 Seminar 1: "Between the Testaments" Lesson 5
Introduction Be sure your sin will find you out! God is patient to allow men plenty of opportunity to change their ways but then God says His spirit will not always strive with man. So it was with the kings of Israel and Judah. God allowed the sin to continue but it ultimately brought about the downfall of the nation. What were the sins that brought Israel down? 1) Adultery. 2) Idolatry. 3) Careless Neglect of the Law of God. There are lessons to learn here. Saul paid for his stubbornness and rebellion of heart with a lost kingdom and finally lost his life. David paid dearly for his adultery. Solomon reaped a whirlwind for his becoming unequally yoked with pagan women and subsequent idolatry. Sin always demands a consequence. We cannot sin without reaping the consequences. "Whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap." Here is a sample lesson from history, hidden from the casual reader but discovered by the careful student and historian who compares Scripture with Scripture. ======================================================================== Part 2: CHRONOLOGY OF THE KINGS AND PROPHETS ======================================================================== UNITED KINGDOM KINGS OF ISRAEL & JUDAH SAUL --------------- 1050 | DAVID ---------------- 1010 | SOLOMON ---------------- 970 | SOLOMON'S DEATH ---------------- 930 | ===================================================================== Part 3: THE DIVIDED KINGDOM ===================================================================== With the end of Solomon's reign came a split in the kingdom of Israel into the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. Israel is the Northern, and Judah is the Southern Kingdom. Rehoboam was Solomon's son and his successor in the kingdom of Judah. All of the kings of ISRAEL WERE EVIL. Not all the kings of Judah were evil, but of the 20 only 7 were upright before God. Those marked with an asterisk (*) were evil kings in JUDAH. Take notice that there were 20 kings in each of the kingdoms during the Divided Kingdom, and God sent 20 prophets to the divided kingdoms. You will not be responsible to learn the kings of Israel and Judah but this list should become a rich resource for your future studies of the Old Testament, and give you a bird's eye view of the period preceding the Intertestamental period. As a further help we have tried to add the perspective of the prophets and where they are placed in the time period. ======================================================================== Part 3a: KINGS OF ISRAEL (Northern Kingdom) ======================================================================== Date BC Kings Ruled Scripture Prophets 1. 930-909 * Jeroboam 1 22 yrs 1 Kings 12:25-14:20 2. 909-908 * Nadab 2 yrs 1 Kings 15:25-31 3. 908-886 * Baasha 24 yrs 1 Kings 15:32-16:7 ELIJAH 4. 886-885 * Elah 2 yrs 1 Kings 16:8-14 | 5. 885 * Zimri 7 days I Kings 16:15-20 | 6. 885-880 * Tibni 5 yrs I Kings 16:21-22 | 7. 885-874 * Omri 12 yrs 1 Kings 16:23-28 | 8. 874-853 * Ahab 22 yrs 1 Kings 16:29-22:40 ELISHA 9. 853-852 * Ahaziah 2 yrs 1 Kings 22:51 2K 1:18 | 10. 852-841 * Joram (Jehoram) 12 yrs 2 Kings 1:17/3:1-8:15 | 11. 841-814 * Jehu 28 yrs 2 Kings 9:30-10:36 | 12. 814-798 * Jehoahaz 17 yrs 2 Kings 13:1-10 (JONAH) 13. 798-973 * Jehoash 16 yrs 2 Kings 13:10-25 | 14. 793-753 * Jeroboam 2 41 yrs 2 Kings 14:23-29 AMOS 15. 753 * Zechariah 6 mth 2 Kings 15:8-12 | 16. 752 * Shallum 1 mth 2 Kings 15:13-15 | 17. 752-742 * Menahem 10 yrs 2 Kings 15:16-22 HOSEA 18. 