The ambivalent attitude of the kings of Judah and Israel to the prophets

The prophets were the provers at the gate. They spoke, or rather cried out against the corruption of the ruling system, against social injustice and against wrong decision-making regarding relations with different countries and in particular superpowers.

introduction
If we try to understand the position of the prophets in modern terms, it seems that in a certain sense they played the role of opposition without any intention of replacing the kings. The prophets were the proofers at the gate. They spoke, or rather cried out against the corruption of the ruling system, against social injustice and against wrong decision-making regarding relations with different countries and in particular superpowers.

The cry of the prophets was a cry of truth. They expressed what was on their hearts in a blunt and cruel manner and often directed their words towards the kings personally. Their truth was against the accepted norms and this required great courage which also involved the risk of life. They were strong people of character and did not shy away from confrontations. The kings of Judah and Israel, to put it mildly, did not like the rebuke of the prophets. Their attitude towards the prophets was ambivalent. On the one hand, there was anger, and most likely also Meshtama, and on the other hand, when they got into hardships, especially political ones, they turned to them and asked for their help. This can be explained by the fact that the prophets, despite their harsh words And being outside the political establishment they had a high social status and an attempt to harm them would arouse great anger among the public.

Micaiah the inheritor and Uriah son of Shemaiah

The status and prestige of the prophets can be learned from the case of Micaiah the inheritor. It is said about him that: "There was a prophet in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and he said to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts of Zion, the field shall be plowed, and Jerusalem shall be desolate, and the Temple Mount shall be a forest. The death of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and all Did not Judah fear the Lord and bless the face of the Lord, and the Lord comfort him for the evil that he spoke of them and we are a great evil against our souls" (Jeremiah 18:19-XNUMX). The prophet's harsh words aroused a fury of anger to the point of a willingness to bring about his destruction. The fear was that such a drastic action would revolt the The public is so willing to revolt and put the ruling establishment in existential danger.

It is said about Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiryat Yearim that "he prophesied about this city and the land...and King Jehoiakim and all his heroes and all his ministers heard his words, and the king asked to die, and Uriah heard it, and was afraid and fled and came to Egypt." And King Jehoiakim sent men of Egypt, Elhanan son of Habur, and men with him to Egypt, and they brought his Uriah out of Egypt, and brought him to King Jehoiakim, and he struck with the sword, and threw his carrion into the graves of the people" (Jeremiah 21:24-XNUMX). The readiness on the part of the king and his men to eliminate him was so sweeping that they left no chance in the hands of the prophet. This case raises several questions. Uriah's escape can be seen as an example of a spiritual leader's attempt to seek political asylum in a foreign land. Did the Egyptian authorities know who it was and give him shelter even if it was done out of considerations of international policy? If this were the case, Jehoiakim's people should have asked for Egyptian permission to enter Egypt and ask for his extradition. Was Egypt right to extradite him in exchange for some sort of political achievement? Another possibility is that the prophet fled to Egypt in disguise and Jehoiakim sent a delegation that also entered Egypt in disguise and took him out of there by force in order to fulfill the king's order.

Shemaiah the man of God

This prophet is known to have worked in the days of King Rehoboam of Jerusalem. The scripture tells of two meetings he had with the king. The first time was when Rehoboam was about to start a war against the king of Israel. Shemaiah intervened in what was happening, addressed Rehoboam to all the house of Israel in Judah and commanded them: "Thus said the Lord. Do not go up and do not fight with your brothers. Return each one to his home, for from my side did this thing happen. The prophet used his full moral power to prevent a civil war and was successful in doing so. The second meeting between them was when Shishak, the king of Egypt, invaded Jerusalem and looted the treasures of the temple and the royal treasures. As a response to what was happening, Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and the ministers of Judah and reprimanded them severely. Their downfall was due to the fact that they left God. According to the words: "And the ministers of Israel and the king submitted and said, 'Jehovah is righteous'" (4 Chronicles 6:XNUMX). Rehoboam did not take any measures against the man of God and accepted the prophet's words. After that, Rehoboam continued to do what was bad in the eyes of God, but the scriptures do not mention any further conflicts between him and the prophet.

