In times of war, taunting and jeering by the opposition is part of the terror tactics. In the case of David and Goliath, Goliath taunted: Send me out a man! How do you react when your homeland is threatened, your manhood, or even your righteousness in Jesus Christ?
With the destruction of the World Trade Center's twin towers by terrorists, and the hundreds of victims of many nations killed there, Americans as well as many other countries were robbed of far more than their friends, family members and countrymen. Now, to add insult to injury; those harboring the terrorist master-mind himself, have mocked and taunted the United States of America.
God has said to spoken a word to my heart this day to: "Speak to the mountain." Jesus Christ commanded us in Mark's gospel saying:
That whosoever shall say to this mountain: "Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart; but shall believe that those things that he saith will come to pass, he shall have whatever he saith.
And again, Jesus said in Matthew's gospel:
Verily, verily, I say unto you: If you have faith and doubt not, you shall say to this mountain, Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea."
(Matthew 21:21, Mark 11:23)
THE 7 MOUNTAINS ARE 1 MOUNTAIN:
Mountains in the bible represent "kingdoms." The 7 mountains spoken of in the scripture, are really just one ancient mountain, or kingdom; just as there's a great mountain of that's a Stone that shall fill the whole earth, which was spoken of by the Prophet Daniel.
There's a kingdom that America is presently dealing with, which has mounted an evil and an aggressive offensive against our nation. I take this term "kingdom" not to speak of the entire populas of a country, so much as the regime. This regime is presently hurling taunts and insults at our government, like the Assyrian General Rabshakeh in the time of Hezekiah, king of Judah. Rabshakeh was probably the second in command in Sennacherib's army, and spoke Hebrew fluently.
BACKGROUND & FINAL CAMPAIGN OF KING SENNACHERIB:
King Sennacherib, son of Sargon, inherited a vast domain. He was named for the moon-god, "Sin" found in Assyrian mythology. When Sennacherib launched a campaign against Palestine the second time, he not only came against Jerusalem, but also Egypt, and Ethiopia. The Egyptian king, Sethos, stood with his allie in Ethiopia, named King Tirhakah. Sennacherib sent messengers to Hezekiah from Lachish and to Libnah demanding submission. In addition he wrote an ultimatum blaspheming the Hebrew God.
The Prophet Isaiah recounts the Assyrian assault upon Judah, in which some 200,000 captives were taken. Initially, Hezekiah offered tribute money in an attempt to get the Assyrian army to cease the attack.
This bribe, according to Sennacherib; consisted of 30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver; precious stones, couches inlaid with ivory, elephant hides, male and female musicians, concubines and all kinds of valuable treasures. (2 Kings 18:14)
But Sennacherib took the money and laid seige immediately. Three Assyrian officials demanded the surrender of Jerusalem. These officials were Tartan, Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh. (2 Kings 18:17, Isaiah 36:1-2; 2 Kings 18:9-13)
Rabshakeh's taunts repudiated hezekiah's reforms, and efforts to obey God's laws in strict observance, much like people of today accuse Christians of being "prudish, and old-fashioned." Sennacherib thought Hezekiah's destruction of the high places and insistence on worship in Jerusalem would anger God. (2 Kings 18:22, 2 Chron. 29:21-35; 30:15-24; 31:3.) The General Rabshakeh claimed that "he" was doing the will of God, by attacking Jerusalem. (2 Kings 18:25)
And Rabshakeh stood and cried in a loud voice: Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! Thus says the king: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand. Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying: The Lord shall surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
(I Kings 18:17-19)
HOW JUDAH HANDLED TROUBLE, REBUKE & BLASPHEMY FROM THE KING OF ASSYRIA: (2 Kings 19:3)
When Hezekiah heard the words of Rabshakeh, he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth and went to the house of the Lord. Then he sent ELiakim which was over the house and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests; covered with sackcloth to Isaiah, the prophet, the son of Amoz.
And they said to him: This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke and blasphemy: for the children come to the birth and there is not strength to bring them forth.
It may be that the Lord God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king od Assyria, his master; has sent to reproach the living God. And will reprove the words which the Lord thy God has heard: wherefore, lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.
Then said Isaiah the Prophet:
"Thus says the Lord: Be not afaid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king have blasphemed me. Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his land."
