The Kings of Judah

Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1. Beginnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Day 1 Israels True King Day 2 Trading Gold for Silver Day 3 A Man after Gods Heart Day 4 Promises Fulfilled Day 5 A Lasting Dynasty Day 1: The Fear of the Lord Fell Day 2: Bad Alliances Day 3: Jehovah is Judge Day 4: Valley of Praise Day 5: Ship-Wrecked Plans

Week Eight: Throne of Wickedness

Day 1: Married to Wickedness Day 2: Warnings Day 3: God Brought About . . . Day 4: House of Wickedness Destroyed Day 5: A Great Sacrifice.

2. The True Kings Capital

Day 1 The City Founded By Peace Day 2 Enlarged Territory Day 3 The City of the Great King Day 4 The Beloved Singer of Israel Day 5 The Desire to Build a Palace for God

Week Nine: Ups and Downs

Day 1: A Threat on the Royal Line Day 2: Do It Now! Day 3: The Downfall Day 4: The Lord Can Give More Day 5: Putting Up a Bold Front

3. Gods Palace Is Built

Day 1: The Older Shall Serve the Younger Day 2: A Fathers Legacy Day 3: Get Wisdom Day 4: The Palace and Temple Built Day 5: The King Dwells in His New Palace

Week Ten:
Day 1: The Strength of Jehovah Day 2: Pride before the Fall Day 3: God is Still King Day 4: Steadfast Before the Lord Day 5: The Lords Fierce Anger

Week Four: A Man of Peace

Day 1: As For You Day 2: Solomons Other Accomplishments Day 3: Not Even Half Day 4: The Lords Beloved Forsakes His Love Day 5: Punishment with the Rod of Men

Week Eleven: No One Can Serve Two Masters

Day 1: Looking In All the Wrong Places Day 2: No One Like Him Day 3: The Lord Passes Over Day 4: The Worker Is Worthy of His Wages Day 5: He Rebelled

Week Five: A House Divided Against Itself

Day 1: Consequences of Rejecting Good Advice Day 2: A Divided Kingdom Day 3: A New Dynasty Begins Day 4: More than Their Fathers Had Done Day 5: Learning the Difference

Week Twelve: The Lords Deliverance

Day 1: The Closing Threat Day 2: At the Point of Death Day 3: The Crucible Day 4: Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt Day 5: Laying Our Problems Before the Throne

Week Six: Reformation after Spiritual Lapse

Day 1: Do Not Fight Against the God of your Fathers Day 2: The Healer Day 3: Helper of the Powerless Day 4: Your Work Will Be Rewarded Day 5: Selling Out

Week Thirteen: Repentance Week Seven: Jehoshapat as King

Day 1: Placing other gods in the Temple Day 2: Then He Knew

Day 3: Increased Guilt Day 4: He Began to Seek Day 5: Choose Life

Week Fourteen: More Reformation

Day 1: I Pledge Allegiance . . . Day 2: Removing the Detestable Places Day 3: Not Since the Days of Samuel Day 4: The Lord Speaks Through Unlikely People Day 5: Never to Return

Week Fifteen: Exiled Kings

Day 1: Johoiakim Day 2: Jehoachin Day 3: Zedekiah Day 4: The Royal Line Continues Day 5: Awaiting the King

Week Sixteen: A Throne Established in Love and Righteousness

Day 1: Whose Son is the Christ? Day 2: The Great King Arrives Day 3: King of the Jews Day 4: He Sat Down at the Right Hand of God Day 5: The King Will Return

Week Seventeen: Our Part in Gods Kingdom

Day 1: Our Heart, His Throne Day 2: Ambassadors and the Aroma of Christ Day 3: Co-heirs with Christ Day 4: The Kingdom of God Day 5: The Kingdom is Near

Week Eighteen: The Kings Return

Day 1: The Throne in Heaven Day 2: Waiting For the Procession Day 3: Stirred by a Noble Theme Day 4: He Will Vanquish the Enemy Day 5: Hephzibahthe New Jerusalem Appendices Appendix A: Genealogy Chart Appendix B: Timelines Appendix C: Maps Appendix D: Diagrams Appendix E: Illustrations, Drawings Appendix F: Culture

Introduction
Welcome to a time when the land of Judah housed magnificent palaces, thrones made of ivory, goblets made from pure gold, and storehouses so full that underground caves were used to contain the overflow. Welcome to a time when dynasties and royalty ruled the nation, nobles and princes helped govern it; a time when Israel received tribute, and world-renowned awe. Welcome to the Kings of Judah! Im so excited to study this material with you and cant wait to dig into it! My sincere hope is you will take something away from this study that impacts your walk with the Lord. If you need your faith strengthened, your heart restored, assurance from God, or even mercy and grace, my prayer is God uses this study to touch you and meet your need. I came to this study with a broken heart. Reading about Gods faithfulness to the kings has strengthened my faith in ways I couldnt have imagined. You and I both have come seeking the only King who is able to meet and supply our every need. Studying the kings of Gods holy people has always fascinated me. As we will learn, some were godly men who trusted the Lord wholeheartedly. The faith they displayed is sure to make any single, Christian woman wonder where on earth all these men have gone. We need not look far to see these men had their faults as well. They were human. Well also learn there were some terrible kings whose wickedness and lack of faith was just the polar opposite of the good kings. You must know there was no easy way to condense a Bible study that tackles such difficult and confusing subject matter. As a result, we will study this material for eighteen weeks. While it might seem longer than most studies, I promise Ive attempted to pull as much material to make it fresh and exciting. The first three weeks of our study focus on Saul, David, and Solomon. Though they werent official kings of Judah, its impossible not to include them since they contributed so much to the establishment of Israels throne. We will not do an in-depth study on these three kings, as far as their spiritual victories and failures are concerned. A whole study alone could be written on that subject matter for each individual. Instead, we are going to look at their involvement surrounding their acts as king. The first three weeks in our study are going to be intense since we explore a lot of background. By intense, I mean heavier reading and assignments. Dont throw the study down, yet! I promise, after the first three weeks, the reading, page flipping, and work assignments will decrease in miraculous ways. The rest of our Bible study focuses on the kings of Judah. We will study each king and examine their personality, political circumstances, spiritual lives, and more importantly, how their situations apply to us as Christians living in a completely, but not so different world than they knew. Throughout our study, you will keep a timeline. The timeline is located on the first page. Each time we finish studying a king, do three things: 1.) Write the name of the king we studied in the blank space. 2.) In the crown above the blank space, write one thing that stands out the most or will help you remember the king we just studied. It can be a word, phrase, or sentence. 3.) At the top of the crown, write the number of years each king reigned.

I highly recommend you create a system you can remember to help you differentiate the good kings from the bad. In the back you will find several appendices. The appendices provided are to help you gain a better understanding on certain subjects. The majority are optional. There are 3 appendices I want to call to your attention: I. The genealogy chart to fill in throughout the study. This is optional. II. The Maps: There are several maps provided. When its time to use them, Ill direct you to the appropriate map for our lesson. III. Two Timelines: These timelines include a list of intersecting prophets, and the other intersects the kings of Israel, Assyria, and Babylon, with the kings of Judah. At the beginning of each week, there are five key questions. While the purpose of the key questions is to help hammer the point of each weeks theme, Im going to encourage you review the questions once weve finished for the week. At the end of each week, go back to the first week and see how much you remember. Continue to do this with each weeks questions until you reach your current location. Every lesson includes a key verse. This verse will help you understand the main purpose of the lesson. I encourage you to read it before you begin your lesson. Beside the key verse is the key text for the day. In our lessons we do a lot of digging through the Bible. The key text will help you remember where to flip back to in your Bible. Also, I want to encourage you to review each days previous lesson before starting a new one. A great way to review is to grab a highlighter and highlight one thing you remember, or something that particularly touched you. It can be a sentence or paragraph, depending on the subject matter. It can even be a review question. Now, if youre like me, and are highlighterhappy (I have a reputation for being the highlighter queen!), and you naturally highlight while doing the lesson, I recommend you choose a colored highlighter and throughout the entire study use that color to highlight what you remembered. If you have an NIV Bible, or have access to one, I recommend you grab it and keep it by your side. Any words I zero on are from this version. Dont let that discourage you from using your preferred version. Be warned, however, that any translated words come from the NIV reference. I will let you know when Ive chosen another version to translate. Id like to suggest that you do something different with this study. We are going to find that many references in the Bible deal directly with God as the King every all. Whenever we come to one of these references in the Bible (which might seem hidden unlock the meaning of certain passages), highlight it. If you dont feel comfortable highlighting in your Bible, keep a separate notebook and jot down those references. Have fun with this study. Do things to make it your own, as well. I hope you enjoy studying the kings of Judah as much as I have. Are you ready for an exciting journey to the ancient nation of Judah? Then grab your Bible, and lets get started!

