Chapter III

The Isaiahic Catastrophe and History

March 20/21, 701 B.C.

This chapter is designed to show the kind of actions, leadership and responses which developed in a time of an astronomical holocaust, certainly considered a national crisis. Eight persons will be cited, two of whom perished and a third of whom was injured with cosmic burns. Reactions range from apprehension (Micah), to despair (Shebna), to dismay (Hezekiah), to hope (Isaiah), to cosmic-scheduled battle plans (Sennacherib), and to a casual arrogance (Rabshakeh).

Frequently, events surrounding Judah's experience with catastrophes called forward the best of their leadership, leaders such as Abraham, Amos, Elijah, Joshua, Moses, Isaiah, and (by extension) Noah, In this last of the long series of holocausts, where more literature is extant, we see the stable, stellar figure of Isaiah in the foreground, with a thankful, revitalized Jerusalem and a massive Assyrian graveyard in the backgrouna, Isaiah foresaw the coming catastrophe, but also, somehow by Divine guidance, he understood beforehand its outcome.

The Historic Situation In 701 B.C.

THE YEAR 701 B.C. was like the earlier years of dreaded catastrophism in most respects. ¹ It was a year in which attention of numerous peoples of all continents was riveted skyward. The viewing hours of Mars were from about 8 A.M. to 8 P.M. The best viewing hours were just after sunset. This catastrophe was expected to be a crisis much like the earlier ones with meteoritic blizzards, earthquakes, tidal waves in marine regions, vulcanism in various terrestrial regions, and vast auroral displays in the magnetosphere. On each of these six earlier occasions, Mars approached Earth within 150,000 miles, and on one occasion perhaps as close as 60,000 miles.

In 701 B.C., if Mars passed as close as 70,000 miles (an indicated possibility), it would have caused a crustal deformation 350 times greater than the usual 2-inch to 3-inch lunar-caused, daily crustal deformation. Even if the crustal deformation were only half as great as we have indicated, the walled cities throughout the Middle East, cities such as Jerusalem and Nineveh, stood in considerable danger.

Mars in the sky at a 240,000-mile distance would appear four times as large as the Moon, but since its albedo is twice that of the Moon, it would “shine” eight times greater. ² Mars, passing on the inside of Earth on this particular occasion, would appear like a silvery slit. Its area in the nocturnal sky would be 50 times greater than the Moon's, and its reflective power would be about 100 times greater than the Moon's reflection. Many of its craters could be seen, as could its two tiny moons, Deimos and Phobos. In addition, there would be a fiery display of Mars-meteors. This would, indeed, be a shocking exhibition. To suggest that the Earth-dwellers of that particular night were uneasy is an understatement. They must have been panic-stricken.

The Joel-Amos Catastrophe had occurred just 54 years and 4½ months earlier, in October of 756 B.C. Of the many children who survived that catastrophe, their eye-witness accounts of the 756 B.C. event were frightening. ³ Isaiah was one of the survivors. He had been an impressionable child of perhaps nine or ten years old in 756 B.C. Therefore, he had a frame of reference of solid personal experience, since he had already lived through one dreadful astronomical holocaust. He also had a frame of reference which was historical (for he refers to accounts of the Long Day of Joshua, the Exodus Catastrophe and the Sodom-Gomorrah Catastrophe as three models). In addition, he had a frame of reference which included astronomy, for he was one of the many “watchmen in the night” who frequented Jerusalem's rooftops as observatories.

This chapter shall consider the experiences of eight persons recorded in the Scriptures who lived during this holocaust in the spring of 701 B.C. Six of the eight survived it. Three of the eight were kings; another three were prophets; one was a general and one the king's treasurer. Two were Assyrians and six were Hebrews. The names and positions of the eight are as follows:

1. Rabshakeh: Assyrian general under Sennacherib
2. Sennacherib: Assyrian king and commander-in-chief
3. Shebna: Hebrew official, state treasurer
4. Micah: Hebrew prophet, eighth century B.C.
5. Habakkuk: Hebrew prophet, seventh century B.C.
6. Hezekiah: Hebrew king, 716 B.C. to 686 B.C.
7. Manasseh: Hebrew crown prince and later a king
8. Isaiah: Hebrew prophet and statesman

Rabshakeh

Assyrian armies, in terms of the twentieth century, were something like the panzer divisions of Germany in the early part of World War II. Within the preceding 30 years, 731 B.C. to 701 B.C., the Assyrian armies of Tiglath Pileser, Shalmaneser Sargon, and Sennacherib had conquered some 108 cities throughout the Middle East. This included sites from the Indian Ocean on the south to the Black and Caspian Seas on the north, and from Persia on the east to the Mediterranean Sea on the west. Often the capture was by surrender, sometimes by siege. The Assyrian armies were strangers to defeat.

When the Assyrian troops approached a city, they usually gave an ultimatum to surrender or to be totally destroyed. If the populace chose surrender, they would be deported to a foreign province, and cultural destruction (a grave threat for a Hebrew) would be the consequence. ⁴ The other alternative was resistance, capture and destruction, razing of the city structures. If this course were chosen and the city were defeated, it would be leveled, and the males of the city who survived siege would become pawns of the Assyrian soldiers. The soldiers would often flay the captives, peel the skin off their backs with swords or knives while the captives were tied to the ground, and then would bet which one would live the longest. Thus resistance was also a hopeless alternative for a surrounded city. Jerusalem found itself in this situation in February 701 B.C. The Assyrian invaders surrounded the ill-fated city, and rapidly were bringing up siege equipment and supplies.

