8
Amos
The Lord Reveals His Secrets to His Servants the Prophets

(8-1) Introduction

He was a shepherd from Tekoa, a small village in the hill country of Judah, but his message was for the whole house of Israel and the nations of the world. It was not then a new message, and it has significance even today. Though Amos spoke of the judgments which were about to descend on the nations surrounding Israel and on the two kingdoms of the house of Israel, his message is the same one God has given since the earliest history of the world. It is a simple yet profound message that carries a solemn warning: there is a way to come into God’s favor and gain eternal life. That way is always open to the penitent and obedient, but to the impenitent, those who harden their hearts against the Lord, the way is shut. In the place of life there is death; in the place of joy there is sorrow; punishments replace blessing; judgments and destruction replace protection and power.

Study Amos carefully, for his message is one that can help each of us find the way to life and peace.

Instructions to Students

1. Use the Notes and Commentary below to help you as you read and study the book of Amos.

2. Complete the Points to Ponder as directed by your teacher. (Individual-study students should complete all of this section.)

NOTES AND COMMENTARY ON AMOS

(8-2) Amos 1:1. Who Was Amos and When Did He Minister?

The Hebrew name Amos means “bearer” or “burden” and refers to the weighty warning that the Lord commissioned Amos to carry to the kingdom of Israel. Amos was a shepherd from a city called Tekoa, now a hilltop of ancient ruins about six miles south of Bethlehem, away from the normal trade routes. Although small and obscure, Tekoa was strategic enough that Rehoboam fortified it as a southern city of defense for Jerusalem (see 2 Chronicles 11:6). Amos was an alert observer of people and nations, and scholars agree that he was far from being an untutored rustic, even though he described himself as a simple herdsman (see 1:1; 7:14–15).

Since the contemporaneous reigns of Judah’s Uzziah and Israel’s Jeroboam II are specifically mentioned in the scripture, the ministry of Amos has been estimated to have been about B.C. 750. If so, he may have been contemporary with Isaiah and Hosea.

(8-3) Amos 1:2. “The Lord Will Roar from Zion”

“This introduction was natural in the mouth of a herdsman who was familiar with the roaring of lions, the bellowing of bulls, and the lowing of kine [cattle]. The roaring of the lion in the forest is one of the most terrific sounds in nature; when near, it strikes terror into the heart of both man and beast.” (Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible . . . with a Commentary and Critical Notes, 4:672.)

The term Zion sometimes refers to Jerusalem, where there is a hill by that name, but that is not always the case, as the following references indicate: Joel 3:16–17; Isaiah 2:2–3; 40:9; 64:10. Isaiah 2:2–3 speaks of a latter-day Zion. This Zion will be located on the American continent (see Article of Faith 10). For a broader listing of references concerning the geographical location of Zion, see Bible Dictionary, s.v. “Zion.” See also Notes and Commentary on Joel 2:1.

(8-4) Amos 1:3–2:16. The Lord Will Pour Out Judgments

Here the prophet Amos forecast the Lord’s judgments upon the Syrians (see Amos 1:3–5), Philistines (see Amos 1:6–8), Tyrians (see Amos 1:9–10), Edomites (see Amos 1:11–12), Ammonites (see Amos 1:13–15), and Moabites (see Amos 2:1–3). All of these people were neighbors of the Israelites and in most cases had been enemies to the covenant people. Once those judgments had been pronounced, Amos outlined the judgments coming upon the kingdoms of Judah (see Amos 2:4–5) and Israel (see Amos 2:6–16). His linking the two kingdoms of the Israelites with other nations suggests that Israel was no longer a “peculiar people” (see Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 14:2) but had become like the gentile nations around them.

Even though Amos was sent especially to Israel, he spoke for God against the evils of all the nations. Some have termed Amos a prophet of doom, but he only warned the people of the calamitous paths they were following. All of these territories or kingdoms eventually fell.

(8-5) Amos 1:3, 6, 11. “For Three Transgressions . . . and for Four”

The expression “for three transgressions . . . and for four” indicates that the sins alluded to have been exceedingly abundant. The same style is used in Proverbs 6:16, “these six things . . . yea, seven,” and in Matthew 18:21–22, “seventy times seven,” referring to an infinite number. A modern English equivalent would be the expression “a hundred and one times.” The implication of the idiom is that three transgressions are too many, and you have even exceeded that. Or as C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch explained: “The expression, therefore, denotes not a small but a large number of crimes, or ‘ungodliness in its worst form.’” (Commentary on the Old Testament, 10:1:242.)

(8-6) Amos 1–2. Why Were These Nations to Be Punished?

The reasons given by Amos in his pronouncements of the judgments upon the various nations may seem puzzling at first. One could question whether one evil act, no matter how serious, normally brings the judgments of God upon a nation. Amos was inspired to use a poetic device. He selected the act or trait of each nation that dramatically illustrates the extent of their wickedness. The one act mentioned is proof of how far that nation has sunk in iniquity. The following table summarizes the items mentioned and their significance.

(8-7) Amos 2:4–16. The Punishments of Judah and Israel

The reasons for the punishment of Judah and Israel differ from those for the punishment of the gentile nations. No acts are mentioned except for the forsaking of the Lord and turning to wickedness. Israel had been given the law of God. Therefore, more was expected of them.

Panting “after the dust of the earth upon the head of the poor” (v. 7) refers to the people being general oppressors of the poor, showing them neither justice nor mercy. The idea is that the people longed to see the poor in such a state of misery that they threw dust on their heads (a sign of mourning). Verses 11 and 12 refer to the Nazarites, who were instituted by the Lord to show the spiritual nature of His religion (see Numbers 6:2–21). Amos condemned Israel for polluting the Nazarites by giving them wine to drink. He also chastized them for commanding the prophets not to prophecy. Apparently, Israel would have liked to set these servants of the Lord aside so that they could live every man according to his own way and feel comfortable in doing so.

(8-8) Amos 3:1–8. God Will Not Do Anything without Forewarning His Prophets

Amos spoke to the whole of Israel, all twelve families or tribes. Using the metaphor of a husband, the Lord reminded Israel that He had chosen no other (see Amos 3:2; Deuteronomy 7:6). He spoke of Himself as a faithful husband and reminded Israel of her covenant relationship with Him (see Jeremiah 3:19–20). In verse 3 He asked Israel to remember the need for unity in her relationship with Him. It is necessary, if they are to walk together, for them to be in agreement. The images are all chosen to express the same thing: God, has foreknowledge of all calamities (see vv. 2–6), but He never sends a calamity unless He first notifies His prophet of it (see v. 7; see also 2 Nephi 30:17; Jacob 4:8). Prophecy comes by direct revelation. God has knowledge of all His children and their doings and justly warns and threatens with His judgments. The fact that the prophets prophesy correctly is an indication that they are in communion with God and that they do indeed walk together.

Amos 3:7 is a clear statement concerning the role of prophets. President N. Eldon Tanner said: “There are many scriptures which assure us that God is as interested in us today as he has been in all his children from the beginning, and thus we believe in continuous revelation from God through his prophets to guide us in these latter days. The Prophet Amos said, ‘Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.’” (In Conference Report, Apr. 1975, p. 52.)

(8-9) Amos 3:9–11. What Is the Significance of the Mention of Ashdod and Egypt?

“Ashdod, one of the Philistian capitals, is mentioned by way of example, as a chief city of the uncircumcised, who were regarded by Israel as godless heathen; and Egypt is mentioned along with it, as the nation whose unrighteousness and ungodliness had once been experienced by Israel to satiety [fulness]. If therefore such heathen as these are called to behold the unrighteous and dissolute conduct to be seen in the places, it must have been great indeed.” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary, 10:1:262–63.)

Amos 3:11 says “an adversary there shall be,” which means there should be no escape. Wherever the people turned they would meet a foe, for God’s judgments and retributions are sure.

(8-10) Amos 3:12–15. What Is the Significance of the Imagery Amos Used Here?

Amos used vivid imagery to show that scarcely any would escape and those who did would do so with extreme difficulty. It is like a shepherd who can recover no more of a sheep carried away by a lion than two of its legs or a piece of its ear, just enough to prove that they belonged to his sheep. This prophecy saw fulfillment when Sargon took Samaria, part of the Northern Kingdom, captive about B.C. 721.

In the East the corner is the most honorable place, and a couch in the corner of a room is the place of greatest distinction. These words were used to mean that even in the cities which were in the most honorable part of the land, whether Samaria in Israel, or Damascus in Syria, none would escape the judgments. In that day the Lord would remove His power from among Israel, as symbolized by the cutting off of the horns of the altar (see Old Testament Student Manual: Genesis–2 Samuel [religion 301, 2003], pp. 166–67 for an explanation of the horns as a symbol of power).

Bethel (see v. 14) was the official religious capital of the Northern Kingdom. The prophet was saying that not only the poor habitations of the villages and the country would be smitten but also those of the nobility, those who had summer and winter homes adorned with ivory vessels and carvings.

(8-11) Amos 4:1–3. The Evils of Israel’s Women

The quality of life in any community is largely what its women make it. If they are cruel and covetous, their children will likely be the same. Here Amos compared the women of Samaria with the cows (kine) which fed upon the rich pastures east of the Sea of Galilee, caring for little but eating and drinking. Their sin consisted of urging their husbands to bring them food bought with money squeezed from the poor. Thus, in the same way that fish are caught with hooks and pulled from the pond, these women and their children would become ensnared by Israel’s enemies and violently torn from their affluence and debauchery. (See Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary, 10:1:266–68.)

(8-12) Amos 4:4–5:3. How Did the Lord Regard Israel’s Spiritual Condition?

The sacrifices of Israel had degenerated into heartless ritual. It did no good to go to religious centers, to Bethel or Gilgal, and offer sacrifice in a sinful state. The outward sacrifices should have symbolized repentance, an inward change; but outward sacrifice without inward change is a mockery, and God will not be mocked.

Sidney B. Sperry wrote: “Israel was meticulous in its performance of the outward requirements of its religion, but the inner and less tangible requirements of love, mercy, justice and humility either were not understood or were disregarded. In an endeavor to bring His people to their senses the Lord, said Amos, had sent upon them seven natural calamities. Cleanness of teeth [hunger], drought, blasting and mildew, insect pests, pestilence, death by the sword, and burning were brought in succession, but all to no avail. (4:6–11) Amos’s heart was bleeding over the sinful state of Israel. He could do nothing but warn the nation of the final blow which God would send and for which the people must prepare themselves. (4:12, 13) It was no pleasure for him to pronounce judgment upon his brethren.” (The Voice of Israel’s Prophets, p. 311.)

The God of hosts (see Amos 4:13) is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator of heaven and earth (see Topical Guide, s.v. “Jesus Christ, Creator”). The first three verses of chapter 5 are a lamentation over Israel’s fallen state. The pure virgin (Israel) became an evil woman, and “there is none to raise her up” (Amos 5:2).

(8-13) Amos 5:4–27. “Hate Evil and Love the Good”

Here the Lord appealed to fallen Israel to repent and mend her evil ways: “Seek me, and ye shall live” (v. 4). This message is the same for every generation and people (see 2 Nephi 1:20; Mosiah 26:30). The Lord wants to be a personal God to His faithful, obedient children. It was not too late for Israel to repent. Failure to do so, however, would result in a situation like that of a man running from a lion only to meet a bear (see v. 19). Neither would various sacrificial offerings help unless true repentance followed: “Of what avail would feasts, solemn assemblies, burnt and meal offerings be in the worship of a righteous God, when their hearts and minds were evil and their actions toward their less fortunate brethren were unjust? All of this outward display was unavailing, and Amos cries out for justice in two lines that have become famous: ‘But let justice well up as waters, and righteousness as a perennial stream.’ (5:24) This clarion call to repentance is one of the finest of all times.” (Sperry, Voice of Israel’s Prophets, p. 313.)

(8-14) Amos 5:26. Who Were Moloch and Chiun?

Moloch and Chiun were heathen gods that the Israelite women had adopted. So grievously addicted to idolatry were those in Samaria that they carried miniature replicas of these gods everywhere they went. The Lord promised “captivity beyond Damascus” (v. 27) for this sin.

(8-15) Amos 6. “Woe to Them That Are at Ease in Zion”

The Lord enlarged here on the captivity that He foresaw for degenerate Israel. But first He invited them to visit other places of destruction—Calneh in Mesopotamia, Hamath in Syria, and Gath in Philistia—and observe what happened to the people there. Were the Israelites any better than they? Certainly not. They had been punished, and so would Israel. Moreover, the wealthy—those who lay on ivory beds and ate sumptuous food—would be the first to suffer (see Amos 6:3–7; 2 Nephi 28:21–25).

“Amos next turns his invective on the careless and reckless rich of Israel, on those who are at ease, on the self-satisfied and the arrogant—in short, on those who, having plenty, take no thought of the sad social and religious state of their country. These persons are absolutely indifferent to the threatened ruin of their people. The prophet indicates (6:1–8, 11–14) that exile is to be their portion, that the nation is to be destroyed because its inhabitants pervert truth and righteousness and trust in their own strength.” (Sperry, Voice of Israel’s Prophets, p. 313.)

Thus, Israel’s destruction was made sure by her own choice. Horses cannot run on rocks without slipping, nor can a man plough rocks in order to plant (see v. 12). By the same token, rebellious Israel could not expect to prosper in her state of evil. Verse 13 is an indictment against Israel, who rejoiced in casting off the Lord’s power and feeling sufficient in and of herself. What Amos had predicted came to pass within thirty years.

(8-16) Amos 7–9. The Visions of Amos

The last three chapters of Amos deal with five visions Amos had. The first four of these visions begin with a phrase such as “Thus hath the Lord God showed me” (see Amos 7:1, 4, 7; 8:1). The fifth commences with the words “I saw the Lord” (Amos 9:1). The first four visions show the various judgments of the Lord upon Israel, while the fifth vision portends the overthrow of their apostate theocracy and the restoration of fallen Israel. The visions are (1) a swarm of locusts (Amos 7:1–3); (2) devouring fire (Amos 7:4–6); (3) the master builder with the plumbline (Amos 7:7–9); (4) the basket of summer fruit (Amos 8); and (5) the smitten sanctuary (Amos 9:1–6). Each has a symbolic meaning that clearly shows that the Lord intended to bring the kingdom of Israel to an end if His people did not repent. The meaning of each vision will be considered individually.

A swarm of locusts (Amos 7:1–3). “The king, who has had the early grass mown, is Jehovah; and the mowing of the grass denotes the judgments which Jehovah has already executed upon Israel. The growing of the second crop is a figurative representation of the prosperity which flourished again after those judgments; in actual fact, therefore, it denotes the time when the dawn had risen again for Israel (ch. iv. 13).” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary, 10:1:306–7.)

Devouring fire (Amos 7:4–6). The fire that devoured the great deep (presumably the ocean) is symbolic of the partially destructive wars that Israel was later involved in. Like the fire which “did eat up a part” of the great deep, Israel’s land was partly despoiled and many of its people led away.

The master builder with the plumbline (Amos 7:7–9). A plumbline is used to obtain exactness and accuracy in construction work. Here it seems to symbolize that God’s strict justice will prevail in judging Israel for her evil ways. All wickedness will be sought out, measured (judged), and destroyed.

The basket of summer fruit (Amos 8:1–9). The harvest of summer fruit symbolized the ripening of Israel. Just as summer fruit must be eaten when picked or it will spoil, Israel was ripe for picking and spoiling by enemies.

The sun going down at noon (Amos 8:9–14). A man’s sun can be said to set at noon if he is taken by death during the prime of his life. A nation’s sun figuratively sets at noon when the country is destroyed in the midst of prosperity. But Amos’ dual prophecy is also a reminder that before the Second Coming of the Lord, the sun will be darkened and refuse to give her light. Indeed, it will be a sign for the wicked of the latter days that their sun is about to set at noon. (See Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary, 10:1:317.)

The smitten sanctuary (Amos 9:1–6). From His dwelling place, the Lord will smite the wicked. There is none to escape, hide where they may. Only the Second Coming of the Lord fulfills such a description, for when the Lord comes in His glory, the rewards of justice will be met. No mountain is high enough, no sea so deep that the unrepentant sinner can hide from the judgments of a just God.

