Session
8: Section 2
Overview of the books of the Bible (Part
4)
In
the last "overview" section (Session 6, Section
1) we left off with the destruction of the northern
kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians. The Assyrians then
turned their attention to the southern kingdom.
This
time we follow the southern kingdom of Judah from the
reign of Hezekiah to when the kingdom was destroyed.
At this time they were taken to Babylon, where they
stayed for seventy years. At the end of the seventy
years, they returned to the land of Israel. The next
phase in the story leads up to the birth of Christ.
This
is a not an easy period to understand, so it will help
you to look at the time chart again – (part 1 
and part 2 ).
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2
Kings 18 and 19
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The Assyrians invaded Judah, conquering virtually
all the kingdom except the city of Jerusalem. This
occurred during the time when Hezekiah was King
of Judah. |
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| An
Assyrian soldier from the palace
of
Sargon II. He had a curled beard, and held
a quiver and bow, heavy club and
sword. |
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| Isaiah
36 and 37 |
The
king of Assyria came with a vast army which
surrounded Jerusalem while Hezekiah was
king. They called for Hezekiah’s surrender.
The Assyrians had overcome all the gods
of the other nations, so they thought that
they could conquer Israel. They thought
that the God of Israel was no different
from the gods of the other nations.
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Hezekiah
took the problem to God in prayer. Isaiah brought an
answer from God:
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Read
Isaiah 37 v 33 to 35
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We
see God’s dramatic response:
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Read
Isaiah 37 v 36 |
This
is a graphic example of God’s deliverance, because He
wanted to show that He was different from all other
gods.
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2
Kings 21
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Hezekiah’s
reign was followed by two very wicked kings, Manasseh
and Amon. It was because of the wickedness of
Manasseh that God told them that their nation
would be taken into captivity for a period of
seventy years.
The
seventy years captivity was foretold by Jeremiah:
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Read
Jeremiah 29 v 10
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2
Kings 22
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The
next king, Josiah, was a good king. When Josiah
became king at a very young age, he removed the
idols which past kings had established.
While
clearing out the temple, the priests found a book
of the law.
Josiah
had the book read and was concerned because clearly
the nation had strayed away from God. And so Josiah
made further efforts to remove idol worship.
Unfortunately,
these efforts were short lived as Josiah died
prematurely in a battle against Egypt.
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2
Kings 23 v 31
to
2 Kings 24 v 20
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As
a result of Josiah’s death, his sons came to power
and the next four kings are wicked. These are
Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah.
Zedekiah was the last king.
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2
Kings 25
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During
Zedekiah’s reign, the Babylonians invaded. Jerusalem
was ransacked and the Temple was destroyed.
The
southern kingdom was then taken captive to Babylon
for seventy years.
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| Towards
the end of the seventy years, Babylon was conquered
by the Medes and Persians, and a decree was granted
allowing the Jews to restore the Temple. |
An artist’s impression
of "great
Babylon". |
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Ezra
and Nehemiah
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Zerubbabel,
Joshua, Ezra and Nehemiah were leaders at various
times. There were several interruptions to the
rebuilding as the surrounding nations interfered,
but eventually, through a series of decrees, the
Temple and the city walls were constructed.
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Haggai
and Zechariah
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Haggai
and Zechariah were prophets who encouraged the
people in their job of building the Temple.
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Esther
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The
book of Esther also enters into this time period.
Esther was married to a king of Persia and she
interceded when there was a plot to destroy the
Jews. The Feast of Purim, still kept by orthodox
Jews today, is a celebration of this event.
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Leading
up to Christ
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There
is a period of silence from God for 400 years.
The
Persian kingdom was conquered by the Greek empire.
The
region of Israel was now ruled by the Greeks,
who encouraged harmony and practised religious
tolerance for a time.
The
Greek empire was divided and Israel became a place
of dispute between two sections of the Greek empire.
Antiochus
Epiphanes was a particularly cruel Greek ruler
over the land of Israel. He imposed terrible evil
on the Jews and humiliated them in their worship.
As a result of this, a Jewish family known as
the Maccabees rose in revolt, reclaimed Jerusalem
and purified the Temple.
The
Jews ruled their land for a short time until the
Roman empire swallowed up the Greek empire and
asserted control over the area then known as Palestine,
which included the land of Israel.
..........
And so this sets the scene for the New Testament
period.
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Optional
Assignment 11
Overview
of the books of the Bible
Continue
making your own summary of the Bible story using the
references we have given you and add it to your summaries
from assignments 6 and 8.
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