Old-Testament Survey: Judah

1
Old-Testament SurveyJudahs Last Days

• The Fall of Judah

2
Judahs Kings

• Israel
• In captivity inAssyria - 722 B.C.

• Judah
• Hezekiah (29 years)715686 B.C.
• Manasseh (52 years)686642 B.C.
• Amon (2 years) 642640 B.C.
• Josiah (31 years)641609 B.C.

3
Judahs Kings

• Israel
• In captivity in Assyria 722 B.C.

• Judah
• Jehoahaz (3 months) 609 B.C.
• Jehoiakim (11 years)609598 B.C.
• Jehoiachin (3 months) 597 B.C.
• Zedekiah (11 years)597586 B.C.

4
Hezekiah

• Three years before Assyria destroyed Israel,
  Hezekiah was ruling in Judah.
• He did all he could to rid Judah of evil(2 Kings
  18,19)
• He destroyed idolatry, reopened the temple doors,
  and repaired and cleansed the temple.
• He called upon all the remnant of Israel to
  worship God.
• Many mocked, but some did come to Jerusalem to
  worship God.

5
Hezekiah

• Hezekiah, as Ahaz had done, ceased to pay tribute
  to Assyria.
• In Hezekiahs 14th year, king Sennacherib invaded
  Judah and destroyed some of her fortified cities.
  (2 Kings 1813-16)
• Hezekiah decided to pay tribute with the gold
  from the temple wallswas unable to buy him off!
• Hezekiah heard their threats and prayed to the
  Lord.
• God assured him that He would protect the city.
  That night , Gods angel smote 185,000 Assyrian
  soldiers. (2 Kings 1935-37)

6
Hezekiah

• Hezekiah became deathly ill and was told he would
  not recover. (2 Kings 201,2)
• He prayed to God for mercy, and God granted him
  15 more years. (2 Kings 203-8)
• As a sign to Hezekiah, the sun dial of Ahaz was
  set back 10 steps. (2 Kings 209-11)
• Hezekiah showed the Babylonian ambassadors all
  his wealth.
• He was told he had acted foolishly the prophet
  predicted that a Babylonian would later take
  Judah into captivity. (2 Kings 2012-19)

7
Manasseh

• Hezekiah died, and his son Manasseh (only 12)
  became king of Judah. He would reign for 55
  years. (2 Kings 211-15)
• Manasseh lured Judah back into wickedness and
  idolatry. (2 Kings 219-16)
• He even offered his own son in sacrifice to an
  idol in the valley of Hinnom. (2 Kings 216)
• Assyria captured Manasseh and took him to
  Babylon, where he repented and prayed to God for
  forgiveness.
• Manassehs kingdom was restored. He built a
  larger wall around Jerusalem and took away the
  foreign gods. (2 Kings 3310-18)

8
Amon and Josiah

• Amon succeeded Manasseh, but he lasted only two
  years. He was wicked. (2 Kings 2119-26)
• Judahs citizens murdered the wicked servants who
  killed the king and put his 8-year-old son,
  Josiah, on the throne. (2 Kings 221,2)
• Josiah ruled for 31 years. He purged the idolatry
  from Judah. (2 Kings 223-7)
• Hilkiah found the book of the Law of God and
  brought it to the young king.
• When Josiah understood their failure to keep the
  law, he asked for word of what would befall Judah
  because of her great sin.

9
Josiah

• Josiah was told that Judah would suffer the
  curses of the lawbut not during his lifetime.
  (2 Kings 2119-26)
• Josiah continued his purge.
• He destroyed the houses of the false gods. He
  went to Bethel and torn down the altars. Dug up
  the priests and burned their bones on the altar.
  (1 Kings 13)
• Josiah called on Judah to observe the Passover.
  They had not done so since the days of Samuel!
• Assyria was decaying. Egypt was controlling
  Syria. The powerful nation of Babylon attacked
  Assyria.

10
Jehoahaz and Jehoikim

• At Megiddo, Josiah fought against Babylon and was
  killed his reforms were over. (2 Chronicles
  3522-25)
• Jehoahaz became king. He ruled only three months.
  He was deposed by Pharaoh-Necho, who placed his
  brother, Jehoiakim, on the throne. (2 Kings
  2334-36)
• Jehoiakim reigned 11 years. Nebuchadnezzar forced
  him to pay tribute to Babylon.
• After 3 years, he rebelled. The Chaldeans invaded
  Jerusalem, captured the king, and took him back
  to Babylon. They also stole the temple vessels.
• Jehoiachin, at 18, became king. He ruled for only
  3 months before being taken when Nebuchadnezzar
  came back to Jerusalem. All precious metals and
  aristocrats were taken back to Babylon.

11
Zedekiah

• Mattaniah was selected to be governor over Judah
  his name was changed to Zedekiah.
• After 11 years, Zedekiah rebelled against
  Babylon. The Chaldeans destroyed the city and the
  temple.
• Anyone of importance was taken into captivity in
  Babylon.
• Zedekiahs sons were murdered before his eyes,
  and then they put out his eyes! It was 586 B.C.
• Gedaliah was appointed governor over what was
  left of Jerusalem and Judah. God wanted Judah to
  live peacefully under Babylon for 70 years, the
  time prophesied by Jeremiah the prophet.

12
Judah Falls

• After Gedaliah ruled for only two months, they
  murdered him and fled to Egypt. Against
  Jeremiahs will, they took him with them.
• The captivity in Babylon lasted 70 years.
• In the 37th year, Evil-Merodach, king of Babylon,
  lifted up Jehoiakim from prison and treated him
  kindly.
• After 70 years of captivity, Cyrus, king of
  Persia, defeated the Babylonians. He allowed the
  Jews to return to their homeland. The captivity
  was over!

13
Judahs Downfall

• Judahs downfall followed the same pattern as
  Israels.
• God sent Isaiah, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, and other
  prophets to call them to repentance but they did
  not repent!
• When Judah forsook God, He forsook them.
• Their own wickedness brought the captivity.
• Only Gods grace saved them from total
  annihilation.
• During the captivity, God sent the prophets
  Ezekiel and Daniel to teach Judah.
• During the restoration, when Cyrus was king of
  Persia, God sent the prophets Haggai and
  Zechariah.