(8-17) Amos 8:11–12. A Famine in the Land

Here again one finds a clear case of prophetic dualism. Amos predicted a famine of the word of the Lord, which famine certainly occurred during the period of apostasy in Israel and Judah. The hardness of their hearts reached such a state that from 400 B.C. until the ministry of John the Baptist, which began in A.D. 30, as far as we know there were no prophets in Israel (see Enrichment K).

But Amos’s prophecy was also fulfilled at a later time. After Christ reestablished His Church on earth, it too eventually fell into apostasy. Again revelation ceased, and there was a great famine of the word of God, this famine lasting for well over a thousand years. President Spencer W. Kimball, after quoting Amos 8:11–12, said of this famine:

“Many centuries passed and that day came when a blanket of disbelief covered this earth, not a blanket of cotton or wool, but a blanket of apostasy, and a hunger and a thirst by many which was not satisfied.

“It was the Lord our God who came to the earth and manifested himself and brought truth again to the earth with prophecy, revelations, authority, priesthood, organization and all of the benefits of mankind. It was the Lord our God who did all this for us.” (In Conference Report, Temple View New Zealand Area Conference 1976, p. 4.)

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, who at the time was the Executive Area Administrator for one of the European areas, spoke of the effect this famine had had upon Europe: “We have observed a restless spirit of searching today among the people of Europe. Why? Because there is a gnawing hunger in the human heart that, if not fed by the truths of the gospel, leaves life empty and devoid of peace. The hodgepodge of economic ‘isms’ advocated by so-called wise men of the world has solved few, if any, problems, and has brought no real joy. Such empty nostrums have led mankind to seek worldly goods and symbols of material power, blinding humanity to the truth that only the righteous life firmly established in the daily living of God’s commandments brings true happiness. Anything less leaves the heart unfed, with a yearning inner hunger—a hunger which it is our mission to identify and define and of which we should make the people aware. I have seen in Europe the fulfillment of the words of Amos, that there would be ‘a famine in the land, not a famine of bread . . . but of hearing the words of the Lord.’ (Amos 8:11.)” (In Conference Report, Oct. 1975, pp. 154–55.)

With the restoration of the gospel, the famine came to an end, not for every individual at once, but for the earth in general. Elder Spencer W. Kimball said, “After centuries of spiritual darkness, . . . we solemnly announce to all the world that the spiritual famine is ended, the spiritual drought is spent, the word of the Lord in its purity and totalness is available to all men. One needs not wander from sea to sea nor from the north to the east, seeking the true gospel as Amos predicted, for the everlasting truth is available.” (In Conference Report, Apr. 1964, pp. 93–94.)

(8-18) Amos 9:7–15. “I Will Sift the House of Israel among All Nations”

Amos told Israel that they could not expect deliverance simply because they were the chosen people (see Amos 9:7). The kingdom of Israel, he said, would be destroyed, except for a remnant of Jacob whom the Lord would preserve because of His mercy (see v. 8). The gathering of the righteous remnant will be such that not one worthy soul will be unnoticed (see v. 9), and the Lord will establish His work, even to the raising of the temple in Jerusalem to its proper place (see v. 11a).

Every righteous soul who has taken upon himself the name of the Lord—be he Israelite or Gentile—will be brought into the kingdom (see Amos 9:12). And the lands of the earth will shed forth their riches. The promises to scattered Israel are secure, for they will be gathered back into the kingdom of God, inheriting every blessing promised to the righteous with no fear of losing them evermore (see vv. 14–15).

POINTS TO PONDER

(8-19) Amos: An Example for Today’s World

Amos was a discerning observer of the religious and social conditions of his times. The kingdom of Israel to the north was prosperous. Greed, corruption, and vice were common among the wealthy. The condition of the poor was pitiful. Religion had lost its vitality. Morals seemed forgotten. When called by the Lord, Amos was a herdsman, one who kept flocks and tended vineyards. Yet he rose fearlessly to the occasion and worked among the people, prophesying of their future as individuals and as a nation. The same counsel was given to other generations in similar words (see 2 Nephi 1:9–10).

One of the main values in having the scriptures and reading them is that we can become acquainted with the Lord and with His ways; we can then transfer the principles we learn to our own lives. This generation is under a greater obligation to live His commandments, for greater light and knowledge have been given to us.

In the face of Amaziah, the priest, Amos fearlessly declared his call from the Lord. In reply to Amaziah’s attempt to intimidate him, we can almost imagine him saying, as Paul did, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ” (Romans 1:16). Amaziah was one of many in Old Testament times who preached for hire. They taught what the people wanted to hear and belittled the Lord’s authorized servants. Are there Amaziahs in our day? Has their method changed? In quiet dignity the servants of the Lord go on, and in time the self-appointed prophets fade into obscurity.

Take a moment to read again Amos’s recounting of his call from the Lord (see Amos 7:12–17). Can you relate this event to similar events in the lives of some of the Lord’s prophets today? What really qualifies a man to be a prophet? (See Enrichment B.)

Amos 8:7–10 gives a view of some of the circumstances associated with the Second Coming of Christ and the Judgment. Remember that Amos had seen the Lord and received His message. All the prophets through the ages have had a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and have testified of His mission (see Helaman 8:16; Jacob 4:4–5; Acts 3:21–24).

9
Jonah
One Should Not Flee from One’s Responsibilities

(9-1) Introduction

The prophet Jonah was an unusual servant of the Lord. Jonah was called on a mission very similar to that of other prophets: he was to cry repentance to a people ripening in iniquity. Unlike other prophets, however, Jonah responded by attempting to flee from his assignment. Had his reason been cowardice, though still wrong, it would have been understandable. The brutality of the Assyrians in the treatment of their enemies was well known (see Enrichment D). But Jonah’s problem does not seem to be cowardice. Rather, it seems to have been resentment against the Lord for giving the hated enemy a chance to repent (see Jonah 4:1–2.)

To someone who has been taught to have Christian love for all men, Jonah’s attitude may seem almost unbelievable. But to an Israelite who had been taught that he was of the chosen people and that the Gentiles were corrupt and therefore not acceptable to God, Jonah’s attitude was more understandable. Though surprising because we expect a different response from the Lord’s prophets, Jonah’s response was very human. As you read Jonah’s story, see if you can understand what made him respond as he did.

Instructions to Students

1. Use Notes and Commentary below to help you as you read and study the book of Jonah.

2. Complete Points to Ponder as directed by your teacher. (Individual-study students should complete all of this section.)

NOTES AND COMMENTARY ON JONAH

(9-2) Jonah 1:1. Where and When Did Jonah Live?

Sidney B. Sperry, a well-known Latter-day Saint Bible scholar, answered that question by saying:

“We know little of the life of Jonah, but that little is more than we know about some of the other prophets discussed in this volume. In the first verse of the book under his name he is said to be ‘the son of Amittai.’ But the Book of Jonah is not the only Old Testament book in which he is mentioned. In II Kings 14:25 we are told that Jeroboam II, king of Israel, ‘. . . restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath unto the sea of Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by the hand of His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher.’

“There can be little doubt, therefore, that Jonah was a historical person and was engaged in prophetic activities. The prophet’s home, Gath-hepher, according to Joshua 19:10–13, was located in the territory of the tribe of Zebulun. According to monastic tradition it was the same as the present Arab village of El-Meshed, some three miles northeast of Nazareth, where one of the many Moslem tombs of Nebi Yunus, the Prophet Jonah, is pointed out. St. Jerome (circa 400 A.D.) also speaks of Gath-hepher as being situated two Roman miles from Sepphoris towards Tiberias.

“Jonah’s name means ‘dove’ and that of his father ‘truthful.’

“Since Jonah lived during the reign of Jeroboam, it is possible to date him at approximately 788 B.C.” (The Voice of Israel’s Prophets, p. 326.)

Both Jonah and Jesus were from the Galilee area. That Jonah’s story is a true one, and not an allegory as some scholars maintain, is evidenced by 2 Kings 14:25 and three New Testament references. ‘The story of Jonah was referred to by our Lord on two occasions when he was asked for a sign from heaven. In each case he gave ‘the sign of the prophet Jonah,’ the event in that prophet’s life being a foreshadowing of Jesus’ own death and resurrection (Matt. 12:39–41; 16:4; Luke 11:29–30).” (Bible Dictionary, s.v. “Jonah.”)

(9-3) Jonah 1:3. “Jonah Rose Up to Flee unto Tarshish”

Jonah’s life and experiences, like Job’s, provide a universal lesson similar to an allegory, and the application to all men is drawn from one man’s actual experiences.

Jonah was a type of Christ in that he was in the belly of the whale—in “hell,” in his own words (Jonah 2:2)—just as Jesus was in the grave for three days, and then came forth again. C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch showed that the significance of Jonah’s story is broader than that:

“The mission of Jonah was a fact of symbolical and typical importance, which was intended not only to enlighten Israel as to the position of the Gentile world in relation to the kingdom of God, but also to typify the future adoption of such of the heathen, as should observe the word of God, into the fellowship of the salvation prepared in Israel for all nations.

“As the time drew nigh when Israel was to be given up into the power of the Gentiles, and trodden down by them, on account of its stiff-necked apostasy from the Lord its God, it was very natural for the self-righteous mind of Israel to regard the Gentiles as simply enemies of the people and kingdom of God, and not only to deny their capacity for salvation, but also to interpret the prophetic announcement of the judgment coming upon the Gentiles as signifying that they were destined to utter destruction. The object of Jonah’s mission to Nineveh was to combat in the most energetic manner, and practically to overthrow, a delusion which had a seeming support in the election of Israel to be the vehicle of salvation, and which stimulated the inclination to pharisaical reliance upon an outward connection with the chosen nation and a lineal descent from Abraham. . . . The attitude of Israel towards the design of God to show mercy to the Gentiles and grant them salvation, is depicted in the way in which Jonah acts, when he receives the divine command, and when he goes to carry it out. Jonah tries to escape from the command to proclaim the word of God in Nineveh by flight to Tarshish, because he is displeased with the display of divine mercy to the great heathen world, and because, according to ch. iv. 2, he is afraid lest the preaching of repentance should avert from Nineveh the destruction with which it is threatened. In this state of mind on the part of the prophet, there are reflected the feelings and the general state of mind of the Israelitish nation towards the Gentiles. According to his natural man, Jonah shares in this, and is thereby fitted to be the representative of Israel in its pride at its own election. . . . The infliction of this punishment, which falls upon him on account of his obstinate resistance to the will of God, typifies that rejection and banishment from the face of God which Israel will assuredly bring upon itself by its obstinate resistance to the divine call. But Jonah, when cast into the sea, is swallowed up by a great fish; and when he prays to the Lord in the fish’s belly, he is vomited upon the land unhurt. This miracle has also a symbolical meaning for Israel. It shows that if the carnal nation, with its ungodly mind, should turn to the Lord even in the last extremity, it will be raised up again by a divine miracle from destruction to newness of life. And lastly, the manner in which God reproves the prophet, when he is angry because Nineveh has been spared (ch. iv.), is intended to set forth as in a mirror before all Israel the greatness of the divine compassion, which embraces all mankind, in order that it may reflect upon it and lay it to heart.” (Commentary on the Old Testament, 10:1:383–85.)

(9-4) Jonah 1:2–3. Why Did Jonah Flee to Tarshish?

“A call on a mission—and direct from the Lord! But it was no surprise to the prophet to be called, for he had probably carried out many missions for the Lord in Israel before. His surprise lay not in the fact of the call but in the kind of call, and rebellion arose in his heart. It was a call to go to Nineveh, ‘the great city’ of Assyria, and preach to its heathen inhabitants, for their wickedness had come up before the Lord. . . .

“Jonah was torn between his loyalty to God and the whip of his emotions. The latter were at a fever pitch and in the end determined his actions. Because he couldn’t face the mission call, he determined to flee the country and get away from the unpleasant responsibility. He did not intend to lay down his prophetic office; he merely wanted to absent himself without leave for a time until an unpleasant situation adjusted itself.” (Sperry, Voice of Israel’s Prophets, pp. 328–29.)

The exact location of Tarshish is unknown, but it is supposed by Adam Clarke and others that it is the same place as Tartessus in Spain, near the Straits of Gibraltar (see The Holy Bible . . . with a Commentary and Critical Notes, 4:700). Whether it was there that Jonah fled or some other port on the Mediterranean, it is certain that Tarshish was in the opposite direction of Nineveh. Joppa was a significant seaport on Israel’s coast in Jonah’s day. From there ships sailed to points throughout the Mediterranean. Joppa is the same as the present-day city of Jaffa, beside which the modern city of Tel Aviv has grown.

(9-5) Jonah 1:4–7. What Was the Practice of Casting Lots?

In ancient times lots were cast when an impartial decision was desired. The character and shape of the objects used in biblical times are not known, nor is the precise method by which they were cast, although some scholars suggest that smooth stones or sticks distinguished by colors or symbols were used. The heathens cast lots because, they believed, the gods would guide what happened. In Jonah’s case, the Lord seems to have guided the outcome.

(9-6) Jonah 1:8–10. The Greatness of Jonah’s God

Jonah fearlessly proclaimed that Jehovah is the one God over all creation.

(9-7) Jonah 1:11–16. Jonah Suggested His Own Fate

How do these verses show that Jonah’s running away was not because he was a coward? The men did not accept Jonah’s offer until they had made every effort to save themselves in other ways. Jonah’s willingness also shows his awareness that his actions had displeased God. Jonah 1:14–16 witnesses that only reluctantly did the sailors cast Jonah overboard, as he had commanded them to do. In an attempt to absolve themselves from offense against any of the gods, the sailors offered a prayer to the Lord and begged that their deed might not be counted against them.

(9-8) Jonah 1:17. “Now the Lord Had Prepared a Great Fish”

The account of Jonah being swallowed by a “great fish” has been the subject of much ridicule and controversy on the part of the world. They use this verse as one argument to sustain the belief that the book of Jonah is simply a parable and not a record of historical fact. Speaking to those who take such a position, Elder Joseph Fielding Smith said:

“Are we to reject it as being an impossibility and say that the Lord could not prepare a fish, or whale, to swallow Jonah? . . . Surely the Lord sits in the heavens and laughs at the wisdom of the scoffer, and then on a sudden answers his folly by a repetition of the miracle in dispute, or by the presentation of one still greater. . . .

“I believe, as did Mr. William J. Bryan, the story of Jonah. My chief reason for so believing is not in the fact that it is recorded in the Bible, or that the incident has been duplicated in our day, but in the fact that Jesus Christ, our Lord, believed it. The Jews sought him for a sign of his divinity. He gave them one, but not what they expected. The scoffers of his day, notwithstanding his mighty works, were incapable, because of sin, of believing.

“‘He answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the Prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.’” (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:314–15.)

The Hebrew word taneen used in Jonah and the Greek word katos used in the New Testament describe any sea creature of immense proportion. Sharks are common to the Mediterranean and have throats sufficiently large to admit the body of a man. Of course, the miraculous nature of this event lies in the fact that Jonah could survive in the digestive tract of a large fish for three days as much as in the fact that he could be swallowed whole.

(9-9) Jonah 2. Jonah Prayed to the Lord and Was Saved

Jonah, in his extremity, finally turned back to God. His prayer was one of sincere and meaningful repentance. His use of hell (sheol in Hebrew, which means the spirit world and is sometimes translated as “grave”) adds to the parallels with Christ’s burial. The language of Jonah’s prayer (see Jonah 2:3–5) and the language the Lord used with the Prophet Joseph Smith while he was imprisoned in Liberty Jail (see D&C 122:7) are similar, both even speaking of the “jaws of hell [gaping] open the mouth.” Also compare Jonah 2:7 with the language in Alma 36:18. Jonah’s vow to “pay that that I have vowed” was his way of saying he would fulfill the mission given him, and so “the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land” (see Jonah 2:9–10).

(9-10) Jonah 3:1–3. Why Is Nineveh Called “the Great City?”

Nineveh was a well-known trade center in Jonah’s day. It had terraces, arsenals, barracks, libraries, and temples. The walls were so broad that chariots could drive abreast on them. Beyond the walls were great suburbs, towns, and villages. The circumference of the great city was about sixty miles, or three days’ journey. (See Sperry, Voice of Israel’s Prophets, pp. 331–32n.)

