39- The Plain of Megiddo

40- Advance O Horses, Rage O Chariots

After defeating Josiah at Megiddo, the pharaoh Necho uses duplicity to consolidate his control over the Levant. Meanwhile, the waxing Babylonian Empire begins to take the place of Assyria.

39- The Plain of Megiddo

The Assyrian Empire is reduced to a rump state in Anatolia. Seeing an opportunity to return to its former glory, Egypt launches a lightning mission to rescue Assyria. In a move that has mystified biblical commentators, Josiah of Judah—despite having seemingly no stake in the fight—ambushes and attacks the Egyptian forces at Megiddo. The event proves to be Josiah’s Waterloo, making the word “Megiddo” a byword for disaster. What was Josiah thinking?

38- No King Like Him

As Assyria disintegrates, Manasseh’s grandson Josiah declares a holy war against idolatry and invades Samaria. Ian and Caleb explain why the enigmatic “Book of the Law” brought to Josiah is thought to be Deuteronomy.

37- All the Powers of the Heavens

Manasseh of Judah offers the most legendary story of personal transformation in the Old Testament. A loyal Assyrian vassal and fanatical pagan who burned his own children as a human sacrifice, Manasseh ultimately returned to the God of Hezekiah and led a Yahwist revival.

36- You Have Mocked the Lord

2 Kings 19 records the most astonishing miracle in the Books of Kings. In 701 BC, an “angel of the Lord” descended upon Jerusalem and slaughtered 185,000 Assyrian soldiers, lifting Sennacherib’s siege of the city.  Incredibly, the angel’s destruction of Sennacherib’s army is perhaps the most well-documented miracle in the Old Testament, with the Deuteronomist’s account finding support or corroboration in Egyptian, Babylonian, and Assyrian sources. Had the Assyrians succeeded in taking Jerusalem, the entire Kingdom of Judah—and, with it, all worship of the God of Jacob—would have been erased from the pages of history.