Lesson 5 - Powerful Enemies & Siege Ramps

                                                      LESSON #5

POWERFUL  ENEMIES WITH THEIR SIEGE RAMPS

There is another important historic note in verse 10…they laugh at all the fortified cities; they build earthen ramps and capture them…

 

In the century before the rise of the Babylonians to power, the Assyrians had invaded the same area. They were so successful at warfare, that small nations, like Judah, had begun developing extensive fortifications to halt them.

Walled cities were not new (Jericho) but Judah had need for stronger walls throughout the kingdom.

These walls were not very helpful. The techniques of warfare grew at a fast pace, just like today. (Well, not exactly like today – but hostile people do seem to always be on the cutting edge of weaponry.)

The Assyrians and then the Babylonians used siege ramps, from which they could attack with battering rams. They also had scaling ladders to help them breach the walls and gates.

They could also undermine the walls by digging tunnels under them, causing cave-ins and destabilizing the walls, (This was easier when the walls were squared off at the corners – later walls around cities became round, without corners).

And psychological warfare was also effective. A good example is in 2 Kings 18 when the King of Assyria sent a message to King Hezekiah. The commander stood outside the walls and proclaimed loudly, and in great detail, a demoralizing message, to the soldiers inside their walls trying to withstand the siege. 

About siege ramps: they are mentioned several times in the Old Testament.

The attackers would build a causeway of earth and rubble, strengthened with wood. They were like earthen bridges. The ramp could cross any moats or short fortifications standing between them and the major city wall. They could mount their battering rams and go right up to the city wall, especially to the most vulnerable sections.

The battering ram was pushed forward on wheels. It usually had a metal tip of some kind and was in a framework protected by tough leather coverings.

As the attackers rammed the wall with their battering machines, debris would fall and the attackers could then use that debris to widen and strengthen their siege ramp.

It was hard for the defenders to fight back. Sometimes they would try to set fire to the battering rams by standing on the wall and pouring hot oil down on them and then throwing flaming torches onto the oil.

This worked in the early years, but the Assyrians quickly adapted their rams to carry devices they could use to douse the flames with water.

One of these siege walls is still largely intact at Lachish (southwest of Jerusalem) and so we can study how some of their warfare was carried out. And a lot of information in our Bible has helped historians accurately depict ancient warfare. (Lachish fell to the Assyrians in 701 BC. They would have been better off to have surrendered, like most cities ended up doing.)

There was enormous manpower needed to build the ramps. But during siege warfare soldiers had very little to do except wait – out wait those inside the walls – just waiting for them to starve to death or sue for peace. So the attacking army was an enormous workforce. Their needs were being supplied by the troops at the rear, who brought up the food and supplies they needed to survive.

So they had little to do except work on the siege ramps and construct their battering rams.

WHAT GOD’S ANSWER MEANT

So this is how God answered Habakkuk. God was going to punish the land of Judah by the hands of the Babylonians….that fierce and powerful and ruthless nation and their military machine could not be stopped.

They invaded lands only to pillage and plunder and take captives. They worshipped at the altar of their military might.

The invaders would run across the land, terrorizing the guilty and the innocent alike. And Habakkuk would realize this immediately. The Babylonians were not being sent just to punish the just the wicked in Israel – the Babylonians would not distinguish between the godly and the ungodly.  All Israelites were their enemies!

All would suffer. Even the few faithful, God-honoring Jews who lived lives of simple obedience to God – they would suffer, too.

(It’s always like that – invading armies set out to conquer everything they see and destroy what they don’t want or can’t transport – devastation for all – there is no questions of “guilty” or “innocent.” All are treated as guilty.)

There was nothing in the first response from God that would give assurance or comfort to Habakkuk.

Habakkuk started with one question, “God, don’t you see what is happening?” And now the answer is, “Yes, I see, and I am going to bring judgment by enabling the armies of your most hated enemies to destroy you.”

This is a case where the cure hurts more than the disease.

God’s words would make the mystery of God’s involvement in world history even more perplexing—for Habakkuk, for those faithful Jewish refugees who settled near the Dead Sea 400 years later, and for us today.