City after city had fallen to the onslaughts of the Assyrian war machine. Arphad, Babylon, Carchemish, Damascus, Hamath, Lachish, Samaria, Sepharvaim, Sidon, Tyre and some 100 others had fallen, more often through surrender than slaughter. Jerusalem was one of only three cities left in Palestine which had not capitulated. It was a city swollen with refugees, apprehensive, bewildered and hungry, for the Assyrian armies had moved so fast that there had been little opportunity to gather the vast food supplies from the countryside which the populace required for a long siege.

Would Jerusalem elect to surrender, or fight and risk annihilation. Sennacherib was not sure. However, his resources were not limited to a blitzkrieg. He also had a propaganda machine of psychological warfare which he began to employ. Rabshakeh was Sennacherib's “mouthpiece.” He endeavored to foster confusion and betrayal within the threatened city. The extensive account is found in Isaiah 36. In brief, Rabshakeh threatened, intimidated, and tempted the populace, fostering dissension and potential traitors.

Rabshakeh's attitude was one of supreme confidence (like the attitudes of Guderian and Rommel in June 1940 on the eve of the fall of Paris). No city had successfully resisted Assyrian assaults in over 30 years. Furthermore, a close fly-by of Nergal (the Assyrian name for Mars) was on schedule for the third week of March. A close fly-by, which was forecast by all the augurs, might very easily include a crustal tide sufficiently strong to breach, if indeed not to crumble, Jerusalem's city walls. Mars-Nergal might indeed make siege equipment such as mounds, catapults or rams unnecessary. Earthquakes might easily create new breaches in the walls of Jerusalem, or reopen old ones. Victory for the Assyrians was certain, one way or the other.

But there were surprises scheduled on that fateful night of the Mars fly-by, the “passover,” the night of March 20. True, during this fateful night there were severe earthquakes and breaches created in Jerusalem's defensive walls, in spite of the fact that they were 40 feet thick and 100 feet high. But there was also an incoming bolide, which fell toward the Assyrian army encampment, and exploded above it.

Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand : and when they [the Jewish guard] arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. (Isaiah 37:36)

RABSHAKEH 
1. Who he was: An Assyrian general 
2. His behavior: Arrogance, planet worship
3. The experience: His sudden destruction

Sennacherib

Sennacherib was not only a king but also an idolater of Nergal (Mars). He believed that Nergal would help Assyria reduce Jerusalem, for Nergal to the Assyrians was as Ares to the Greeks or Mars to the Romans, “king of battle, who brings the defeat, who brings the victory.” ⁵ It is entirely possible that Sennacherib offered a prayer of worship to Nergal, a prayer similar to the following eighth century B.C. Babylonian prayer:

Shine of horror, god Nergal, prince of battle,
Thy face is glare, they mouth is fire,
Raging Flame-god, god Nergal.
Thou art Anguish and Terror,
Great Sword-god,
Lord who wanderest in the night,
Horrible, raging Flame-god . . .
Whose storming is a storm flood. ⁶

Sennacherib's astrologers and augurs may have chanted in expectation hymns similar to the following, recorded by the Hindu poet Kalidasa in The Birth of the War God:

There fell, with darting flame and blinding flash
Lighting the farthest heavens, from on high
A thunderbolt whose agonizing crash
Brought fear and shuddering from a cloudless sky.

There came a pelting rain of blazing coals
With blood and bones of dead men mingled in;
Smoke and weird flashes horrified their souls;
The sky was dusty grey like asses' skin.

The elephants stumbled and the horses fell,
The footmen jostled, leaving each his post,
The ground beneath them trembled at the swell
Of ocean, when an earthquake shook the host. ⁷

It was on the fateful night of Friday the thirteenth of Nisanu in the Assyrian calendar, or March 20 in our calendar, that Sennacherib's troops were suddenly destroyed, whether by percussion or by radiation (flash-burns). Sennacherib survived, but according to rabbinical sources, he had been badly burned. ⁸

SENNACHERIB 
1. Who he was: The Assyrian king and commander-in-chief
2. His behavior: Planet-worship
3. The experience: He survived, but was badly burned

Shebna

Shebna was the secretary of the national treasury under King Hezekiah. Unofficially, he was the master political manipulator. He had been born heir to a substantial estate, for financial power had been his father's ambition. A lust for money became in Shebna a lust for political power. Through intrigue, he gained control of the department of state in Jerusalem. He was eager for a new era of politics in the Middle East with Jerusalem as its center, and himself as the master-mind.

Shebna was the architect of the revised Egypt policy. Judah, formerly in a state of alliance with and vassalage to Assyria, had experienced peace and moderate prosperity without brutal taxation. Shebna's bold counsel was for Judah to renege on her alliance with Assyria, and enter into an alliance with African powers, primarily Egypt. With such a new policy, a balance-of-power policy, and with expert political manipulation, ⁹ perhaps Judah could gradually ascend to political dominance of the entire Middle East. Perhaps by such policies, the golden age of David and Solomon could be restored, and Jerusalem would again become the center of culture of the known world.

It was an audacious policy, including calculated risks, to be sure. One hope in the new policy was that Sennacherib and his armies would be distracted on his eastern and northern borders for a few years. The wild Scythians of the north had been an occasional menace. A second hope was that, in event of armed conflict, Egyptian armies together with Judean armies could successfully hold the Assyrian armies to a standstill in Northern Palestine.

Hezekiah wilted under the heavy economic and political pressure applied by the princes of commerce, and in 702 B.C., the new Shebna policy went into effect. Hezekiah acquiesced with reservations, but it was the easiest course to follow. A few isolated but loud voices objected, and predicted the worst. Among these few voices were those of Isaiah and Micah, spokesmen of God. However, since they were not important politically or economically, little attention was paid to their warnings.

