First King of Judah

Rehoboam= Solomon’s son

• The people asked Rehoboam to lighten their work load put upon them by his dad.

• He disregards the elder’s advice disregards GOD totally and uses the advice of his friends

who wanted to for him to be tougher than his father

• Rehoboam is now only given the tribes of benjiman and Judah which will become the

southern kingdom.

Asa, Second king, first good king

• He expelled the male shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols his

fathers had made

• Asa cut the pole down and burned it in the Kidron Valley.

• Although he did not remove the high places, Asa's heart was fully committed to the

LORD all his life. 15 He brought into the temple of the LORD the silver and gold and the

articles that he and his father had dedicated.

• There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their reigns. 17 Baasha

king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving

or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah

• Asa then took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the LORD's temple
and of his own palace. He entrusted it to his officials and sent them to Ben-Hadad son of
Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. 19 "Let
there be a treaty between me and you," he said, "as there was between my father and your
father. See, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha
king of Israel so he will withdraw from me."
• 20
Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the
towns of Israel.
Jehosaphat
 • In everything he walked in the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from

them; he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD.

• The high places, however, were not removed, and the people continued to offer

sacrifices and burn incense there.

• Jehoshaphat was also at peace with the king of Israel.

• He rid the land of the rest of the male shrine prostitutes who remained there even

after the reign of his father Asa.

Hezekiah

• Was one of the most godly kings of the nation of Judah

• The major theme of Hezekiah’s story is his reliance on God

• His faith was a model for people

• The prophet Isaiah spoke to God for him and the Lord gave Hezekiah 15 more

years of life by symbolizing it through the sun going backwards and his shadow

getting shorter

• Hezekiah however boasted his riches to Babylonian messangers and Isaiah then

foretold the Assyrian invasion which Hezekiah did not care about because he

would be dead by then.

• He had three major religious reforms: He restored God’s temple in Jerusalem,

destroyed Mose’s bronze snake because it was being worshipped, and returned the

Passover tradition to both the Israelis and Judahians

Manasseh

• Brought back idols into the temple

 • He committed three main sins: Re-erected the Baal temples, Built idol temples inside the

Lord’s temple, did sorcery and divination.

• Sacrificed his own child

• Foreshadowing of the destruction of Jerusalem:

I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who

hears of it will tingle. 13 I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against

Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as

one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 I will forsake the remnant of my

inheritance and hand them over to their enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all

their foes, 15 because they have done evil in my eyes and have provoked me to anger from

the day their forefathers came out of Egypt until this day."

Joshia

• Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one

years.

• He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the ways of his father

David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.

• Rebuilt the temple, Celebrated Passover, and renewed the covenant

• The first five books of the bible are found at this time

• God foretells through huldah, a prophet, that He will punish his people with every curse

in the bible but because Josiah has followed wisely he will be killed before this happens

Jehoahaz

• He was dethroned by Egyptians

Jehiokim
 • King Nebuchadnezzar took him over.

• This is when the first Babylonian Exile began in 606. The upper class, youth, and

Jehiakim were taken to Babylon

• Was Nebuchadnezzar’s royal apprentince until he decided to rebel and God sent

raiders to destroy Judah for this

Jehiochin

• Taken over by Babylonians who stripped the temple of all the gold and was hauled in

chains to Babylon during the second Babylon attack in 597

Zebekiah

• Taken over by Nebuchadnezzar who made him King of Judah. Then Zebekiah rebelled

against the Babylonians and God punishes him for this.

• God’s punishment is foretold by Jeremiah: Babylon will destroy Judah.

• He throws Jeremiah in a well for this and god punishes him by besieging the city for 18

months were the Judahians were forced to cannibalize. \

• Also, Zebekiah is killed after forced to watch his sons killed in front of him

• In 587, the final Babylonian attack took place and Jerusalem was burned to the ground

Cyrus

• The Lord called on him and gave him all the kingdoms on earth. He rebuilt the

temple.

• God never let go of Judah even how much they sinned

Gedaliah

Gedaliah becomes governor of Judah

He tells the people not to rebel but is assassinated by rebels and then the assassinators flee to

Egypt

Psalms

• Writers are Moses and Solomon but most DAVID

• Psalms are personal reflections of faith and doubt/ used for public worship/ gives us

examples of Gods people talking to him/ illustrates God’s intimate relationship with his

people.

