INTRODUCTION
In 702 B.C. the most powerful empire in the Middle East was camped outside the gates of Jerusalem. The Assyrian Army awaited the order from King Sennacherib to attack. But, the order never came. Had the order come, Israel would have disappeared off the face of the earth, forever. Ponder that for a moment. Because, without the continuation of Judaism, then there would be no Christianity, and no Islam. The Battle-That-Never-Was would have altered world-wide human history in ways that no one can fully imagine. This is the story of how the battle didn’t happen.
ISRAEL
The Old Testament tells us that Israel achieved its greatest land mass, power, and wealth under King Solomon. But, it didn’t last long. When Solomon died, around 925 B.C., the ten northern tribes refused to submit to his son, Rehoboam. So, they revolted. For about the next two hundred years there would be two kingdoms of Hebrews; Israel (ten tribes) and their capital Samaria in the north, and Judah (which included the small priestly tribe of Levi) and their capital Jerusalem in the south.
The history of both kingdoms is basically one of endless, ineffective, disobedient, and corrupt kings. The kingdoms eventually collapse due in no small part to Israel’s geographical location with a series of various powerful Mesopotamian kingdoms in the northeast and, the powerful Egyptians in the southwest. Internally, Moab successfully revolted against Judah. Ammon successfully seceded from Israel. Within a hundred years of Solomon’s death, in the vast expanse that is the Middle East, Israel and Judah were reduced to tiny and weak states which combined were about the size of New Jersey.
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