Full Transcript for Ancient Cold Case- What Ever Happened to Shebna?

land. 21 00:03:13,270.11 --> 00:03:15,530.109 Now, the city was under siege. 22 00:03:15,580.11 --> 00:03:18,830.11 It's Jerusalem, 701 BC. 23 00:03:19,390.109 --> 00:03:22,760.11 The Assyrian army surrounds the walls. 24 00:03:23,290.109 --> 00:03:32,710.108 Descended from Noah's grandson, Asher, by Shem, the Assyrians had grown into the world's most terrifying superpower. 25 00:03:34,20.109 --> 00:03:43,480.109 Sennacherib, the Assyrian king that we're gonna call Sena, has already wiped out 46 fortified cities in Judah. 26 00:03:44,50.108 --> 00:03:47,570.109 Jerusalem is the last main holdout. 27 00:03:48,360.109 --> 00:03:57,20.108 Now, less than 100 years had come and gone since Jonah led the Assyrian capital, Nineveh, in a great revival. 28 00:03:57,790.109 --> 00:04:22,210.109 And if you're thinking, wait, the Assyrians are the Jonah and the whale people? Yes, and unfortunately that time of repentance and fear of the Lord that came with it, well, they had been forgotten long before the brutal nation's armies totally encircled Jerusalem between 50 and 75 years after Jonah's revival. 29 00:04:23,40.108 --> 00:04:28,880.448 See, there's this tendency to think of ancient people as being primitive and dusty. 30 00:04:29,210.448 --> 00:04:40,980.447 But before you picture the Assyrians as ignorant barbarians, understand the Assyrians were cruel, but there was nothing simple or basic about them. 31 00:04:41,460.448 --> 00:05:01,159.447 They were masters of hydraulic engineering, bringing water about 60 miles from the mountains to their beautiful hanging gardens, and there's evidence they were using water-raising screws more than three centuries before Archimedes was born. 32 00:05:01,159.447 --> 00:05:06,105.687 If you don't know what all of that is about, it really is worth a quick Google search. 33 00:05:07,45.685 --> 00:05:09,645.685 And Nineveh was such a big deal. 34 00:05:10,85.685 --> 00:05:17,585.684 It was an ancient tourist hub where people could rent donkeys and gondolas to tour the canals they had developed. 35 00:05:18,45.685 --> 00:05:31,685.685 It was known for exotic food and lush gardens, water features, and an 80-room lavish palace, and city walls wide enough for chariots to race side by side. 36 00:05:32,125.685 --> 00:05:35,795.685 In some ways, it was like an ancient Las Vegas. 37 00:05:36,435.685 --> 00:05:38,615.685 God had revealed himself in Nineveh. 38 00:05:39,575.685 --> 00:05:48,715.685 And as the Book of Nahum reveals, the Assyrians would forget the Lord sent a prophet to proclaim truth and redemption to the people. 39 00:05:49,195.684 --> 00:05:54,695.685 So yes, the Lord was reaching out to Gentiles even in the Old Testament. 40 00:05:55,85.684 --> 00:06:02,215.685 God's goodness isn't just a New Testament thing, but that's a podcast for another day. 41 00:06:02,735.683 --> 00:06:25,405.684 Long story short, the Assyrians had been given so much, and they still wanted more So less than 80 years

after an Israelite, albeit reluctantly, brought the good news of redemption from the Lord to Nineveh, the Assyrians set camp just outside Jerusalem's walls. 42 00:06:26,5.684 --> 00:06:37,815.684 And this siege is one of the oldest confirmed biblical crossover events where both scripture and ancient historians documented the event. 43 00:06:38,495.686 --> 00:06:46,885.688 And what exactly was the Assyrian strategy with this siege? Well, it was starvation. 44 00:06:48,455.685 --> 00:06:58,65.682 Aside from starving the people of Jerusalem, the Assyrians were masters of psychological warfare. 45 00:06:58,755.683 --> 00:07:08,395.683 King Hezekiah is just trying to hold his nation together and encourage his people to believe that they would survive the siege. 