Amos

The case of Amos is harsh. The prophet Amos was accused by Amaziah, the priest of Beth El, of conspiring against the king and prophesying that the king would die "and Israel will be exiled from his land" (Amos 11:12). Mitzvah: "I promise you, flee, go to the land of Judah and eat bread there, and prophesy there, and do not add to the house to prophesy, for it is the temple of a king and the house of a kingdom" (Amos 13:17-XNUMX). Amos did not panic, he did not remain indebted and answered him with blunt and humiliating words: "Your wife will feed in the city and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword and your land will be divided by the sword and you will die on unclean soil and all exiled Israel will be exiled from their land" (Amos XNUMX:XNUMX).

The prophetess rat

Compared to these kings, a king who humbly received prophetic words is Josiah, King of Judah. When he wanted to hear God's words, he sent his men to the prophetess Huldah. Her words were harsh, but the king did not take any position and it is clear that he accepted her words with complete submission (13 Kings 20:XNUMX-XNUMX).

Michaiah ben Yamla

A king who had a relationship with two prophets is Ahab and the prophets are Micaiah ben Yamla and Elijah. When Ahab King of Israel and Jehoshaphat King of Israel fought together against Aram, Jehoshaphat needed the blessing of a prophet before going into battle, Ahab asked to be summoned Micaiah ben Yamla despite his hatred for him because he would not "prophesy good for me but bad" (8 Kings 27:XNUMX). Ahab as a response ordered to ban him and feed him pressed bread and pressed water until his safe return from the battlefield (XNUMX Kings XNUMX:XNUMX). The scripture does not tell what happened to the prophet after the death of Ahab.

Elijah the prophet

We meet the prophet Elijah for the first time in 1 Kings XNUMX XNUMX when he turns to Ahab and says the following: "As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I have stood, if there be dew and rain these years, but according to my words." This harsh and cruel prophecy means that in the form of Shabatia Elijah had to flee and in his escape he reached Sidon.

Elijah confronted Ahab in a particularly harsh and violent way when he slaughtered 450 prophets of Baal, 50 prophets of Asherah and 400 eaters of Jezebel's table (18 Kings 41:1-19)..Ahab himself did not take any action against him. In 27 Kings XNUMX:XNUMX the scripture says: "And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and all that he had killed all the prophets with the sword". The one who took action was his wife Jezebel and Elijah fled to Beer Sheva to save himself. A second confrontation between them was when Nabot the Jezreelite was eliminated by Jezebel's order so that his vineyard would pass into the hands of Ahab. Upon hearing of the scoundrel's deed, Elijah came to him and with a categorical face like no other he asked him "Did you kill and also inherit... In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lick up your blood as well" (XNUMX Kings XNUMX:XNUMX). "And when Ahab heard these things, he tore his clothes and put a sack over his body and fasted and lay down in the sack and walked slowly" (XNUMX Kings XNUMX:XNUMX). Ahab suffered a mental breakdown and even after he regained consciousness he did not take any steps. Elijah, by virtue of his personality and the charisma he probably possessed, was able to put his fear on Ahab. From the relationship between them, we also get the impression that Elijah had free access to Ahab.

Elijah did not spare his tribe from Ahab's son, Ahaziah. After he came to power, Ahaziah sent delegations to Elijah 3 times in order to meet with him, Elijah agreed to his appeal only the third time and the things he prophesied to him were difficult (1 Kings 17:XNUMX-XNUMX). Ahaziah took no action against him. This can be explained in two ways. One possibility is that he was a weak character and the second possibility that he himself was shocked by what Elijah did on Carmel and despite his position as the king of Israel realized that it was not worth persecuting Elijah.

