In Search of the Prophesied Ten Kings–Part One: The Rise of Empires and the Fall of the Commonwealth of Israel (Resources & Notes)
[Note: The last declared king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire was Ashur-uballit II who was killed in 609 BCE, marking the beginning of a seventy-year period of Babylonian domination in the regions of Mesopotamia, Central Asia, eastern Asia Minor and Palestine (Jer. 25:11-12).] [Note: Sargon of Akkad (also Agade) is considered to be the founder of the first world-ruling empire—the Akkadian Empire—which had its beginnings with the ancient city-state of Akkad in Mesopotamia. Akkad was one of four ancient city-states said to be founded by Nimrod in the land of biblical Shinar, commonly equated with Sumer. In time the Akkadian Empire gave way to two rival, but culturally mutual kingdoms—Assyria and Babylon—noting that Hammurabi created a transitory Babylonian Empire.] [Note: Sargon II appropriated his throne-name from the former Assyro-Babylonian Semitic king named Sargon the Great (of Akkad).] [Note: The name “Nimrod” is an epithet that is thought to mean “rebel,” and although some historians attempt to reckon him with Gilgamesh and other legendary and historical figures, it is more likely from a chronological perspective that he was the Sumerian ruler named Lugalzagesi. In time Lugalzagesi conquered and united most of Sumer and he is thought to be the first leader after the Flood to claim that God had made him king over the land of Mesopotamia—from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf.] [Note: The initial territorial scope of the promise made to Abraham is greater than some would typically think as God promised him “this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates,” which would essentially include much of the productive lands of Egypt and the fertile region of Mesopotamia (Gen. 15:18). Considering also that the Euphrates is more than 1700 miles long as it rises in Turkey and flows southeast across Syria and through Iraq. God had also said to Abraham “after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever” (Gen. 13:14-15; Deut. 11:24). To which we add what was said to Joshua as the people of Israel began to settle in the land of Canaan: “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites [eastern Anatolia], and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast” (Jos. 1:3-4). This would of course envelope, but leave unsettled by Israel, the land given to the children of Lot (Ammon and Moab), and also the land given to some of the descendants of Esau at Mt. Seir (Deut. 2:4-9).] [Note: Abraham’s son Isaac died some years before the reign of Hammurabi, but Isaac was alive when his grandson Joseph was sold into slavery, noting that Isaac died about one year before Joseph came to power in Egypt. This was about the time the Hyksos—“Rulers of Foreign Lands”—began to rule in Egypt, which meant that for a time Hammurabi and Joseph were contemporaries. Also, Jacob was alive when Abraham died, but he was also alive—and Isaac also—when Eber died. Eber was a great-grandson of Shem who was born nearly seven decades after the Flood. Consequently Jacob was turning about 20 years of age when the last of the known post-Flood patriarchs died in Shem’s line, because Eber had lived beyond the time of Shem, Arphaxad, Salah, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah (Abraham’s father) and also Abraham.] [Note: “Chedorlaomer journeyed southward as far as to El-paran, probably the ancient name of Ezion-geber at the head of the Gulf of Aqabah. In the southern part of the country the eastern confederacy defeated the Horites, or Hurrians who had settled at Mount Seir (Edom). On the northward march they went to En Mishpat-Kadesh, in the Amalekite country southeast of Beer-sheba, and then to Hazezon-tamar (En-gedi) which was occupied by Amorites. The king of Sodom and his allies fought Chedorlaomer in the Valley of Siddim, with disastrous results. In their flight some of the men of Sodom and Gomorrah fell into the slime pits while others escaped to the mountains. The enemy was able to take as booty all of the property which had to be left behind, and a number of men, including Lot” (Old Testament History, “An Episode of World Politics,” by Charles F. Pfeiffer, Baker Book House, 1979, p. 67).] [Note: “In the light of the discoveries at Mari a date of 2150 B.C. for Hammurabi appears too high… The Mari documents spoke of Shamshi-Adad I as an Amorite contemporary of Hammurabi, which brings him into the latter part of the Mari Age. On the basis of this important evidence it is now possible to date Hammurabi about 1728-1686 B.C. with reasonable confidence. At present it is extremely difficult to arrive with any degree of certainty at the identity of King Amraphel of Shinar, but it is now evident that he was not the same person as Hammurabi of Babylon” (Introduction to the Old Testament, with a comprehensive review of Old Testament studies and a special supplement on the Apocrypha, by R.K. Harrison, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1969, 1982, p. 160).] [Note: Some have speculated that Amraphel, king of Shinar, was possibly Nimrod or a successor to Nimrod, but this is chronologically most unlikely.] [Note: “In Exodus 19:3-8 the covenant with Abraham and his seed (Gen 12, 15, 17) was renewed with his descendants, now that they had become a great nation” (A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, “Exodus,” by Gleason L. Archer, Jr., Moody Press, 1977, p. 234).] [Note: “The Old Testament acknowledges that these promises are fulfilled in part within its own time frame as Isaac is born and from him descends the Israelite nation, as Israel itself