Page 49 - Biblical Backgrounds student textbook

Study Section 8: The Assyrian Background to the Old Testament
(2 Kings 15-19, Isaiah 36-37, Nahum)

8.1 Connect

When you look back at World War II, one of the horrific acts of war was committed against the
Jews. Adolf Hitler and his cronies sought to destroy every Jewish person in the world, and they
succeeded in murdering over SIX MILLION Jewish people during their reign of terror. When the
opposing forces entered Germany and Poland, the soldiers and officers could not believe what
they saw in the concentration camps. How could any people be so brutal and barbaric against
people who did them no harm?

Today we are going to study the ancient civilization of Assyria. We will discover that what happened to
the Jews in World War II was mild compared to how the Assyrians treated those people whom they
conquered. Their brutality cannot even be described by words. God used this empire to judge Israel for
her rebellion against Him. The prophets warned Israel of the horrific days ahead unless Israel repents,
but they refused. Let’s see how God used this evil nation to judge Israel, then see that God judges
Assyria in like manner.

8.2 Objectives

1. Students should be able to describe the relationship between the Assyrian Background to the
books of 2 Kings 15-19, Isaiah 26-37 and the prophet Nahum in the areas of the location
settling, government, religion, social, and commercial factors in the society.

2. The student should be able to carefully describe the Assyrian empire and how it treated those whom
it brought under subjugation.

3. The student should be able to describe how God used this empire to forward his plans for the
development of Israel.

8.3 Assyria (2500 BCE– 609 BCE)

Location

Information from this section was taken from https://www.bible-history.com/biblestudy/nineveh.html
Assyria, a kingdom of northern Mesopotamia, became the center of one of the greatest empires of the
ancient Middle East. It was located in what is now northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey.
The Neo-Assyrian Empire was an Iron Age Mesopotamian empire, in existence between 911 BC and 609
BC, and became the largest empire of the world up till that time.

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