In 702 B.C., Sennacherib easily kept his eastern border (Persia) intact; no invasion from the Scythians developed from the north; and he was antagonized by the covert power play of Judah with Egypt. In late 702 B.C. plans for the 701 B.C. campaign were formulated. The plans included conquering and destroying Jerusalem by the middle of spring, and from there to blitz across the Suez into Egypt. By summertime, according to plans, Egyptian armies were to be destroyed. The entire Middle East needed to be taught a lesson, and Jerusalem, (the rebellious city), would furnish the example.

Shebna's “brilliant” foreign policy began to backfire, and quite rapidly. The master political planner had brought down a major disaster upon the whole nation, which threatened to be final disaster. It was true that Egypt and Ethiopia, in alliance, had nearly a half million men under arms; but they had decided against undertaking any campaign to relieve Jerusalem. Instead, they dug in along the Sinai Peninsula and sent Hezekiah and Shebna a large supply of sympathy and best wishes.

In January 701 B.C., Assyrian troops advanced rapidly through such vassal states as Syria and Samaria (the region of Galilee). Since they were vassals, there was no resistance. In February, Judah was captured including all the cities except Jerusalem, and Lachish and Libnah (two smaller cities to the southwest). Jerusalem was surrounded. Rabshakeh issued his call to surrender.

If Jerusalem were to surrender, Shebna could be among the first to be flayed. (There was serious discussion of surrender.) He would be separated from his skin and allowed to die by inches, a calamitous reversal of what he had hoped for. On the other hand, if Jerusalem resisted (and with astronomical catastrophism and earthquakes scheduled soon), the best Shebna could hope for would be sudden death in armed conflict, but he was not even a soldier. The entire populace of Jerusalem was terrified. Some of the dispirited people had decided, since they were doomed to die, to “eat, drink and be merry.” It was an infectious refrain within the city. Now, Shebna had no master plan, no solution, and no apparent hope. His grand design had turned to total disaster at every turn, both with the Assyrian invasion and with the lack of Egyptian intervention. He was under extreme strain, and in such a pressure situation, he lacked both stability and spiritual resources. Power had been his deity, and now he would lose it.

His decision was to die and to be buried as he had lived -- in style. He selected a proper, expensive sepulcher, and an expensive attire, and he (like Hitler) committed suicide. This was the culmination of his political career, the result of his political manipulations.

SHEBNA
1. Who he was: Secretary of the Treasury
2. His behavior: Power lust and political manipulation
3. His response: Suicide

Micah

Micah was an associate and a confidant of Isaiah, another prophet who advised Hezekiah. Both were dismayed about the lack of executive leadership in Hezekiah, and about the political machinations of Shebna. Micah had a few words for Shebna's complex control of Jerusalem, a control which extended beyond the economic and political scene into the highest religious councils of the nation. Concerning Shebna, the high level manipulator and his powerful associates:

... the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward [bribe]; and the great man [Shebna], he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up. THE BEST OF THEM IS AS A BRIER: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge... (Micah 7:3-4)

Neither did the caliber of the populace in general of the holy city measure up, in any reasonable way, to the citizenship of a divine commonwealth.

The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. (Micah 7:2)

Micah, the prophet, discussed a triple contention. One was against the evil leadership of the land. A second (discussed above) was against the populace in general. A third was against the land itself. Micah anticipated astronomical catastrophism.

For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be MOLTEN under him, and the VALLEYS SHALL BE CLEFT, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place. (Micah 1:3-4) [Micah predicted hard earthquakes and renewed vulcanism including flowing lava.]

Micah, like Isaiah, had little sympathy for the idolatrous astrologers of Jerusalem.

Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall cover their lips.... (Micah 3:7)

Nor did Micah spare the sanctimonious clergy.

Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace.... (Micah 3:5)

Micah discussed the forthcoming catastrophism in terms of earlier holocausts:

...the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity. (Micah 7:4)

Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord's controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the Lord hath a controversy with his people.... (Micah 6:2)

According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt [The Exodus Catastrophe] will I shew unto him marvelous things. (Micah 7:15)

MICAH 
1. Who he was: A prophet with an unpopular message as coming from God judgment and hope
2. His attitude: Acceptance of catastrophism
3. His response: To emphasize both

Habakkuk

Habakkuk was a watchful youth in the Negev during the Isaiahic Catastrophe. ¹⁰ The development of the Isaiahic Catastrophe in 701 B.C., and the miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem from the Assyrian armies was now history. The cause of the bolide, the nocturnal “big blast” passover of Mars at 70,000 miles, and the accompanying crustal shocks were now history. Habakkuk's task was to describe in writing the vivid celestial events of that dramatic evening in March 701 B.C. This he does in chapter 3 of the book of Habakkuk.

As Mars approached Earth in that fateful month of March, it was a slit of light overtaking Earth about 22,500 miles per hour, day after day. Upon its outside fly-by, it suddenly blossomed to quarter, to half and to full-moon reflectivity. Its gravitational field entered into, and deeply clashed with Earth's geomagnetic sheath which today extends well out beyond the Moon. Brilliant auroral streams, electrical discharges and huge descending meteors were a part of the dramatic scene.

God came from Teman [the south], and the Holy One from Mount Paran [again the south] ¹¹ Selah. His GLORY ¹² covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. And his BRIGHTNESS ¹³ was as the light; he had HORNS ¹⁴ coming out of his hand: and there was the HIDING ¹⁵ of his power. (Habakkuk 3:3-4)

Some of the interacting phenomena were invisible like gravity and the geomagnetic fields. Some were visible with gradual movements like auroral streams. Other phenomena were visible with sudden movements like meteors and bolides.