(9-11) Jonah 3:5–9. What Is Signified by Sackcloth and Ashes?

Jonah’s words appear to have had an immediate and very positive effect upon the Ninevites. Why a non-Hebrew people would believe a Hebrew prophet one can only conjecture. Perhaps they were shocked into repentance by the appearance of a foreigner who, apparently without thought of personal safety, would come such a distance to unveil the sins of a people he did not know. At any rate, his mission had the intended result: Nineveh repented in “sackcloth and ashes.” Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote:

“A coarse, dark cloth made of hair of camels and goats and used anciently for making sacks and bags was called sackcloth. It was also used for making the rough garments worn by mourners, and so it became fixed in the prophetic mind as a symbol for sorrow and mourning. It was the custom for mourners, garbed in sackcloth, either to sprinkle ashes upon themselves or to sit in piles of ashes, thereby showing their joy had perished or been destroyed. (Gen. 37:34; Esther 4:1–3; Isa. 61:3; Jer. 6:26.)

“The use of sackcloth and ashes anciently was also a token of humility and penitence. When righteous persons used the covering of sackcloth and the sprinkling of ashes to aid them in attaining the spiritual strength to commune with Deity, their usage was always accompanied by fasting and prayer. Daniel, for instance, prefaced the record of one of his great petitions to the throne of grace with this explanation: ‘I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession.’ (Dan. 9:3–4; Isa. 58:5; 1 Kings 21:17–29.)

“Sackcloth and ashes (accompanied by the fasting, prayer, and turning to the Lord that attended their use) became a symbol of the most sincere and humble repentance.” (Mormon Doctrine, p. 659.)

(9-12) Jonah 3:10. Does God Need to Repent?

The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible renders this verse as follows: “And God saw their works that they turned from their evil way and repented; and God turned away the evil that he had said he would bring upon them” (JST, Jonah 3:10).

(9-13) Jonah 4:1–11. Jonah Was Displeased with the Lord

Here Jonah demonstrated a second weakness:he pouted because the people did repent and God turned His wrath away. Jonah was so upset that he wished he were dead. Though he had repented of his desire to escape the call of the Lord and went to Nineveh, Jonah had not substantially changed his attitude toward the Gentiles.

The Lord taught Jonah in a way that he could understand that all things are in His hand—the gourd, the worm, even life itself. First, the Lord sent the dreaded east wind, which was very destructive, for it blew off the hot, dry Arabian Desert. Then the Lord caused the sun to beat upon Jonah, making him so uncomfortable that he wished for death. Once Jonah was in that position, the Lord was able to teach him the worth of souls in Nineveh. Because the thousands who lived in Nineveh were ignorant of the saving gospel principles, they could not fully “discern between their right hand and their left hand” (Jonah 4:11). Surely the Lord felt more pity for them than Jonah felt for the gourd (see Alma 26:27, 37). By means of this simple plant, the Lord taught Jonah about the way in which God loves all of His children.

POINTS TO PONDER

(9-14) Trying to Run Away from the Lord

Now that you have read through the book of Jonah, what do you think of its message? How do you feel about Jonah’s running away from a call to serve? Is there a difference between Jonah, Joel, and Amos? Write a short essay discussing the differences and similarities and the application of their messages to you today.

Nineveh had a reputation for being wicked (see Nahum 3:1–4). There are many wicked cities in our day. Does their wickedness lessen the Lord’s feelings for the people of those cities? What is our obligation when we are called to serve in a way that we might consider distasteful?

It is apparent throughout the story that Jonah could not stand to see God’s love, so often promised to Israel and cherished by her, bestowed on others, particularly her heathen oppressors. Have you ever known anyone who has tended to resent someone newly baptized or recently activated and the attention and favor they received in the Church? Is there not a parallel here?

Though most Latter-day Saints may never be called to do anything as dramatic as calling on a whole city to repent or be destroyed, we receive numerous calls of our own from the Lord. Sometimes, like Jonah, we seem to run away or at least to escape our responsibility. Consider the following:

1. A person who refuses to accept a call in the Primary because she would not be able to attend Relief Society meetings.

2. A young man who turns down a mission call so he can accept a scholarship from a university.

3. A family who does not hold regular family home evenings.

4. A person who gets behind on his bills and does not pay his tithing.

5. A young woman too shy to accept a call as a Young Adult Relief Society teacher.

We all receive calls, and sometimes we try to escape them. But we can repent, accept the call, and reap joy in our service.

10
Hosea
The Ministry of Hosea: A Call to Faithfulness

(10-1) Introduction

Have you ever given love and trust, or even made solemn covenants, and then been betrayed? Or have you ever been loved and trusted by someone but then, in weakness, betrayed that trust and damaged the relationship and thus know the yearning to be loved and trusted again?

Read carefully Hosea’s description of God’s feelings toward those who have covenanted with Him and then betrayed the trust. Examine your own life for experiences that will help you understand Hosea’s message.

During the time of Hosea, the Israelites were influenced heavily by the worship and ways of the Canaanites. The sophistication of the city-based Canaanite farmers who surrounded them, the fertility of their flocks and fields (apparently elicited from the gods and goddesses of fertility) attracted the Israelite farmers. The rites by which the people supplicated the gods of fertility were lewd, licentious, and immoral. Even though Israel had covenanted at Sinai to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation unto God, by the time of Hosea, God’s people had become deeply involved in the practices of their neighbors, whose way of life should have repelled them.

Using the imagery of a marriage, the Lord, through Hosea, taught His people that though they had been unfaithful to Him, ye He would still not divorce them (cast them off) if they would but turn back to Him. Though Hosea speaks of a nation, the same principle holds true for individuals. Even those who have been grossly unfaithful to God can reestablish their relationship with Him if they will but turn back to Him with full purpose of heart.

Instructions to Students

1. Use Notes and Commentary below to help you as you read and study the book of Hosea.

2. Complete Points to Ponder as directed by your teacher. (Individual-study students should complete all of this section.)

NOTES AND COMMENTARY ON HOSEA

(10-2) Hosea 1–14. “The Manner of Prophesying among the Jews” (2 Nephi 25:1)

Nephi said that to understand the writings of Isaiah, one has to understand the Jewish way of prophesying (see 2 Nephi 25:1). The same is true of Hosea because he, like Isaiah, made extensive use of metaphors and symbolism (see Old Testament Student Manual: Genesis–2 Samuel [religion 301, 2003], pp. 111–15). Each chapter contains at least one metaphor, and all need to be seen against the background of Israel’s history and tradition to be understood.

One metaphor that is central to Hosea’s message is marriage. Throughout history every culture has prescribed ways to celebrate the covenants of marriage. Because most people had personal knowledge of marriage, they understood the Lord better when the prophets used marriage terms to describe symbolically the covenants God made with them and they with Him. The covenant relationship between Jehovah and His people Israel was likened to the relationship between a man and his wife.

In the symbolic marriage covenant, God is the husband and Israel, the covenant people, is the bride. God wed Israel in the covenant of Abraham (see Genesis 17). That covenant was renewed with Moses’ people at the foot of Mount Sinai (see Exodus 19:4–8). Isaiah 54:5 reads, “For thy Maker is thine husband,” and Jeremiah 3:14 reads, “For I am married unto you.” Further references to God’s role as husband in the covenant are found in Jeremiah 3:20; 31:32 and Revelation 19:7.

When Israel turned away from her husband to worship other gods, then she broke the covenants. She “hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord” (Hosea 1:2) and “hath played the harlot” (Hosea 2:5; see also Jeremiah 2:20; 3:1, 9; 5:7; Exodus 34:14–16; Deuteronomy 31:16). Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained: “In a spiritual sense, to emphasize how serious it is, the damning sin of idolatry is called adultery. When the Lord’s people forsake him and worship false gods, their infidelity to Jehovah is described as whoredoms and adultery. (Jer. 3:8–9; Hos. 1:2; 3:1.) By forsaking the Lord, his people are unfaithful to their covenant vows, vows made to him who symbolically is their Husband.” (Mormon Doctrine, p. 25.)

The symbolism is central to Hosea’s message. He depicts Israel’s unfaithfulness to the Lord as that of a wife who has turned her back on a faithful husband to follow her lovers.

(10-3) Hosea 1:1. Who Was Hosea?

“The superscription of this book informs us that Hosea was the son of Beeri. Unfortunately we know nothing about the father. The Hebrew name of the prophet, Hoshea, signifies ‘help,’ ‘deliverance,’ and ‘salvation,’ and is derived from the same root as the names of Joshua and Jesus. By reason of numerous allusions in the prophecy to the Northern Kingdom, it is commonly supposed by commentators that Hosea was a native of that commonwealth. The superscription further informs us that Hosea was a prophet ‘in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.’ Jeroboam II, the king of Israel, reigned from 788 B.C. until 747 B.C. and Hezekiah, the last-named of the kings of Judah, began to reign in 725 B.C. We may not be far off from the truth if we date Hosea’s ministry, therefore, from about 755 B.C. to 725 B.C. He was, then, a contemporary of three other great prophets, Isaiah, Amos, and Micah.” (Sidney B. Sperry, The Voice of Israel’s Prophets, p. 274.)

(10-4) Hosea 1:1. What Was Happening in Hosea’s Time?

“The years of Hosea’s life were melancholy and tragic. The vials of the wrath of heaven were poured out on his apostate people. The nation suffered under the evils of that schism, which was effected by the craft of him who has been branded with the indelible stigma—’Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin.’ The obligations of law had been relaxed, and the claims of religion disregarded; Baal became the rival of Jehovah, and in the dark recesses of the groves were practiced the impure and murderous rites of heathen deities; peace and prosperity fled the land, which was harassed by foreign invasion and domestic broils; might and murder became the twin sentinels of the throne; alliances were formed with other nations, which brought with them seductions to paganism; captivity and insult were heaped upon Israel by the uncircumcised; the nation was thoroughly debased, and but a fraction of its population maintained its spiritual allegiance.” (Samuel Fallows, ed., The Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopedia and Scriptural Dictionary, s.v. “Hosea”; see also Old Testament Student Manual: Genesis–2 Samuel, pp. 245–48.)

(10-5) Hosea 1:2–3. How Are We to Understand God’s Commanding Hosea to Marry a Harlot?

Would God literally command one of His servants to take an immoral woman for His wife? Or is this command to be interpreted only in a symbolic sense? Interpretations fall into five general categories:

1. Hosea was actually asked by God to marry a harlot. Those scholars who maintain this view think that such a marriage served as an object lesson to call Israel’s attention to their carnal state. Others have felt that such an act would be inconsistent with God, who “cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance” (Alma 45:16). While the Lord was not commanding Hosea to sin, some have felt God would not use sinful behavior even in an object lesson of this kind. Sidney B. Sperry said that this “would be imputing to God a command inconsistent with His holy character. Furthermore, for Hosea to marry a woman with a questionable past would make it impossible for him to preach to his people and expose their sexual immoralities. They could point the finger of scorn at him and say, ‘You are as guilty as we are; don’t preach to us.’” (Voice of Israel’s Prophets, p. 281.)

2. The whole experience came to Hosea in a dream or vision. There was neither harlot nor marriage, but Hosea was asked to accept the burden of being prophet (husband) to immoral Israel (Gomer). Although possible, most scholars reject this alternative because of the intensity of Hosea’s involvement with the imagery.

3. Hosea married a woman who at the time was good and faithful but later became a faithless wife, a harlot, when she left her husband to participate in the fertility rites of the neighboring Canaanites. In this case Hosea’s life was an “enacted parable,” and the phrase “wife of whoredoms” (Hosea 1:2) refers to what Gomer became. In other words, Hosea did marry Gomer, but she was not a harlot then. Those scholars who sustain this view explain that later in life, Hosea, looking back on his experiences and all that he had suffered and learned through them, recorded incidents that helped illustrate his teachings. The difficulty with this interpretation is that the Lord commanded Hosea to take a “wife of whoredoms” (v. 2). If Gomer were faithful and true at the time of the marriage, this phrase would seem like a peculiar way to describe her.

4. A variation of the interpretation in number three is that Gomer was not an actual harlot but was a worshiper of Baal; therefore, she was guilty of spiritual harlotry. But even so, it seems peculiar that God would ask a prophet to marry a nonbelieving wife.

5. Another approach that avoids some of these difficulties is that the words present an allegory designed to teach the spiritual consequences of Israel’s unfaithfulness. Sperry felt that Hosea never did actually contract such a marriage. He explains: “The Lord’s call to Hosea to take a harlotrous woman to wife represents the prophet’s call to the ministry—a ministry to an apostate and covenant-breaking people. The . . . children of this apparent union represent the coming of the judgments of the Lord upon Israel, warning of which was to be carried to the people by the prophet. The figure of the harlotrous wife and children would, I believe, be readily understood at the time by the Hebrew people without reflecting on Hosea’s own wife, or, if he was unmarried, on himself.” (Voice of Israel’s Prophets, p. 281.)

Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles commented on his experience years before teaching Hosea to his early morning seminary classes:

“The book of Hosea, like the writings of Isaiah, uses what seem to me almost poetic images. The symbols in Hosea are a husband, his bride, her betrayal, and a test of marriage covenants almost beyond comprehension. . . . Here are the fierce words of the husband, spoken after his wife has betrayed him in adultery: [Hosea 2:6–7].

“He goes on (through verse 13) to describe the punishment she deserves, and then comes a remarkable change in the verse that follows. . . . : [Hosea 2:14–15, 19–23].

“At that early point in the story, in just two chapters, even my youngest students knew that the husband was a metaphor for Jehovah, Jesus Christ. And they knew that the wife represented his covenant people, Israel, who had gone after strange gods. They understood that the Lord was teaching them, through this metaphor, an important principle. Even though those with whom he has covenanted may be horribly unfaithful to him, he would not divorce them if they would only turn back to him with full purpose of heart.

“I knew that too, but even more than that, I felt something. Ihad a new feeling about what it means to make a covenant with the Lord. All my life I had heard explanations of covenants as being like a contract, an agreement where one person agrees to do something and the other agrees to do something else in return.

“For more reasons than I can explain, during those days teaching Hosea, I felt something new, something more powerful. This was not a story about a business deal between partners, nor about business law. . . . This was a love story. This was a story of a marriage covenant bound by love, by steadfast love. What I felt then, and it has increased over the years, was that the Lord, with whom I am blessed to have made covenants, loves me, and you, . . . with a steadfastness about which I continually marvel and which I want with all my heart to emulate” (Covenants and Sacrifice [address to religious educators, 15 Aug. 1995], pp. 1–2).

(10-6) Hosea 1:4–11. Symbolic Names

Biblical names often were taken from the circumstances surrounding the child’s birth. In Hosea’s narrative Gomer bore her husband three children: two sons and a daughter. The names given to the children symbolize the destruction that lies in Israel’s future as a result of her idolatrous (adulterous) ways—that is, children (judgments) are the natural result of Israel’s harlotry (unrighteousness).

The name of the first child, Jezreel, is the same as that of the valley of former King Jehu’s bloody purge, and foreshadowed Israel’s overthrow in that strategic valley. It is a valley overlooked by Megiddo (New Testament “Armageddon”; see Revelation 16:16) and famed for crucial battles past and future. Jezreel means “God shall sow,” or scatter abroad, since anciently sowing was done by casting handfuls of seed. It undoubtedly alludes to the overthrow and scattering of Israel.

The name Lo-ruhamah in Hebrew means “not having obtained mercy” and suggests that no amount of mercy from God would set aside divine justice and save northern Israel; the ten tribes would be taken captive and led away.

The name of the third child, Lo-ammi, in Hebrew, “not my people,” is like a lament and shows that by their harlotry Israel could not be thought of as God’s people.

With the last two symbolic names, the Lord predicted the negative results of sin (see Hosea 1:6, 9), but in the next verses He held out a promise of hope (vv. 7, 10). Throughout the book, Hosea interweaves the promise of destruction or a curse with the promise of future restoration to favor.

(10-7) Hosea 2. What Are the Meanings of the Metaphors?

(10-8) Hosea 3:1–3. What Is Represented by the Marriage in Chapter 3?

