The Makers and Teachers of Judaism · Chapter 4Part 4
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All of these varied influences are traceable in the two prophecies found in Isaiah 9:1-7 and 11:1-10. Embodying as they do many of the social principles for which Isaiah contended, it was natural that these anonymous writings should afterward be attributed to that great statesman-prophet. Jehovah, however, was the one supreme king whom Isaiah acknowledged; and it was difficult to find in his strenuous life a logical or historical setting for these kingly oracles. They also imply that the royal house of Judah had been struck down, and that the new king is to rise out of a background of gloom and is to inaugurate an entirely new era. The character and rule of this king of popular hopes reflect many of the traits of David and Josiah; but his aims and methods are in accord with the moral and social standards of the great pre-exilic prophets. They portray a temporal ruler; but the spirit which actuates him and the principles which guide him are noble and unselfish. As subsequent history clearly shows, the prophet or prophets who painted these portraits apparently hoped that a son or grandson of Jehoiachin would realize them. It is exceedingly probable in the light of the later predictions of Haggai and Zechariah (Sections XCIV, XCV) that these prophecies were written not long after the birth of Zerubbabel. The kingdom over which he was to rule and to which he was to bring perfect justice and peace was the prophetic counterpart of Ezekiel's priestly plan of the restored and redeemed community. The ethical ideals thus concretely set forth were never fully realized in Israel's troubled history; but they remain as valid and commanding to-day as they were far back in the Babylonian period. The abolition of all the insignia of war, the high sense of official responsibility, the protection of the weak by the strong, and the reign of perfect peace and harmony throughout all the earth are the goals for which all earnest, consecrated souls in every age and race are striving. It is natural and proper that the Christian Church should see in Jesus the fullest and truest realization of these ancient kingly ideals.
V. The Rule of Nabonidus. The successors of Nebuchadrezzar proved weak and inefficient. His dissolute son, Amil-Marduk, was soon murdered by his brother-in-law Nergalsharuzur (Gk. Neriglissar). This ruler is probably the Nergal-sharezer of Jeremiah 39:3 who directed the final capture and destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. After reigning four years he died, leaving the Babylonian empire to his young son, who soon fell a victim to a conspiracy of his nobles. They placed on the throne a certain Nabuna'id, who is known to the Greek historians as Nabonidus. He appeared to be more interested in excavating ancient ruins and in rebuilding old temples than in ruling his subjects. By his arbitrary religious policy and his neglect of the popular gods of the Babylonians, he completely alienated the loyalty of his people. During the latter part of his reign, which extended from 555 to 538 B.C., he left the government largely in charge of his son Belsharuzur, the Belshazzar of the story in Daniel.
VI. Rise and Conquests of Cyrus. While the Babylonian empire was sinking into decay, the Median kingdom on the north and east experienced a sweeping revolution. Its cause was the discontent of the older Median population under the rule of the more barbarous Umman-Manda. These later Scythian conquerors had, under their king Cyaxares, broken the power of Assyria and fallen heir to its eastern territory. The older elements found a leader in Cyrus, the king of Anshan, a little state among the mountains of Elam, northeast of Babylonia. From contemporary inscriptions it appears that the followers of Astyages, who succeeded Cyaxares to the Median throne, rebelled against their king and delivered him over into the hands of Cyrus. As soon as Cyrus became master of the Median Empire, he proved an able commander, a skilful politician, and a wise statesman. Recognizing that he could hold in control the diverse and turbulent elements in his heterogeneous kingdom only as he kept them actively occupied, he at once entered upon a series of campaigns which in the end left him undisputed master of southwestern Asia. In 547 B.C., two years after he became king of Media, he crossed the Tigris and conquered Mesopotamia, which had been held for a time by the Babylonians, Apparently he did not assume the title King of Persia until 546. Appreciating the great strength of Babylon, he did not at first attempt its capture, but began at once by intrigue to pave the way for its ultimate overthrow. In 545 he set out on a western campaign against Croesus, the king of Lydia, the ancient rival of Media. After a quick and energetic campaign, Sardis, the rich Lydian capital, was captured, and Cyrus was free to advance against the opulent Greek colonies that lay along the eastern shores of the Aegean. These in rapid succession fell into his hands, so that by 538 B.C. he was in a position to advance with a large victorious army against the mistress of the lower Euphrates.