Before him went THE PESTILENCE, ¹⁶ and BURNING COALS ¹⁷ went forth at his feet. ¹⁸ (Habakkuk 3:5)

On this night, not only the Earth, but also Mars trembled. Probably vast chasms and rifts were opened in Mars with lava outflows. In addition, Earth-dwellers also trembled from fright.

He stood, and MEASURED ¹⁹ the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills đid bow. ... (Habakuk 3:6)

I saw the tents of Cushan, [the eastern horizon], in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian, [the southern horizon] DID TREMBLE. (Habakkuk 3:7)

Habakkuk as a youth, possibly a teenager, may well have been in the Negev, the steppe land to the south of Jerusalem, and not in the holy city during this fateful night. His description of the eastern and southern horizons indeed suggests that he was in the Negev. From the Negev, Cushan and Midian form the mountain horizons. Very likely, some of the silhouette peaks, dormant volcanoes, suddenly reactivated during this catastrophic passover.

Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation?
(Habakkuk 3:8)

Habakkuk discussed crustal tides and crustal deformation in the earlier verses. Here he discussed marine tides and oceanic deformation, tidal waves. His use of the terms “riding upon thine horses” and “chariots of salvation” recalls the Phaethon story of Greece where, one day, the heavenly steeds pulling the solar chariot bucked, and the sun wandered crazily across the sky. A sun wandering crazily in the sky merely is the ancient way of describing that our planet wobbled, or its spin axis precessed.

Habakkuk described crustal tides in the previous verses; in verse 8 he is concerned with the hydrosphere. Subterranean earthquakes resulted in sweeping tidal waves, affecting coast lines and river estuaries. Thus both crustal and marine movements are described as in writhing activity. Since we have auroral displays (atmosphere) in verse 4, and crustal distortion (lithosphere) in verse 6, then this verse 8 completes the triad, atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere, all in disorder.

“Thy bow was made quite naked. ... Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.” (Habakkuk 3:9) Could it be that the naked bow, the “quite naked” bow suggests that the curve or the trajectory of Mars-meteors ripping through the Earth's atmosphere?

The mountains saw thee, and they TREMBLED, ²⁰ the over-flowing of the water passed by: the DEEP ²¹ uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high. The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.
(Habakkuk 3:10-11)

The brilliant arrows, Mars-meteors, and the glittering spears, Mars-bolides, are here again, describing the battering of our planet during the wobbling of Earth due to the interaction with Mars. The visible effect of the wobble, the crazy paths taken by the Sun and Moon, would be most apparent at the height of the passover but would continue for some days afterwards.

Chapter 3 of Habakkuk is a magnificent cosmic report by an eye witness. Habakkuk not only described what happened, but why. The reason was to deliver Judea from Assyria.

Thou didst march through the land in indignation [wrath], thou didst thresh the heathen in anger. Thou wentest forth FOR the salvation of THY PEOPLE. . ..
(Habakkuk 3:12-13)

It is lamentable that this dramatic deliverance of Israel is ascribed to the wrong period of history by most Bible commentaries. It is the era of Isaiah, Hezekiah and Sennacherib, and the dramatic deliverance of 701 B.C. It is not the Chaldean invasion of the era of Jeremiah, Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar, a time when Jerusalem was not delivered, incidentally, but was destroyed.

What is more lamentable is that this magnificent cosmic report by an eye-witness is assumed by historians and Biblical commentators to be colorful figurative language. Their perspective is so over-shadowed by evolutionary uniformitarianism that they cannot conceive of the general picture, much less the precision in detail which Isaiah does give, even more so than Habakkuk. It is the Earth-centered approach to ancient history which we refute. Only an Earth-centered, non-catastrophic, uniformitarian rationale could conclude that this language is figurative and fanciful. ^{22 23}

HABAKKUK 
1. Who he was: A youthful observer during the catastrophe
2. His attitude: Wonderment at the cosmic display
3. His response To vividly record it in writing

Hezekiah

Hezekiah was a king of Judah in the line of David. His father, Ahaz, was an idolater who changed his idols as one nation or another was victorious in battle. Sometimes he worshipped the Phoenician pantheon, sometimes the Egyptian pantheon, and after Tiglath-Pileser's victories, the Assyrian pantheon. Hezekiah was different. Early in his reign, he reopened the temple and rid it of the idolatries imported by his father. He repressed the Baal-Ashtoreth (Mars-Venus) cult with its astrology, witchcraft and child sacrifice. However, later, possibly under Shebna's influence, he relented and allowed the idolatries to flourish. Hezekiah was indeed a vacillating king. (His reign began in 716 B.C. and continued until his death in 686 B.C. ²⁴ Due to his poor health, his son Manasseh became co-regent at the young age of 12, in the year 697 B.C. Manasseh assumed the throne in 686 B.C. at the youthful age of 23.)

About 702 B.C. Hezekiah had bowed to the counsel of his power-hungry advisors, and adopted a pro-Egypt policy, unilaterally revoking his alliance and protective agreement with Assyria. ²⁵ By January of 701 B.C., it became apparent that Shebna's new policy was leading the nation to the brink of disaster. Hezekiah began to listen to new counsellors such as Isaiah and Micah. He began to replace leading officials, part of Shebna's machine, with other men who had less power lust and more interest in spiritual values. This included Eliakim, who eventually became Shebna's own replacement.

Isaiah was among those watching the heavens, and the trajectory of the approaching Mars in the evening and early night-time hours in February and March of 701 B.C. as Mars gradually overtook the Earth at a rate of about 22,500 miles per hour.