46 00:07:09,25.683 --> 00:07:14,385.683 But the Assyrians were all about sucking away any remaining hope. 47 00:07:16,235.682 --> 00:07:24,295.683 See, they wanted to break the people's spirit by sending people to degrade their king and their God. 48 00:07:24,875.683 --> 00:07:28,465.683 So psychological torment outside the walls. 49 00:07:28,555.682 --> 00:07:34,785.682 Inside, fear and suspicion must have been running just out of control. 50 00:07:35,955.681 --> 00:07:41,55.683 And that's where the first clues would have begun to be found. 51 00:07:41,795.681 --> 00:07:53,985.68 Not only would the king's steward Shebna, but we'll call him Sheb, go missing, but that same man who was once the king's right hand would be disgraced. 52 00:07:54,425.682 --> 00:07:59,25.681 His tomb would be left unfinished, his legacy in ruins. 53 00:07:59,515.683 --> 00:08:03,945.683 To the ancients, a chariot was the equivalent of a supercar. 54 00:08:04,415.683 --> 00:08:06,645.683 Think Ferrari or McLaren. 55 00:08:06,725.683 --> 00:08:17,35.683 And Isaiah 22 tells us that Sheb was a chariot guy in the end, even his chariots would bring shame. 56 00:08:17,805.683 --> 00:08:52,699.68 And suddenly I've got that 1980s John Waite song I Ain't Missing You at All kind of stuck in my head because, well, Shabna was a guy who had disappeared from people's lives, but there's a big question about whether or not he was actually missed so who brought down Sheb? Was it a rival, a political coup, or something much more mysterious? Today, we're the detectives. 57 00:08:52,829.684 --> 00:09:01,169.682 We'll follow the evidence, question the suspects, and dig through the clues left in scripture and history. 58 00:09:01,449.683 --> 00:09:13,994.41027273 By the end, hopefully we'll have an answer to the question, who really brought down Sheb and why? The struggle. 59 00:09:14,784.41027273 --> 00:09:17,64.41027273 Oh, the struggle was real. 60 00:09:17,74.41027273 --> 00:09:20,264.41027273 But let's step back and -picture it for ourselves. 61 00:09:20,724.41027273 --> 00:09:27,234.41027273 Jerusalem, 701 BC, the city is bursting with refugees. 62 00:09:27,634.41027273 --> 00:09:31,14.41027273 Food must have been scarce and water precious. 63 00:09:31,484.41027273 --> 00:09:37,894.41027273 And this siege was such a big deal that evidence of it still exists today. 64 00:09:38,674.41027273 --> 00:09:49,994.40927273 Watching city after city fall, Hezekiah, the king, orders construction of a secret tunnel to bring water from the Gihon Spring, which archeologists have found. 65 00:09:49,994.40927273 --> 00:09:52,794.40927273 In fact, you can still walk through it today., 66 00:09:53,524.40927273 --> 00:10:11,184.40927273 Um, also, in 1867, a British archeologist, Sir Charles Warren, discovered a trove of storage jars stamped LMLK, meaning belonging to the king, and they were tucked away everywhere. 67 00:10:11,574.40927273 --> 00:10:24,534.41027273 And that's a big deal because it's evidence of the biblical account, not just that a siege happened, uh, but that the biblical story really did take place. 68 00:10:24,534.41027273 --> 00:10:29,624.40827273 It's evidence that citizens of Jerusalem watched other cities fall. 69 00:10:29,644.40827273 --> 00:10:32,104.41127273 They saw the disaster coming for a while. 70 00:10:32,444.40827273 --> 00:10:34,624.40727273 They had time to prepare. 71 00:10:35,144.41227273 --> 00:10:38,714.40627273 Yeah, I mean, they were getting ready for some time. 72 00:10:39,354.41127273 --> 00:10:43,974.40827273 In fact, the city's population probably doubled fairly quickly. 73 00:10:44,584.40727273 --> 00:10:46,24.40527273 People needed to be fed. 74 00:10:46,24.40927273 --> 00:10:47,694.41027273 Tension was everywhere. 75 00:10:47,694.41027273 --> 00:10:51,974.40927273 In crowded places, well, they can be dirty places. 76 00:10:52,284.41227273 --> 00:11:01,864.40827273 If the city was so jammed packed, how could they possibly keep it clean? And, well, let's not sanitize it. 77 00:11:02,494.41127273 --> 00:11:10,324.40927273 Do you see what I did there? So being under siege meant that things could get pretty gross pretty fast. 78 00:11:10,794.40627273 --> 00:11:13,354.40627273 And the Assyrians were relentless. 79 00:11:13,564.40627273 --> 00:11:18,524.40627273 Eventually, they would cut off every road, every field, every well. 80 00:11:19,64.40627273 --> 00:11:24,594.40627273 Inside Jerusalem, the people's world would shrink to the space between the walls. 81 00:11:25,124.40627273 --> 00:11:26,564.40627273 Food would become scarce. 82 00:11:26,584.40627273 --> 00:11:36,254.40527273 The city's leaders would walk the city walls, staring out at a sea of enemy tents and hearing their taunts in their own language. 83 00:11:36,824.40527273 --> 00:11:41,44.40327273 Horrific words that they understood, but could not ignore. 84 00:11:41,383.40327273 --> 00:11:42,192.52327273 Think about that. 85 00:11:42,262.52327273 --> 00:11:52,462.52327273 In the midst of the preparation for battle, Assyrian leaders took the time to find someone with enough of a connection to Israel to be fluent in their language. 86

00:11:53,22.52327273 --> 00:11:56,402.52327273 Yes, psyops aren't a new thing. 87 00:11:57,12.52327273 --> 00:12:01,282.52327273 And they did it just to torment the people inside Jerusalem. 88 00:12:01,712.52227273 --> 00:12:02,932.52327273 Yes, exactly. 89 00:12:03,282.52227273 --> 00:12:06,342.52327273 And this guy's name was Rabshakeh. 90 00:12:07,242.52227273 --> 00:12:09,922.52427273 Which means chief of the princes. 91 00:12:10,542.52127273 --> 00:12:15,972.52327273 So we're not really sure if that was his name or his title. 92 00:12:16,522.52527273 --> 00:12:26,802.52427273 But because he spoke the people's language so well, there's some speculation that he may have even been an Israelite traitor. 93 00:12:27,202.52127273 --> 00:12:32,302.52427273 Now, whether he was or not, Rabs was not a good guy. 94 00:12:32,312.52227273 --> 00:12:42,242.52627273 I mean, can you imagine what this must have felt like to the people in Jerusalem? Every day, the city gets more crowded. 95 00:12:42,242.52627273 --> 00:12:45,532.52627273 There are tents going up around outside the city. 96 00:12:45,862.52527273 --> 00:12:47,762.52127273 Things are becoming more dirty. 97 00:12:48,42.52527273 --> 00:12:49,662.52227273 Food becomes scarcer. 98 00:12:49,972.52627273 --> 00:12:55,392.52227273 It's crowded and, well, stressful inside the city. 99 00:12:55,962.52327273 --> 00:12:59,562.51927273 And by now you may be thinking "Just leave. 100 00:12:59,762.51927273 --> 00:13:02,232.52227273 Get out of Dodge or at least Jerusalem." 101 00:13:03,102.52327273 --> 00:13:29,212.51927273 So here's the question: and go where? Really, once you flee the walled city, are you prepared to face the Assyrian army on your own? Could farmers or fishermen really be expected to outrun chariots? Look, I'm not saying being walled up in Jerusalem was a great option, but maybe it was the only option. 102 00:13:29,912.52027273 --> 00:13:31,102.52027273 And it gets worse. 103 00:13:31,442.52027273 --> 00:13:37,412.52027273 Hezekiah knew the Assyrian King Sennacherib was sending Rabshakeh to torment the people. 104 00:13:37,862.52027273 --> 00:13:40,162.52027273 So he sends three guys of his own. 105 00:13:40,782.52027273 --> 00:13:48,952.52227273 Hezekiah sends his chief of staff Shebna he sends Joah the recorder, the guy responsible for keeping the records. 106 00:13:48,952.52227273 --> 00:13:54,632.52027273 And by the way, Joah gives off some serious fifth crew member vibes. 107 00:13:54,632.52227273 --> 00:13:59,182.52027273 He only appears once, and then it's like, "Beam me up, Scotty." 108 00:13:59,792.52227273 --> 00:14:02,292.52227273 And finally, there's Eliakim. 109 00:14:02,442.52227273 --> 00:14:12,812.52227273 Now, he was an advisor who ran the palace for the king, and so we'll call him Sheb, Jel, and Eli, or maybe Elias at times. 110 00:14:13,682.52227273 --> 00:14:23,332.52227273 So you're probably thinking they meet with the enemy at the palace or a government building, right? Well, that's a good guess. 111 00:14:23,872.52127273 --> 00:14:25,762.52127273 But actually, no. 112 00:14:27,12.52127273 --> 00:14:32,462.52127273 They meet on the side of the road by the washer's field. 113 00:14:33,252.52027273 --> 00:14:39,632.52227273 And this meeting is described in Isaiah 36 and 2 Kings 18. 114 00:14:40,192.52327273 --> 00:14:52,752.51927273 And in case you're wondering, what does it even mean to meet by the washer's field? This was a paved highway next to the place where everyone did their laundry. 115 00:14:53,782.51927273 --> 00:15:02,202.52027273 So they're doing international relations on the side of the road next to an ancient laundromat? In one word, yep. 116 00:15:03,182.51827273 --> 00:15:12,612.51727273 Okay, and if you're wondering why, because it was on the side of the busy road next to the giant laundromat. 117 00:15:13,262.51827273 --> 00:15:18,592.51827273 everyone needs clean clothes, especially with a siege coming. 118 00:15:18,602.51727273 --> 00:15:32,142.51827273 And you can laugh and think this is not a big deal, but access to clean clothes is such a big deal even today that laundromats are considered one of the safest investments you can find. 119 00:15:32,522.51827273 --> 00:15:37,492.51827273 They've got a success rate in the US of better than 95%. 120 00:15:38,392.51727273 --> 00:15:47,372.51627273 For the Assyrians, you've got to understand this was about getting in the heads of the common people, not actual negotiations. 121 00:15:48,692.51827273 --> 00:15:54,462.51927273 So the whole conversation was meant to break the spirit of everyday citizens. 122 00:15:54,462.51927273 --> 00:15:59,12.51727273 And at this point, preparation was still underway. 123 00:15:59,22.51927273 --> 00:16:15,212.51727273 The full siege hadn't yet begun, so it's very likely that there were a whole lot of folks out there doing laundry, making sure they had plenty of clean drawers for when the city went on lockdown. 124 00:16:15,212.52227273 --> 00:16:15,732.51827273 And yikes. 125 00:16:16,192.51827273 --> 00:16:23,842.52227273 So, uh, what did the guys Sheb, Jo, and Eli do? Well, there wasn't a lot that they could do. 126 00:16:24,502.51527273 --> 00:16:25,902.51527273 They wrote a report. 127 00:16:26,192.51827273 --> 00:16:36,262.51627273 They took that report back to the king because apparently one of the key indicators of being grown has always been plenty of paperwork. 128 00:16:36,302.51827273 --> 00:16:38,752.51827273 Oh, and they did do one other big thing. 129 00:16:39,242.52127273 --> 00:16:47,342.5172727 They asked Rabbs to speak in Aramaic rather than Hebrew to keep the people from being upset. 130 00:16:48,202.5202727 --> 00:16:55,632.5172727 Now, did Rabbs agree? What do you think? Okay, solidly, solidly no. 131 00:16:56,802.5182727 --> 00:17:00,892.5192727 Oh, and the guy wasn't just mocking them. 132 00:17:00,902.5172727 --> 00:17:03,422.5202727 He wasn't

just calling them names. 133 00:17:03,762.5172727 --> 00:17:12,822.5182727 He's telling the people, they're just trying to do laundry, what they should expect to happen to them. 134 00:17:13,782.5142727 --> 00:17:34,322.5222727 Now, how bad could it be? In 2 Kings 18:27 and Isaiah 36:12, you get a polite translation, which basically says something like, "You will eat your own dung and drink your own urine." 135 00:17:35,922.5132727 --> 00:17:41,152.5102727 And in person, the Assyrians weren't polite. 136 00:17:41,402.5092727 --> 00:17:50,892.5092727 By the way, this whole poo-eating thing, gross as it is, was something that's actually known to have happened during sieges. 137 00:17:51,282.5092727 --> 00:17:52,452.5092727 Yeah, it's gross. 138 00:17:52,462.5082727 --> 00:17:53,132.5092727 I get it. 139 00:17:53,142.5092727 --> 00:17:55,922.5082727 There's always a little gross for the 12-year-olds. 140 00:17:56,562.5092727 --> 00:18:03,82.5082727 But still, history tells us in sieges like this, even worse happened. 