VII. His Capture of Babylon. The campaigns of Cyrus were naturally watched with keen interest by the Jewish exiles in Babylonia. The songs in Isaiah 14, 15, and 21:1-10, and Jeremiah 51:29-31, voice their joyous expectation of Babylon's impending humiliation. In a contemporary inscription Cyrus has given a vivid account of the fall of the capital. Early in October of the year 538 B.C. he assembled a large army on the northern borders of Babylonia. Here a battle was fought in which the Babylonians were completely defeated. The town of Sippar quickly surrendered to Cyrus's general, and two days later the Persian army entered Babylon. The record states that the gates of the mighty city were opened by its inhabitants, and Cyrus and his followers were welcomed as deliverers. King Nabonidus was captured and banished to the distant province of Carmania, northeast of the Persian Gulf. In the words of Cyrus: "Peace he gave the town; peace he proclaimed to all the Babylonians." In the eyes of the conquered, he figured as the champion of their gods, whose images he restored to the capital city. The temples as well as the walls of Babylon were rebuilt, and the king publicly proclaimed himself a devoted worshipper of Marduk and Nebo, the chief gods of the Babylonians. Thus from the first the policy of Cyrus in treating conquered peoples was fundamentally different from that of the Babylonians and Assyrians. They had sought to establish their power by crushing the conquered rather than by furthering their well-being; but Cyrus, by his many acts of clemency, aimed to secure and hold their loyalty.
VIII. His Treatment of Conquered Peoples. Cyrus showed the same wisdom in his treatment of the many petty peoples who had been ground down under the harsh rule of Babylon. In one of his inscriptions he declares: "The gods whose sanctuaries from of old had lain in ruins I brought back again to their dwelling-places and caused them to reside there forever. All of the citizens of these lands I assembled and I restored them to their homes" (Cyrus Cyl., 31, 32). In the light of this statement it is clear that the Jews, in common with other captive peoples, were given full permission to return to their homes and to rebuild their ruined temple. The decree of Cyrus recorded in the Aramaic document preserved in Ezra 6:3-5 is apparently the Jewish version of the general decree which he issued. It is also possible that he aided the vassal peoples in rebuilding their sanctuaries; for such action was in perfect accord with his wise policy. He also intrusted the rulership of different kingdoms as far as possible to native princes. In the Greek book of I Esdras has been preserved a list (which has fallen out of the biblical book of Ezra) of those who availed themselves of Cyrus's permission to return to Palestine. It includes simply the priest Jeshua, or Joshua, the lineal heir of the early Jerusalem priestly line of Zadok, and Zerubbabel, a descendant of the Judean royal family. They doubtless took with them their immediate followers and were probably accompanied by a few exiles whose loyalty impelled them to leave the attractive opportunities in Babylon to face the dangers of the long journey and the greater perils in Palestine.
From Jeremiah 41:5 and Haggai 2:14 it appears that a rude altar had been built on the sacred rock at Jerusalem and that religious services were held on the site of the ruined temple soon after its destruction in 586 B.C. With the gifts brought back by Zerubbabel and his followers, daily sacrifices were probably instituted on the restored altar under the direction of the priest Joshua (cf. Hag. 2:10-14). In the light, however, of the oldest records it is clear that the revival of the Judean community in Palestine was gradual and at first far from glorious. The Jews were a broken-hearted, poverty-stricken, persecuted people, still crushed by the great calamity that had overtaken their nation. The general return of the exiles was only a dream of the future, and, despite the general permission of Cyrus, the temple at Jerusalem still lay in ruins.