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After the fall of Samaria, Israel's Story concentrates on the Southern Kingdom of Judah, which had survived quietly beside Israel. Judah had preserved the Davidic dynasty on its throne in Jerusalem, together with the Ark of the Covenant in the Temple, but in the dangerous times of Assyrian aggression and expansion, Judah had not escaped the attention of the Assyrian kings. While Jeroboam II had ruled Israel in prosperity, Judah had similarly been governed by King Uzziah. They both died near to the time when Tiglath-Pileser III had usurped the Assyrian throne and begun his campaigning towards Assyria's ultimate goal, Egypt, - and times changed from stability to ominous fear of the future.

It is into this tapestry of political History (determined by kings, politics and armies), that Israel's Sacred Story is woven, of the religious reflections of the ordinary people of Israel, - how they saw themselves in relation to their God, YHWH, and the Covenant. The ordinary people of 'Middle Israel' were taught their sacred Story, from their mothers, and the village teachers, the Levites. Some were better than others. The best were YHWH-Loyalists, who taught rigorously that Israel should worship no other God, but others fell short of this standard and taught a confused lesson including elements of Baalism. The great prophets of this 8^th cent BCE all reflect very good knowledge of their Story, and criticised others, and their leaders, for their deviations, Hosea particularly, blaming the bad teachers, (Hos.5.1-2). The Sacred Story was affected by political History, though only rarely did the prophets have any influence with the King, and his policies.

The prophet ISAIAH, of Jerusalem, was called to prophecy with a vision of YHWH, Himself, while he was in the Temple. (so he must have been of an aristocratic family to have been there). He wrote of it in retrospect, looking back to the good old days when life was stable under old King Uzziah, (Is 6). His vision was a glimpse of heaven, in which the Temple all around him was transfigured. In his state of heightened consciousness, Isaiah 'saw' YHWH as the constant, perpetual King, sitting on a throne, which the Temple, full of incense, could barely contain, surrounded by seraphic attendants, who sang the 'Song of Heaven',

Isaiah's reaction was that of others who experience the Numinous, ( 'holiness' which is so great, that the individual is humbled by comparison). Isaiah, humbled, was 'cleansed', by fire from the sacrificial altar, and accepted the 'call' to be YHWH's prophet and speak in YHWH's Name to YHWH's people. In retrospect, Isaiah had already experienced their reluctance to listen!

Isaiah had already advised the new king, Uzziah's grandson, AHAZ, during the ominous time before the fall of Damascus, when the kings of Syria and Israel tried to force Judah to join an alliance with them against Assyria. Ahaz, a weak king, at first did listen to Isaiah's advice, to keep calm, and resist quietly, until the danger passed, in the short time it would take for a young girl to bear and wean a child, (Is.7.3-16). Ahaz, however, panicked, and in his desperate fear, ignored Isaiah, sacrificed his own son, and then appealed for help to the King of Assyria himself. (This had led to the end of Syria and the Northern Kingdom, - session 18). The consequences for Judah were also profound, though not so severe. Ahaz was summoned to meet Tiglath-Pileser III at Damascus where he must have been ordered to accept into the Jerusalem Temple,the Assyrian gods, (their god, Asshur, the goddess, Ishtar, and the 'host of heaven', the gods of the constellations and the zodiac). Ahaz sent the design of the Assyrian altar back to Jerusalem, and by the time he returned, having paid lots of tribute as well, the new altar had replaced the main altar of YHWH.

Isaiah also had to live with these consequences, and feeling impotent, retired from public life to live, probably, in a community of like-minded people who collected and wrote his prophetic poems and songs. The 'Song of the Vineyard', (5.1-10) is the most well known of these.

Isaiah's poems dating from the reign of Ahaz are to be found in chs. 1 - 12 of the long 'book' that bears his name.

There are four prophetic scrolls in the Hebrew Bible, - all roughly of the same length. The last is known as the 'Book of the Twelve' and contains the 12 short prophecies under individual names, the last 12 books of the English Bible's Old Testament. The other three scrolls bear the name of the first contributor of a collection of various authors, all anonymous, who wrote on a similar theme. Isaiah's scroll is the first, and all its subsequent authors wrote on 'His' theme, of the Holiness and supreme Majesty of YHWH, reflecting his vision in ch 6.

