K.E.Y. Bible Study is a systematic study of Scripture that equips participants to become acquainted with major Bible truths over a 5- year period. Each lesson is self- contained which means you can join in the study at any time during the 5 years. Purpose: To teach the most significant events, passages, and doctrines of the Bible in a manner and using methods which encourage and empowers the students: Background To KEEP THE FAITH that we have received Be EQUIPPED to serve the body of Christ Become YOKED in ministry with other believers K.E.Y. Events in the Old Testament March 18, 2015 Two Kingdoms 1 Kings 12:1 2 Kings 25:30 First and Second Kings form one narrative, which recounts the history of Israel s monarchy. Chapters one through eleven of 1 Kings tell of Solomon s reign. Beginning with chapter twelve, the book describes the period of antagonism between the two kingdoms, which resulted following Solomon s death. Nine dynasties ruled the Northern Kingdom of Israel over the next 200 years (931-722 B.C.). The Southern Kingdom of Judah had one dynastic house during the period of 931-586 B.C. Both kingdoms fell due to their continual disobedience to the covenant relationship they should have enjoyed with God. WHO God: The books of Kings show how God s moral laws govern history. Faithfulness is rewarded with blessing. Unfaithfulness reaps God s judgment. He is the sovereign Lord of history, and He is faithful. Rehoboam Succeeded Solomon and reigned for seventeen years. He stubbornly refused to rescind the oppressive forced labor and tax measures of his father, which split the kingdom (1 Kings 12:1-24). His greatly reduced kingdom became known as Judah. His name means one who enlarges, but ironically he divided the people. Jeroboam: First king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. He built altars in Dan and Bethel with golden calves representing God s presence. (1 Kings 12:25-33) All the following kings of the Northern Kingdom continued this practice of worshipping at Dan and Bethel rather than Jerusalem. Ahab and Jezebel Ahab was the seventh king of Israel s Northern Kingdom. He married the Phoenician princess, Jezebel, and incited God s anger more than any of Israel s previous kings. During his reign, there was relative peace between Judah and Israel, and his days were those of growing wealth and spiritual apostasy. He died in battle (1 Kings 22). She also suffered a rather gruesome end. (2 Kings 9)
Jehu - The only king of the Northern Kingdom who was evaluated as having done right in the eyes of the Lord in that he destroyed the worshippers of Baal. (2 Kings 10:28). He and his descendants held the throne of Israel for approximately a century. Hezekiah He brought religious reform to the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The temple was reopened and the idols were removed. He fortified the city of Jerusalem and organized an army in anticipation of conflict with Assyria. He had a tunnel dug that would bring water into the city of Jerusalem. God miraculously delivered Judah from the hands of the Assyrians (2 Kings 19) Josiah He became king at the age of eight, and his reign lasted for thirty- one years. He initiated a religious purge of Jerusalem, Judah, and surrounding areas during his twelfth year on the throne. During his eighteenth year on the throne, while repairs were being done on the temple, the Book of the Law was discovered. Hearing the words of this book prompted him to undertake the most far- reaching religious reforms in Israel s history. Though he was only thirty- nine when he died, he was remembered as Judah s greatest king (2 Kings 23:25). WHEN Following the reign of Solomon, which came to an end in 931 B.C., the kingdom was divided into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Israel fell in 722 B.C., and Judah fell in 586 B.C. WHERE The Northern Kingdom of Israel was comprised of ten tribes of Israel and occupied territory east and north of the Dead Sea on up into the regions of Samaria and Galilee. The Southern Kingdom of Judah was comprised of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and occupied territory west of the Dead Sea from Jericho down to Kadesh Barnea. WHAT HAPPENED (The following outline is from The Holman Bible Handbook, pages 251-68 and from The New Open Bible) Judah and Israel Divided Under Apostasy (1 Kings 12:1-16:34) God s Prophets Elijah and Micaiah (1 Kings 17:1-22:53) Miracle of Fire on Mt Carmel - 18:1-40 Challenge to Ahab - 18:1-19 Victory on Mt Carmel - 18: 20-40
1 Kings 18:21 Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing. 1 Kings 18:39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD--he is God! The LORD--he is God!" God s Prophet Elisha (2 Kings 1:1-8:29) Ministry of Elisha - 4:1-8:15 Miracles - 4:1-7:20 Ministry - 8:1-15 Decline and Destruction of Israel (9:1-17:41) 2 Kings 17:13-14 The LORD warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: "Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your fathers to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets." But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their fathers, who did not trust in the LORD their God. 2 Kings 17:18-23 18 So the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left, 19 and even Judah did not keep the commands of the LORD their God. They followed the practices Israel had introduced. 20 Therefore the LORD rejected all the people of Israel; he afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers, until he thrust them from his presence. 21 When he tore Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam enticed Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a great sin. 22 The Israelites persisted in all the sins of Jeroboam and did not turn away from them 23 until the LORD removed them from his presence, as he had warned through all his servants the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland into exile in Assyria, and they are still there. Survival and Final Days of Judah (18:1-25:30) The Reign of Hezekiah in Judah - 18:1-20:21 Spiritual Evaluation of Hezekiah -18:1-8 2 Kings 18:5-7 5 Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. 6 He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses. 7 And the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. Political Situation under Hezekiah - 18:9-20:19
Invasion of Israel by Assyria - 18:9-12 First Invasion of Judah by Assyria - 18:13-16 Second Invasion of Judah by Assyria - 18:17-19:37 2 Kings 19:14-19 14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: "O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. 17 "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men's hands. 19 Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God." Miraculous Recovery of Hezekiah - 20:1-11 Judah s Wealth is Exposed to Babylon - 20:12-13 Babylonian Exile is Prophesied - 20:14-19 Death of Hezekiah - 20:20-21 The Reign of Josiah in Judah - 22:1-23:30 o Spiritual Evaluation of Josiah - 22:1-2 2 Kings 22:1-2 1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother's name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. Renewal of the Covenant by Josiah - 22:3-23:37 o The Temple is Repaired - 22:3-7 o The Book of the Law is Discovered - 22:8-10 o Repentance of Josiah - 22:11-14 o Prophecy of Blessing - 22:15-20 o Institution of the Covenant - 23:1-3 2 Kings 23:1-3 1 Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 He went up to the temple of the LORD with the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets--all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the LORD. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the LORD--to follow the LORD and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.
o Reforms Because of the Covenant - 23:4-27 2 Kings 23:25 Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did--with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses. Political Situation Under Josiah - 23:28-29 Death of Josiah - 23:30 The Rein of Zedekiah in Judah 2 Kings 24:18-20 18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 19 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, just as Jehoiakim had done. 20 It was because of the LORD's anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence. Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 2 Kings 25:1 so in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it. 2 Kings 25:21 there at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king had them executed. So Judah went into captivity, away from her land. REFLECTIONS ON SOLOMON The history of Israel and Judah is the story of a people s failure to fulfill God s purpose for them. God is still in control and is faithful despite human failure We are called to obedience, and our hope is in the grace of God We see that grace most clearly in Jesus Christ