• They cover 1,000 years in time

5 type of praise

• Praise- adoring god

• Lament- express grief. BIGGEST CATEGORY

• Thanksgiving- giving thanks. Showing gratitude

• Pilgrimage- spiritual journey

• Messianic- prophesizing Jesus

1. They reveal God’s character and how his people relate to him
Proverbs

• A form of writings to youth of advice to young

• Short pithy sayings about human nature

• Give advice about daily life and dealing with struggles

• Large truths about life

• Contrast the people of the Lord with those who are not with Him

• Provide the basic rules for living

Prophets Overview

There are 17 prophetic books

There are four major prophets and twelve minor

Three time period: Pre Exilic, Exilic- The three attacks on Judah, Post Exilic- Cyprus rebuilds

temple

Primary role: to speak God’s word to the people at critical times

Proclaimed God’s word

Gave voice to God

Served as the last defense for God’s people

When all seem to fail, prophets were sent to talk directly to the people
Reminded people that Yahweh alone was the one true God

God called prophets to return people / kings back to God

Warned people of potential punishment

Messages of repentance

Brought hope to people

Preached Justice

Justice is done when the least of society are provided for

They were killed for rebuking kings

Not all prophets were eager to receive God’s call

Diving the kingdom

• Solomons sins

Intermarriage, worshipped false gods, enslaved his own people, put them in bad financial

sitatuation, wasn’t devoted to God

• Jeroboam had fled from the land and to Egypt to get away from the wrath of Solomon

• Jeroboam tries to attack Rehoboam but God seizes it

• Jeroboams sins

Built a golden calf in bethel

Makes Dan and Bethel holy in order to keep his people out of the southern kingdom
 Established Samaria as capital of north

Ahab

• Wickest King EVER

• Established Baal worship in Israel

• Built a temple to Baal

• Was not worshipped in one location / more convenient

• See and touch baal

• Elijah confronted him and God brought drought and famine

• Elijah proves the God is the real God by having God burn a sacrifice when Baal was

unable to, God also took the water out of the altar and burned the wood and stones.

• God appears to Elijah on Mt. Horeb in weather form as wind, earthquakes, and fire

• God still returns to them even after they desecrate him

Ahab and Arameans

• King Ben Hadad was king of Arameans

• Aram asks for his best possessions and even sends an official make sure that what is sent

is the best. This insults Ahab

• He did not ask for God’s help and balked instead

• Israels victory over Arameans had been predicted and was to help the outnumbered

people

• Ahab would later be killed by a stray Aramean

• Ahab wanted Naboth’s, a vineyard keeper, land and Naboth refuses because it is against

God’s law for inheritance of fathers to be sold.

 • Year of Jubilee even allows for the original owners to retain their lands once it had been

sold

• Ahab repented but his family was eaten by dogs and he was killed by a stray aramean.

• Legacy: He created Baal, led people from God, Uniting Israel’s son with the foreign gods

Elisha

• Jehu was the king of this time period and destroyed the calves and for this his generations

were given 4 years of rule

• The last king of Israel was Hoshea and was destroyed by Assyrians under King

Shalmenesar

• List some of Israel’s sins:

Worship foreign Gods

Followed other nations

Built their own high places

Set up altars and asherah poles

Burned incense

Did not trust God

Did not listen to God

Golden calves and Baal

Sacrificed Young Children

Sold themselves

Jehu

• He killed the king of Israel, Joram, who was the son of Ahab, with an arrow through the

heart. He also killed the king of Judah, Ahaziah. Joram and Ahaziah were related to each
 other through Ahab and Jezebel. In time, Jehu executed Ahab's entire family, including

Jezebel, and fulfilled a prophecy of Elijah (

• Jehu ordered his men to kill the priests of the pagan god, Baal, in a temple. He then

converted the pagan temple into a public toilet.

Omri

• A civil war broke out and Omri won. He became Israel's sixth king and reigned 12

years (882-871 BC). Omri bought land and built a palace on it. He called the land

Samaria, in honor of the former owner, Shemer. Omri worshiped idols and

encouraged the people of Israel to do the same.

• Omri also strengthened Israel's alliance with Phoenicia, by arranging the marriage of his

son, Ahab, to Jezebel, the daughter of the King of Sidon. When Omri died, his son Ahab

became the next king.

Hoshea

• He was the son of Elah and he became king after he assassinated King Pekah. He reigned

nine years in Samaria (733-724 BC). King Hoshea's army was attacked and defeated in

battle by King Shalmaneser of Assyria.

• Hoshea, however, stopped paying the taxation and he asked King So of Egypt to help him

break free of Assyria's power. The Assyrians responded by placing Hoshea in prison, and

by besieging and conquering Samaria.