In the first and third chapters of Hosea the Lord commands His prophet to marry. Scholars disagree on whether these represent two separate marriages or the same one. Either way, they were an effective means for the Lord to teach the people of His own relationship with faithless Israel. From the beginning Israel played the part of the harlot (see Hosea 1:2). Even after entering into covenants of obedience and faithfulness to the Lord as a married spouse, she forsook her husband, the Lord, and went whoring after idol gods (see Hosea 3:1–3).

Keil and Delitzsch write: “The price paid . . . is not to be regarded as purchase money, for which the wife was obtained from her parents; for it cannot be shown that the custom of purchasing a bride from her parents had any existence among the Israelites. . . . It was rather the marriage present . . . which a bridegroom gave, not to the parents, but to the bride herself, as soon as her consent had been obtained” (Commentary, 10:1:69). Through paying this price, Hosea (symbolizing the Lord) was able to place her (Israel) beyond her former consorts and receive her back as his own.

(10-9) Hosea 3:2. Come unto Me

Verse 2 gives the price of redeeming the woman spoken of in verse one. Keil and Delitzsch write that “it is a very natural supposition . . . that at that time an ephah of barley was worth a shekel, in which case the whole price would just amount to the some of which, according to Ex. xxi. 32, it was possible to purchase a slave, and was paid half in money and half in barley. . . . The circumstance that the prophet gave no more for the wife than the amount at which a slave could be obtained, . . . and that this amount was not even paid in money, but half of it in barley—a kind of food so generally despised throughout antiquity . . . —was intended to depict still more strikingly the deeply depressed condition of the woman. . . . [If] the woman was satisfied with fifteen shekels and fifteen ephahs of barley, she must have been in a state of very deep distress” (Commentary, 10:1:68–69).

When one considers Gomer as symbolic of Israel, the purchase price implies that Israel’s freedoms had been or would be lost, and in addition she suffered the slavery of sin, which also requires a purchase price before Israel can be reconciled with her Savior. Hosea desired to purchase his wife from slavery just as Heavenly Father seeks after His children to redeem them from Satan’s power with the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.

(10-10) Hosea 3:3. “Thou Shalt Not Play the Harlot”

Even though the purchase price mentioned in Hosea 3:2 has been paid, there is a time of testing, of waiting and preparing, before one is reinstated to all the blessings of the covenant and enjoys the company of a husband and a savior. This principle is valid whether applied to Gomer as a person or to Gomer as a figure for Israel.

(10-11) Hosea 3:4–5. The Captivity

Hosea 3:4 alludes to Israel’s impending captivity when they would be without leadership (“kings,” “princes”) and without the temple and the religious practices they believed in (“sacrifice”). They would also be without revelation (represented by the ephod, to which the Urim and Thummim were attached). The teraphim were worshiped by the Canaanites as givers of earthly prosperity and deities who revealed the future. Commentators believe that these objects of Canaanite worship were included with objects from the worship of Jehovah to show the people that the worship of idols would also be lost. “David their king” (v. 5) is one of the titles of the Messiah or Jesus Christ (see Notes and Commentary on Isaiah 11:1).

As noted in Hosea 3:3, Gomer had to purify her life before she could feel Hosea’s love. In their captivity Israel would suffer without God’s help until she purified her life. Then she would know of God’s continued love.

(10-12) Hosea 4:3. “Therefore Shall the Land Mourn”

See also Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, in which the Lord outlines the relationship between the bounties of the land and the righteousness or wickedness of the people.

(10-13) Hosea 4:8. What Is Meant by the Phrase “They Eat Up the Sin of My People”?

Keil and Delitzsch explained that the Hebrew phrase translated as the “sin of my people” referred to “the sin-offering of the people, the flesh of which the priests were commanded to eat, to wipe away the sin of the people (see [Leviticus 6:26], and the remarks upon this law at [Leviticus 10:17]). The fulfillment of this command, however, became a sin on the part of the priests, from the fact that they directed their soul, i.e. their longing desire, to the transgression of the people; in other words, that they wished the sins of the people to be increased, in order that they might receive a good supply of sacrificial meat to eat.” (Commentary, 10:1:78–79.)

(10-14) Hosea 4:12. What Are Stocks and Staffs?

The stocks were wooden idols. The staffs were divining rods, instruments used to foretell the future, to find lost or hidden objects, and so forth. All were consulted within the Canaanite culture much like divining instruments are used in today’s Satanic cults. Thus, instead of seeking counsel from the living God, they looked to the idols.

(10-15) Hosea 4:15. Why Avoid Gilgal and Bethaven?

Gilgal was where the law of circumcision was renewed after Israel crossed over Jordan in Joshua’s day, but it had become polluted by idolatry since the days of Jeroboam. Bethaven means “house of iniquity,” and Bethel means “house of God.” Hosea, like Amos in Amos 4:5, applied the name Bethaven to the town Bethel to show that the house of God had now become the house of iniquity and idols.

(10-16) Hosea 4:16. “A Backsliding Heifer” and “a Lamb in a Large Place”

A backsliding heifer is one who refuses to follow when led and sets her feet and slides in the dirt. She is an unmanageable animal and will not pull together with the other ox yoked with her, nor will she submit to the guidance of the driver.

A lamb in a large place suggests a helpless animal lost in a large open area with no protection. This figure suggests Israel’s being scattered among the Gentiles.

(10-17) Hosea 4:17; 5:3, 9, 11–14; 6:4. Why Is There So Much Emphasis on Ephraim and Judah and No Mention of the Other Tribes?

Because they were the two dominant tribes, Judah came to represent all the Israelites in the Southern Kingdom, and Ephraim came to represent the Israelites in the Northern Kingdom. Thus, as used here, Judah means the Southern Kingdom, and Ephraim the Northern Kingdom.

(10-18) Hosea 5:1–2. Nets and Snares

Mizpah and Tabor, both mountains, were famous for hunting; hence, the “net” and “snare.” Revolters were those who drove animals into a pit that had been camouflaged. The metaphor depicts the rulers and priesthood in the bloody role of the hunters who spiritually killed their prey, Israel.

(10-19) Hosea 5:7. “Begotten Strange Children”

“Israel ought to have begotten children of God in the maintenance of the covenant with the Lord; but in its apostasy from God it had begotten an adulterous generation, children whom the Lord could not acknowledge as His own” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary, 10:1:89).

(10-20) Hosea 5:10–11. “Remove the Bound”

Deuteronomy 27:17 says, “Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour’s landmark” (see also Deuteronomy 19:14). In ancient Israel, property was marked with stone markers or “landmarks.” To move such a mark was a serious offense, for it was the same as stealing land. If one who destroyed a neighbor’s boundaries was cursed, how much more cursed were the princes of Judah who destroyed the moral and spiritual boundaries that guarded the worship of Jehovah? In Hosea 5:11 the phrase “walked after the commandment” indicates that Ephraim was oppressed because it willingly walked after filth instead of walking after true commandments (see Hosea 5:11a).

(10-21) Hosea 6:1–3. A Call to Return

Hosea 6:2 may be a symbolic reference to the gathering of Israel and the Millennium. If a day is a thousand years (see 1 Peter 3:8), Israel is to be revived and blessed some two or three thousand years in the future.

Hosea 6:3 is a call to seek the knowledge of Jehovah, whose rising is fixed like the morning dawn and whose blessing is “as the latter and former rain unto the earth.” To the farmer in ancient Israel, two “rains” were very critical. The former (or first) rains softened the earth so that he could plow it and plant the seed; the latter (or second) rains gave the crop its growth. (See also Joel 2:23.)

(10-22) Hosea 6:6. What Did Israel Lack in Her Relationship to Jehovah?

“Israel’s fidelity, then, was that of a fickle woman. It lacked the steadfastness, the trustworthiness of true covenant love. In Hosea’s native language, Israel lacked hésed. This word is exceedingly difficult to render into English. (The Revised Standard Version usually translates it ‘steadfast love.’) It is a covenant word that refers to the faithfulness or loyal love that binds two parties together in covenant. When a person shows hésed to another, he is not motivated merely by legal obligation but by an inner loyalty which arises out of the relationship itself. Such covenant love has the quality of constancy, firmness, steadfastness. In Hosea’s vivid figure, Israel’s hésed was like a transient morning cloud, or like the morning dew that evaporates quickly (6:4). Hence Yahweh [Jehovah] scorned the existing forms of worship:

“‘For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings.’—Hosea 6:6

“We probably should not press Hosea’s words to mean that he was opposed to formal worship. But clearly he was opposed to forms that were devoid of the spirit of true faithfulness to the God of the covenant. Jesus twice asked his hearers to go and reread Hosea 6:6 when he was accused of breaking the formal rules of orthodoxy (cf. Matt. 9:13 and 12:7).” (Bernhard W. Anderson, Understanding the Old Testament, p. 248.)

(10-23) Hosea 7:8–9. How Is Ephraim a “Cake Not Turned”?

Because Ephraim (the Northern Kingdom) had mixed with other nations, worshiped their idols, and learned their ways, she had only fulfilled half the requisites for the conquest of Canaan, or she was only “half baked.”

“Israel had thereby become a cake not turned. [The image in Hebrew is of] a cake baked upon hot ashes or red-hot stones, which, if it be not turned, is burned at the bottom, and not baked at all above. The meaning of this figure is explained by ver. 9. As the fire will burn an ash-cake when it is left unturned, so have foreigners consumed the strength of Israel, partly by devastating wars, and partly by the heathenish nature which has penetrated into Israel in their train.” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary, 10:1:107–8.)

(10-24) Hosea 7:11–13. What Were the Dangers of Israel’s Entangling Alliances?

“We live at a time when the drums of war cause many people . . . to debate whether or not we ought to make alliances with other countries in self-defense. During Hosea’s ministry there occurred conspiracies and other internal disturbances that seriously weakened Israel (2 Kings 15). In desperation the people alternately sought aid from Assyria and Egypt, paying tribute to both, with the result that they lost their independence and national autonomy, being forced to accept vassalage to Assyria. Hosea warned the nation of its folly in seeking alliances with foreign nations. Political alliances would not remedy the real cause of their trouble—moral disease and rebellion against God. Hosea doubtless believed that God would protect His own if they but trusted Him.

“‘And Ephraim is become like a silly dove, without understanding; They call unto Egypt, they go to Assyria.’ (7:11)

“Hosea wanted his people to avoid making covenants with nations whose sole reliance was on force. Let the big nations fight their own wars; little nations that elected to mix up with them were sure to be worsted. The big nations, furthermore, had religious practices that were utterly opposite to prophetic ideals. Their immoralities, added to those already prevalent in Israel would, in time, wreck the nation. So Israel would spread the net of destruction over herself. Instead of courting God’s love and protection, her courting of the nations would only put her in a trap—and it did.” (Sperry, Voice of Israel’s Prophets, pp. 285–86.)

(10-25) Hosea 7:14. Why Would the People Cry for Corn and Wine?

When hardships come, some cry upon their beds. Rather than pray to God with all their heart, they look for corn and wine—something to take away the hurt. They do not seek that which brings the Lord’s help.

(10-26) Hosea 7:16. A Deceitful Bow

A “deceitful bow” is one that flies back to its curved position while the archer is stringing it or breaks while he has it drawn. In either case, the archer can be wounded.

(10-27) Hosea 8:8–9. A Wild Ass

A wild ass is one of the most independent and unreliable beasts on earth. Because Israel wanted to go her own way and be alone, she was likened to a wild ass. She would go alone into Assyria and be swallowed up by the Gentiles. The “lovers” hired by Ephraim represent her continued attempt to find security and friends through political alliances rather than through obedience to God.

(10-28) Hosea 8:13; 9:3, 6. Egypt

Egypt was the land of the first captivity—between the times of Joseph and Moses. The word here refers to captivity or bondage in general; thus, Assyria is the new Egypt.

(10-29) Hosea 9:7. Why Did Hosea Say the “Prophet Is a Fool”?

Hosea was referring to false prophets who were saying that all was well in Israel and that their enemies would not come against them.

(10-30) Hosea 9:10–17. The Imagery of Hosea

Hosea used several figurative expressions that ancient Israel would clearly understand but which are not clearly understood by modern readers.

Grapes in the wilderness; first ripe fruit of the fig (v. 10). Both grapes and figs were viewed as choice fruits by the people anciently. Jehovah found Israel, at first, a delightful thing.

Baal-peor (v. 10). Another way of saying the people were committing immoral acts (see Numbers 25:1–3; Psalm 106:28).

Ephraim’s glory flies away (v. 11). The Northern Kingdom shall see no conception, no pregnancy, no birth—Ephraim will be left totally desolate.

Have children but be bereaved (v. 12). Even their grown-up sons shall be cut off.

Ephraim and Tyre (Tyrus) (v. 13). Tyre was renowned for its glory and splendor. God had chosen Ephraim for similar blessings, but because of their wickedness they would be barren.

Gilgal (v. 15). See Notes and Commentary on Hosea 4:15.

The princes are revolters (v. 15). See Notes and Commentary on Hosea 5:1–2.

(10-31) Hosea 10:12. How Can Israel or Any Child of God Obtain Mercy?

“Mercy is not showered [indiscriminately] upon mankind, except in the general sense that it is manifest in the creation and peopling of the earth and in the granting of immortality to all men as a free gift. Rather, mercy is granted (because of the grace, love, and condescension of God), as it is with all blessings, to those who comply with the law upon which its receipt is predicated. (D. & C. 130:20–21.) That law is the law of righteousness; those who sow righteousness, reap mercy. (Hos. 10:12.) There is no promise of mercy to the wicked; rather, as stated in the Ten Commandments, the Lord promises to show mercy unto thousands of them that love him and keep his commandments. (Ex. 20:6; Dan. 9:4; D. & C. 70:18.)” (McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 484.)

(10-32) Hosea 10:12–13. The Law of the Harvest

If one plants or does works of righteousness, he reaps mercy and the blessings of obedience (see D&C 130:20–21). If one plants wickedness, he reaps iniquity. What one gets is the result of what one does. What one does is a result of where one puts one’s trust. We can trust God, or power, or friends, or money; but what we receive will depend on what we trusted (see also Hosea 8:7).

Elder Bernard P. Brockbank counseled college students: “If you sow seeds of righteousness, you will harvest righteousness. If you sow thorns and corruption, you will reap thorns and corruption. A prophet of the Lord said, ‘For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind’ (Hosea 8:7). If you sow seeds of purity, you will harvest purity. If you sow seeds of petting, immorality, and promiscuity, you will harvest destruction to your godlike attributes. If you sow seeds of pure love, you will receive pure love. If you love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, you will reap God’s love. If you would obtain celestial glory, you must plant into your heart and character God’s heavenly ways. Jesus admonished in these words: ‘For if you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you’ (D&C 78:7). If you want a celestial life, you will have to plant celestial seeds. Pure religion comes from God. If you want pure religion in your life, you must plant the gospel of Jesus Christ in your heart. Remember, ‘As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.’ If you think as a celestial being, you will be a celestial being. If you think as a child of God should think, you will be a member of his celestial family.” (“Be Worthy of Celestial Exaltation,” in Speeches of the Year, 1974, pp. 386–87.)

(10-33) Hosea 10:14. Who Was Shalman?

Shalman may be Shalmaneser and Beth-arbel may be the Armenian city Arbela, which Shalmaneser destroyed while still a general under Tiglath-pileser (see Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible . . . with a Commentary and Critical Notes, 4:645).

(10-34) Hosea 11:1. Israel’s Coming out of Egypt

Matthew saw the emergence of Israel from Egypt as a type or pattern of Jesus’ coming out of Egypt (see Matthew 2:15). When the Israelites were humble, God could work miracles with them. (See also Hosea 12:13.)

(10-35) Hosea 11:4. “As They That Take off the Yoke”

“This is an agricultural simile, and refers to the custom of raising the yoke from the neck and cheeks of the oxen so that they can more readily eat their food. Henderson says: ‘The ol, yoke, not only included the piece of wood on the neck by which the animal was fastened to the pole, but also the whole of the harness about the head which was connected with it. The yokes used in the East are very heavy, and press so much upon the animals that they are unable to bend their necks.’ . . .

“Compare this statement with what Jesus says about his yoke in Matthew [11:28–30].” (James M. Freeman, Manners and Customs of the Bible, p. 317.)

