SENNACHERIB WENT DOWN TO JUDAH

(My rewriting of “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” by Charlie Daniels.) 

Sennacherib  went down to Judah
He was lookin’ for a city to siege
He was in a bind
‘Cause he was way behind
And he was willin’ to make a dealAnd if you win you get to keep  your head
But if you lose Sennacherib gets your realm  

When he came upon Jerusalem, king
Hezekiah settin in the temple and prayin’ a lot
And Sennacherib jumped
Up on a siege engine
And said king let me tell you what

I guess you didn’t know it
but your God sent me here to you
And if you care to take a dare I’ll destroy  you

Now you got a pretty good city
But give Sennacherib his due
if you surrender now I’ll take all of you
to a land where there’s fine food that’s true
if not you can drink your pee and eat your pooh  

The king said my name’s Hezekiah  
And it might be a sin
But I’ll take your bet
And you’re gonna regret
‘Cause my God is the best there’s ever been

Isaiah cried out to God and prayed really hard
Cause Assyria’s  broke loose in Judah and the Sennacherib deals the cards

Sennacherib sent out his archers
And he said I’ll start this show
And fire flew from his arrows
As he pulled back his bow

Then he pulled the bow across his chest
And it made a evil whizz  
And a band of slingers joined in
And it sounded something like this

[Instrumental]

When Sennacherib finished
Hezekiah said well you’re pretty good old son
Just sit right in that tent right there
And let me show you how it’s done

He played Fire on the Mountain
Run boys, run
Angel of the Lord is in the camp tonight
Killed them men without a fight
Sennacherib ran back home in the night
[Instrumental]
Sennacherib bowed his head
Because he knew that he’d been beat
he saw them 185,000 soldiers
On the ground at Hezekiah’s feet

Hezekiah said, Sennacherib just come on back
If you ever wanna try again
I done told you once you son of a gun
My God is the best there’s  ever been

And he played Fire on the Mountain
Run boys, run
angel of the lord is in the camp tonight
Killed them men without a fight
Angel of the Lord does  your fiery sword bite
yes men, yes

  

You better believe it

PHOENICIA

     In around 1000 B.C., during the reign of the Israelite kings, there arose a nation that God told the Israelites to destroy during the time of Joshua. That nation  was Phoenicia. The Phoenicians were great sea-faring people but they worshiped false gods. That was the reason God wanted them destroyed so they would not have an influence about worshiping false gods on his people.  The Phoenicians were originally Canaanites who were called Phoenicians by the Greeks. Very few people know about the Phoenicians. Come with me on a journey to learn about these ancient peoples.

      Most cities in Phoenicia were on the cost of the Mediterranean and  colony city- states in  parts of Africa, Italy, and Spain. These city- states were founded by rich Canaanite merchants who became kings. The cities had splendid harbours and strong defenses. Some of the greatest cities were Tyre, Sidon, Byblos and Carthage.

       The Phoenicians exported many things. Among these were colorful vases, engraved gold plates, wine jars, glass beads and cedar wood. They were most famous for their expensive dye that colored garments from pink to rich dark purple. This dye came from crushed snails called murex snails. Only strong slaves could work these large grind stones. So in fear of them escaping the Phoenicians gouged their eyes out like they did to Sampson in the Bible. They traded these items all over the Mediterranean and a pretty good ways down the coast of Africa. If you look at this map you can see exactly where their trade routes were at.

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      The Phoenicians during their time period were the best navigators and explorers in the world. The Phoenicians had a power on the seas 1000 years before Alexander the Great. The Phoenicians navigated by using the stars and the sun. They used the sun during the day and the stars by night. They pictured the Big Dipper as a sky chariot. If they wanted to go west they followed the sky chariot to the right and so on. The Phoenicians sailed through the Strait of Gibraltar  into the Atlantic Ocean. Hanno, a Phoenician, may have been the first to do so. He described the sun as being in the northern half of the sky during noon which would make sense if he was at the southern tip of Africa. Also, a clay pot was found in the Azores Islands far out in the Atlantic containing coins from Hannos time. Do you think Hanno did this? 

        

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              The Phoenicians developed a system of 22 signs in about 1000B.C.. Their alphabet was similar to semitic and Egyptian, with signs for consonant sounds. This form of writing  partly consisted of pictographs and geometric symbols. The picture to the right shows their alphabet. The English alphabet we use today  came from the Phoenicians.

            Phoenicia had friendly relations with Israel. 1Kings 5:1 says that Hiram, king of Tyre, sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that he had been annointed king in his father’s place, for he had always been good friends with King David. King Hiram of Tyre and King Solomon were like best buds. When Solomon was building the temple Hiram not only sent him materials but skilled workmen. Also, Solomon joined their fleets into one large merchant fleet. These fleets came back loaded with gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks.  Hiram lent Solomon shipmen who could navigate his fleet. If you would like to see a 3D tour of solomon’s temple click here. http://www.3Dbibleproject.com/en/default.htm

          The Phoenicians contributed very much to are society today from the alphabet to navigation. By the time Jesus was born this nation was no more. But in a short time God used them to fulfill his purpose.

 

                                                                                                            

BIBLIOGRAPHY

THE BIBLE

http://www.phoenicia.org

http://www.bible-history.com/past/phoenician_ships.html

http://www.3Dbibleproject.com/en/default.htm

EXPLORING PLANET EARTH by JOHN TINER

USBORNE BOOK OF WORLD HISTORY by USBORNE