1/27/11

Hezekiah's Jerusalem cont'd:

During Hezekiah's reign, writing became increasingly important for both government and its people.  On a different note, he talked about the "messiah," which literally means "the anointed one."  Speaking in context of the Book of Isaiah, this messiah is Hezekiah, who defended his city against King Sennacherib of Assyria.  According to Isaiah, the Lord told Hezekiah there will be deliverance from Assyria, and the Assyrian failure to destroy Jerusalem was "the single greatest catalyst for the snowballing legend of an inviolable Jerusalem."  Hezekiah's later religious reforms aimed to accomplish religious centralization around the Jerusalem temple.

Josiah's Jerusalem:

After Hezekiah, Jerusalem grew and urbanized under Manasseh, Amon, and Josiah.  Josiah, who became king at eight years old, used literature to build authority, returning to "Old time religion."  He instituted "Deuteronomistic" reform, which emphasized that good things happen when proper worship is performed, and when bad things happen, it is because of poor worship habits.  He also cleaned up the temple after Hezekiah's pagan tendencies (2 Kings 23).  While Hezekiah's reforms dealt with shrines outside of Jerusalem, those of Josiah dealt with shrines affiliated with other gods.  And the fact that their religion was based on literacy shows that people were becoming more literate.