Stories of the Prophets Part 12

This opportunity came the very next year when Jotham died, suddenly, and his son, Ahaz, a young man of twenty, came to the throne of Judah.

Without any notice whatever, Rezin and Pekah united their armed forces and marched upon Jerusalem. This sudden invasion of Judah had been carefully planned beforehand. It was so arranged that, when the Syro-Israelitish forces attacked Jerusalem, a certain man, the son of Tabeal, who was willing to play the traitor, was to a.s.sa.s.sinate Ahaz, proclaim himself king, admit the enemy into the city and throw all the power and wealth of Judah into the scale with Syria and Israel in the war against Tiglath-Pileser.

Ahaz was entirely unprepared for such a move on the part of Pekah and Rezin. The news that the two armies were on the march caused consternation, not alone in the palace of the king, but in Jerusalem and in the entire country.

The northern part of Judah, as far as Jerusalem, was unprotected and at the mercy of the enemy. Neither Uzziah nor Jotham looked for a foe from that direction. In fact, the Syro-Israelitish forces met no opposition whatever until they came within sight of Jerusalem.

The very first thing that Ahaz and his generals did, when they had recovered from their consternation, was to prepare the capital for a siege. The fortifications were examined and strengthened. The water supply to the south of the city, without which Jerusalem could not have withstood a siege for three months, was especially looked after.

Now, Ahaz was like that ancient Pharaoh who did not know Joseph, or like his own predecessor, Rehoboam, who "took council with the young men that were grown up with him." Ahaz did not call Isaiah, the old friend and counsellor of the royal house, to advise him in his great extremity.

Isaiah, however, called to G.o.d to save his nation--if the nation would be saved--and did not wait for an invitation from the young king.

While Ahaz, his advisors and the commanders of his army, were examining the water supply of Jerusalem, preparatory to the inevitable siege, Isaiah went out to meet him. The prophet came upon the royal party at the end of the conduit of the upper reservoir, in the highway of the Fuller's field.

Isaiah, who had been quietly and carefully studying the entire situation since the emba.s.sy came to Jotham, understood well enough that an intrigue must be brewing in Jerusalem against the young King. When the report reached the city that the enemy was on the march, Isaiah's searching inquiries and careful observation of the leaders of the capital resulted in the discovery that the son of Tabeal was in league with Rezin and Pekah. It was Isaiah at this meeting, who informed Ahaz that his immediate danger was as much within his own city as from the enemy that was approaching. No wonder, then, that "his heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest tremble with the wind."

But Isaiah immediately rea.s.sured the trembling Ahaz in the following words:

"Take heed and keep thyself calm; fear not, neither be fainthearted because of these two f.a.g ends of smoking firebrands, because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and of the son of Remaliah. Syria, with Israel, hath purposed evil against thee, saying, 'Let us go up against Judah and distress it and overpower it and appoint the son of Tabeal king in its midst.' But thus saith the Lord G.o.d: It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pa.s.s, for, the head of Syria is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin, and the head of Israel is Samaria and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son.

Verily, if you will not hold fast, ye shall not stand fast."

Ahaz laughed at the idea of keeping quiet and having no fear, under the conditions. He turned away impatiently from the prophet and proceeded with his business of examining the reservoir. Isaiah, however, would not be put off with mere impatience.

"Ask thee a sign of the Lord, thy G.o.d," he cried to Ahaz. "Ask it either in the depths of Sheol or in the heights above."

But Ahaz replied, "I will not ask, neither will I put the Lord to the test."

Then Isaiah said:

"Hear now, O House of David! Is it too small a thing for you to weary men, that ye must also weary my G.o.d? Therefore the Lord, Himself, will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman will bear a son and call his name Immanuel (G.o.d is with us). Before this child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good those two kings before whom thou tremblest shall be deserted."

Ahaz was tired of mere words. Advice he had enough; he wanted now to act. In fact, when the knowledge of the political intrigue in Jerusalem became known to him, he immediately made up his mind what to do. He, therefore, again turned from Isaiah and ordered his retinue to continue the examination of the water supply.

Isaiah then tried another form of argument with this cowardly young king, in order to bring him to his senses. He, himself, was positive that Tiglath-Pileser, who was at that time in Asia Minor, had, no doubt, been informed by his spies of the action taken by Rezin and Pekah. Isaiah felt sure, also, that Tiglath-Pileser would immediately invade Syria. He knew, in addition, that neither Rezin nor Pekah was strong and powerful enough, at this time, to wage a protracted war with a.s.syria; that is why he described them as "two f.a.g ends of smoking firebrands." He, therefore, concluded that, at the first information of Tiglath-Pileser's march into the northern country, Rezin and Pekah would have to return to defend their own lands.

On the other hand, Isaiah knew that, if Ahaz did anything that would in any way displease the mighty King of a.s.syria, the latter would, after finis.h.i.+ng his campaign in Syria and Israel, attack Judah.

Therefore, he warned Ahaz in these words:

"G.o.d will bring upon thee and upon thy people and upon thy father's house days such as have not been, since the day Ephraim departed from Judah, through the King of a.s.syria.