Translation of the portion of the Prism that relates to Hezekiah and the siege of Jerusalem follows: In my third campaign I marched against Hatti. Luli, king of Sidon, whom the terror-inspiring glamor of my lordship had overwhelmed, fled far overseas and perished.... As to Hezekiah, the Jew, he did not submit to my yoke, I laid siege to his strong cities, walled forts, and countless small villages, and conquered them by means of well-stamped earth-ramps and battering-rams brought near the walls with an attack by foot soldiers, using mines, breeches as well as trenches. I drove out 200,150 people, young and old, male and female, horses, mules, donkeys, camels, big and small cattle beyond counting, and considered them slaves. Himself I made a prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage. I surrounded him with earthwork in order to molest those who were his city's gate. Thus I reduced his country, but I still increased the tribute and the presents to me as overlord which I imposed upon him beyond the former tribute, to be delivered annually. Hezekiah himself, did send me, later, to Nineveh, my lordly city, together with 30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver, precious stones, antimony, large cuts of red stone, couches inlaid with ivory, nimedu-chairs inlaid with ivory, elephant-hides, ebony-wood, boxwood and all kinds of valuable treasures, his own daughters and concubines. . .
Most of Sennacherib's boasting seems correct. Except that it is doubtful that Sennacherib's claim of receiving trubute from Hezekiah after the siege is correct. Especially so because Hezekiah probably died a natural death not long after the celebration of the miraculous deliverance. See chapters 36 to 39 for this background.
BEING A PEACE KEEPER BOTH AT HOME AND ABROAD:
God's word says: God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of love, power and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7) The sound mind which God gives speaks of "sound judgment."
In Hezekiah's day, Sennacherib had terrified the cities around about Judah. He sent his emmissary forth to taunt, and to demoralize the people with jeers, and to undermine their faith in their God, saying: See all of my conquests? You're next on the list! The Assyrian army had conquered 46 cities of the strongholds of Judah. But rather than consulting the "circumstances," the king of Judah looked to the Lord his God.
The apostle Paul warned of those who would by a spirit, or by a letter, as in Hezekiah's day, proclaim that the end had come. We know by the signs that we are living in the last days, and Jesus warned us in God's word; that there will be wars, and rumors of wars; and that nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. But don't get your forecast for the end, just yet. No matter what you see or hear, seek the face of the Lord Himself!
Written in stone tablets from Sennacherib's day, are his conquests, and he writes and I had Jerusalem "shut up like a bird in a cage..." But he could not boast and brag that he conquered the people of God, because they had a mighty God who is the Lord of Hosts, and He stood and fought for Judah, and they escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler!
In one night, one angel slew 185,000 Assyrians. The enemy that was left fled, and returned to his own land, just as the Lord had said!
A POEM BY BYRON
The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold; And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green, That host with their banners at sunset were seen: Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown, That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.
For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed; And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!
And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride; And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf, And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.
And there lay the rider distorted and pale, With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail: And the tents were all silent, the banners alone, The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.
And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail, And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal; And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword, Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!
YOU WILL SAY UNTO THIS MOUNTAIN:
This day, the word of the Lord has come to me, concerning the taunting of America: "We must say to this kingdom: "Be thou removed," and not doubt in our hearts."
How do we know that mountains represent "kingdoms" in the bible?" "The 7 Heads" are 7 mountains, on which the woman sits." In Rev. 18:12, we learn of ten kings, (literally "kingdoms," that have received no power as yet, but receive power for a season with the beast."
In the case of the "10 kingdoms," keep an eye on the nations merging into the EU right now, as well as others; because Ezekiel 38 speaks of those who will serve the beast for a HORA or season, as Russia, Germany, Turkey, etc.
The prophecies of Daniel give us insight into this, showing that whole nations shall be overthrown. (Daniel 11:41)
Do I mean that the 15 or so countries that have applied to the European Union shoudn't join? No. But there may be a time, when one of these will arise as ROSH, meaning HEAD, as is prophesied in Ezekiel 38:2. Then you will see federated nations come against Israel.
THE GOSPEL TRUTH FROM GOD'S WORD: 18:17 And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field.
18:18 And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.
18:19 And Rabshakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
18:20 Thou sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
18:21 Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.
18:22 But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?
18:23 Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
18:24 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
18:25 Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
18:26 Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews' language in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
18:27 But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?
18:28 Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria:
18:29 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand:
18:30 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
18:31 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern:
18:32 Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The LORD will deliver us.
18:33 Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
18:34 Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?
18:35 Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?
18:36 But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
18:37 Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
AMEN! LET THE WORD OF THE LORD BE SO:
THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE
Nineveh was founded by Nimrod - "the mighty hunter" - and was the last capital of the Assyrian Empire. Jonah the Prophet went to Nineveh and preached that judgment was coming, saying, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (Jonah 3:4).