...He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, [Isaiah]
what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?
(Isaiah 21:11)

...What aileth thee, [all the citizenry of Jerusalem],
that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops,
[in nocturnal Mars-watching]?
(Isaiah 22:1)

Isaiah's advice to Hezekiah, as we shall see in the next section, was to resist the Assyrians, and to wait for the Lord's deliverance. Isaiah's prognostication of severe judgment on Jerusalem was well-known; he had been preaching about it for many years. However, by January of 701 B.C., even while Hezekiah “rebounded” spiritually, Isaiah's message began to shift to the positive. Formerly, it had been a variation of the following:

Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved for there shall come from the north, [cosmological north]
a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.
(Isaiah 14:31)

Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
(Isaiah 29:6)

...for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.
(Isaiah 28:22)

With the approach of the catastrophe-causing planet, and the threatening troops of Sennacherib, the more apprehensive Jerusalem became. Ironically, Sennacherib eagerly anticipated the approach of Mars, hoping that with it would come earthquakes and the breaching of Jerusalem's walls. His seers had recommended this as a good year for military conquests in the west.

For thirty years, while citizens of Jerusalem were complacent, Isaiah's predictions had been pessimistic, telling of coming fire and brimstone, earthquake and demolished city walls. Even as the citizens of Jerusalem became increasingly fearful to the point of panic, Isaiah surprisingly shifted toward optimism. When Isaiah, the nightly celestial scanner, was asked for his morning report, or daily projection, he began to announce, at first cautiously, then forcefully, that danger indeed approached. However, he stated that the danger was to Sennacherib, not to Jerusalem. ²⁶

And Isaiah said unto them ... Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the King of Assyria have blasphemed me
[Rabshakeh's call to forget Jehovah and surrender].
Behold, I will send A BLAST UPON HIM, and he shall hear a rumor, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
(Isaiah 37:6-7)

First, it is a matter of record that Sennacherib survived the catastrophe, but was burned. Upon returning to Nineveh, he was assassinated by his sons. Second, “blast” is from the Hebrew word ruwach suggesting a violent exhalation. It has connotations of air, or anger and of breath. We propose that a bolide exploded above Sennacherib's army encampment, vaporizing some, burning some, and causing death by concussion to others. This is in accord with the meaning of ruwach which is also found in Isaiah 25:4.

...a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the BLAST of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

Another description is in Isaiah 37:36.

Then the angel of the Lord ²⁷ went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold they were all dead corpses.

This background of Isaiah's changing advice, and changing message helps one to understand why Hezekiah resisted Assyria in 701 B.C. whereas he vacillated in 702 B.C. under Shebna's pressure. Hezekiah's response was something like “fox-hole faith;” he was under great pressure. He accepted Isaiah's counsel. In the day of test, Hezekiah turned to prayer. This was a highly significant decision, because as the national leader, he in turn led the people of his nation to prayer.

And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah PRAYED UNTO THE LORD, saying,

O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth. Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear; open thine eyes, O Lord, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib which hath sent to reproach the living God.

Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries, and have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of man's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, even thou only.
(Isaiah 37:14-20)

After the astronomical holocaust and the destruction of Sennacherib's western army corps, Hezekiah's prayer turned to praises. This praise is reflected in Psalm 46, written shortly after the Isaiahic Catastrophe. This was symptomatic of a reversal in national spirit, a general return to divine viewpoint for the nation. The nation for the next 15 years became a God-centered society. Hezekiah became an increasingly spiritual leader of his people, largely due to Isaiah's continuing influence (and due in part to the death of Shebna and the subsequent disorganization of his council).

God is our refuge, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore will not we fear, though the Earth be removed,
[orbital shift]
and though the mountains be carried
into the midst of the sea;
[crustal deformation]

Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,
[giant tidal waves]
though the mountains shake [crustal deformation]
with the swelling thereof. [earthquakes]

God is in the midst of her; [divine protection]
she shall not be moved:

God shall help her, and that right early.
The heathen raged, [Rabshakeh]
the kingdoms were moved:
he uttered his voice,
the earth melted.... [vulcanism]

Come, behold the works of the Lord,
what desolations he hath made in the earth.
[185,000 to be buried]

He maketh wars to cease. [the Assyrian war]
he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder;
he burneth the chariot in the FIRE, [bolidic explosion]

Be still, and know that I am God: [spiritual awareness]
I will be exalted among the heathen,
I will be exalted in the earth.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
(Psalm 46:1-3, 5-6, 8-11) ²⁸
[destiny of the Judeo-Christian heritage]

Another of Hezekiah's responses was to adjust the calendar to the new astronomical situation. This condition was not immediately apparent, but became obvious within a few years. We conclude that an expanded orbit, and perhaps a slightly faster spin rate resulted in more days per year. There were now 5¼ extra days per year. With this lengthening of the year, after several years the calendar would be a full month out of order. ²⁹ Sooner or later, the need for a new calendar would become very clear.

Sometime between 695 B.C. and 690 B.C., Hezekiah arbitarily added a special month to the calendar. It is discussed in a careful reading of II Chronicles 30:15-36. The passover, on this occasion, was celebrated in the second month on the fourteenth day rather than on the fourteenth day of the first month. This famous late passover was the most festive and best-attended that Jerusalem had experienced in 250 years, again illustrating the national spirit of thanksgiving.