Curds and honey will be that child's food (in the wilderness) when he knows to refuse evil and choose the good."

Isaiah ceased. He had delivered his message, had counseled and warned the king. He made it clear to Ahaz that, if he did anything except trust in the power and care of G.o.d for his people, Judah, like Syria and Israel, was destined to become a wilderness in the short time that it takes a child to reach that age when it can begin to think for itself.

Ahaz, however, acted upon his own and his young men's counsel. Hardly had he returned to the palace that day, when he sent messengers carrying the following letter to Tiglath-Pileser, King of a.s.syria:

"I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the power of the King of a.s.syria and from the power of the King of Israel, who have attacked me."

Ahaz followed up this message by ransacking the Temple in Jerusalem and the treasures of the royal palace, sending both as a gift and bribe to Tiglath-Pileser.

Then exactly what Isaiah foresaw happened. Tiglath-Pileser immediately invaded Syria and attacked Damascus. Rezin and Pekah were forced to hurry back to defend their own countries, and Judah was saved from Syro-Israelitish attack; but Ahaz had already thrown himself at the feet of the great a.s.syrian conqueror, with terrible results to his own country.

CHAPTER IV.

_On Deaf Ears._

Though the spineless Ahaz sent his cowardly note, and the presents that followed, to Tiglath-Pileser secretly, the truth leaked out.

Great indignation was aroused among certain opponents of the king in Jerusalem at the discovery of his act of treachery to the nation, and a new party was formed to fight against submission to a.s.syria.

The aim of the new movement was, princ.i.p.ally, to preserve the independence of Judah. The only avenue open seemed to be the alliance with Israel and Syria that the lamented king, Jotham, would not enter into.

With Ahaz looked upon as a traitor, the only one whom these patriots could turn, was the Prophet Isaiah, who loved his land and knew its traditions. So, the leaders of the patriotic party came to him with their plans. But Isaiah stood firm in the position he had taken with Jotham against entangling alliances.

He shocked these gentlemen with a well-spoken rebuke. He told them that the patriotism Judah needed was not of alliances and war, but of faith in G.o.d, of trust in Him who always guards and protects a righteous nation against its enemies.

Isaiah knew well enough the weakened and helpless condition of both Israel and Syria. To join with them in a war against Tiglath-Pileser would mean even greater ruin for Judah than the peaceful submission of Ahaz. He pictured the results of such an alliance in the following words:

"Because this people have rejected the waters of s.h.i.+loah that flow softly, And rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son, Therefore the Lord is about to bring upon them The waters of the River Euphrates, mighty and great, (Even the King of a.s.syria, in all his glory).

And it shall rise above all its channels, And overflow all its banks; And it shall sweep onward into Judah, And it shall overflow and pa.s.s over it, Reaching even to its neck, And its outstretched wings shall cover the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel."

To the king, the prophet sent a concise message that would have been heeded and understood by any one but a weakling like Ahaz. Isaiah referred to the utter helplessness into which Ahaz had cast Judah by his cowardly self-subjugation to Tiglath-Pileser. He pictured what might happen when that mighty monarch would receive the king's pitiful cry for help:

"In that same day the Lord will shave with the razor hired beyond the Euphrates the head and the hidden hair; and it shall even sweep away the beard."

Despite Isaiah's efforts, the peace party that stood by Ahaz, and the war party that desired an alliance with Pekah and Rezin, continued their separate agitations.

The capture of the town of Elath, at the head of the Arabian Gulf, by a detachment of the Syrian army, strengthened Ahaz in his belief that help could come only from Tiglath-Pileser. On the other hand, it convinced the war party that only the union with Samaria and Damascus could restore to the country this center of Judah's lucrative trade, that commanded the commerce to the south.

Isaiah recognized the uselessness of appealing to either of these opposing parties. He determined to appeal to the country at large, to the whole people, who were interested not in party quarrels, but in the welfare of the nation. He wanted to create a public opinion in favor of peace and in opposition to entangling alliances, either with a.s.syria or with the Palestinian coalition.

On his own property, in the heart of Jerusalem, where all the pa.s.sers-by could see and read it, Isaiah erected a great sign which read:

"SWIFT BOOTY--SPEEDY PREY."

He meant this to indicate to the people that the triumphs of either the champions of peace or the champions of war would mean ruin to the nation at the hands of a.s.syria.

About this time a son was born to Isaiah. He gave a magnificent feast to the leading people of Jerusalem and, to bring his conviction home more forcibly, named the boy "Swift Booty--Speedy Prey."

At the close of the feast he addressed his guests and said, in part:

"Before the boy knows how to cry, 'My mother' and 'My father,'

they shall carry off the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria before the King of a.s.syria."

At a great meeting in Jerusalem, soon thereafter, Isaiah again took up the burden of his argument against Israel and Syria. He predicted the inevitable destruction of these two kingdoms, because they were in rebellion against a.s.syria, and he pointed out the consequent foolhardiness of involving Judah in the oncoming disaster. Regarding Israel he said: