Instead of ruling peaceably in Samaria, however, Menahem started a reign of terror, until nobody in the country seemed safe in his home or in his possessions.
Trouble came for the new king thick and fast.
Tiglath-Pileser III, who had been ruling in Assyria since 745, and against whom Amos had warned the weakened Kingdom of Israel, had accomplished many conquests north of Israel, in Phoenicia and in the frontier lands of Damascus.
In the year 738, Tiglath-Pileser was knocking at the gates of Damascus and threatening Samaria. In order to keep the Assyrian conqueror off, and save their countries the spoliation and ruin that followed in the wake of the Assyrian armies, Menahem, together with Rezin, King of Damascus, the Kings of Tyre, Hamath, and other small states, agreed to pay him tribute.
Menahem's share was the enormous sum of one thousand talents of silver. To raise this amount, he levied a tax of fifty silver shekels each on "all the mighty men of wealth," both priests and merchants, in the kingdom.
Now, the lawlessness started by Shallum and the anarchy continued by
Menahem had had their effect. The great sum of money needed for
Tiglath-Pileser was raised by "all the mighty men of wealth;" but it
was ground out of the poor by cheating, robbery and even murder.
The conditions against which the Prophet Amos cried out were now apparent to all observers. The final overthrow of the kingdom, which Amos declared to be but a matter of time, was now evident to all patriotic lovers of their country.
These conditions were clear as the light of day, especially to Hosea. Being a priest himself, he knew how the very priests at the sanctuaries had entered upon secret understandings with rebel associates of Menahem and the wealthy merchants to raise the Assyrian tribute at the expense of the people. Being a lover of his fatherland, he knew that these sins and crimes against God and men must react upon the nation as a whole and rush it on to destruction.
Hosea, like Amos, therefore, felt himself called upon by God to warn his people, and, if possible, to save his country. He could no longer stand aside and see rulers, priests and "all the mighty men of wealth" despoiling his well-beloved fatherland. He must speak words of reproach and warning. He must open the eyes of his people to the calamity that was ahead of them.
One night Hosea was at home brooding over his own family troubles and thinking of the future of his country. He had just seen the children to bed and his mind was dwelling on Gomer, their mother, from whom he had not heard a single word since she went away. As he came downstairs he heard shouting and screaming and hurrying footsteps. Going into the street, he learned that another of those attacks on peaceful people had been made by a company of Menahem's followers for the purpose of robbery.