Page 71 - Advanced Biblical Backgrounds Revised

Chapter 9: Judah and the Divided Monarchy
(I Kings 12-22, 2 Kings 1-17, Chronicles 10-36; the Prophets)

Connect…

Northern Israel was taken captive, and many people were 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 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.

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.

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

The Lesson ...

Location.

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

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