The prophet, MICAH, was the fourth great 'writing prophet' of the 8^th cent BCE, whose prophetic book is another of the 'Twelve'. Micah was a countryman from Moresheth, about 25 miles SW of Jerusalem, and very close to the highway along which the armies marched. He also was prophesying during the reign of Ahaz. Some of his poems were written before the fall of Samaria, and some after. He prophesied that Jerusalem would suffer the same fate as Samaria, (3.9-12), but expressed the confident hope that the city would be 'raised up' again when purified, (4.1-5). Years later in the time of Hezekiah, when disaster stared everyone in the face, Micah was certain that YHWH would 'raise up' another young lad from Bethlehem to continue the House of David, in leadership against the Assyrians. (5.1-6).

The theological climax of his work is in ch 6. It begins with a lament in the name of YHWH,

'O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me!' and continues, describing Israel's Sacred Story of all that YHWH had done for Israel. When the people respond, asking how they should worship properly, Micah wrote, 'he has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does YHWH require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?' Thus he encapsulated all the teachings of the 8^th cent prophets, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and himself.

King Ahaz died, and was succeeded by his son, HEZEKIAH. Sargon II of Assyria was as strong as Shalmaneser who had captured Samaria in 721 BCE, so Hezekiah wisely kept a low profile. (had Isaiah come forward again to advise?) He waited a long time, even in 716 when Sargon moved nearer to Egypt, setting up a trading agreement with Ashdod on the border. He continued to wait quietly four years later, in 712, when Ashdod was persuaded by an Egyptian promise of help to rebel against Assyria. He may have been influenced by Isaiah's 'acted prophecy' in Is 20, but he wisely kept out. Sargon acted quickly. Egypt failed to come with help, and Ashdod became another Assyrian Province with an Assyrian governor.

During this time, however, Hezekiah had been planning and preparing to realise his big dream, - to reunite Greater Israel under the Davidic monarchy, by making all refugees from the fallen North very welcome in his kingdom. Many of the North's records and prophetic writings came too. Isaiah approved, and especially when Hezekiah named his new son, Manasseh, as a compliment to the north.

Hezekiah had quietly prepared to assert Judah against Assyria's domination when the right opportunity arrived.He had reorganised his army and provided weapons and new shields; he had fortified many towns and laid up well-provisioned store cities, and then in Jerusalem he had extended the walls with huge towers, and improved the water supply with a huge engineering project, a tunnel to bring water into the city. (The 'Siloam Inscription', commemorating this work by Hezekiah is now in the Museum at Istanbul). Then he set about making alliances with various other anti-Assyrian people, like King Luli of Sidon, and Merodach-baladan of Babylon, - much to Isaiah's dismay.

Sargon had returned to other parts of his empire which were restive, but was killed in 705. This was the opportunity for which many had been waiting. Hezekiah's first act was to re-assert the place of Israel's God, YHWH, in the Temple. All 'foreign' gods were thrown out, including many items of baal-worship found there. Then all Baal-shrines in the countryside were destroyed, together with many YHWH-shrines which were dubiously suspect. Hezekiah celebrated the Passover in Jerusalem, having sent invitations throughout the northern areas for more to 'return' to Israel's family. (reviving the national God was a political statement!)

Sargon's successor, Sennacherib, was no weakling. In 703 he subdued Babylon; in 702 he subdued the Urartans in Anatolia, and in 701 he began his advance towards Egypt .All Hezekiah's allies crumpled, one by one, leaving Judah defenceless. Sennacherib's records, and carvings from Nineveh, (now in the British Museum), corroborate the OT records, see

2 Kgs 18 -20, 2 Chron 29-32, and Is 36-39. Sennacherib claims he took 46 fortified towns, of which the taking of Lachish was the most spectacular. Then he seiged Jerusalem, building a huge earthwork all around the city, and boasting that Hezekiah was 'holed up like a bird in a cage'. He sent his ambassadors to taunt the citizens, and demoralise them into surrender, but Isaiah met the King and gave his usual counsel, 'wait, trust YHWH to save'. Then the Egyptian army arrived, but Sennacherib beat them and they went home. Hezekiah was at the point of surrender, when disaster struck the Assyrian army. History says it was a plague, Israel said it was YHWH's angel. Either way the Assyrian army 'died', and Sennacherib returned to Nineveh where he was assassinated. Jerusalem was saved!