HEZEKIAH 
1. Who he was: A king, who like Numa, ruled during a celestial crisis
2. His behavior: Dismay, vacillation, then prayer, then praise
3. His responses: A renewed spiritual out-look, a choice of new advisors, a reorganization of the calendar

Manaseh

Manasseh is the seventh person in our list of characters responding to the catastrophe. He was very young at the time of the catastrophe, perhaps only seven or eight years old. His father's (Hezekiah's) health was poor in the years following the 701 B.C. catastrophe, and Hezekiah's sudden death was considered a real possibility at any time. Manasseh became co-regent in either 697 B.C. or 696 B.C. (He was twelve years old, and nominally, a man.) This co-regency was to preclude political problems at the time of Hezekiah's death, and to ease the transfer of power. Manasseh became sole ruler at the age of twentytwo in 687/686 B.C.

During the era of Hezekiah's reign (715 B.C.-686 B.C.), Isaiah the prophet and counsellor had given divinely inspired advice. His political advice had been astute. His foretelling of the bolide and the destruction of the Assyrian armies had been an impressive prophecy in the realm of cosmology. During the ensuing 15 years, Isaiah's counsel guided the nation. The late passover of circa 690 B.C., was the greatest national holiday and day of thanksgiving in 250 years, since the golden age of Solomnon.

So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem.
(II Chronicles 30:26)

Divine viewpoint as expressed in the Pentateuch and the Psalms became national viewpoint. God blessed his people with peace, prosperity and national harmony (social harmony). The late Shebna's distorted dream of a golden age was a reality without distortion for the revitalized nation.

However, Manasseh's inner nature rejected Biblical precepts and faith in God. He began to consort with the priests and the priestesses of Baal. He became an apostate. With his accession to the throne, Judah lost its spiritual direction, its national purpose, and in time its moral fabric.

For he built up again the high places
[idolatrous and adulterous]
which Hezekiah his father had destroyed;
and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove,
as did Ahab, king of Israel;
and worshipped all the host of heaven
[Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and perhaps Saturn,
along with the Sun and Moon],
and served them.
(II Kings 21:3)

And they shall spread them, [human bones] before the sun, and the moon,
and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved,
and whom they have served,
and after whom they have walked,
and whom they have sought,
and whom they have worshipped...
(Jeremiah 8:2)

It is quite clear by now that a radically different regime assumed power in Jerusalem in 687/686 B.C. Biblical teaching swiftly went out of style. Manasseh burned children in the idolatrous fires. He persecuted orthodox believers and filled Jerusalem with blood, Jewish and Christian tradition both attest that Isaiah was martyred by the new administration within a few years after its accession, ³⁰ Isaiah was disemboweled, or dismembered alive in front of the nation as an example of the religious policy of the new regime.

If Manasseh undertook this dark display of newfound authority only two years after his accession, circa 684 B.C., then Isaiah was close to 82 years old at the time of his martyrdom. Why would Manasseh (or his Baalish priests) want to so mistreat any aged man, much less an elder statesman and a prophet of God? Was it because Isaiah lost his influence in Jerusalem, or was it because Isaiah symbolized a dedication to Jehovah and a fearless non-conformity with and protest against the new pagan style? If the young king felt it was necessary to make an example of Isaiah, was this a measure of Isaiah's failure as a prophet and reformer, or was this a measure of his successful and positive impact on his people when Biblical precepts were falling into times of repression, times of persecution?

From Manasseh's viewpoint, Jerusalem had been delivered by Baal-Mars rather than Jehovah, creator of the heavens and the Earth. Therefore the renewal of the astrological, debauched, Baalish system was perhaps consistent with that form of thinking

MANASSEH
1. Who he was: A youthful king
2. His attitude: Adoration of Mars and Venus (Baal and Ashtoreth)
3. His response: Repression of the Hebrew faith, martyring of Isaiah

Isaiah

Isaiah's prognosis and diagnosis of the Isaiahic Catastrophe are equally as important as are his recorded observations of it. Isaiah was (1) a historian, (2) a cosmologist, (3) a counsel of state, and (4) a prophet. In his broad role, Isaiah achieved (a) short-range impact on his city, his nation and his generation, (b) medium range impact on the next few generations, and prophets such as Jeremiah, and (c) long-range impact on all successive generations. We shall briefly examine each of these four roles, and each of the three ranges of impact. ³¹

Isaiah as a Historian

Isaiah used the historical astronomical crises as themes for his prognosis of the coming day of the Lord. He did it repeatedly and his contemporaries knew what he had in mind, for catastrophic events of the past were well-remembered in general.

THE SODOM-GOMORRAH SCENE of 187 B.C. Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
(Isaiah 1:9)

THE EXODUS HOLOCAUST of 1447 B.C. And the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him ... so shall he lift it up AFTER THE MANNER OF EGYPT.
(Isaiah 10:26)

THE LONG DAY OF JOSHUA of 1404 B.C. ... it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. ...For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, [where Joshua stood on the fateful day], he shall be wroth as in the Valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, HIS STRANGE WORK; and bring to pass his act, HIS STRANGE ACT. ... for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.
(Isaiah 28:19, 21, 22)

THE ELIJAHIC CATASTROPHE of 864 B.C. and THE JOEL-AMOS CATASTROPHE of 756 B.C. Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, [northern provinces affected during the Elijahic episode], and afterward [the Joel-Amos episode] did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea. ...

THE JOEL-AMOS CATASTROPHE of 756 B.C. Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble. ...
(Isaiah 5:25)

With these five brief reference points for analysis, it is seen that Isaiah had some grasp of the historical fact of fire and brimstone catastrophes. He had considerable understanding of the timing of these episodes, and their astronomical dimension. In addition, he had an understanding of God's occasional deliverance of His chosen people through or amidst these scenes, Species deliverance occurred during the Noachian catastrophe, the Deluge. Political deliverance occurred during the Exodus event. Military deliverance occurred during the Long Day of Joshua as we shall see in a later chapter. A divine demonstration occurred on the evening of the Elijahic Catastrophe, in 864 B.C., a demonstration meteoritic in nature. Each of these earlier catastrophes will be subjects for later chapters of this book. However, to understand the astronomical picture of the Isaiahic Catastrophe and to understand the associated deliverance of Jerusalem is to begin to understand the earlier astronomical crises, and their effect on Middle East history.