The record explains that "the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed had a fast, and they put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them" (Jonah 3:5).
In response to their repentance, God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God did not bring upon them the destruction fore-warned of. (Jonah 3:10).
Nahum the Prophet prophesied the destruction of Nineveh in the book named for him. Here in his prophecy is detailed the destruction of this great city:
a) It would be destroyed by an "overflowing flood" would "make an utter end of its place" (Nah. 1:8)
b) It would be destroyed while the inhabitants were "drunken like drunkards" (Nah. 1:10)
c) The city would be unprotected because "fire shall devour the bars of your gates" (Nah. 3:13)
d) The city would never recover, for their "injury has no healing" (Nah. 3:19)
e) The downfall of the city would come easily, like ripe figs falling when the tree is shaken (Nah. 3:12)
In 612 B.C. Nabopolassar combined Babylonian's army with an army of Medes and Scythians and led a campaign which captured the Assyrian fortresses to the North. The Babylonian army laid siege to Nineveh, but the walls of the city proved too strong for battering rams. Instead they decided to starve the people under seige.
A famous prophecy had been given that "Nineveh should never be taken until the river became its enemy." After a 3 month siege, "rain fell in such abundance that the waters of the Tigris over-flowed a portion of the city and broke down one of the walls for a space.
The king, believing the oracle was fulfilled and not seeing any way of escape, built a large funeral pyre, and piled upon this all of his riches, and royal garments. Then locking himself, wives and eunuchs in a chamber in the midst of the pile, sent it all up in flames.
In Sennacherib's day the wall around Nineveh was 40 to 50 feet high. It extended for 4 kilometers along the Tigris River and for 13 kilometers around the inner city. The city wall had 15 main gates, 5 of which have been excavated. Statuary of stone bull statues, guarded the gates. Both inside and outside the walls, Sennacherib had built parks, a magnificent garden, and zoo. He also constructed an elaborate water-system containing the oldest aqueduct in history at Jerwan, across the Gomel River.
Nineveh was pillaged and burned, and then leveled completely, so that nothing was left.
This great city of Nineveh was so completely laid waste, that she reaped as she had sown--for her kings had ravaged Susa and Babylon. The city was burned with fire, the people slaughtered and sent into captivity. The palace that Ashurbanipal built was robbedand razed. Assyria was laid waste, just as God had prophesied.
The Jews remember Nineveh historically as 'the bloody city. In a short time all but the mightiest of the Great Kings were long forgotten, and their once regal palaces lay in ruins under the desert sands.
Two hundred years after it was conquered, Xenophon's Ten Thousand marched over the mounds which had once been Nineveh, never suspecting that these were the metropolis of the ancient world which once ruled half the known world.
Not a stone remained visible of all the temples with which Assyria's pious warriors had sought to beautify their greatest capital. Even Ashur, their everlasting god, was gone from the scene.
Prehistoric occupation of the site dates back to at least the 6th millennium BC.
Holding an important position on Nineveh,the main river crossing in the fertile northern Mesopotamian plain but only intermittently governed by local rulers, Nineveh was dominated in the 3d millennium BC by the Agade and Ur empires and in the 2d millennium by the Mitanni and Kassite empires.
With the rise of Assyrian power in the late 2d millennium, the city became a royal residence and was finally established as the capital by King Sennacherib (r. 704-681 BC), who replanned the city and built for himself a magnificent palace.
Invaded in 612 BC by the Medes, Nineveh fell into decline, and occupation continued through the Seleucid and Parthian periods until medieval times. P> Sennacherib's city wall, more than 12 km (7.5 mi) long, enclosed an area of about 700 ha (1730 acres); it was pierced by 15 great gates, five of which have been excavated.
The northern Nergal Gate, with its original flanking bull colossuses, has been restored. Canals provided water to the city and to municipal gardens that were stocked with unusual plants and animals.
Sections of an water tunnel built by Sennacherib still stand at Jerwan, 40 km (25 mi) away.
The palaces of Sennacherib and his grandson Assurbanipal stand at Kuyunjik, the citadel of the site.
Their walls and doorways were lined with sculptured reliefs, many of which are now in the Louvre, Paris, and the British Museum, London (including Ashurbanipal's famous Lion Hunt reliefs, now in the British Museum).
Sennacherib's palace comprised at least 80 rooms; the throne room suite, now partially restored, still contains some of its bas-reliefs depicting scenes of conquest.