Introduction Session
__________________ and ________________________ ___________________ the the Bible as seen by the fact that the term ______________ occurs some 2,4000 times, and __________________________ some 350 times.1

I.

In those days there was ______ ___________ (Jdg.17:6;18:1;19:1;21:25)

Heritage Dictionary defines a _________________________ as a ____________________ ruled

1. The kingdom of Israel was to be a ____________________________. The American

or subject to _____________________ authority. o o o The priests, as well as the Levites, were given the _______________________ charge (Nu.17:1-13) The ________________________ settled civil matters. ________________ was appointed from every town (Dt.16:18) The ___________________ over the tribes (Nu.1:1-16) The Hebrew translation actually means ______________________________. 2. The Period of the ________________________ The book of Judges is translated as shephatim, which means ________________________________. This period of Israels history is marked by a cycle of continuing ___________________. God would bring ____________________________ against Israel and raise up _________________________ to deliver them from the enemy. Following their deliverance, _______________________ revival usually took place in Israel.

II. The _________________ of _______________________

Judah had __________ kings, the _________________ ____________________ lasting _________ years.
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1001 Surprising things you should know about God, 70

_______ sources from the Bible give the accounts of the kings. 1. __________________: Marks the _____________________ from the period of the ____________________ to the monarchy in Israel. This book opens with Samuel as the last __________________ and ends with the death of King __________________. 2. ____________________: Records the history of both the kings of _________________and Judah. It opens with the death of King _______________ and continues until the Assyrian and Babylonian ________________. 3. ________________________: Focuses solely on the kings of Judah. Starts with the death of King _______________ and ends with the ____________________ _______________. This book was written when the Jews were returning from __________________. The book also includes the ______________________ records of those returning from exile. These books should not be mistaken as ___________________. Their main purpose is to present the monarchy from a ______________________ perspective, not a _______________________ .These books displayed each kings relationship with _____________ and whether they held fast to the ways of their _______________ David. Kings and Chronicles introduce every king by stating _________ facts. Their name; the ________________ they began to reign; the ____________________ of their reign; the name of their ____________________; and a brief summery regarding their walk with __________. Other sources recorded the events of Israels kings. 1. Book of the ______________ of King ______________ (1 Ch. 27:24) 2. Book of the ____________________ of _______________________ (1 Ki.11:42) 3. The annals of the _________________________ of _________________ (1 Ki.14:19) 4. The Book of the kings of __________________ (1 Ki.15:7) 5. The record of ___________________ the seer (1 Ch.29:29) 6. The records of _____________________ the prophet (1 Ch.29:29) 7. The records of _____________ the seer (1 Ch.29:29) 8. _________________ of _____________ the Shilonite (II Ch.9:29) 9. ___________________ of ____________ the seer (II Ch.9:29) 10. Records of ____________________ the ________________ (II Ch.12:15) 11. Annals of ______________ (II Ch.20:34) 12. Visions of the prophet ___________________ (II Ch.32: 13. Annals of _____________ (II Ch.33:18) 14. One _______________ for King Josiah in the book of _________________ (II 35:25)

These books have unfortunately been lost. The books with a star beside them indicate we have access to the books through the Bible.