1 Kings 16:8-28 Though most Bible readers would hardly recognize the name Omri among the list of Israel’s rulers, this king played such a pivotal role in Israel’s history that 150 years later the kings of Assyria still referred to Israel as the “land of Omri” in their annals. During (or perhaps before) the brief […]
Category Archives: Battles
The Land of Midian
The heartland of Midian was located immediately east of the Gulf of Aqaba, although the Midianites’ nomadic lifestyle often took them far beyond this region and even into the land of Israel. The Bible mentions the Midianites as early as Joseph’s time (Genesis 37:25-36) and as late as Isaiah’s time (Isaiah 60:6), but they may […]
Assyria Advances on Jerusalem
Isaiah 10:24-34 Like the climax of a nail-biting thriller, Isaiah 10:24-34 traces the movements of an overwhelming force of Assyrians closing in on the city of Jerusalem, but just when all seems lost and the enemy is shaking his fist over the city, the Lord delivers his people. It is not clear if this story […]
Zerah the Cushite
2 Chronicles 14 The book of 2 Chronicles contains the sole mention of an otherwise unknown battle between King Asa of Judah and Zerah the Cushite around 895 B.C. Prior to his description of the battle, the Chronicler notes that Asa had undertaken a campaign to fortify many of the towns throughout Judah, since the […]
The Shephelah
The Shephelah, meaning “lowlands,” was a band of gentle hills lying between the coastal plain and the hill country of Israel, and it was covered with sycamore fig trees and olive trees (1 Kings 10:27; 1 Chronicles 1:15; 9:27; 27:28). This pastoral description of the region paints a deceptively peaceful picture, however, for the various […]