The chilling story of Lachish

I don't know how to tell Lachish's story.

It was a place I didn't know a lot about, and learning it as I toured it was powerful beyond words.

The 2nd most important fortified city of Judea, Lachish guarded a main trade road from Egypt to Jerusalem.

Canaanite Period:

This city dates back to before the Canaanites. At some point it was conquered by Egypt, and then possibly the Israelites or the Philistines. Its first mention in the Bible is in Joshua 10, as one of the Canaanite cities who came against Joshua at Ai. The Biblical account says Joshua chased the 5 kings of Amorites, including the King of Lachish, to Azekah (which overlooks the Valley of Elah, where David would slay Goliath centuries later). God delivered Lachish to Israel. It became part of the tribe of Judah’s land and the city was 2nd only to Jerusalem.

Israelite Period:

During the Israelite period, it held a strong position in defending the western frontier of Judea against the Philistines. King Solomon's son, King Rehoboam, fortified it in 2 Chronicles 11, and King Amaziah fled there for refuge in 767 BC (2 Kings 14, 2 Chronicles 25) after the Northern Kingdom was defeated by the Assyrians.

Assyrian Period:

Then came the Assyrian invasion in 732 BC. In all, Sennacherib, the general of the Assyrians, conquered 46 cities of Judea, and Lachish was the 2nd-to-last.

2 Chronicles 32 says that in 701 BC, during the time of King Hezekiah, the Assyrian army camped nearby, seige to it, and built a ramp—a predecessor for the ramp at Masada- allowing then to breach the walls, taking the inhabitants into captivity. A chilling letter talks of the signal fires of Tel Azekah going out, meaning they were the last 2 cities left.

At this point in hearing the story, I had a picture of the beacons of Gondor being lit in Return of the King (Lord of the Rings), except opposite. Can you imagine knowing the most vicious, powerful, and cruel army of your day is methodically making its way through your country, has conquered every city its encountered, and now the city closest to you, the lights you are supposed to watch, have now been extinguished?

Which means... you are next.

Today, in the British museum, is a relief that was found in Ninevah depicting this victory.

(photo from http://jerusalem.nottingham.ac.uk/items/show/50)

As we know, the Assyrian invasion ended not long after. God spared Jerusalem, and Lachish was rebuilt in Josiah's time.

Then came the Babylonians.

Babylonian Period:

They reached the gates of Jerusalem in 598 B.C. and placed it under seige (2 Kings 24). King Jehoiakim was murdered, and all of the nobles were exiled (including the son of King Johoiakim), all of Jerusalem excepted the poorest of the land were carried away into captivity to Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar appointed Johoiakim as king and changed his name to Zedekiah. In 589 BC, King Zedekiah mutinied, and Babylon invaded again. This time it leveled most of the cities of Judah (Jeremiah 34). After Azekah fell, Lachish did, and then finally, Jerusalem on Tisha B'Av, 586 BC.

Persian Period

70 years later, when the exiles were allowed to return, Lachish was one of the cities that were reconstructed (Nehemiah 11). It eventually fell into ruin and was abandoned by the time of Jesus.

Today, you can walk around the top of this incredible tel, thru a gate dating back to Hezekiah, see the remains of the palace, along with a model of chairs to show the length of the reigns of Judah’s kings (we'll see that on next week's post!). On a beautiful winter’s eve, you can see the moon rise as the setting sun lights of the Judean hills in the distance- pointing the way to Jerusalem.

*some information from BibleWalks