141 00:18:03,842.5082727 --> 00:18:06,402.5092727 Parents watched their children starve. 142 00:18:06,412.5092727 --> 00:18:09,992.5092727 Neighbors got into physical fights over scraps. 143 00:18:10,612.5082727 --> 00:18:14,802.5072727 And at times, the people resorted to cannibalism. 144 00:18:15,582.5092727 --> 00:18:40,124.5092727 According to Lamentations 4:10, 2:20, Ezekiel 5:10, Jeremiah 19:9, and I'm sure there are a whole bunch of others that I've missed, there were times when even the people of Jerusalem resorted to cannibalism So the smell of fear and filth is everywhere. 145 00:18:41,314.5092727 --> 00:18:50,484.5082727 Rab's message to the people of Jerusalem, oh, it was full of bragging, of blasphemy, of bold-faced lies. 146 00:18:50,834.5092727 --> 00:18:55,524.5082727 He questioned who they trusted, their God and Hezekiah. 147 00:18:55,694.5092727 --> 00:19:05,484.5082727 He ridiculed Hezekiah's strategy as weak and ineffective, and then mocked the idea that anyone, even the Egyptians, would help them. 148 00:19:06,194.5082727 --> 00:19:18,14.5072727 Rab's told them that the Lord had turned against them, and get this, he claimed that God specifically sent him to destroy the land of Judah. 149 00:19:18,484.5072727 --> 00:19:30,904.5082727 He was gross and crude and reminded the people of Jerusalem of the horrors of being under siege and, um, what they might have to eat. 150 00:19:31,794.5082727 --> 00:19:42,574.5072727 Rab's even accused Hezekiah of lying to the people, making them believe that only a fool would trust their leaders. 151 00:19:43,34.5102727 --> 00:19:47,994.5102727 In fact, he even mocked the idea of trusting in the Lord. 152 00:19:48,524.5072727 --> 00:19:58,954.5112727 And if all of that wasn't enough, he started offering bribes to the people just to give up, offering them land and peace for surrender. 153 00:19:59,864.5042727 --> 00:20:09,344.5052727 Sure, odds are they'd end up enslaved, but to some, that seemed better than being dead or even the proposed diet. 154 00:20:10,404.5052727 --> 00:20:29,684.5082727 He reminded them that no nation's gods had yet been able to deliver them from Assyria or its gods, and he claimed that the Lord was no better than any of the gods of any of the other nations that they had already devastated. 155 00:20:29,684.5082727 --> 00:20:38,234.5102727 And he pointed them to all of the Israelite cities that had already fallen. 156 00:20:39,434.5042727 --> 00:20:47,34.5112727 In some ways, there were tiny morsels of what Rab's was saying that was true.. 157 00:20:47,864.5122727 --> 00:20:56,454.5122727 The people of Judah had turned away from the Lord, and the prophet had warned them that judgment and devastation were coming. 158 00:20:57,454.5112727 --> 00:21:04,884.5122727 But still, imagine you're just trying to do your laundry, and this is what you end up having to listen to. 159 00:21:05,594.5122727 --> 00:21:07,264.5112727 I mean, wow, that's a lot. 160 00:21:07,724.5112727 --> 00:21:13,674.5112727 And how did Hezekiah handle that? He handled it like a champ. 161 00:21:14,134.5112727 --> 00:21:16,114.5112727 Hezz went to the house of God. 162 00:21:16,604.5112727 --> 00:21:31,894.5102727 He faced the wall so that he wouldn't be distracted by anything or anyone else, which I've personally found to be a great strategy when you really, really need to talk to and hear from God. 163 00:21:32,454.5112727 --> 00:21:51,84.5102727 Then Hezekiah pulls out that paperwork from Sheb and Joah and Eliakim, you know, the stuff that had all of the threats from Rabshakeh, and he spread out the report with all of the attacks and all of the threats in it, and he basically said, "Lord, this isn't about me. 164 00:21:51,394.5102727 --> 00:21:55,624.5112727 It's about you, and you need to defend your name." 165 00:21:55,694.5112727 --> 00:22:00,84.5102727 And this is such a wise way to handle attacks. 