Page 23 - The Minor Prophets - Student textbook

Study Section 4: The Kingdom of Judah Alone (722-587 BCE)

4.1 Connect

Israel has been taken captive and many people have been relocated into the Assyrian
empire. A few poor Jews are left to care for the land and foreign people are relocated into
the land. Over the years, they mix their race and basically Israel in the north is no more.
However, the Jews in the south have some kings that remain faithful to Yahweh. God
allows them to remain strong for almost 150 more years. But as we will see, eventually
they walk away from God leading to their eventual judgment from the great empire to the
east. The Bible says that whom God loves, He disciplines. We will see how God loves and disciplines
Judah in this lesson.

4.2 Objectives

1. The student should be able to describe many of the significant kings of Judah and identify
whether they walked with the Lord or not.

2. The students must be able to determine what caused the Lord to abandon the people of
Judah and give them over to Babylon.

3. The students should be able to describe the final battles that led up to the fall of Jerusalem.

4.3 The Kingdom of Judah Alone (722-587 BCE)

In Judah Ahaz was followed by Hezekiah (c. 715-687), who tried to throw off Assyrian control
and tribute. Hezekiah welcomed ambassadors of Babylon, who was also scheming to rebel
against Assyria, and gave them a tour of the city, including the wealth in the temple.
Hezekiah
strengthened
Jerusalem’s
walls and dug a tunnel
1,777 ft. through solid
rock to carry water
from the spring Gihon
to the Pool of Siloam
within the city walls, to
insure a water supply
during a siege. In 701
Sennacherib of Assyria
attacked Judah,
destroying forty-six
cities, including Lachish,
whose siege is depicted
in reliefs from
Sennacherib’s palace in
Nineveh. Sennacherib’s

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