Disobedience Did Not Threaten God’s Plan of Inclusion
The toppling of a king.
In our last post, we saw the kingdom of Israel now split between the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The kings of each were friends or enemies as convenience dictated, no matter if they were related or not. Yet, God was long suffering and sent many prophets to both to try and achieve not only reconciliation between the two kingdoms but between them and himself. A few times they provided words of encouragement, but oftentimes they were words of admonishment begging them to return to the Lord.
Prophets sent to the kings of Israel included Elijah under King Ahab, Elisha under King Jehoram, Jonah under King Jeroboam, Amos under King Zechariah, and Hosea under King Pekah.
Prophets sent to the kings of Judah included Isaiah and Micah under King Hezekiah, Nahum under King Manesseh, Jeremiah, Joel, and Zephaniah under King Josiah, Habakkuk under King Jehoahaz, Daniel under King Jehoiakim, and Ezekiel under King Zedekiah.
Many people in the Northern Kingdom of Israel could see that Pekah was a weak king and Assyria had set its sights on taking Israel captive, so many left the region and went to places like North Africa, Europe, and Armenia. Assyria did take the rest of Israel captive under the reign of Hoshea and took them to parts of Assyria (2Ki 17:6): upper Mesopotamia (parts of Turkey today) and to cites of the Medes (parts of Iran today). Later, Assyria was captured by Babylon.
Around 125 years after Israel was captured by Assyria, Babylon, under the leadership of King Nebuchadnezzar, took the Southern Kingdom of Judah captive in three main deportations: one major group under the reign of King Jehoiakim (this was when Daniel was taken captive), a second group under the reign of King Jehoiachin (this was when Ezekiel was taken captive), and a third group under the reign of King Zedekiah who had his eyes put out and placed in Babylonian prison. The people left in the land were ruled by Gedaliah who was left in charge as a governor of the people. Jeremiah was the prophet who remained in Jerusalem during this time and had some influence on Gedaliah.
King Jehoiachin found favor when the son of Nebuchadnezzar began to rule and had him taken out of prison and gave him a seat of honor (2Ki 25:27-30). It is likely that he became the satrap for the Israelis and Jews who were now in various places within Babylonia and eventually became the genesis of the Parthian Empire.
The Babylonian Empire eventually fell to Alexander the Great and from the breakup of his kingdom came the Seleucid Empire. An uprising led to the formation of the Parthian Empire whose political structure was guided by the Megistanes—a council likely developed by the prophet Daniel for king selection going forward from Jehoiachin to the time of Christ.
The Magistane council was composed of both royalty and priests in order to create a balance in who would be chosen as the next king in succession. This is partly supported by scripture (Ho 1:6-10) stating Israel will prosper in numbers even after being in captivity. It is thought that these Israeli descendants became the founding members of the Parthian Empire who overcame the Seleucids.
By the time of Christ, the Parthian and Roman Empires were rivals and equal in military strength. A détente did exist between the two, and people could travel from one to the other, but there was definitely border security where the two empires met. There were probably as many Jews/Israelis who lived in Parthia as there were in Roman controlled territories of Judaea and Galilee.
At this time, there was a royal crisis within the Parthia Empire and a suitable heir was sought. Phraates IV had secured the Parthian throne by murdering his father and his brothers and therefore was considered illegitimate by many. Therefore, at the time of Christ’s birth, the Magistane may have been looking for someone who could take the throne legitimately. Because of Christ’s lineage which goes all the way back to King David, he would have the necessary pedigree for such consideration. The Magi who came to visit Jesus may have been this Magistane or a contingent of it.
Such a Parthian contingent traveling into Roman territory would have caused quite a stir and could explain why all of Jerusalem was in a uproar because of their visit (Mt 2:3). Their claim of looking for the “King of the Jews” was likely very upsetting to Herod since this was his title and he was not going to give it up without a fight. But, of course, this would have to be done covertly so as not to start a war with Parthia and could be the reason for him killing all the children up to two years of age in Bethlehem (Mt 2:16). There is also evidence that a meeting was held on an island in the Euphrates River (neutral territory) in 1 A.D. between Rome and Parthia, only two years after the Magi’s visit to Jerusalem. While the official reason regarded the ruling of Armenia, the trip by the Magi may have precipitated the event.
This goes to show how biblical events and history are very interwoven and God uses them all as part of his plan for mankind. This détente between Rome and Parthia allowed Christ’s ministry to flourish during this time when otherwise, there would have been war in this region. It also demonstrates the connection between Jews and Israelis who lived in Judaea and Galilee and those who lived in Parthia. Next time, we’ll see how all of this became reconnected with the crimson thread also traveling through history.
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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens