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The new, 7^th, century began with Jerusalem wondering if Sennacherib, king of Assyria, would return to complete his siege and capture of their city, but he didn't. King Hezekiah died. The King of Assyria merely made sure that 'his man' among Hezekiah's sons succeeded to the throne. So Manasseh became King at the age of 12, and reigned without causing any worries for Assyria, until he died, 55 years later.

Life in Jerusalem was quiet, once Manasseh had crushed the opposition, and relatively prosperous, for Assyrian merchants frequently traded, - and policed while they did so, - while the Assyrian armies were marching up and down on their way to Egypt. Twice Egypt was conquered, once by King Esarhaddon in 671 BCE, and again in 663 BCE by his successor, King Ashurbanapal. This was the peak of Assyrian expansion, and certainly the time for Jerusalem to be submissive and cooperative.

The OT writers dismiss Manasseh's reign in a mere few verses; he was not even given credit for surviving in the adverse conditions! He was condemned for his lack of religious concern. He was forced to swear allegiance to Assyria's gods, which he apparently did with enthusiasm! He cancelled all Hezekiah's reforms, and encouraged people to worship any gods they liked, even in the Temple. The goddess, Ishtar, (the Queen of Heaven), became a great favourite, and Baalism once again flourished, with all its sacred prostitution customs too. Anyone who opposed this policy was persecuted, see 2Kgs 21.16. There was a strong tradition that the prophet, Isaiah, was among the martyrs. In the light of events in the last quarter of the 7^th century, we must presume that the staunch devotees of Israel's God, YHWH, went underground, and we must surmise for ourselves what happened..............

The time of YHWH's 'underground movement' was one of great religious creativity, among those who were wholeheartedly committed to Israel's faith. Over the next three generations their past experiences were examined and assessed, and they prepared for the future - whenever it should happen.

1. First they quietly melted out of Jerusalem into Israel's countryside, acknowledging each other, and gathering, possibly around one of the old shrines in the middle of the country, eg. Bethel, or even Shechem with its potent memories of Abraham, Joshua, and Jeroboam, first king of the breakaway North. The loyal priests were there, and also the best of the teaching leaders, the Levites, as well as the prophetic groups, and others, such as the puritanical Rechabites.

2. Secondly they gathered together all the YHWH-traditions they had between them, - all the cult stories and traditions, the liturgies for special occasions, and the very ancient apodictic laws, (the 'thou shalt not' variety); all the other collections of laws, (eg. the Book of the Covenant, now in Exodus 21-23), details of all the Covenant agreements, lists of blessings and cursings, their tribal stories, now in the J and E codes, songs and poems still known by heart, and all the historical records of the Kingdoms. The prophetic schools brought all the stories of the older prophets, and the poems of the more recent greater prophets, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah.

   All these were studied carefully to answer the question, How has Israel 'gone wrong'? Answers began to emerge as YHWH's standards of leadership were compared to those of their human kings, and to Israel's half-hearted response to His standards which He required of them. Each individual's interior spiritual life began to take on a new significance, especially in the light of Micah's teaching summary, (6.8), - 'What does YHWH require, but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God?'

   They began to realise that any hope for the future, as YHWH's people, lay with themselves, rather than with their political leaders. And they were YHWH's 'ragbag'! - the 'remnant' when all was nearly lost and gone, as was the Northern Kingdom. Hope for the future began to grow, and a new confidence began to emerge in their prophetic poems.

3. Thirdly they began to examine their priorities - were they right, or wrong? It was the staunch devotees who knew they were right. Others drifted away. Several priorities and convictions began to dominate their thoughts:
   1. At long last they realised there could not possibly be any compromise at all with Baalism. All associations with any other gods had to be totally eradicated, in favour of YHWH-Alone.

   2. They recognised the urgent need for Good Teachers, (Levites), as paramount, for each generation's spiritual well-being and survival.

   3. They began to crystallise their beliefs into short sharp pithy credal sayings, such as the 'Shema', 'Hear O Israel, YHWH, your God is One God'

   4. They reconciled their differing Covenant traditions, placing the conditional Mosaic covenant in first place, so that when Israel had fulfilled those terms, THEN YHWH's unconditional Covenant to Abraham would come to fulfilment in the Day of YHWH. The Davidic Covenant slipped to third in the list of priorities.

   5. In practical terms, they began to wonder how these higher standards could be monitored and supervised? Hezekiah's idea of centralised sacrificial worship had much to recommend it, and was not entirely new, for there had always been a cult focus on the Ark, and the Tent of Meeting, in the days of the Tribal Confederation, when Shiloh was in the care of Eli. No definite programme seems to have been prepared for this. It was left open for debate.

4. Fourthly they actively began to prepare for the future, not knowing when times might change Their first priority was the teaching of the young, with a 'Syllabus' that would comprehensively include everything that mattered for YHWH's People, - a Book of Instruction'.

5. Next they began the anti-Baal polemic at every opportunity, to 'protect' the future from the failures of the past. Then, not knowing if they would live to see the day when times would be different, they decided to write down all they had now learnt. They wrote a BOOK, and kept it safe - somewhere!

   We know it now as the Book of DEUTERONOMY. It was written in the common style of the 7^th cent BCE, but as if Moses of old were writing to each Israelite in the here and now, persuasively as in a sermon. Its content , however, is a jigsaw of material, gathered from many centuries of tradition, but full of anti-Baal propaganda. It was eventually 'found' long after the end of Manasseh's long reign, - in the Jerusalem Temple, in 621 BCE.

By the time Manasseh died in 642, the power of Assyria was on the wane. Ashurbanapal was busy establishing his library at Nineveh, and had lost interest in armed conflict, almost inviting people to rebel. Egypt had quietly asserted its independence, with no reprisals, and was beginning to make diplomatic, mischievous, overtures of 'friendship' along the coast of Palestine. Babylon, too, was getting restless. Manasseh's son, Amon, succeeded his father, but was assassinated only two years later, when the throne passed to Amon's 8 year old son, Josiah. By 627 BCE, when Ashurbanapal died, a new strong leader emerged in Babylon, Nabopolassar, and Josiah, now 20, (and maybe persuaded by Egypt?), decided the time had come to assert his hopes for Judah.

Prophecy burst out again in Jerusalem! The time had come! Zephaniah was the first, and Jeremiah the second.

Zephaniah delivered his bomb-blast into the complacent city of Jerusalem, warning that religious and political disaster lay ahead if Israel failed to repent and return wholeheartedly to the worship of her God, YHWH.

Jeremiah's long career lasted all through the upheavals of the next 40 years, but began quietly in his home at Anathoth, where his father was a priest of YHWH, in the ancient tradition of Eli, and Shiloh. Jeremiah was as reluctant to be YHWH's mouthpiece as Moses had been, but his early poems, in Jer.2-4, show how well taught he was. Like Hosea, he saw Israel's Covenant with YHWH as a marriage; his priority was to the Mosaic Covenant, but increasingly he taught that each individual must worship God from the heart, rather than in elaborate sacrificial rites which could so easily become 'outward show' only.

During this time Josiah had begun to throw off Assyrian domination by ridding the land, and the Temple, of all the Assyrian gods and goddesses. Then he promoted the national God of Israel, YHWH, back into the central focus of the Temple cult, and set out to expand his territories in all directions, especially the North, intending to recreate the old kingdom of David. He deliberately destroyed Bethel, with its 'golden calf' associations.

By 621 BCE Josiah had begun a thorough restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem. He sent his secretary, Shaphan, with money for the workmen's wages, but he returned in consternation to tell Josiah of an unknown Book which had come to light. He read it, finishing with all the curses in Deut.27-28, and Josiah tore his clothes in horror, A Prophetess, Huldah, verified the value of the Book, so Josiah summoned the people, and the Book became State Law, with everyone promising to obey its precepts.

Josiah hastily implemented three of them immediately:

1. All worship of YHWH was centralised, - in the Jerusalem Temple, and all YHWH shrines around the country were closed down, their priests being invited to serve in the Temple.

2. A vigorous campaign began to wipe out all vestiges of Baalism from the whole country, and

3. Josiah called everyone together to celebrate Passover, as a 'Pilgrim Feast' now, in Jerusalem, (thus changing its character completely from its original 'family' style).

For all this, Josiah is hailed as the best King of Israel in the OT, after David!