166 00:22:00,644.5102727 --> 00:22:04,234.5112727 God, I'm yours, so this isn't about me. 167 00:22:04,564.5102727 --> 00:22:10,324.5112727 This is what they're saying about you, and Lord, I know that you will defend your name. 168 00:22:11,554.5112727 --> 00:22:17,494.5122727 Whoa, so the king didn't make it about himself or his kingdom even. 169 00:22:18,134.5092727 --> 00:22:25,694.5102727 It wasn't a big boo-hoo session of, "Here's all I've been through, Lord, and you don't know how hard this is for me." 170 00:22:26,264.5112727 --> 00:22:33,624.5082727 Hezekiah kept the focus on the Lord's reputation rather than his own. 171 00:22:35,44.5092727 --> 00:22:41,4.5092727 And what did the Lord do? Well, basically, God said, "Don't worry. 172 00:22:41,254.5092727 --> 00:22:42,104.5092727 Be happy. 173 00:22:42,514.5092727 --> 00:22:43,524.5092727 I've got this." 174 00:22:44,354.5082727 --> 00:22:46,74.5092727 Cue the Bobby McFerrin, man. 175 00:22:46,804.5092727 --> 00:22:53,84.5092727 In

fact, the Lord told Hezekiah, "Not a single arrow will come over your walls." 176 00:22:55,120.5092727 --> 00:22:59,70.5092727 Okay, so that is a whole bunch of background. 177 00:22:59,340.5092727 --> 00:23:00,980.5092727 Now, for the crime. 178 00:23:02,750.5092727 --> 00:23:03,840.5092727 What a scene. 179 00:23:04,700.5082727 --> 00:23:09,600.5092727 Can you picture it? The sun is just rising over Jerusalem. 180 00:23:09,610.5082727 --> 00:23:10,740.5082727 The city is tense. 181 00:23:10,740.5082727 --> 00:23:14,370.5092727 The air is thick with dust and dread. 182 00:23:15,390.5092727 --> 00:23:25,640.5072727 And this is where, in the necropolis, Jerusalem's city of the dead, workers would stumble upon an unfinished tomb. 183 00:23:26,710.5092727 --> 00:23:34,540.5092727 And in case you're thinking, hold up, what is this necropolis, this city of the dead talk? We don't do zombie talk around here. 184 00:23:35,490.5082727 --> 00:23:37,280.5082727 Okay, let me explain. 185 00:23:37,740.5082727 --> 00:23:43,70.5062727 So back in the day, Israel wouldn't bury people inside the city walls. 186 00:23:43,450.5072727 --> 00:23:49,760.5042727 So Jerusalem is surrounded by the world's largest and oldest cemetery. 187 00:23:50,340.5102727 --> 00:24:12,220.5052727 Now, you could say giant cemetery surrounding the city, but the name necropolis, or city of the dead, it just works better with the podcast, right? Anyway, so what's going on with the tomb? The stonework is rough, the inscription incomplete. 188 00:24:12,600.5042727 --> 00:24:20,530.5102727 And maybe over there among the rubble lies Shebna's signet ring, the symbol of his authority. 189 00:24:20,530.5102727 --> 00:24:26,120.5042727 Or maybe there was some other overlooked clue, but now it's worthless. 190 00:24:26,680.5062727 --> 00:24:30,370.5072727 The man himself was gone without explanation. 191 00:24:30,420.5042727 --> 00:24:32,60.5092727 Well, sort of. 192 00:24:33,0.5062727 --> 00:24:36,90.5062727 It's a scene straight out of a mystery novel. 193 00:24:36,90.5102727 --> 00:24:42,210.5102727 The tomb was fit for a king, but it was being built for someone else. 194 00:24:43,60.5042727 --> 00:24:47,10.5062727 Today, it's hard to imagine luxury graves. 195 00:24:47,680.5062727 --> 00:24:52,30.5012727 But the pyramids and the Taj Mahal, those were royal graves. 196 00:24:52,100.5122727 --> 00:25:08,750.4992727 And in Matthew 23 and Luke 11, when Jesus talks about whitewashed graves, well, the necropolis is exactly where he was standing, and these are the elaborate tombs that he was talking about. 197 00:25:09,430.4992727 --> 00:25:22,460.5112727 But this tomb, well, the one they had just discovered, it was unfinished and empty except for faint echoes of ambition and failure. 198 00:25:23,470.5072727 --> 00:25:45,550.5092727 So what happened to Sheb, and why? In the middle of Jerusalem's nightmare, watching city after city fall, when leaders were supposed to be seeking