Elisha

Compared to Elijah, the attitude of the kings of Israel and Judah to Elisha was less charged, although still problematic. The scripture does not indicate any events in which Elisha resorted to extraordinary and violent measures. His rebukes were of a more minor nature. When Jehoram son of Ahab, king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, were preparing for war against Misha, king of Moab, Jehoshaphat asked, "Isn't there a prophet of the Lord here, and the Lord is required of him" (11 Kings 13:8). One of his men suggested that they turn to Elisha and he responded to their request and noted that he only agreed to them because of Jehoshaphat. He did not show any sympathy for Jehoram, the king of Israel, because his parents Ahab and Jezebel did not worship God. In the way of his appeal to the king of Israel, "What do you do to me and go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother" (21 Kings 30:33) he showed alienation and personal resentment towards the king was also heard. Yehoram did not respond to these words. It is not difficult to know what his feelings were, but the need of the hour is Belig and kept his insult in his heart. Joram had two more meetings with Elisha. One meeting was on Elisha's initiative and a second meeting on his own initiative. In the first case, when the king of Aram asked for his help to heal the minister of the army, Naaman, the king responded with a negative and with a justified claim that he is not a God who can kill and revive, what's more, before this there was no justification since the king of Aram agreed with him. When Elisha heard this, he conveyed his word to Jehoram Because he can help Naaman "for there is a prophet in Israel" (XNUMX Kings XNUMX:XNUMX). Even with this face, Yehoram did not feel at ease and why should a prophet in Israel help the representative of a king who is causing him problems. Yehoram was still in trouble. It was clear to him that he would still need Elisha. And it is true that when Jehoram saw that the army of Aram was approaching him, he turned to him for help, and one should pay attention to the form of the appeal: "Achha achha my father" (XNUMX Kings XNUMX:XNUMX). Along with resenting the prophet, he also knew how to respect him. It should also be taken into account that with this facial expression, he also tried to flatter the prophet. Elisha suggested that he not act against Aram. The war broke out later when the king of Aram besieged Samaria. A siege, as a result of which the food supply began to dwindle to the point of a severe and unbearable famine. Here Jehoram could no longer bear the disgrace he had come to due to Elisha's treatment and decided to eliminate him but without success (XNUMX Kings XNUMX:XNUMX-XNUMX).

About Elisha's political involvement in the royal court is written in 1 Kings 13:30-XNUMX. Elisha sent a representative to make Jehu ben Jehoshaphat king over Judah and the scriptures do not indicate any conflict between them. The reasons for this are clear. Jehu morally and politically owed his kingship to Elisha because he did what was right in the eyes of God (XNUMX Kings XNUMX:XNUMX). Elisha had no reason to go against him with prophecies of anger.

The last king who had a relationship with Elisha was Joash, King of Israel. The only connection between them that the scripture tells about was when Elisha fell ill before he died. When Yoash saw Elisha in his poor condition, he burst into tears. "And he wept on his face and said, My father is the chariot of Israel and its horsemen" (14 Kings 5:6). It is evident in Yoash's words that he valued, cherished and respected the prophet. Despite Elisha's difficult situation, his mind was clear and he ordered Yoash to open the window of the room and shoot out a number of arrows Elisha expected to shoot 3-15 arrows, but Yoash settled for only 19 arrows. Elisha rebuked him for this. He noticed a hesitation in Yoash, which indicated that he would win only a few victories in his wars with Aram (XNUMX Kings XNUMX:XNUMX-XNUMX). It's not hard to guess what Yoash felt then. A lot of embarrassment and heartache. He came to visit the prophet and this proves him.

Jonah is a real son

Jonah ben Amitai, one of the ten prophets, is mentioned in only one verse in the books of Kings - in 25 Kings XNUMX, in connection with Jeroboam ben Nebat, king of Israel, who "restored the border of Israel from the coming of Hamath to the Sea of ​​the Desert, according to the word of Jehovah, the God of Israel, who spoke by the hand of his servant Jonah ben Amitai, the prophet who From the Hefer Valley". The king won this war with the prophet's blessing, which indicates some sort of calm relationship between them despite the king's sins.

Azaria ben Oded and Hanani the seer

These prophets were active in the days of King Asa of Judah. The scripture describes two of their meetings with the king. It is told about a single meeting of each of them with the king. Azaria ben Oded in his meeting with Asa describes situations of violent tensions between states, but the king should not be afraid of this at all. He strengthens Asa and all of Judah and Benjamin because there is a reward to their action (7 Chronicles 8:XNUMX) "And when he heard these words and the prophecy, the prophet was encouraged, he became stronger, and the exiles passed from all Judah and Benjamin and from the cities that he had captured from Mount Ephraim, and he renewed the altar of Jehovah which is before the temple of Jehovah" (XNUMX Chronicles XNUMX:XNUMX). The king who did what was right in the eyes of God, came out encouraged from his meeting with the prophet and worked with more vigor and determination to remove idolatry from the land.