Archives of cuneiform tablets were found in both palaces, but the library of Ashurbanipal forms an unrivaled epigraphic source for current knowledge of Mesopotamian history.
One of the greatest treasures of ancient Mesopotamia, it contains more than 20,000 tablets and fragments, many of which are copies of ancient Mesopotamian texts such as the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh and the Babylonian Flood story; its subjects range from literature to religion, the sciences, and lexicography.
The E-mashmash temple, dedicated to the goddess Ishtar, also stood on Kuyunjik; its series of superimposed structures, dating back to the 3d millennium BC, were maintained by successive rulers of Assyria and survived until at least AD 200.
The imperial arsenal, built by Sennacherib's successor Esarhaddon (r. 680-669 BC), stands largely unexcavated at Nebi Yunus, a mound on the city wall 1.6 km (1 mi) south of Kuyunjik. It is still covered by modern buildings, among them a mosque reputed to contain the tomb of Jonah.
Nineveh was first surveyed in 1820; and excavations by various groups were undertaken between 1842 to 1931; with more recent work and restoration being completed, by the Iraq Department of Antiquities
ARCHEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES:
From 1845-1854 young British adventurer Austen Henry Layard explored the ruins of Nineveh
For years skeptics questioned the existence of the city since it could not be found.
Layard rediscovered the lost palace of Sennacherib across the Tigris River from modern Mosul in northern Iraq.
Inscribed in cuneiform on the colossal sculptures in the doorway of its throne room was Sennacherib's own account of his siege of Jerusalem. It differed in detail from the biblical one but confirmed that Sennacherib did not capture the city.
This created a great deal of public interest, because previously the only account of any seige of Jerusalem by Sennacherib was the one found in the Bible (2 Kings 18-19) Sennacherib's account does differ from the Bible's, but both affirm that Sennacherib did not capture the city. Many people felt this vindicated their faith in the Bible, which had been attacked by "increasing religious doubt and scriptural revisionism." The palaces walls were covered with stone slabs chronicling Sennacherib's victories. One of these stone slabs chronicles in what appears to be remarkable detail the Judean city of Lachish, whose destruction the Bible records (2 Kings 18:13-14).
Please be aware that there have been some prophetic warnings from around the nation with regard to a major shaking between now and October 31. Please be in prayer about this.
At a site in Syria, on a site called Tel Mardikh, there was found a 4000 year old fortification. There were 18,000 Tablets found that tell of an empire and refers to areas named Ebla, Sinai, Assyria, Lebanon, Cyprus, Carchemish, Lachish, Gaza, Hazor and others. There are 3 different languages on the tablets one resembling Hebrew and names recognized from the Old Testament are written on them. Such as Abraham, Esau, Ishmael, Israel, Michael, Micah and Jerusalem. One of the tablets tells the story of the Creation (Genesis) and the Flood in Noah's day.
Also long lists of zoological, geographical and mathematical material has been found on the site. Proverbs and literary works were there as well and contain the oldest vocabulary lists. The Tablets have indicated that the language was the "language of Canaan"(Isaiah 19:18) and support the Biblical reference. Hebrew is now recognised as one of the worlds oldest languages, and is perhaps the language spoken by Noah (Genesis 10:6)
The Bible records Abraham with his father Terah, left the city of UR in southern Mesopotamia to go into Canaan. (Genesis 11:31-32) They settled in Haran which was 300 miles north east from the site of Tel Mardikh, and appears to be named after Abrahams brother Haran (Genesis 11:27).
There was discovered a tunnel which was constructed from the spring at Gihon, which is now called the Virgin's Fountain, under the city walls and through the rock to the southern end of the city of Jerusalem, to the pool of Siloam. It is the Aqueduct of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 32:2-4; 2 Kings 20:20)
Three accounts remain of the Assyrian monarch-Sennacherib-concerning his military campaign against Israel and Judah. These detail the way in which he came against the cities of Israel and then Judah, and how he "shut up" Hezekiah in his capital city Jerusalem. But, Sennacherib's military campaign proved unsuccessful. (2 Kings 19:35-36).
In 1938 archaelogists uncovered a mass grave outside the city of Lachish, which Sennacherib had conquered and which was the base for the Assyrian move to Jerusalem. There found was 2000 skeleton's. Stone panels on display in the Lachish Gallery of the British Museum-- depict the seige of Lachish. Tablets also document the fact that Sennacherib was assasinated, by his own sons. (2 Kings 19:36-37)
