Shishak Attacks Israel and Judah

1 Kings 14:21-31; 2 Chronicles 11-12

At the start of his long and prosperous reign, King Solomon formed an alliance with Egypt and sealed their treaty by marrying Pharaoh’s daughter (1 Kings 3:1). While this ensured no overt military conflict between Israel and Egypt, behind the scenes Egypt was no doubt working to subtly undermine Solomon’s power, as evidenced by at least two occasions when Egypt granted asylum to Solomon’s enemies (1 Kings 11:14-40). After Solomon died, one of those enemies–Jeroboam–returned from Egypt and was made king over the northern tribes, while Solomon’s son Rehoboam continued to rule over Judah (1 Kings 12:16-20). Philistia also appears to have reestablished its independence after Solomon’s death. It must have been clear to Rehoboam that Egypt and Philistia, and perhaps Moab, could no longer be trusted as safe neighbors, because he immediately fortified a number of towns throughout Judah. Interestingly, none of these fortified towns were located between Judah and Israel. Instead, they guarded all routes leading to Jerusalem from the west, south, and southeast. In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, around 926 B.C., King Shishak of Egypt (also called Shoshenq I) launched a military campaign throughout Judah and Israel, attacking numerous towns. Shishak was of Libyan ancestry himself and was aided in his campaign by a vast army of Libyans, Sukkiim, and Cushites. He did not continue to occupy the towns of Israel and Judah, however, suggesting that his primary goal was simply to weaken both nations after the death of Solomon. Shishak recorded his campaign on sculptures in the temple of Karnak near the Egyptian capital of Thebes. Some of the towns noted in his list are difficult to identify with certainty, but those that have been somewhat firmly established are shown on this map. It should also be noted that a large portion of Shishak’s list pertaining to the Judahite towns has been severely damaged, so he likely attacked several other towns not shown on this map. The towns of Jerusalem, Libnah, and Beersheba also must have been among those missing from the Judahite list, because the Bible explicitly notes that Jerusalem was attacked (1 Kings 14:25-26; 2 Chronicles 12:9), and the destruction layers of Libnah and Beersheba suggest that Shishak had destroyed them as well. The Bible also notes that Shishak took away the treasures of the Temple and the king’s palace, including the gold shields that Solomon had made.

Prophets of the Old Testament before 800 B.C.

If you ask someone today what biblical prophets did, they will likely tell you that they divinely foretold of future events. While this was often the case, most prophets in the Bible focused as much on “forthtelling” God’s messages as they did on “foretelling” the future. That is, their primary role was to simply “forthtell” divinely acquired messages to leaders and groups of people, and at times that included foretelling of coming judgment, blessing, rescue, etc. Also, though plenty of prophets (sometimes called “seers” in Scripture) often spoke in confrontational or eccentric language that put them at odds with kings and religious leaders, the biblical writers also applied the term prophet to people who communicated God’s messages in ways that many readers today might not think of as prophecy, such as worship leaders appointed by David to “prophesy with lyres, harps, and cymbals” (1 Chronicles 25:1). Similarly, the books of Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings are typically categorized as history by Christians, but in the Hebrew canon they belong to the category of Former Prophets. The Lord raised up prophets throughout all of biblical history, from the giving of the law under Moses to the revelation of the last days by the apostle John, and the kings of Israel and Judah often recognized and supported specific people as official prophets of the royal court and consulted them to find out God’s perspective about official matters. Following is a list of nearly everyone designated as prophet or seer in the Old Testament and the primary area of their ministry.

• Deborah (1216 B.C.) [Judges 4:4] => Baal-tamar?
• Samuel (1070 B.C.) [1 Samuel 3:20; 1 Chronicles 29:29; 2 Chronicles 35:18] => Ramah
• Gad (1018 B.C.) [2 Samuel 24:11; 1 Chronicles 21:9; 29:29; 2 Chronicles 29:25] => Masada?
• Nathan (1000 B.C.) [2 Samuel 12:1; 1 Chronicles 29:29; 2 Chronicles 29:25] => Jerusalem
• Asaph (1000 B.C.) [2 Chronicles 29:30] => Jerusalem
• Ahijah (935 B.C.) [1 Kings 11:29; 2 Chronicles 9:29] => Jerusalem
• Shemaiah (930 B.C.) [2 Chronicles 12:2-15] => Jerusalem
• Iddo (913 B.C.) [2 Chronicles 9:29; 12:15; 13:22] => Jerusalem
• Jehu son of Hanani (890 B.C.) [1 Kings 16:1-7; 2 Chronicles 19:2] => Samaria?
• Azariah (890 B.C.) [2 Chronicles 15:1-8] => Jerusalem
• Elijah (860 B.C.) [1 Kings 18:36] => Samaria
• Micaiah (853 B.C.) [1 Kings 22:8-23; 2 Chronicles 18:7-22] => Samaria
• Jahaziel (853 B.C.) [2 Chronicles 20:14] => Jerusalem
• Eliezer (853 B.C.) [2 Chronicles 20:37] => Mareshah
• Elisha (850 B.C.) [1 Kings 19:16; 2 Kings 2:15] => Samaria
• Joel (835 B.C.) [Joel 1:1] => Jerusalem