 8:24; John 3:18).
3) Repentof
sins (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faithin Christ (Rom.
10:9-10; Acts 8:36-38).
5) Be baptizedin water for the
remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom.
6:3-4; Gal. 3:26-27; 1 Pet. 3:21).
6) Continue in the faith,living for the Lord;
for, if not, salvation can be lost (Heb. 10:36-39;
Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:20-22).
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