(10-36) Hosea 12:1. Feeding on the Wind

“Feeding on the wind” (see Hosea 12:1) is believing that which has not truth or substance. Carrying oil into Egypt (see v. 1) represents the attempt to get protection through tribute from an alliance with Egypt.

(10-37) Hosea 13:13–14. What Are the Analogies in These Verses?

The travailing woman is Israel, and “as there is a critical time in parturition [the process of giving birth] in which the mother in hard labour may by skillful assistants be eased of her burden, which, if neglected, may endanger the life both of parent and child; so there was a time in which Ephraim might have returned to God, but they would not; therefore they are now in danger of being finally destroyed.” (Clarke, Commentary, 4:651.)

Hosea 13:14 uses the figures of resurrection as a metaphor that promises the gathering and restoration of Israel. The “dry bones” metaphor in Ezekiel 37:1–14 conveys the same message. The fact that the resurrection is symbolic of the gathering of Israel does not diminish the usefulness of these passages in proving that the resurrection was a firm doctrine among the Israelites. In fact, just the opposite is true; for a metaphor of this type loses its force if the type or figure used is not real.

At the end of Hosea 13:14, the Lord says “repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.” This could mean that the Lord will not swerve in His purpose even though Israel may cry out for deliverance. When the grave is conquered, however, and the judgments rendered, there will be no more sin; hence, no more repentance because all will be assigned to a kingdom whose laws they can obey.

(10-38) Hosea 14:2. “The Calves of Our Lips”

This verse deals with one’s resolves to do better. To present the sincere prayers of one’s lips as an offering to the Lord was as precious as the best offerings in the Mosaic law, which were young oxen or bullocks; hence, “the calves of our lips.”

POINTS TO PONDER

(10-39) Concepts Taught in Hosea

Some individual verses in Hosea, because of the symbolism, contain whole concepts or sermons. Listed below are some examples for your consideration. Read them and underline the ones you like in your Bible. Try to understand their symbolic meaning. Commit some to memory to use as a spiritual thought or short sermon.

Hosea 6:1. “Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.”

Hosea 6:4. “O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.”

Hosea 8:7. “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.”

Hosea 10:13. “Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.”

Hosea 11:1. “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.”

Hosea 11:8. “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.” (Emphasis added. Note God’s agony over the impending captivity.)

Hosea 13:4. “Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.”

Hosea 13:9. “Oh Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.”

Hosea 14:1. “O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.”

Hosea 14:5. “I will be as the dew unto Israel.” (In a land of little rain, dew gives life to the desert as God’s love gives life to us.)

(10-40) Gomer and Hosea: A Story of Hope

In the book of Hosea we can see two applications for the symbols Hosea and Gomer. We can think of each as having been living people, or we can apply the second analogy where Hosea represents God and Gomer represents a nation—Israel. The second representation illustrates God’s love for an unfaithful people, while the first application has a personal message of comfort and encouragement for you to remain faithful to your covenants and promises.

Review the two suggested applications of Hosea’s message and see if Hosea and Gomer’s experiences are like those of someone you know.

(10-41) Dealing with Betrayal

The modern world entices people as it did in the days of Hosea to worship at the shrine of pleasure. Because the sin is as enticing as ever, many people give into temptation. Someone you know well may betray your trust. What can compare to the hurt that accompanies betrayed trusts, friendships, confidences, and even covenants? Feelings of bitterness, revenge, pride, and withdrawal are immediately experienced.

How could Hosea still have loved Gomer? How could God still have loved Israel? How could Jesus have said, “Forgive them; for they know not what they do”? (Luke 23:34). How can you still love someone who has betrayed you?

Dealing with the feelings that come with betrayal may be one of the greatest trials of your life. Humility must replace pride; charity, revenge; hope, despair; faith, fear. These trials may require your greatest prayers as you seek to forgive someone who has betrayed you.

(10-42) Hope for You in the Story of Gomer

God loves you, no matter what you have ever done to hurt or disappoint Him, and He has provided a way for you to return to Him. The story of Gomer clearly shows God’s love for you. Even when you break His commandments and your life seems to fall apart, God’s greatest desire is to see you repent and come back to receive the happiness of a good life.

The world today exhibits many of the same social ills that existed in Gomer’s time. Perhaps in the past you have forgotten covenants in order to respond to the promises and flattery of the world. Now you know the longing to be loved and trusted again. For you, the story of Gomer testifies of hope and a Redeemer who longs to have you restored to the close relationship you once had with Him (see Hosea 3:1–2). Her story is a promise that if you will return “home” and prove your repentance and faithfulness (see Hosea 3:3–4), then all that you desire will be restored to you (see Hosea 2:19–23). Enduring or overcoming trials in proving your repentance and faithfulness will require your greatest efforts in prayer and acts of obedience to God’s laws.

Enrichment D
The Assyrian Conquest and the Lost Tribes

(D-1) Assyria: Masters of War

In 721 B.C. Assyria swept out of the north, captured the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and took the ten tribes into captivity. From there they became lost to history.

Assyria, named for the god Ashur (highest in the pantheon of Assyrian gods), was located in the Mesopotamian plain. It was bordered on the west by the Syrian desert, on the south by Babylonia, and on the north and east by the Persian and Urarthian hills (see J. D. Douglas, ed., The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, s.v. “Assyria,” 1:137). This area today is primarily the nation of Iraq.

Perhaps the earliest inhabitants of the area were the Subareans, who were joined later by the Sumerians. In the third millennium B.C. came the Semites who eventually merged with the Subareans and Sumerians. “They took their common language and their arts from Sumeria, but modified them later into an almost undistinguishable similarity to the language and arts of Babylonia. Their circumstances, however, forbade them to indulge in the effeminate ease of Babylon; from beginning to end they were a race of warriors, mighty in muscle and courage, abounding in proud hair and beard, standing straight, stern and solid on their monuments, and bestriding with tremendous feet the east-Mediterranean world. Their history is one of kings and slaves, wars and conquests, bloody victories and sudden defeat.” (Will Durant, Our Oriental Heritage, The Story of Civilization, 1:266.)

Assyria’s ascent as a formidable power in the Near East was due in large measure to strong kings who increased her borders and subjected other nations as tributaries. Assyria first became an independent nation between 1813 and 1781 B.C. under Shamshi-Adad (see LaMar C. Berrett, Discovering the World of the Bible, p. 180). Other powerful kings who left their mark on Assyrian history included Tiglath-pileser I (1115–1077 B.C.), Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 B.C.), Shalmaneser III (858–824 B.C.), Shamshi-Adad V (824–811 B.C.), Tiglath-pileser III (744–727 B.C.), Shalmaneser V (726–722 B.C.), Sargon II (721–705 B.C.), Sennacherib (704–681 B.C.), Esarhaddon (680–669 B.C.), and Ashurbanipal (668–627 B.C.) (see Berrett, World of the Bible, p. 180; see also Douglas, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, s.v. “Assyria,” 1:139).

Under these kings Assyria reached its greatest apex of power, controlling the area that included not only Assyria but also Babylonia, Armenia, Media, Judea, Syria, Phoenicia, Sumeria, Elam, and Egypt. This empire “was without doubt the most extensive administrative organization yet seen in the Mediterranean or Near Eastern world; only Hammurabi and Thutmose III had approached it, and Persia alone would equal it before the coming of Alexander” (Durant, Our Oriental Heritage, 1:270).

(D-2) The Standardization of Terror

The most vital part of the Assyrian government was its army. Warfare was a science to the leaders of Assyria. Infantry, chariots, cavalry (introduced by Ashurnasirpal to aid the infantry and chariots), sappers, armor made from iron, siege machines, and battering rams were all developed or perfected by the Assyrians. Strategy and tactics were also well understood by the Assyrian officers. (See Durant, Our Oriental Heritage, 1:270–71.)

But it was not just Assyrian effectiveness in warfare that struck terror to the hearts of the Near Eastern world. They were savage and brutal as well.

“A captured city was usually plundered and burnt to the ground, and its site was deliberately denuded by killing its trees. The loyalty of the troops was secured by dividing a large part of the spoils among them; their bravery was ensured by the general rule of the Near East that all captives in war might be enslaved or slain. Soldiers were rewarded for every severed head they brought in from the field, so that the aftermath of a victory generally witnessed the wholesale decapitation of fallen foes. Most often the prisoners, who would have consumed much food in a long campaign, and would have constituted a danger and nuisance in the rear, were dispatched after the battle; they knelt with their backs to their captors, who beat their heads in with clubs, or cut them off with cutlasses. Scribes stood by to count the number of prisoners taken and killed by each soldier, and apportioned the booty accordingly; the king, if time permitted, presided at the slaughter. The nobles among the defeated were given more special treatment: their ears, noses, hands and feet were sliced off, or they were thrown from high towers, or they and their children were beheaded, or flayed alive, or roasted over a slow fire. . . .

“In all departments of Assyrian life we meet with a patriarchal sternness natural to a people that lived by conquest, and in every sense on the border of barbarism. Just as the Romans took thousands of prisoners into lifelong slavery after their victories, and dragged others to the Circus Maximus to be torn to pieces by starving animals, so the Assyrians seemed to find satisfaction—or a necessary tutelage for their sons—in torturing captives, blinding children before the eyes of their parents, flaying men alive, roasting them in kilns, chaining them in cages for the amusement of the populace, and then sending the survivors off to execution. Ashurnasirpal tells how ‘all the chiefs who had revolted I flayed, with their skins I covered the pillar, some in the midst I walled up, others on stakes I impaled, still others I arranged around the pillar on stakes. . . . As for the chieftains and royal officers who had rebelled, I cut off their members.’ Ashurbanipal boasts that ‘I burned three thousand captives with fire, I left not a single one among them alive to serve as a hostage.’ Another of his inscriptions reads: ‘These warriors who had sinned against Ashur and had plotted evil against me . . . from their hostile mouths have I torn their tongues, and I have compassed their destruction. As for the others who remained alive, I offered them as a funerary sacrifice; . . . their lacerated members have I given unto the dogs, the swine, the wolves. . . . By accomplishing these deeds I have rejoiced the heart of the great gods.’ Another monarch instructs his artisans to engrave upon the bricks these claims on the admiration of posterity: ‘My war chariots crush men and beasts. . . . The monuments which I erect are made of human corpses from which I have cut the head and limbs. I cut off the hands of all those whom I capture alive.’ Reliefs at Nineveh show men being impaled or flayed, or having their tongues torn out; one shows a king gouging out the eyes of prisoners with a lance while he holds their heads conveniently in place with a cord passed through their lips.” (Durant, Our Oriental Heritage, 1:271, 275–76.)

(D-3) Assyria Came to the Land of Israel

The prophet Isaiah warned Israel that if they did not repent, the Lord would use Assyria as “the rod of mine anger” (Isaiah 10:5). Assyria was at the height of its power, and its reputation for terror and brutality should have been sufficient to turn Israel back to their God, but they would not heed. Under the reign of Tiglath-pileser II, Assyria began consolidating its power in the western part of the empire. Around 738 B.C. he demanded and received tribute from Damascus, the capital of Syria, and Samaria, the capital of Israel (see 2 Kings 15:19–20). But four years later, the two Syrian states rebelled, and once again Tiglath-pileser moved in. Damascus was conquered, as was part of the territory of the Northern Kingdom, and the people were carried off into captivity (see 2 Kings 15:29).

It seems to have been Tiglath-pileser who originated large-scale deportations of conquered peoples. By deporting a conquered people en masse to a foreign land, Tiglath-pileser hoped to break their unity and destroy their national identity (see The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, s.v. “Assyria and Babylonia,” 1:272).

The practice of large deportations continued under Shalmaneser and later Sargon II, successors to Tiglath-pileser who also played an important role in the history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Because of the revolt of Hoshea, king of Israel, Shalmaneser laid siege to Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom. The siege lasted three years, during which time Shalmaneser died and was succeeded by Sargon II. Sargon II finally destroyed Samaria and carried the survivors captive into Assyria (see 2 Kings 17:1–6), thus ending the history of Israel in the Old Testament and setting the stage for the loss of the ten northern tribes.

Not long after the destruction of the Northern Kingdom (Israel), the Southern Kingdom (Judah) was also threatened with destruction by Assyria. Sennacherib, successor to Sargon II, attacked Judah during the reign of King Hezekiah and destroyed most of her principal cities. Through the intervention of the Lord, however, Sennacherib was unable to capture Jerusalem (see Notes and Commentary on 2 Kings 19:35). Having failed to conquer Judah, Sennacherib returned home to Nineveh, capital of Assyria at the time.

(D-4) Assyria Passed from the Scene

Nineveh, the city in which Jonah had preached repentance, was the last capital of the Assyrian Empire (Ashur and Calah were the first two capitals). Sennacherib rebuilt the city, strengthened its walls, and built a canal system to bring water into it. But Zephaniah and Nahum both prophesied that Nineveh would be destroyed (see Zephaniah 2:13–15; Nahum 3). The destruction of Nineveh in 612 B.C. fulfilled the words of these two Old Testament prophets.

The Assyrian Empire, too, was destroyed, in part because, as Durant noted, “the qualities of body and character that had helped to make the Assyrian armies invincible were weakened by the very victories that they won; in each victory it was the strongest and bravest who died, while the infirm and cautious survived to multiply their kind; it was a dysgenic [biologically defective] process that perhaps made for civilization by weeding out the more brutal types, but undermined the biological basis upon which Assyria had risen to power. The extent of her conquests had helped to weaken her; not only had they depopulated her fields to feed insatiate Mars [the god of war], but they had brought into Assyria, as captives, millions of destitute aliens who bred with the fertility of the hopeless, destroyed all national unity of character and blood, and became by their growing numbers a hostile and disintegrating force in the very midst of the conquerors. More and more the army itself was filled by these men of other lands, while semi-barbarous marauders harassed every border, and exhausted the resources of the country in an endless defense of its unnatural frontiers.” (Our Oriental Heritage, 1:283.)

Finally, under Nabopolassar, the Chaldeans and Babylonians drove the Assyrians out of Babylonia in 625 B.C. The Medes and Babylonians then united and captured Ashur in 614 B.C. Two years later Nineveh, capital of Assyria itself, fell. With the destruction of Assyria, Babylon became the world empire that all countries in the Near East feared and paid tribute to.

(D-5) What Became of the Tribes of Israel?

How long Israel remained in Assyria after they had been carried away captive by Sargon II is not known. It is likely that many accepted the life and culture of their captors and lost their identity. They had gone into captivity because of their extreme wickedness, so it would not be surprising to find them accepting the pagan culture of the Assyrians. One of the books of the Apocrypha, however, records that one group of the captives saw that their captivity was the result of their own wickedness and sought the Lord in repentance (see Bible Dictionary, s.v. “Apocrypha”). The Lord heeded their cries and led them away into the north countries.

In the Apocrypha, Esdras describes the following vision: “But they took this counsel among themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a further country, where never mankind dwelt, that they might there keep their statutes, which they never kept in their own land. And they entered into Euphrates by the narrow passages of the river. For the most High then shewed signs for them, and held still the flood, till they were passed over. For through that country there was a great way to go, namely, of a year and a half: and the same region is called Arsareth. Then dwelt they there until the latter time.” (2 Esdras 13:41–46.)

Elder George Reynolds commented on the direction of the travels of the tribes of Israel: “They determined to go to a country ‘where never man dwelt,’ that they might be free from all contaminating influences. That country could only be found in the north. Southern Asia was already the seat of a comparatively ancient civilization; Egypt flourished in northern Africa; and southern Europe was rapidly filling with the future rulers of the world. They had therefore no choice but to turn their faces northward. The first portion of their journey was not however north; according to the account of Esdras, they appear to have at first moved in the direction of their old home; and it is possible that they originally started with the intention of returning thereto; or probably, in order to deceive the Assyrians, they started as if to return to Canaan, and when they crossed the Euphrates and were out of danger from the hosts of Medes and Persians, then they turned their journeying feet toward the polar star.” (In James E. Talmage, The Articles of Faith, p. 512.)

The account in Esdras is supported by what the Savior taught the Nephites, for He said the lost tribes had been “led away out of the land” by the Father (3 Nephi 15:15). Elder Reynolds’s explanation takes into account the numerous prophecies that indicate that when the ten lost tribes return, they will come out of the north (see, for example, Jeremiah 3:18; 16:15; 31:8; D&C 110:11; 133:26). Where they went is not known, and this fact has led to much speculation about their present whereabouts. The Lord has not seen fit to reveal their location, however, and until He does so, it is useless to try to identify their present locality.