In contrast, his encounter with Hanani the Seer was less sympathetic. When Baasha, the king of Israel, began preparations for war against Asa, the latter, with the aim of strengthening his alliance with Ben Hadad, king of Aram, sent this king silver and gold from the treasures of the Temple and his palace. And they struck Eyon and Dan and Abel Mim and the distress of the cities of Naphtali" (4 Chronicles 10:XNUMX). When Hanani heard about this, he met with the king and rebuked him for what he had done. The king in response put him in prison (XNUMX Chronicles XNUMX:XNUMX). According to the pattern of behavior in the case of Azaria ben Oded, the king expected that Hanani the seer would also encourage him, he also hoped and expected to legitimize his alliance with the king of Aram. Since the prophet was not encouraged, he decided to take revenge on him and put him in prison.

Isaiah

At the beginning of the book of Isaiah it is stated that the prophet acted in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. The scripture does not refer to any meetings between the prophet and Hezekiah's predecessors. It is hard to believe that he did not have confrontations and encounters with them. It seems that the evidence for this was and has been lost.

Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of God and it is therefore reasonable that their relationship was good. The scripture mentions only three meetings between them. The first meeting that the scripture tells about was when Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem. The siege was very difficult to the point of despair and Hezekiah was in trouble and turned to Isaiah. It was not a personal meeting between them but through a delegation that addressed the prophet in the name of the king. The prophet's answer was made in two channels. Shader Rishon described Ashur's strength and that he would not take it for granted that he could put his trust in God. Hezekiah was not encouraged by this and not without reason. He turned to God to save him from Assyria. You can hear his distress and sense of helplessness in every word. Only then did a delegation from Isaiah come to comfort the king and that no harm would come to him or anyone. "Assyria will not come, will not come to this city and will not shoot any arrow, nor will a shield come before it, nor will a rampart be poured over it. In the way by which God will return to this city, the word of Jehovah will not come" (23 Kings 32:185,000-XNUMX). And the scripture does know how to tell that XNUMX soldiers of the Assyrian army were found dead the next day.
The second meeting between them was when Hezekiah fell ill and was about to die. Isaiah came to visit him and instead of encouraging him told him that his days were numbered. It is difficult to say that the prophet behaved with tact and compassion towards the king. And what did the king do? Instead of ordering Isaiah's removal from his room, he burst into tears, turned to God and asked him to "remember, please, that I have walked before you in truth and with a complete heart, and that I have done what is good in your eyes" (3 Kings 7:15). Isaiah did not remain indifferent and he asked that they bring him a fig leaf and put it on the boil (XNUMX Kings XNUMX:XNUMX). The king was indeed cured and lived another XNUMX years.

Isaiah was not the only one who visited Hezekiah during his illness. A delegation also came to him on behalf of Brodach Blanc, king of Babylon, who brought him gifts. Was it a courtesy visit or a diplomatic visit to strengthen the ties between the countries? As a sign of gratitude and appreciation for this visit, Hezekiah gave the delegation a tour of his palace and showed his friends his possessions. Isaiah could not bear this and prophesied that in the future these treasures would be plundered by Babylon (16 Kings 18:XNUMX-XNUMX). This rebuke arose from political considerations and not from religious moral considerations. Isaiah understood that on this guided tour Hezekiah invited the conquest of Judah by Babylon. These treasures could enrich Babylon's coffers. Hezekiah's answer to the prophet shows that the tour he made to the Babylonian mission was fundamentally a mistake. In any case, he showed no resentment towards Isaiah. The impression we get is that Hezekiah, despite his royal status, in all his meetings with Isaiah, assumed the prophet's spiritual authority. He always bowed his head and did not argue.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah prophesied in the days of Josiah, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, kings of Judah. The scriptures do not reveal anything about the relationship between the prophet and Josiah. The scripture says that Josiah carried out comprehensive religious reforms and therefore it can be assumed that he had the full moral support of the prophet. After the death of Josiah, his son Jehoahaz reigned. He did indeed do evil in the eyes of God, but the period of his reign was short, three months, and it is difficult to know to what extent the prophet had time to refer to him in his prophecies. This king was deposed by the Egyptians who made his half-brother Jehoiakim king who also did evil in the eyes of God.