God or coming up with ways to save the city or feed the city, Shebna was thinking about legacy. 199 00:25:46,380.5082727 --> 00:25:51,190.5092727 Not his people, not his king's, his own. 200 00:25:52,490.5092727 --> 00:26:02,600.5102727 Even if construction began before enemy troops started camping outside the city walls, this crisis had been coming for a while. 201 00:26:03,540.5062727 --> 00:26:18,180.5062727 And while the king was concerned about collapsing cities, the slaughter of his nation, and getting people in Jerusalem food and water, Sheb, his steward, was focused on his own legacy. 202 00:26:19,140.5052727 --> 00:26:25,700.5082727 And if you're wondering, okay, so what is a royal steward? Sheb's job was an administrator. 203 00:26:25,920.5082727 --> 00:26:33,450.5082727 He oversaw the palace, the staff, access to the king, major, economic and political operations. 204 00:26:33,920.5082727 --> 00:26:38,970.5082727 This was a position of immense power and strategic importance. 205 00:26:39,970.5082727 --> 00:27:00,150.5082727 In the midst of this unimaginable national crisis, he had people carving out a tomb fit for a king, an honor reserved for the greatest in Israel, a symbol of glory and permanence for, well, kings and high priests, and maybe some prophets. 206 00:27:00,170.5072727 --> 00:27:03,770.5082727 And this is what Sheb had workers doing. 207 00:27:04,400.5082727 --> 00:27:09,450.5082727 While people all over Judah were desperate just to survive. 208 00:27:12,346.5082727 --> 00:27:25,816.5082727 In the midst of the crisis, Sheb is still planning for more glory, chiseling his name into stone as if he could outlast the judgment falling on the city. 209 00:27:26,406.5082727 --> 00:27:35,926.5072727 Or maybe he's embracing the ideas from the enemy that, well, he's convinced that they were doomed and trying to preserve his legacy. 210 00:27:36,626.5082727 --> 00:27:45,306.5082727 Either way, this is the work that he had his people doing, and it's a jarring contrast. 211 00:27:45,736.5082727 --> 00:27:51,596.5062727 The city is dying and Sheb is dreaming of immortality. 212 00:27:52,136.5062727 --> 00:28:00,316.5062727 His priorities are so exposed, not by his enemies, but by his actions and the crisis itself. 213 00:28:01,66.5062727 --> 00:28:02,366.5052727 Let's think about this. 214 00:28:02,376.5062727 --> 00:28:14,716.5052727 Why would a steward build himself a royal tomb? And why was it left unfinished? Let the interviews begin. 215 00:28:16,176.5062727 --> 00:28:24,476.5062727 Now, if we could interview the people of Jerusalem, what would they say? Let's try to imagine it. 216 00:28:24,566.5052727 --> 00:28:28,366.5042727 Witness number one, an old stonecutter. 217 00:28:28,826.5032727 --> 00:28:35,836.5042727 That guy Sheb, oh, he was always racing through the city in some new chariot, robes trailing. 218 00:28:36,226.5052727 --> 00:28:39,316.5042727 Boy, he thought he was something. 219 00:28:39,796.5042727 --> 00:28:44,146.5042727 Said he was building a tomb to last a thousand years. 220 00:28:44,696.5062727 --> 00:28:47,606.5042727 But the work stopped like that overnight. 221 00:28:47,916.5032727 --> 00:28:49,86.5032727 No one knows why. 222 00:28:49,766.5062727 --> 00:28:52,816.5082727 Oh, there's witness number two, maybe a palace servant. 223 00:28:53,396.5032727 --> 00:28:57,616.5062727 Yeah, I saw him arguing with the prophet There was yelling. 224 00:28:57,956.5032727 --> 00:29:01,646.5022727 Isaiah warned him, said pride comes before a fall. 225 00:29:01,996.5042727 --> 00:29:04,226.5022727 Next thing you know, Sheb is gone. 226 00:29:04,316.5042727 --> 00:29:06,216.5012727 Poof, like that, replaced. 227 00:29:07,96.5032727 --> 00:29:08,816.5002727 Witness three, a city guard. 228 00:29:10,66.5042727 --> 00:29:19,656.5052727 See, rumor has it that Sheb had friends in Egypt, where all of his horses and chariots come from, and thought he could save us with foreign gold. 229 00:29:19,666.5032727 --> 00:29:26,796.5032727 Thankfully, the king, he might not be perfect, but at least he knows better than to trust in Egypt. 230 00:29:28,356.5052727 --> 00:29:31,266.5012727 And that Egypt thing, it's a big deal. 231 00:29:31,896.5062727 --> 00:29:39,846.5072727 Some scholarly materials suggest that the name Shebna may have Egyptian origins or at least connections. 232 00:29:39,846.5072727 --> 00:29:47,216.4992727 And certain scholars have noted that the name Shebna does not fit typical Hebrew naming patterns. 233 00:29:47,216.5052727 --> 00:29:52,16.5032727 In fact, it may be more of an Egyptian name than a Hebrew one. 234 00:29:52,16.5082727 --> 00:30:03,626.5102727 And that's crazy, especially given all of the political context of Hezekiah's time when alliances with Egypt really were being considered. 235 00:30:04,436.5102727 --> 00:30:12,793.3122727 And right now, there are probably folks who want an, explanation of a Hebrew naming pattern versus an Egyptian one. 236 00:30:12,793.3122727 --> 00:30:21,703.3102727 And breaking down all of the specifics would get really convoluted, but it's something we still recognize today. 237 00:30:21,713.3122727 --> 00:30:25,753.3122727 We know that Jose is likely to be Hispanic. 238 00:30:26,133.3102727 --> 00:30:28,963.3102727 Frank is probably not Chinese. 239 00:30:29,423.3112727 --> 00:31:07,573.3112727 Polynesian, African, Arabic names all have a distinctive sound, and that could be why folks were looking at Sheb and saying, "You're not from around here, are you?" In Sheb's defense, there are some experts who argue that his name could have just been short for Shebnyahu, but that seems to be undermined by Isaiah 22, where Isaiah calls out Sheb by name as an outsider and asks, "What are you even doing here?" More on that later. 240 00:31:08,453.3132727 --> 00:31:21,103.3132727 But Isaiah the prophet and the Lord had been warning people not just about relying on Egypt for help, but also warning about people telling them to rely on Egypt. 241 00:31:21,643.3132727 --> 00:31:31,333.3122727 So if Shebna was an Egyptian name, like it seems, well, it's likely that Sheb was at least somewhat connected to those warnings. 242 00:31:32,263.3122727 --> 00:31:38,883.3122727 So we have pride, conflict with a prophet, and whispers of political intrigue. 243 00:31:39,273.3122727 --> 00:31:40,793.3122727 The plot thickens. 244 00:31:41,463.3132727 --> 00:31:44,533.3142727 And just like that, Shebna goes missing. 245 00:31:45,453.3122727 --> 00:31:49,153.3122727 Unfortunately, that is all the time that we have. 246 00:31:49,223.3132727 --> 00:32:06,623.3132727 I hope you really enjoyed this episode of Oh Wow! That Really Happened? If you'd like to read Shebna's story for yourself, you'll find it in Isaiah 22, Isaiah 36 and 37, II Kings 18, II Kings 19. 247 00:32:06,973.3132727 --> 00:32:15,623.3092727 Oh, and to answer a question, yes, significant portions of the text are lifted directly from scripture. 248 00:32:16,53.3112727 --> 00:32:24,13.3132727 Uh, because the Lord gets executive producer credits, no, we don't consider that plagiarism. 249 00:32:24,433.3082727 --> 00:32:36,33.3082727 If you want to find out about support for the biblical account outside the Bible, you may want to look into the Royal Steward Inscription. 250 00:32:36,33.3082727 --> 00:32:38,623.3082727 Again, that's the Royal Steward Inscription. 251 00:32:39,33.3072727 --> 00:32:48,553.3062727 Be sure to come back and check out part two when we'll find out what happens to Jerusalem, the Assyrians, and Shebna. 252 00:32:48,913.3062727 --> 00:32:50,373.3062727 Oh, and also Eliakim. 253 00:32:51,243.3062727 --> 00:32:56,3.3072727 Until then, be sure to like, subscribe, and spread the word. 254 00:32:56,213.3072727 --> 00:33:03,543.3052727 One more time, I'm Julie West, and a big thank you for listening to Oh Wow, That Really Happened.