Certain things about this intriguing group have been revealed through latter-day scriptures and the writings of living prophets. These are discussed below (see 3 Nephi 15:15).

(D-6) The Return of the Ten Tribes

The prophets of old saw that in the last dispensation, the dispensation of the fulness of times, would come a complete gathering and restoration of the house of Israel. With the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 6 April 1830, this great restoration began. The ensign (see Isaiah 11:12) has been unfolded to the nations, and Israel is invited by her King to gather again in preparation for the great day when He will personally reign in their midst.

At a conference held 3–6 June 1831 in Kirtland, Ohio, the Prophet Joseph Smith explained that John the Beloved was then ministering among the lost tribes of Israel, preparing them for their return to again possess the lands of their fathers (see History of the Church, 1:176; D&C 77:14). Five years later, Moses appeared in the Kirtland Temple to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and committed to them the keys of the priesthood for “the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north” (D&C 110:11). It is apparent from this passage that though the main body of ten of the tribes is lost, there are representatives of all twelve tribes scattered throughout the earth. This statement can be explained as follows:

1. When Assyria attacked the Northern Kingdom, many fled to the safety of the Southern Kingdom.

2. When the Lord led Israel out of Assyria, some remained behind (see Talmage, Articles of Faith, p. 325).

3. As the ten tribes traveled north, some stopped along the way—many possibly being scattered throughout Europe and Asia.

4. From time to time the Lord has led groups of Israelites into other areas of the earth: the Nephites and the Mulekites being two such groups (see 1 Nephi 22:3–5). Concerning this scattering, Elder Joseph Fielding Smith wrote: “One of the most interesting and significant parables ever written is that revealed to Zenos and recorded in the fifth chapter of Jacob in the Book of Mormon. It is a parable of the scattering of Israel. If we had the full key to the interpretation, then we would have in detail how Israel was transplanted in all parts of the earth.” (Answers to Gospel Questions, 2:56–57.)

5. The scriptures teach that remnants of all the tribes of Israel were scattered among the nations of the earth and in the last days will be gathered out from among these nations and from the four quarters of the earth. The remnant known as the lost ten tribes will return as a body out of the north countries. (See Deuteronomy 4:27; 28:29, 64; Jeremiah 16:14–15; 31:8; Ezekiel 11:15–17; Hosea 9:16–17; Daniel 9:7; 1 Nephi 22:3–4; 19:16; 3 Nephi 5:23–24; 21:26–29; D&C 110:11; 133:26–32.)

The Doctrine and Covenants clearly foretells the time when the prophets among these tribes will lead the people back in a great and marvelous show of power (see D&C 133:26–34). Jeremiah promised that so marvelous would be this event that no longer would God be called the Lord who led Israel out of Egypt but the Lord who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north (see Jeremiah 16:14–15). The appointed time will come when the lost tribes of Israel will return to Zion to receive their blessings at the hands of Ephraim. “This great gathering will take place under the direction of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for he holds the keys” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 458). The lost tribes, as well as all others who want to be numbered in the house of Israel and receive the blessings of the priesthood, must come to Ephraim, who holds the birthright blessings (see Genesis 48:15–22; 1 Chronicles 5:1–2; Jeremiah 31:9).

Elder Wilford Woodruff taught that when the ten tribes returned, they would come to Ephraim to obtain the priesthood as well as their endowments and sealings (see Journal of Discourses, 4:231–32; 18:127). Elder Orson Pratt stated: “God is determined to raise up Prophets among that people, but he will not bestow upon them all the fulness of the blessings of the Priesthood. The fulness will be reserved to be given to them after they come to Zion.” (In Journal of Discourses, 18:25.)

(D-7) The Lost Tribes to Come to Zion

When the ten tribes return, they will bring their rich treasures to the children of Ephraim (see D&C 133:30). Part of this rich treasure will be the records, which they have kept all these centuries. In them will be found the account of their miraculous escape from Assyria, their journey into the land to the north, their history, their prophets, and the appearance to them of the Savior after His Resurrection (see 2 Nephi 29:12–13; 3 Nephi 16:1–3).

In April conference of 1916, Elder James E. Talmage, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, spoke of the lost tribes and their records: “There is a tendency among men to explain away what they don’t wish to understand in literal simplicity, and we, as Latter-day Saints are not entirely free from the taint of that tendency. . . . Some people say that prediction is to be explained in this way: A gathering is in progress, and has been in progress from the early days of this Church; and thus the ‘Lost Tribes’ are now being gathered; but that we are not to look for the return of any body of people now unknown as to their whereabouts. True, the gathering is in progress, this is a gathering dispensation; but the prophecy stands that the tribes shall be brought forth from their hiding place . . . [and their] scriptures shall become one with the scriptures of the Jews, the holy Bible, and with the scriptures of the Nephites, the Book of Mormon, and with the scriptures of the Latter-day Saints as embodied in the volumes of modern revelation.” (In Conference Report, Apr. 1916, p. 130.)

Then in October conference Elder Talmage spoke again of the lost tribes and made this remarkable prediction: “The ten tribes shall come; they are not lost unto the Lord; they shall be brought forth as hath been predicted; and I say unto you there are those now living—aye, some here present—who shall live to read the records of the Lost Tribes of Israel, which shall be made one with the record of the Jews, or the Holy Bible, and the record of the Nephites, or the Book of Mormon, even as the Lord hath predicted” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1916, p. 76; emphasis added).

The ten tribes will remain in the land of Zion among the tribe of Ephraim for some time. Elder Orson Pratt explained: “How long will they who come from the north countries tarry in the heights of Zion? Sometime. They have got to raise wheat, cultivate the grape, wine and oil, raise flocks and herds, and their souls will have to become as a watered garden. They will dwell in Zion a good while, and during that time, there will be twelve thousand chosen out of each of these ten tribes, besides twelve thousand that will be chosen from Judah, Joseph, and the remaining tribes, one hundred and forty-four thousand in all [see Revelation 7:4–8; D&C 77:11]. Chosen for what? To be sealed in their foreheads. For what purpose? So that the power of death and pestilence and plague that will go forth in those days sweeping over the nations of the earth will have no power over them. These parties who are sealed in their foreheads will go forth among all people, nations and tongues, and gather up and hunt out the house of Israel, wherever they are scattered, and bring as many as they possibly can into the Church of the first-born, preparatory to the great day of the coming of the Lord. One hundred and forty-four thousand missionaries! Quite a host. All this has got to take place.” (In Journal of Discourses, 18:25.)

The ten tribes, however, are to eventually receive their land inheritance with Judah and not with Ephraim (see Ether 13:11), and there will come a time after they have received their priesthood blessings when they will go to Jerusalem. In that day will be fulfilled the statement of Jeremiah: “In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers” (Jeremiah 3:18).

Elder Orson Pratt stated further: “By and by, when all things are prepared—when the Jews have received their scourging, and Jesus has descended upon the Mount of Olives, the ten tribes will leave Zion, and will go to Palestine, to inherit the land that was given to their ancient fathers, and it will be divided amongst the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. They will go there to dwell in peace in their own land from that time, until the earth shall pass away. But Zion, after their departure, will still remain upon the western hemisphere, and she will be crowned with glory as well as old Jerusalem, and, as the Psalmist David says, she will become the joy of the whole earth. ‘Beautiful for situation is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.’” (In Journal of Discourses, 18:68.)

11
Micah
Promise of Judgments, Promise of Salvation

(11-1) Introduction

Several prophets with books in the Old Testament were contemporaries or near contemporaries: Joel, Amos, Hosea, and Micah. Micah was called by the Lord to cry warning to Israel and Judah. As Nephi wrote, none of the house of Israel had even been destroyed “save it were foretold them by the prophets of the Lord” (2 Nephi 25:9). The literal fulfillment of that statement is shown in this period of Israel’s history.

In some ways the messages of these prophets were similar, as one would expect, but they also have differences. Sidney B. Sperry explained: “Since Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos, the problems he faced were much the same as theirs. . . . Micah was not a statesman like Isaiah; consequently, he was not so much concerned about his nation’s political sins. The prophet was more like Amos in that his grievances were social in character. He was especially concerned with the attempts of the nobles to build up large estates by ejecting small property owners. Corrupt judges assisted their greedy friends in robbing the weak; widows and orphans without means of defense were deprived of their goods by force and oftentimes sold into slavery. The common people were kept in bondage through high taxation, and creditors were unmerciful on their victims. Micah held the nobility to be responsible for the terrible moral and social corruption among his people. He likened the nobles to cannibals, who eat the flesh of the people and chop their bones in pieces for the pot. There was no end to their greed and rapacity, and decisions were given to those who paid the largest bribes.” (The Voice of Israel’s Prophets, pp. 334–35.)

Social and individual corruption and greed are evidenced everywhere today. Though you are studying the writings of a man who lived over twenty-five hundred years ago, you will find his message remarkably up-to-date.

Instructions to Students

1. Use Notes and Commentary below to help you as you read and study the book of Micah.

2. Complete Points to Ponder as directed by your teacher. (Individual-study students should complete all of this section.)

NOTES AND COMMENTARY ON MICAH

(11-2) Micah 1:1. Some Facts about Micah

“From the superscription of the Book of Micah it is apparent that the prophet’s ministry was during reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. His preaching, therefore, took place during the years from approximately 740 B.C. to 697 B.C. We may assign to him an approximate date of 725 B.C. This date reveals Micah as a contemporary of the great Isaiah and possibly also of Hosea and Amos.

“The name Micah is an abbreviation of Micaiah, as the prophet is called in Jer. 26:18, which in turn is probably a contraction of Mikayahu, ‘who is like unto Jehovah?’ The prophet is to be distinguished from the elder prophet Micah, the son of Imlah (1 Kgs. 22:8 ff.), as well as from ten other persons of the same name in the Old Testament. The fact that Micah is called the Morashtite would point strongly to his being a native of Moresheth-Gath, which is mentioned in the text. (1:14) The name of the town means Territory or Property of Gath and seems to have been located in the Shephelah or low hill region of Judea some twenty miles southwest of Jerusalem. If our location of Moresheth is correct . . . it commands a marvelous view of the surrounding country and anciently must have been of considerable importance. Micah was, therefore, a product of the open hills and valleys and seems to have had no special love for the cities. (1:5; 5:11; 6:9)” (Sperry, Voice of Israel’s Prophets, p. 334.)

(11-3) Micah 1:4. “The Mountains Shall Be Molten under Him”

Compare the language in Micah 1:4 with that of Isaiah 64:1–2; 2 Peter 3:10; Doctrine and Covenants 101:23–25; 133:40–41.

(11-4) Micah 1:8–16. Judgments on Villages of Judah

Micah used word play to pronounce an indictment against Judah (see Micah 1:8–16). The technique is readily apparent in the Hebrew and can be appreciated in this more-literal translation of Micah 1:10–14:

“Weep tears at Teartown (Bochim),
grovel in the dust at Dustown (Beth-ophrah)
fare forth stripped, O Fairtown (Saphir)!
Stirtown (Zaanan) dare not stir,
Beth-êsel . . .
And Maroth hopes in vain;
for doom descends from the Eternal
to the very gates of Jerusalem.

“To horse and drive away, O Horsetown (Lakhish)
O source of Sion’s sin,
where the crimes of Israel centre!
O maiden Sion, you must part with
Morêsheth of Gath;
and Israel’s kings are ever balked
at Balkton (Achzib).”

(James Moffatt, A New Translation of the Bible [1954], p. 1009.)

The phrase “her wound is incurable” (v. 9) refers to the wickedness of the Northern Kingdom. The statement “it is come unto Judah” shows that the spiritual sickness had spread to the Southern Kingdom as well.

(11-5) Micah 2:1–11. What Added Indictment Did Micah Lay at His People’s Feet?

Micah had strong feelings about the social injustices of his day. He spoke here of those who “devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds” (Micah 2:1), probably referring to those who lay awake at night thinking up evil things to do. Then when daylight came, they put their nighttime plots into action. One specific charge seems to be against individuals in power who were using their positions to acquire the land and property of others as their own. Sperry wrote:

“Micah felt keenly the social injustices that plagued Israel in his own day. Coming as he did, from the country, he no doubt felt these wrongs more acutely than he would had he come from the city. He could not help but cast his invective [condemnations] at the wealthy, greedy land grabbers, who descended upon the rural districts and made the poor their debtors. Even today, the agricultural communities in our own nation could well take a leaf from Micah’s note book and beware letting their properties go into the hands of money lenders. . . .

“Micah was not so much concerned about the taking of mere chattels [pieces of property]. What ground his soul and made him righteously indignant was that unscrupulous men were allowed to commit wrongs so easily and put human beings in their power. Personal independence was lost and the security of home and family was put in the hands of a few capricious men.” (Message of the Twelve Prophets, pp. 112–13.)

When prophets like Micah inveighed against these evils, those spoken against replied: “Prophesy ye not” (Micah 2:6). Their reply only caused Micah to renew his accusations against them. To these money-and-land-hungry pirates he said, “Ye pull off the robe with the garment” and “the women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses” (vv. 8–9). Sperry explained:

“Such preaching on the part of Micah does not please the corrupt great men, for they imagine that his threats are irreconcilable with the goodness of the Lord. Micah interposes (verse 7) by pointing out that God is not wrathful and has no love for chastening, but that He is stirred up to anger by the nation’s sins and is obliged to punish. When the prophet has overthrown (verses 7–9) the objections to his prophecies by pointing out the transgressions of the people, he repeats the prediction of punishment in the form of a summons to Israel (verse 10) to depart out of the land because it cannot bear uncleanness and abominations. To this Micah adds the point that the people only want to hear predictions of good, that they would rather hear the lies of false prophets who pursue the wind (i.e., emptiness and nothingness) than to be impelled by the Spirit of the Lord.

“‘If a man walking in the wind and falsehood do lie:
“I will preach into thee of wine and of strong drink”;
He shall even be the preacher of this people.’”

(Message of the Twelve Prophets, pp. 113–14.)

(11-6) Micah 2:12–13. The Future Gathering of Israel Promised

After he castigated the false prophets for telling the people all was well, Micah prophesied salvation. This prophecy concerns a people who had been scourged because of iniquity, and only a remnant remained of the once mighty house of Israel. Micah foretold a miraculous growth as the people were gathered. He used the illustration of the sheep-rich area of Bozrah to illustrate how the people will become mighty. He compared their scattered condition to a form of imprisonment and foretold a Savior and Redeemer who would break the prison walls and lead the people to the promised land.

(11-7) Micah 3:1–3. Who Were the “Heads of Jacob”?

Micah, referring to the iniquity that lay before him, spoke to the “heads of Jacob” (Micah 3:1), or the current rulers of the house of Israel. He accused them of hating good and loving evil, and he likened them and their use of administrative powers to a group of cannibals who eat the flesh and break the bones of their own people (see Micah 3:2–3)—vivid imagery that seared in its condemnation of their wickedness.

(11-8) Micah 3:4–12. What Did Micah Mean by the “Prophets Who Make My People Err”?

Continually encountered throughout the Old Testament are true and false prophets. The true prophets speak the word of God; the false prophets speak the pleasant but often untrue things that people like to hear. Sperry wrote: “It seems that in the generation of Amos and Micah the leaders of Israel—tyrants would be a better name—used professional prophets and seers to cloak their misdeeds. Religion, unfortunately, lends itself, or rather its cloak, very easily to the uses of the hypocrite. So the rich and unscrupulous leaders of Israel found it easy—for a price—to hire professional religionists to cover their actions by flattery and falsehood. The hireling prophet depended upon his rich clients for a living. He could not, therefore, be independent in his thinking and in his judgment. He was high-pressured into siding with the rich, and consequently shut his eyes to the real conditions among the people. Naturally he could not attack the sins of the day that made it possible for his clients to exploit Israel’s common people.” (Message of the Twelve Prophets, pp. 116–17.)

