Page 67 - Biblical Backgrounds

Judah and the Divided Monarchy
(I Kings 12-22, 2 Kings 1-17, Chronicles 10-36; the Prophets)

Connect…

Northern 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 Assyrians 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 who 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.

The Lesson ...

The Assyrians invaded northern Israel in 722 BCE during the reign of King Hoshea. King Ahaz was the
king of Judah during the time of Israel’s demise.

Judah was a small territory located between the
Dead Sea and the coastal plains toward
Philistia. It was only about 50 miles wide and
110 miles north to south, but over half of the
southern part of Judah was desert and scarcely
populated. The Dead Sea was not a water
source for Judah, so the main water was
obtained from deep wells or from the base of
the Jordan River. Much of the eastern part of
the country saw very little rainfall, so it is
somewhat arid. The central part of the country
is very hilly, so not a good location for farmland,
and most trees were cut down, making it
scarce.

Government and History

During the prophet Samuel’s ministry, Israel asked for a king, as the other nations had. It was, in a
sense, the rejection of Jehovah as King. God warned them that the king would take their sons and
daughters, the best of their crops, and their income, but that did not seem to pacify their demands. So
God allowed them to have a king.

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