The first time the scripture refers to the reaction of the authorities towards Jeremiah appears in chapter 1 verses 3-XNUMX. In these verses it is said that Pashchor ben Amer the priest beat Jeremiah and put him under arrest in a coup that is at the Upper Binyamin Gate in the House of Jehovah, and a day later he released him. Did Shafor do this on his own accord? hard to believe. It is likely that the king had a hand in the matter. A one-day detention was intended as a warning to Jeremiah. This did not deter Jeremiah and the evidence for this is the difficult and personal things for Peshar regarding his fate.

Another king who reigned for a short period of time, although it is not stated how long, was Shalem son of Josiah, and the prophet's words were also harsh towards him: "In the place where they exiled him, there he will die and he will not see this land again" (Jeremiah 11:12-XNUMX). Since the period of his reign was short, he could not respond to the prophet's words. Shalem's place was taken by his brother Jehoiakim.

At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, Jeremiah turned to him and the people of his government and said to them: "If you will not listen to me to walk in my Torah that I have set before you, listen to my words about the servants of the prophets that I am sending to you and Shechem and Sendal and you have not listened. And I have given this house as Shiloh, and I will give this city as a curse to all the nations of the land" (Jeremiah 4:6-24). Jeremiah gave the king and his courtiers a grace period, an opportunity to improve their ways. The priests and the prophets and all the people were not ready to listen to him and a dispute arose as to what to do with him. There were also those who proposed to eliminate him. The one who saved Jeremiah was Ahikam ben Shaphan (Jeremiah 24:XNUMX). Jeremiah prophesied that Keniah son of Jehoiakim would not rise to the throne of power (Jeremiah XNUMX:XNUMX) and Jehoiakim did not address this. It is possible that this prophecy was towards the end of his reign and he would not have had enough time to say his word to the prophet.

Despite Jeremiah's very bluntness and the personal tone he took towards the kings, Zedekiah son of Jehoiakim did not hesitate and asked his people to turn to the prophet to demand their favor from God when Babylon fought Judah. The prophet's words were particularly blunt. Jerusalem will burn and the king will fall into captivity (Jeremiah 13) In chapter 17 Zedekiah sent a delegation to Jeremiah so that he would pray for him. The prophet prophesied again about Judah's bitter fate, except that this time he was placed under arrest by Jerayah ben Shalemia (Jeremiah XNUMX:XNUMX) and a few verses later it was stated that King Zedekiah secretly turned to him and asked to know about the future that would take place (verse XNUMX). Because Zedekiah knew about the imprisonment and because he gave his consent to it. But he still saw fit to maintain ties with the prophet, which indicates Jeremiah's importance and power. Even in this difficult situation, Jeremiah, along with his gloomy prophecy, asked the king to release him and he was indeed granted.

In chapter Leh, each group of people who turned to the king and asked him to eliminate Jeremiah because he had loosened the hands of the warriors is told. Zedekiah agreed to their request and Jeremiah was placed in a clay pit. Luckily for Jeremiah, one of the eunuchs witnessed the deed. He turned to the king and asked to save Jeremiah and the king granted him. When Jeremiah came out of the pit, he was brought to the king. A dialogue took place between them regarding the king's personal fate. At the end of the conversation, the king asked Jeremiah that in case he was asked what they were talking about, he should tell the truth. This is indeed what happened, but Jeremiah was again put in prison until the conquest of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 28:XNUMX).

Summary

The personal meetings or through messengers between the prophets and the kings show that the relationship between them was complex. The prophets were independent people in their opinions who said what was on their hearts with all possible force and very bluntly. These were people of strong character with a spiritual authority that radiated on their environment and they probably also had social backing. The public in whose name they spoke gave them shelter in times of need, which also ensured their economic existence. And on the other hand, the kings, to put it mildly, did not like them, but in times of need they turned to them for help and political support. The kings were aware of the public support of the prophets and their hands were partially tied as to the measures they used against the prophets. The prophets did not need kings but the kings did need them.

More of the topic in Hayadan:

• An intelligence officer whose name is Isaiah the prophet
• The dating in the book of Jeremiah
• Shmuel - a priest about a troubled childhood
• The political status of the prophet Ezekiel
• Natan - the prophet behind the scenes