Micah, a true prophet of God, did not speak pleasant words to Israel when evil was to be denounced. He accused the heads of the country as judging “for reward,” the priests, or religious leaders, of teaching “for hire,” and the prophets of divining, or prophesying, for money (Micah 3:11). Using these false religionists allowed the leaders to rationalize, to think that they were relying on the Lord, and to say, “Is not the Lord among us? None evil can come upon us” (Micah 3:11).

What, then, Micah asked, would be the result? When these false prophets prophesied their lies, true prophecy would cease throughout the land and gross apostasy would set in. What better way is there to describe this deplorable condition than to compare it to a night without vision or a day without light? (See v. 6.) When men cry unto God, “he will not hear them” (v. 4). As a result, “there is no answer from God” (v. 7).

(11-9) Micah 4:1–2. What Special Meaning Do These Verses Have for Latter-day Saints?

President Harold B. Lee gave the following commentary on these verses:

“With the coming of the pioneers to establish the Church in the tops of the mountains, our early leaders declared this to be the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy that out of Zion should go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

“I have often wondered what that expression meant, that out of Zion should go forth the law. Years ago I went with the Brethren to the Idaho Falls Temple, and I heard in that inspired prayer of the First Presidency a definition of the meaning of that term—’out of Zion shall go forth the law.’ Note what they said:

“‘We thank thee that thou hast revealed to us that those who gave us our constitutional form of government were wise in thy sight and that thou didst raise them up for the very purpose of putting forth that sacred document [as revealed in Doctrine and Covenants 101]. . . . We pray that kings and rulers and the peoples of all nations under heaven may be persuaded of the blessings enjoyed by the people of this land by reason of their freedom under thy guidance and be constrained to adopt similar governmental systems, thus to fulfill the ancient prophecy of Isaiah and Micah that “. . . out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”‘ (Improvement Era, Oct. 1945, p. 504.)

“The history of nations records the efforts of statesmen to adopt these basic principles as the basis of sound fundamental structures. I have often speculated as to the meaning of the Lord’s injunction to our early leaders, not only to keep his commandments, but also to assist in bringing forth his work according to his commandments, with the promise that they would then be blessed. Also, they were to seek to bring forth and to establish Zion. All of this emphasized what the Church was told by the Lord in another revelation. He said, ‘For if you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you.’ (D&C 78:7.)

“You will note that it was not merely enough to be good; all must also be willing to bring forth his work and to bring forth and establish Zion. This meant to work and labor with all one’s might, mind, and strength if he would obtain a place in the celestial world.

“Many people, so these prophets said, would say, ‘Show me your path, that we may walk in your way.’” (In Conference Report, Manchester England Area Conference 1971, pp. 138–39.)

(11-10) Micah 4:8–13. If Jerusalem Is Overthrown and Her People Scattered, How Will She Then Become Great?

Micah used the figure of travail or childbirth to illustrate that Judah would bring upon herself the pain out of which would eventually come a new life in the Lord. Shortly she would be driven from her city and find herself a captive of Babylon. This prophecy is amazing because Assyria was mistress of the world in Micah’s day, Babylon being only a province of Assyria. This part of Micah’s vision projected nearly 130 years into the future, but time is nothing to a prophet. Then, looking several millennia into the future, Micah saw Israel return in the strength of God. Using the symbol of horns like iron and hooves like brass, he predicted that Israel would trample her enemies as easily as an ox threshes grain.

This passage has great significance for Latter-day Saints because Jesus referred to it when He visited the Nephites. After speaking of the gathering of Israel in the latter days, Jesus used Micah’s prophecy to depict the kind of destruction that awaited the Gentiles of that period if they did not repent (see 3 Nephi 20:17–21).

(11-11) Micah 5:1–4. “But Thou, Beth-lehem, . . . out of Thee Shall He Come . . . That Is to Be Ruler in Israel”

This is one of the best-known messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. It is, in fact, the one quoted by Matthew in the New Testament as having been fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Ephratah is simply an additional name to distinguish the Bethlehem in Judah from another Bethlehem in the land assigned to the tribe of Zebulun (see Joshua 19:15). The prophecy was fulfilled, of course, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king (see Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:1–20).

Ironically, this prophecy was used by some of the Jews to try to disprove that Jesus was the Messiah. Not knowing that he was born in Bethlehem but thinking he was from Nazareth, these people cited Micah to show that Jesus could not be the Messiah (see John 7:40–43).

(11-12) Micah 5:5–15. Will Israel Become Powerful?

Still looking into the far distant future, Micah prophesied of the great last battles through which Israel, under Christ, will at last triumph over all enemies. “In this relation the Messiah is called the Prince of peace in [Isaiah 9:5], as securing peace for Israel in a higher and more perfect sense than Solomon. But in what manner? This is explained more fully in what follows: viz. (1) by defending Israel against the attacks of the imperial power (vers. 5b, 6); (2) by exalting it into a power able to overcome the nations (vers. 7–9); and (3) by exterminating all the materials of war, and everything of an idolatrous nature, and so preventing the possibility of war (vers. 10–15). Asshur is a type [symbol] of the nations of the world by which the people of the Lord are attacked, because in the time of the prophet this power was the imperial power by which Israel was endangered. Against this enemy Israel will set up seven, yea eight princes, who, under the chief command of the Messiah, i.e. as His subordinates, will drive it back, and press victoriously into its land. . . . Seven is mentioned as the number of the works proceeding from God, so that seven shepherds, i.e. princes, would be quite sufficient; and this number is surpassed by the eight, to express the thought that there might be even more than were required.” (C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, 10:1:486–87.)

When Christ appeared to the Nephites, He quoted this prophecy of Micah (compare 3 Nephi 21:12–21 and Micah 5:8–15) to stress the power that would be upon Israel as the Lord gathered them out from the nations and by them purified those Gentiles who would hear His word. Those who would not hear His word and opposed His work would be cut off and trodden down.

(11-13) Micah 6:6–8. A Summary of What the Lord Requires of His Children

The laws of God can all be summarized, as Micah did in verses 6–8, in three words: keep the commandments! Micah said in these verses that sin is the breaking of a divine law and that the offering of blood sacrifices could have no effect in remitting sin unless there was also a change of heart.

“It is true that under the Law of Moses the Lord required sacrifice and other ritualistic practices, but they were all symbolic of principles that were to lead His people to higher and better things. But Israel’s worship had become formalized and the wickedness of the people had rendered their ritual unacceptable to God.

“Micah conveyed to the people the fundamental requirements of true religion in an answer that is one of the noblest of all time.

“‘It hath been told thee, O man, what is good, And what the Lord doth require of thee: Only to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.’

“In these few lines Micah has summed up the essence of the teachings of the prophets. They were coined in the same spirit as the lines of the Christ when He said:

“‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the great and first commandment. A second is like it, Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself.’” (Sperry, Message of the Twelve Prophets, pp. 125–26.)

(11-14) Micah 6:9–16. What Was Israel’s Wickedness before the Lord?

The Lord once again turned His attention to Israel’s specific sins. The rich of Israel did much violence and spoke lies (see Micah 6:12), but worst of all “the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab” (v. 16). Adam Clarke wrote:

“Omri, king of Israel, the father of Ahab, was one of the worst kings the Israelites ever had; and Ahab followed in his wicked father’s steps. The statutes of those kings were the very grossest idolatry. Jezebel, wife of the latter, and daughter of Ithobaal, king of Tyre, had no fellow on earth. From her Shakespeare seems to have drawn the character of Lady Macbeth; a woman, like her prototype, mixed up of tigress and fiend, without addition. Omri, Ahab, and Jezebel, were the models followed by the Israelites in the days of this prophet. . . .

“There are few chapters in the prophets, or in the Bible, superior to this for genuine worth and importance. The structure is as elegant as it is impressive; and it is every way worthy of the Spirit of God.” (The Holy Bible . . . with a Commentary and Critical Notes, 4:725.)

(11-15) Micah 7:1–6. What Is the Meaning of the Figures of Speech Used by Micah?

The prophet Micah employed three figures to portray the gross state of Israel’s wickedness: (1) the picture of a solitary grape upon the vine (see Micah 7:1); (2) a battle between a man with a net and a man without a net (see v. 2); and (3) the comparison of a wicked man to a briar or a thorn hedge (see v. 4).

“Here the prophet points out the small number of the upright to be found in the land. He himself seemed to be the only person who was on God’s side; and he considers himself as a solitary grape, which had escaped the general gathering. . . . He desired to see the first-ripe fruit—distinguished and eminent piety; but he found nothing but a very imperfect or spurious kind of godliness. . . .

“They hunt every man his brother with a net. This appears to be an allusion to the ancient mode of duel between the retiarius and secutor. The former had a casting net, which he endeavoured to throw over the head of his antagonist, that he might then despatch him with his short sword. The other parried the cast; and when the retiarius missed, he was obliged to run about the field to get time to set his net in right order for another throw. While he ran, the other followed, that he might despatch him before he should be able to recover the proper position of his net; and hence the latter was called secutor, the pursuer, as the other was called retiarius, or the net man. . . .

“. . . The best of them is as a brier. They are useless in themselves, and cannot be touched without wounding him that comes in contact with them. He alludes to the thick thorn hedges, still frequent in Palestine.” (Clarke, Commentary, 4:726.)

The Savior appears to have had Micah 7:6 in mind when He spoke the words recorded in Matthew 10:35–36.

(11-16) Micah 7:7–20. What Did Micah Foresee and Prophesy Of?

In these verses Micah prophesied of Israel’s eventual restoration as a people and of that day when Israel has learned to “look unto the Lord, . . . the God of [her] salvation” (Micah 7:7). Though her enemies have prevailed against her because of her wickedness, “the Lord shall be her light.” He will plead her cause and bring her “forth to the light” (vv. 8–9). Her enemies shall see it too and be ashamed (see v. 10). The walls of her cities shall be rebuilt, and her people shall be gathered from throughout the earth (see vv. 11–12). She shall again inhabit her land as in previous times and “shall be afraid of the Lord our God” (v. 17), for He is with His people then as He was in former days (see vv. 13–17).

Sperry identified Micah 7:14–20 as a prayer:

“After promising Israel’s restoration, Micah prays beautifully for its fulfillment. The prayer is distinguished for the poetical elevation of its style and the appropriateness of its petition. Like many other Old Testament prayers it is prophetic in its spirit. . . .

“Micah ends with a doxology. He revels in the prospect of Israel’s glorious future and breaks out into a strain of sublime praise and admiration for the divine attributes of loving-kindness, faithfulness, and compassion to be manifested by God in her deliverance.” (Message of the Twelve Prophets, pp. 126–27.)

POINTS TO PONDER

(11-17) Overcoming Spiritual Blindness

Like Micah, a modern prophet talked about the problems that face our own society.

“While the iron curtains fall and thicken, we eat, drink, and make merry. While armies are marshalled and march and drill and officers teach men how to kill, we continue to drink and carouse as usual. While bombs are detonated and tested, and fallout settles on the already sick world, we continue in idolatry and adultery.

“While corridors are threatened and concessions are made, we live riotously, and divorce and marry in cycles, like the seasons. While leaders quarrel and editors write and authorities analyze and prognosticate, we break all the laws in God’s catalog. While enemies filter into our nation to subvert and intimidate and soften us, we continue on with our destructive thinking—’It can’t happen here.’

“If we would but believe the prophets! For they have warned that if the inhabitants of this land are ever brought down into captivity and enslaved, ‘it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land . . .’ (2 Ne. 1:7.) . . .

“O that men would listen! Why should there be spiritual blindness in the day of brightest scientific and technological vision? Why must men rely on physical fortifications and armaments when the God of heaven yearns to bless them? One stroke of his omnipotent hand could make powerless all nations who oppose, and save a world even when in its death throes. Yet men shun God and put their trust in weapons of war, in the ‘arm of flesh.’ . . .

“Will we ever turn wholly to God?” (Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, pp. 317–19.)

Take a moment to consider your life. All of us have some spiritual blindness that we can strive to overcome. In what ways in your life have you not turned completely to God? Which of these most hampers your spiritual growth?

That is a place to begin. Read the promise in Ether 12:27. You can take your weakness and make it a strength. That is essentially what Micah tells us. Read again Micah 6:8.

12
2 Kings 14–20
The Fall of the Northern Kingdom

(12-1) Introduction

The story is told of two young men in a canoe sailing down the river to Niagara Falls. Although the water was placid and calm, they were approaching the area where the water began to pick up speed as it headed for the falls. A man on the shore, sensing the danger, called out, “Young men, ahoy, the rapids are below you!”

But the young men, who heard the warning, did not heed the call. Instead they went on laughing and joking, paying no attention to the danger.

On the shore, the man watching began to run and shouted in desperation, “Ahoy, the rapids are below you!”

Still the young men did not heed his warning. Faster and faster ran the current until the young men were entrapped in the rapids and began to fear. With all the power at their command they tried to turn the canoe but it was too late. Over the falls they went—all because they refused to heed the warning voice. (Adapted from David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals, p. 512.)

Ancient Israel could be compared to these two young men. Repeated warnings from the prophets were ignored. The withholding of blessings failed to check Israel in their mad rush to destruction. In the year 721 B.C. the Northern Kingdom fell before the vigorous attack of the Assyrian enemy, and its people were taken to a foreign land as captives. Later some escaped and went into the north countries. They are often referred to as the lost ten tribes. (See Enrichment D.)

This chapter will deal with the history of this tragic fall. In previous chapters, it has been shown that the Lord again and again gave clear warning through the prophets, who worked feverishly to bring Israel to her senses. Isaiah, Micah, Joel, Amos, Hosea, and probably many others called again and again to a rebellious Israel. These chapters of the Old Testament answer this question: Could God have done more to bring this recalcitrant people back to Him?

Instructions to Students

1. Use Notes and Commentary below to help you as you read and study 2 Kings 14–20.

2. Complete Points to Ponder as directed by your teacher. (Individual-study students should complete all of this section.)

NOTES AND COMMENTARY ON 2 KINGS 14–20

(12-2) 2 Kings 14–20

The period encompassed by this section of study is roughly 800 B.C. to 721 B.C., a period of eighty years (see Enrichment A, where a chronology of the kings is given).

(12-3) 2 Kings 14:3–11. Was Amaziah a Righteous King?

Second Chronicles 25:2 comments that Amaziah’s heart was not perfect in what he did. This is a way of saying he was double-minded, an attitude that makes bad the good things that are done. His instability is shown in (1) his failure to eliminate the high places used for worship of false gods; (2) his desire to make war with the help of enemies; and (3) his failure to heed Joash’s warning.

(12-4) 2 Kings 14:7. Why Did Amaziah Attack Edom?

The kingdom of Judah had controlled Edom and exacted tribute from that kingdom since the days of King David. In the days of King Joram, however, Edom revolted (see 2 Kings 8:20). Amaziah raised a large army and again made Edom subordinate to Judah.

(12-5) 2 Kings 14:8–14. Why Did Amaziah Want to Look King Joash in the Face?

To “look one another in the face” is a Hebrew idiom for going to war with one another. Although in the version here no explanation is given for why Amaziah asked for war, the parallel version in Chronicles explains what occurred (see 2 Chronicles 25:1–13). As he was strengthening his army for the war with the Edomites, Amaziah hired a hundred thousand mercenaries from the Northern Kingdom of Israel, or Ephraim. A prophet warned him that since Israel was in such disfavor with God, to add these mercenaries to Judah’s army would cause Judah to lose the battle. Amaziah sent the men back, and they were greatly angered by the act.

While Amaziah went south to battle the Edomites, the mercenaries vented their anger by ravaging several of Judah’s towns on their return to the north. When Amaziah learned of their actions, he declared war on Israel.

Joash’s answer was a contemptuous insult. In his parable, Amaziah and Judah are the thistle, a weed that dries up and blows away in the summer heat. Joash and Israel are the cedar, an allusion to the cedars of Lebanon, giant and majestic trees that grew to over one hundred feet in height. Amaziah evidently asked for a royal princess as part of an official state apology. Joash said he would be like a wild beast instead and tromp the thistle weed down. Amaziah took the challenge and was badly beaten. The Chronicles account explains that the loss came because Amaziah had brought back the gods of Edom with him after the victory there, and he had worshiped them. (See 2 Chronicles 25:14–16, 20.)

(12-6) 2 Kings 14:22. Elath

Elath was also known as Ezion-Geber. It was an area that had been controlled by Solomon and used as a home port for his Red Sea trading fleet to Ophir and Arabia (see 1 Kings 9:26; 2 Chronicles 8:17).