742-740 * Pekahiah 2 yrs 2 Kings 15:23-26 | 19. 752-732 * Pekah 20 yrs 2 Kings 15:27-31 | 20. 732-722 * Hoshea 9 yrs 2 Kings 15:30/17 | | | ========= 722 BC FALL OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM - Israel =======| ======================================================================== Part 3b: KINGS OF JUDAH (Southern Kingdom) ======================================================================== Date BC Kings Ruled Scripture Prophets 1. 930-913 * Rehoboam 17 yrs 1 Kings 12:1-24 | 2. 913-910 * Abijah 3 yrs 1 Kings 15:1-8 | 3. 910-869 Asa 41 yrs 1 Kings 15:9-24 | 4. 872-848 Jehoshaphat 25 yrs 1 Kings 22:41-50 | 5. 848-841 * Jehoram 8 yrs 2 Kings 8:16-24 OBADIAH 6. 841-841 Ahaziah 1 yr 2 Kings 8:25-29 | 7. 841-835 * Athaliah 7 yrs 2 Kings 11 JOEL 8. 835-796 Joash 40 yrs 2 Kings 12 | 9. 796-767 * Amaziah 29 yrs 2 Kings 14:1-22 | 10. 792-740 * Azariah 53 yrs 2 Kings 15:1-7 ISAIAH 11. 750-732 Jotham (co) 16 yrs 2 Kings 15:32-38 MICAH 12. 732-715 * Ahaz 16 yrs 2 Kings 16 | 13. 715-686 Hezekiah 29 yrs 2 Kings 18:1-20:21 NAHUM 14. 697-642 * Manasseh 55 yrs 2 Kings 21:1-18 | 15. 642-640 * Amon 2 yrs 2 Kings 21:19-26 ZEPHANIAH 16. 640-609 Josiah 31 yrs 2 Kings 22-23 JEREMIAH 17. 609 * Jehoahaz 3 mths 2 Kings 23:31-33 | 18. 609-598 * Jehoakim 11 yrs 2 Kings 23:34-24:7 HABAKKUK 19. 598-597 * Jehoiachim 3 mths 2 Kings 24:8-17 | 20. 597-586 * Zedekiah 11 yrs 2 Kings 24:18-25:26 | ===== 586 BC FALL OF SOUTHERN KINGDOM & JERUSALEM (Judah) ====== (587 - 657 The Babylonian Captivity =70 years) | EZEKIEL | 605-530 DANIEL | 520-480 ZECHARIAH HAGGAI | 458 EZRA | 432 NEHEMIAH | 440-430 MALACHI | 400 B.C. --- Intertestamental Period ------(400 years)------(Silence)- ======================================================================== Part 4: RETURN FROM BABYLON ======================================================================== EZRA Zerubbabel, governor of Jerusalem, was among the first wave of immagrants to return to Jerusalem. He was responsible for the physical restoration of the temple which was dedicated in 515 B.C. Ezra was allowed to return from Babylon sixty years later (Ezra 6:22 and 7:1) with a remnant of the people to restore worship to the temple, which was a shadow of its former beauty. Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the 7th year of Persian king, Xerxes (458 B.C.) son of Darius. He was responsible for reestablishing proper worship and sacrifices to the temple and restoring the Law of God to the hearts of the people. ESTHER - 460 B.C. Esther fits into the time period of Ezra (actually between chapters 6 and 7 of Ezra) while Xerxes I was king of the Persians. (Ahasuerus is the Hebrew transliteration of the Persian name "Khsayarsaha." The Greek for of the same name is Xerxes.) The events cover a period of about 10 years. Though Esther is not considered as one of the prophets her story is nonetheless one of heroic faith, proving once again that God always has a remnant according to grace. NEHEMIAH Nehemiah brought back another group of Jews by Artaxerxes' permission (Artaxerxes, the son of Xerxes) to rebuild the walls of the city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah followed Ezra in the 20th year (445 B.C. or thirteen years later) MALACHI - 430 B.C. Malachi was the last of the Old Testament prophets. Like Ezra and Nehemiah he decried the backsliding of the people of God. The priests were worldly, the people were tired of waiting for God's deliverance and began to question God's love and care for His chosen people. 400-4 BC Intertestamental Period |