At the end of three years the Assyrians took it. So Samaria was captured in Hezekiah's sixth year, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel. – 2 Kings 18:10

Today's Scripture Reading (March 11, 2020): 2 Kings 18

American Game Show Creator, Chuck Barris, said this about being helpless; "Helplessness is such a rotten feeling. There's nothing you can do about it. Being helpless is like being paralyzed. It's sickness. The cure calls for a monumental effort to stand up and start walking somewhere, anywhere. But that takes some doing." Most of us have probably known that kind of paralysis at some time in our lives. And the hardest thing for us to do is something because we are so afraid that it might be the wrong thing.

Dating the Kings mentioned in the Bible is difficult because the dates are often inconsistent. Sometimes they start at one event, and sometimes from another anchor in history. And tradition might lead us to believe one thing, while somebody else argues something different. And the reality with all of history is that we weren't there to witness the events ourselves.

Complicating the matter even more is the fact that there was no consistent standard of measurement for the dating of events. We know that we were born in a specified year, graduated, and got married at this specific date. Documents come furnished with dates attached. The church that I am currently connected with started its ministry in 1921, the new building was constructed in 1965/66, depending on who you listen to, but it is anchored in a specific time. But ancient dating didn't work that way. To confuse this even more, Israel and Judah used the same calendar months, but the months were offset by half a year. That would be like me stating that I wrote this post in March 2020, but as you read it in your part of the world it is only October 2019. And both of us would be correct.

And even the season didn't help. Before the advent of a leap year system, there was significant seasonal drift, especially for systems that depended on a lunar calendar. That is why the Muslim celebration of Ramadan drifts so widely. In 2020, Muslims will begin their holy fast in late April, a couple of weeks after Easter, but just twenty years ago, the fast began in late November, almost at the same time as the beginning of the Christian Advent celebration.

So dating Hezekiah is a mess, and this verse is more than a little confusing. At issue is that the traditional date of the collapse of King Hoshea's Israel is 722 B.C.E. The traditional start date for Hezekiah's reign is 716 B.C.E. And B.C.E dates count downward to 1 B.C.E. before they begin to go up again. So how is it possible that Hezekiah was in the sixth year of his reign as King, six years before he became King of Judah. And the most straightforward answer is that the author of 2 Kings is speaking about a time when Hezekiah co-reigned with his father, Ahaz. We think that the co-reign probably began somewhere around 729 B.C.E., or roughly six or seven years before the fall of the Kingdom of Israel.

And if that is true, this must have been a horrible time for Hezekiah. To watch Israel, fall, to be convinced that the fall was a direct result of Israel's rebellion against God, to know that your father was also rebelling against God, and not to have the power to change any of it as long as your father shared the throne with you, would have been a painful set of circumstances. And Hezekiah must have felt absolutely helpless.

It may also explain why Hezekiah moved so quickly to repair the Temple and restore the worship of Yahweh in Jerusalem as soon as he became the sole King over Judah. He had been planning this moment since the helpless days when he had watched the fall of Israel. Then he might have been helpless, but now he had the power to affect the needed change, and escape the grip of the Assyrians.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 32

Personal Note: Happy Birthday, Dad!