(12-7) 2 Kings 15:1, 13. Who Were Azariah and Uzziah?

They were the same person. It is not clear why the text here uses the two different names.

(12-8) 2 Kings 15:5. Why Did the Lord Smite Uzziah, and What Is a “Several House”?

A favorite passage of missionaries and teachers is 2 Chronicles 26:16–21. They use it to show that it is necessary to have divine authority to act in the ordinances and offices of the Church. Uzziah was smitten because he took it upon himself to perform rites reserved only for the priesthood. Uzziah was a fairly good king and, as such, prospered and became strong. But at that point he became lifted up and usurped priesthood authority, with disastrous results.

A “several house” gets its name from the word sever. The “several house” in which Uzziah lived was one severed or separated from society to house lepers, who were separated from society because of their disease.

(12-9) 2 Kings 15:11. The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel

This record is not what is now called the books of Chronicles in the present Old Testament. They are the chronicles, or record, of the kings of Judah. The record of the kings of Israel was lost and is not available today.

(12-10) 2 Kings 15:19. Who Was Pul?

Pul is the personal name of King Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria. The kings of Israel paid tribute to him in return for protection against Egypt and other powers. He invaded Israel in 733 B.C. and captured some towns later taken over by his successor, Shalmaneser V.

(12-11) 2 Kings 15:25. Who Were the Gileadites?

The Gileadites were mainly of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh (see Numbers 26:29–30; 27:1; 36:1; Joshua 17:1, 3; 1 Chronicles 2:21, 23; 7:14–17).

(12-12) 2 Kings 16:3. Did Ahaz Sacrifice a Son to Molech?

This verse leaves some doubt about what Ahaz did. Did he kill his son or merely initiate him into the worship of a false god? Second Chronicles 28:3 supports the idea of an actual human sacrifice, and the commentators generally agree that Ahaz did murder some of his children in this fashion.

“So far as the fact is concerned, we have here the first instance of an actual Moloch-sacrifice among the Israelites, i.e. of one performed by slaying and burning. . . .

“The offering of his son for Moloch took place, in all probability, during the severe oppression of Ahaz by the Syrians, and was intended to appease the wrath of the gods, as was done by the king of the Moabites in similar circumstances [2 Kings 3:27].” (C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, 3:1:399–400.)

(12-13) 2 Kings 16:11. “Made It against King Ahaz Came from Damascus”

This phrase means that Urijah had the altar made by the time King Ahaz got back. Evidently, while in Damascus, Ahaz saw an altar, probably to a false god, that caught his admiration. He had a duplicate made in Jerusalem and set aside the great altar in the temple to use the new one in its place (compare with 2 Chronicles 28:23–5).

(12-14) 2 Kings 16:18. What Is a “Covert for the Sabbath”?

The covert for the Sabbath may have been a shelter or an awning where the royal family sat to hear the law on the Sabbath. Some suppose it was a covered passageway to the temple from the royal house. (See Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible . . . with a Commentary and Critical Notes, 2:534; Samuel Fallows, ed., The Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopedia and Scriptural Dictionary, s.v. “covert for the Sabbath.”)

(12-15) 2 Kings 17:6. Destruction of Samaria

Samaria was destroyed in the first or second year of the reign of Sargon, who took his official name from a king of about twenty-two hundred years before whom he claimed as an ancestor. He finished the capture of Samaria his predecessors had started. The date is thought to be 721 B.C., but it may have been 722.

The destruction of Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom, was foretold by Hosea and Micah (see Hosea 13:16; Micah 1:6) and is treated in more detail in Enrichment D.

(12-16) 2 Kings 17:9. What Does the Expression “from the Tower of the Watchmen to the Fenced City” Mean?

Towers were built by owners of vineyards (see 2 Chronicles 26:10) so they could observe the countryside and protect their possessions. The expression “from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city” simply means from thinly populated areas to heavily populated areas. It is another way of saying that all Israel, the Northern Kingdom, had turned to the worship of idols.

(12-17) 2 Kings 17:16. What Is Meant by the Worship of the “Host of Heaven”?

This is the first time this form of idolatry is mentioned in the Northern Kingdom. To worship the host of heaven was to worship the sun, moon, and stars—something that Moses had forbidden the people to do (see Deuteronomy 4:19; 17:3).

(12-18) 2 Kings 17:18. What Tribes Were Carried Away and What Tribes Were Left?

The statement that “there was none left but the tribe of Judah only” can be understood correctly only if one realizes that at this time Benjamin, Levi, and all other Israelites who had left the nation of Israel and joined Judah were included under the title of Judah. The ten tribes carried into captivity at this time were Reuben, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulon, Gad, Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Ephraim, and Manasseh. The three remaining tribes were Judah, Benjamin, and Levi. Some of the tribe of Levi were still with Israel (the ten tribes), however, and some of Ephraim, Manasseh, and other tribes were with Judah. So, the division is not as clear as a superficial reading might indicate.

(12-19) 2 Kings 17:24–41. The Beginnings of the Samaritans

Some time after the ten tribes of Israel were taken into captivity, Assyria moved some of its own people into the area formerly occupied by the Israelites. When the new residents failed to prosper, the king of Assyria sent an Israelite priest to the area to instruct the people in the worship of Jehovah, though it was liberally mixed with the paganism of Assyria (vv. 28–29). Living as they did in Samaria and its environs, these new occupants of the land became known as Samaritans. Eventually, intermarriage of the Assyrian settlers with those stragglers who had survived the captivity (not all Israelites were removed) caused the Samaritans to claim Israelite covenant blessings. The Jews of later years refused to accept this claim because of the Samaritans’ gentile blood and pagan religious tendencies. This refusal led to the increasing hostility between the Jews and Samaritans that was evident in the time of Jesus (see Notes and Commentary on Ezra 4–5). The Jews simply refused to associate with their Samaritan neighbors (see John 4:9).

(12-20) 2 Kings 18:4. Why Did Hezekiah Destroy the Brazen Serpent?

During their forty-year journey in the desert, the ancient Israelites often murmured against God and His prophet, Moses. The Lord sent among the people “fiery serpents” that threatened great destruction as a punishment. As a means of physical salvation and as a type of the spiritual salvation to be wrought by Jesus Christ (see John 3:14–15; 2 Nephi 25:20; Helaman 8:13–15), Moses made a serpent of brass, placed it on a pole, and taught his people that if they would gaze upon the serpent when they were bitten, physical healing would follow (see Numbers 21:4–9). The brass serpent was preserved in Israel and, in time, became an object of adoration and was worshiped by the Israelites much as they worshiped idols. In his zeal to eradicate all forms of idolatry in Judah, King Hezekiah had the brazen serpent destroyed along with the idols.

The word nehushtan comes from the Hebrew and means an object made of brass. The implication may be that Hezekiah was speaking contemptuously of the object being worshiped, saying it was merely a “thing of brass” and nothing more.

(12-21) 2 Kings 18:13. What Is Known about Sennacherib, King of Assyria?

The account in 2 Kings 18:13–19:37 is very similar to the account in Isaiah 36–37. Sennacherib was the son of Sargon II and had numerous conquests to his credit. Clay tablets recording his various campaigns have been preserved and deciphered. The portion of one tablet that relates to the partial conquest of Judah reads as follows: “As for Hezekiah the Jew, who did not submit to my yoke, forty-six of his strong, walled cities, as well as the small cities in their neighborhood, which were without number—by constructing a rampart out of trampled earth and by bringing up battering-rams, by the attack of infantry, by tunnels, breaches, and [the use of] axes, I besieged and took [those cities]. Two hundred thousand, one hundred and fifty people, great and small, male and female, horses, mules, asses, camels, cattle, and sheep without number, I brought away from them and counted as spoil. Himself like a caged bird I shut in Jerusalem his royal city. Earthworks I threw up against him; the one coming out of the city gate I turned back to his misery.” (In Madeleine S. Miller and J. Lane Miller, Harper’s Bible Dictionary, s.v. “Sennacherib.”)

Sennacherib’s account squares very well with the accounts given in 2 Kings 18:13–19:37 and Isaiah 36–37.

(12-22) 2 Kings 18:14. How Important Was Lachish?

Lachish was a fortified city in the land of Judah that guarded the main highway to Jerusalem from the south. By destroying Lachish, the Assyrians would deprive Judah of any support from Egypt as well as depriving them of one of their strongest fortifications (see 2 Chronicles 32:9).

(12-23) 2 Kings 18:17. Who Were Tartan, Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh?

The King James Version of the Bible treats these as personal names, but scholars now think that they were the titles of Assyrian officials appointed by Sennacherib to conclude terms for the surrender of Jerusalem (see The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, 3:293).

(12-24) 2 Kings 18:17. What Were the “Conduit of the Upper Pool” and the “Highway of the Fuller’s Field”?

A fuller was one who cleaned, pressed, bleached, and dyed cloth for a living. Since this work required a great deal of water, the “fuller’s field” or place of work was always near a pool or spring of water. The Spring of Gihon was a natural water source in the Kidron Valley. In early times, before Israelite occupation, the inhabitants of Jerusalem sent their women to the spring for water. Standing on an elevated platform, the women let their leather buckets down a forty-foot shaft, or conduit, that led to the spring below and hauled up their water. Some think this was the “conduit of the Upper Pool.” Located nearby was the “fuller’s field.” (See Miller and Miller, Harper’s Bible Dictionary, s.v. “Gihon.”) Remains of a large, man-made pool west of the city have been found, however, and some scholars think that may have been the location.

(12-25) 2 Kings 18:26. Why Did the Jewish Leaders Want to Speak in the Syrian Language?

The Jews were under siege, with a large population shut up in Jerusalem. The Jewish leaders did not want their people to hear the Assyrian conditions for fear that the people would panic and give in to their demands. Rabshakeh ignored their request and only cried louder (see 2 Kings 18:28).

(12-26) 2 Kings 18:34. To What Do the Words Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah Refer?

These are the names of various cities conquered by Sennacherib during his numerous military campaigns. Many cities in ancient times had their own idols upon whom they relied in times of stress (see Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, 3:296). Rabshakeh contemptuously dismissed the main consolation of the Jews (the idea that their God, Jehovah, would save them) by noting how unsuccessful other gods had been in defending their cities.

(12-27) 2 Kings 19:3. What Does the Expression “for the Children Are Come to the Birth, and There Is Not Strength to Bring Forth” Mean?

“A figure denoting extreme danger, the most desperate circumstances. If the woman in travail has not strength to bring forth the child which has come to the mouth of the womb, both the life of the child and that of the mother are exposed to the greatest danger; and this was the condition of the people here (see the similar figure in [Hosea 13:13]).” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary, 1:3:442.)

(12-28) 2 Kings 19. Hezekiah Prayed for Deliverance, and Isaiah Brought the Lord’s Answer

In these verses and the parallel account in Isaiah 37 is found one of the most remarkable stories in scriptural history. The Assyrian army, with all its might and power, encircled Jerusalem. The Northern Kingdom had already fallen; all of Judah except Jerusalem itself was in Assyrian hands. There was no cause to hope that they could successfully resist. No cause but one.

Hezekiah had been a righteous king (see 2 Kings 18:4–6), and now he trusted in God again. In deep and pleading prayer, he asked Him for the solution. The Lord answered through His servant Isaiah, although the answer must have tested the faith of Hezekiah. While Assyrian campfires could be seen on all sides, Isaiah promised that not even an arrow would be shot against Jerusalem, for the Lord Himself would defend the city (see 2 Kings 19:32–34).

That very night Isaiah’s promise was fulfilled. Some mysterious plague struck the Assyrian camp, and in the morning 185,000 Assyrians lay dead. Assyria’s remnant left the scene like a dog with its tail tucked between its legs. (See vv. 35–36.) Judah could say, as did Elisha, “They that be with us are more than they that be with them” (2 Kings 6:16).

(12-29) 2 Kings 19:15. Does God Dwell “between the Cherubims”?

This imagery is taken from the ark of the covenant (see Exodus 25:22).

(12-30) 2 Kings 19:22–28

The Lord addressed Assyria through Isaiah. Though Assyria had taken credit for all she had done, the Lord set the record straight: Assyria was but a tool in His hands. Since she was only a tool, He still controlled her, and she was at His mercy.

(12-31) 2 Kings 19:35

The Joseph Smith Translation corrects this verse to read that “they who were left arose” to find that those smitten had died.

(12-32) 2 Kings 20:5–6. Is There a Time Appointed to Die?

President Spencer W. Kimball explained:

“Just as Ecclesiastes (3:2) says, I am confident that there is a time to die, but I believe also that many people die before ‘their time’ because they are careless, abuse their bodies, take unnecessary chances, or expose themselves to hazards, accidents, and sickness.

“Of the antediluvians, we read:

“‘Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?

“‘Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood.’ (Job 22:15–16.)

In Ecclesiastes 7:17 we find this statement:

“‘Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?’

“I believe we may die prematurely but seldom exceed our time very much. One exception was Hezekiah, 25-year-old king of Judah who was far more godly than his successors or predecessors.

“‘In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah . . . came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.’

“Hezekiah, loving life as we do, turned his face to the wall and wept bitterly, saying:

“‘. . . remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. . . .’

“The Lord yielded unto his prayers.

“‘. . . I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold I will heal thee. . . .

“‘And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. . . .’ (2 Kings 20:1, 3, 5–6.)

“A modern illustration of this exceptional extension of life took place in November, 1881.

“My uncle, David Patten Kimball, left his home in Arizona on a trip across the Salt River desert. He had fixed up his books and settled accounts and had told his wife of a premonition that he would not return. He was lost on the desert for two days and three nights, suffering untold agonies of thirst and pain. He passed into the spirit world and described later, in a letter of January 8, 1882, to his sister, what happened there. He had seen his parents. ‘My father . . . told me I could remain there if I chose to do so, but I pled with him that I might stay with my family long enough to make them comfortable, to repent of my sins, and more fully prepare myself for the change. Had it not been for this, I never should have returned home, except as a corpse. Father finally told me I could remain two years and to do all the good I could during that time, after which he would come for me. . . . He mentioned four others that he would come for also. . . .’ Two years to the day from that experience on the desert he died easily and apparently without pain. Shortly before he died he looked up and called, ‘Father, Father.’ Within approximately a year of his death the other four men named were also dead.” (Faith Precedes the Miracle, pp. 103–5; see also D&C 42:48.)

(12-33) 2 Kings 20:11. What Is the “Dial of Ahaz”?

Ahaz was the father of King Hezekiah. In his lifetime he invented a special mechanism for telling time. The instrument appears to have consisted of a series of graduated lines, or steps, over which a column towered. As the earth moved, the sun would cast a shadow at a certain angle and thus measure the passing of the hours. (See William Smith, A Dictionary of the Bible, s.v. “dial.”)

POINTS TO PONDER

(12-34) A Lesson from History

There are few more dramatic contrasts in the history of the world than the one you have just studied in these chapters. Within a twenty-year period the mighty Assyrian army encircled the capitals of both Israel and Judah. In the first instance, the Assyrians went home victorious, laden with the spoils of war and herding the sorry remnants of a once-proud people before them. Behind them a nation lay smoldering in ruins. In the second instance, the same Assyrian army went home stunned and decimated. They took no booty and no captives and left behind 185,000 of their troops lying dead on the hillsides of Jerusalem.

There are many profound lessons to be learned from this. Read the following references and answer the questions as you ponder the lessons you could learn from this contrast.

1. Read Leviticus 26:3–8 and Deuteronomy 28:7, 10. How were these prophecies fulfilled in Judah’s case?

2. Read Leviticus 26:14, 17, 37–39 and Deuteronomy 28:20, 25, 33, 36, 41. How were these prophecies fulfilled in the case of the Northern Kingdom of Israel?

3. As you studied these chapters, what one factor seems to you to have made the difference between Judah’s and Israel’s experience with Assyria? (See 2 Kings 17:6–18; 18:1–7.)

4. Read Doctrine and Covenants 54:10; 88:83; Proverbs 8:17. How are these scriptures related to Hezekiah’s prayers for deliverance?

5. If you were asked to give a sacrament meeting talk on what Latter-day Saints can learn from this period of Israelite history, what would you say?