Isaiah as a Cosmologist

Isaiah's cosmology was precise and vivid. His prognosis of the coming Isaiahic Catastrophe must be considered in the light of his experience in the Joel-Amos event in his childhood. Thus his expectations of the Isaiahic Catastrophe and his observations of it are really separate sides of the same coin.

Whether Isaiah was, technically, using hyperbole in some of his prognostications may be debatable, (as in 24:1 where he describes the world as being turned upside down). The fact remains that in the bolidic destruction in 701 B.C., at least 185,000 people did perish. ³² This may be conservative if there were other destructive blows other than the bolide over suburban Jerusalem, Sennacherib's encampment. Significant depopulation was definitely an expectation with an approaching catastrophe.

About 50 percent of the verses in the first 38 chapters of Isaiah deal directly with catastrophism in one or another of its several forms. We cannot be exhaustive in a brief chapter, but the following categorical list will illustrate Isaiah's cosmology. Many of the quotations cited refer to other more ancient events, but they clearly give the flavor of Isaiah's cosmological view.

1st: ISAIAH ON THE LOCATION OF THE ORIGIN OF CATASTROPHES

Earth's north pole (and Northern Hemisphere) is tilted backwards 23½ degrees in March (and is tilted forward in the autumn) with respect to its orbital path.

Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come FROM THE NORTH a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.
(Isaiah 14:31) ³³

... the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. They come from a far country, FROM THE END OF HEAVEN
... the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
Isaiah 13:4-5)

2nd: ISAIAH ON THE CELESTIAL SCENE

...and I will sweep it with
the BESOM [broom] OF DESTRUCTION. ...
(Isaiah 14:23)

And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll. ...
(Isaiah 34: :4)

... the earth is moved exceedingly.
(Isaiah 24:19)

The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed. ...
(Isaiah 24:20)

...for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
(Isaiah 24:18)

Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down. ...
(Isaiah 24:1)

3rd: ISAIAH ON THE VISIBLE ASTRONOMICAL DESTROYER

...like a ROLLING THING before the WHIRLWIND.
(Isaiah 17:13) ³⁴ \

“Rolling” is from the Hebrew word galgal, a rolling thing, a wheel, a rotating thing.

“Thing” is from the Hebrew word dabar, similar to deber meaning pestilence, meteorites, murrain, plague. Both words are from the verb dabar meaning to appoint, to subdue, to destroy.

“Whirlwind” is from the Hebrew word cuwphah, a whirlwind, a tempest, a hurricane.

Then the ANGEL OF THE LORD ³⁵ went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians. ...
(Isaiah 37:36)

4th ISAIAH ON METEORS

Whose ARROWS are sharp, and all their BOWS bent, the horses' hoofs shall be counted LIKE FLINT, and their wheels like a whirlwind:
(Isaiah 5:28)

...his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a DEVOURING FIRE: And his breath, as an OVERFLOWING STREAM.... (Isaiah 30:27-28)

...and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the FLAME OF A DEVOURING FIRE, with SCATTERING, AND TEMPEST, AND HAILSTONES.
(Isaiah 30:30)

... the breath of the Lord, like a stream of BRIMSTONE,
(Isaiah 30:33)

And the STREAMS thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into BRIMSTONE, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.
(Isaiah 34:9)

... when the OVERFLOWING SCOURGE shall passthrough. ... (Isaiah 28:15, see also 28:18)

... which as a TEMPEST OF HAIL AND A DESTROYING STORM, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing shall cast DOWN to the earth with the hand.
(Isaiah 28:2)

5th ISAIAH ON ORBITAL PERTURBATION OR CHANGE

...and the foundations of the earth do shake.
(Isaiah 24:18)

...the earth is moved exceedingly.
(Isaiah 24:19)

Therefore I will shake the heavens, and THE EARTH SHALL REMOVE OUT OF HER PLACE. ...
(Isaiah 13:13)

6th ISAIAH ON POLAR MIGRATION

... for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. THE EARTH SHALL REEL TO AND FRO LIKE A DRUNKARD, and shall be removed like a cottage.
(Isaiah 24:18-20)

...THE MOON SHALL BE CONFOUNDED, AND THE SUN ASHAMED ³⁶... (Isaiah 24:23)

For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of PERPLEXITY ³⁷ by the Lord God of hosts. ...
(Isaiah 22:5)

“Here,” Isaiah replied, “is the sign from Yahweh that he will do what he has said. Look, I shall make the shadow cast by the declining sun go back ten steps on the steps of Ahaz.” And the sun went back the TEN STEPS by which it had declined. ³⁸ \ (Isaiah 38:8)
[The Jerusalem Bible, Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Co.. Inc., 1971.]

7th ISAIAH ON THE HISTORIC BOLIDE

Behold, I will send a BLAST upon him. ...
(Isaiah 37:7)

...a shadow from the heat, when the BLAST ³⁹ OF THE TERRIBLE ⁴⁰ ONES is as a storm against the wall.
(Isaiah 25:4)

...he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
Come, behold the works of the Lord,
what DESOLATIONS he hath made in the earth.
(Psalm 46:6,8)

8th ISAIAH ON COSMIC AND/OR CRUSTAL NOISE

In August 1883 when Krakatoa, a small volcanic island between Java and Sumatra, blew up, the quaking and thunder were heard 2000 miles distant in such varied locations as Manila, Australia, and Reunion Island in the Western Indian Ocean. Great noise was expected during the Isaiahic Catastrophe. Whether this noise was due to (1) exploding bolides, (2) volcanic upheaval, (3) clashing geomagnetic fields of the two planets, or (4) perhaps all of these, is an open question. Certainly among the great noises was the bolidic explosion.

Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with THUNDER, and with EARTHQUAKE, and GREAT NOISE, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
(Isaiah 29:6)

Their roaring shall be like a lion. ...
(Isaiah 5:29)

For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down. ...
(Isaiah 30:31)

9th ISAIAH N EARTHQUAKES AND CRUSTAL FRACTURES

...when he ariseth to SHAKE TERRIBLY THE EARTH.
(Isaiah 2:19, also 2:21)

For it is a day of trouble, and of TREADING DOWN, and of perplexity ... breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains.
(Isaiah 22:5)

Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many. ⁴¹ ...
(Isaiah 22:9)

... and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them : AND THE HILLS DID TREMBLE,
(Isaiah 5:25)

Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with EARTHQUAKE. ⁴² ...
(Isaiah 29:6)

10th ISAIAH ON THE CATASTROPHIC SCHEDULE, OR APPOINTMENT, OR ASTRONOMICAL RENDEZVOUS

... for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even DETERMINED ⁴³ upon the whole earth.
(Isaiah 28:22)

And your covenant with death shall be DISANNULLED and your AGREEMENT With hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through. ...
(Isaiah 28:18)

(This prophecy is when Isaiah began to be optimistic, advising Hezekiah that the danger approaching would affect the Assyrians, not the Hebrews bottled up in Jerusalem. Isaiah, through insight or revelation, was becoming increasingly optimistic at the very time the general populace of Jerusalem was turned from dismay and despair to panic.)

... WHEN he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. (Isaiah 2:19)

For the DAY OF THE LORD of hosts shall be upon everyone. ... (Isaiah 2:12)

For IT IS A DAY OF TROUBLE, and of treading đown, and of perplexity....
(Isaiah 22:5)

Isaiah was a cosmologist, one who carefully observed conditions in the heavens and projected what he saw and read into the historic past, and into at least the immediate future. He considered, “The past is the key to the future.” Thus he forecast a coming episode by his understanding of the historical holocausts and by his experience as a child in 756 B.C. Eras of catastrophism were expected to repeat in one kind of cycle, or pattern, or another, as they had for at least 1800 years, Then, (suddenly) Mars went out of resonance in 701 B.C., never to bother the planet Earth again. The past was no longer the key to the future for the succeeding centuries.

Compare Isaiah's cosmology in a catastrophic era with the contemporary popular view in our era. It is the uniformitarian view, whose motto is, “The present is the key to the past.” Whether the serene (celestially at least) present is or is not the key to the future is uncertain. And it is not the subject to which we address our work. But whether the serene present is the key to the past is very clear. It is clear that such is not the case.

Isaiah's Historical Impact

Short Range Impact

Isaiah's impact on his generation was substantial before the catastrophe. First, King Hezekiah considered his counsel worth asking for. His sermons of coming judgment were fearful, colorful, stirring. His advice proved very sound. His prophecy concerning the bolide which missed Jerusalem, but destroyed the Assyrians' western army corps was amazing. His stand of faith was a measure of his integrity.

When Psalm 46 was composed in the pleasant aftermath of the catastrophe, it became a classic anthem, sung by the populace. If it was penned by Isaiah, perhaps it was “published” at Hezekiah's suggestion. Second, then, Psalm 46 symbolizes the national reform instituted by Hezekiah under Isaiah's counsel.

Yet a third measure is the celebration of the famous late passover, the gayest and best-attended in two and one-half centuries, a national day of thanksgiving, a day of festivities. These each suggest that Isaiah set a style of appreciation and worship which the nation as a whole followed, however briefly, for about fifteen years.

Medium Range Impact

The importance of Isaiah's impact is reflected in the fact that Manasseh felt Isaiah was a center of opposition, and martyred him in front of the nation to make maximum counter impact of his own. This indicates that Isaiah was a significant person to the entire nation even in his declining years. He was stable, whether during calamity or prosperity, whether during popularity or persecution. Yet another measure of Isaiah's medium range impact is his influence on the reformer king, Josiah, and on the character of later prophets such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

Long Range Impact

To measure Isaiah's long range impact is more difficult, especially briefly. Millions of people over the centuries have read the book of Isaiah carefully. This is remarkable “exposure” even though it is certainly not a complete measure of Isaiah's impact.

The literary style of Isaiah reappears in the writings of such prophets as Ezekiel and Zechariah in the Old Testament, Matthew and John in the New Testament. ⁴⁴ The pattern of the Apocalypse more closely follows that of Moses, but the style is similar to Isaiah's catastrophic word-pictures. ⁴⁵

In the aforementioned works such as Ezekiel's apocalypse and John's apocalypse, Isaiah's catastrophic message, or at least his catastrophic style, is echoed. Beyond his catastrophic message, Isaiah also had (1) a messianic message, (2) a millennial message, and (3) a moral message, the details of which are to be excluded from this work. ⁴⁶

We must not fail to keep in mind the length of time and multitude of years in which these things, if they had been good, would certainly not have remained unknown, for almost everything has been found out, though in some cases what is known has not been systematized, and in other cases men do not make use of the knowledge which they have.
-Aristotle

Among the Greeks, those who first disclosed the natural causes of thunder and storms to the untrained ears of man were condemned as guilty of impiety towards the gods.
-Francis Bacon

NOTES