THE L.I.F.E. PLAN JUDAH S KINGS BLOCK 2 THEME 8 - THE CAPTIVITIES LESSON 3 (67 of 216)
BLOCK 2 THEME 8: THE CAPTIVITIES LESSON 3 (67 OF 216): JUDAH S KINGS LESSON AIM: Present the kings of the southern nation of Judah. SCRIPTURE: (2 Samuel 7:16) And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever. When man fell into sin in the Garden of Eden, God announced his program of response to the situation at hand. He promised to send a deliverer in response to the damage that Lucifer had done in the human race. The deliverer would rescue the fallen and destroy the works of the devil. God set his plan into motion by calling Abram from Ur of the Chaldeans and creating a race of people which did not exist heretofore; the Hebrew people. They became known as God s chosen people. They were God s chosen people, not because they were any better than anyone else, but because of the special purpose God had for them in his plan of deliverance. It was through this people that God would send his deliverer to the world. The history of the Hebrews, also called Israel in the Old Testament, begins with the patriarchs; the first family and fathers of the nation. From Abraham to his greatgrandson Joseph, Israel began and moved to the land of Egypt. In Egypt, Israel grew and multiplied into a nation strong in number. The king of Egypt saw them as a serious threat to national security and forced them into slavery. For four hundred and thirty years, Israel lived in Egypt, many of these years under cruel bondage to their oppressors. God saw the oppression of Israel and raised up a deliverer named Moses. Moses brought the children of Israel out of Egypt by the strong arm of the Lord in what we now know as the exodus. It was at this time that God established Israel as a theocratic nation; a people ruled by God himself. God took them from Egypt and established them in a land of their own in Canaan. They survived in Canaan for some four hundred years of tumultuous history under the judges of Israel. Eventually, they took kings unto themselves who would rule the nation. It was not that God did not want them to have a king during the theocracy, but that they went ahead of the Lord in wanting and getting a king after their own choosing and at the wrong time. During the reigns of Israel s first three kings, the nation stabilized, expanded, and reached the height of its glory. After only one hundred and twenty years of this advancement, Israel split into two kingdoms after the death of King Solomon. The kingdom of the north was called Israel, while the southern kingdom was called Judah. It was here that the effect of the Egyptian slavery finally caught up with the Hebrew people. Bondage had so engrained itself in the heart of Israel that the nation chose to live in a spiritual bondage instead of the righteousness that God had planned for them. They served the gods of the peoples among whom they lived. They set up images and temples and worshipped false gods upon every high hill and under every green tree in Israel. For their rebellion and sin, God sent them into captivity again, removing them from the land of promise to which he had brought them. We have
already seen how Israel was removed from the land by the Assyrian captivity. Now, it was Judah s turn to suffer a similar punishment. In Israel, we saw how King Jeroboam set the pace for the wicked kings who ruled after him. From nine different dynasties, twenty kings ruled for only two hundred and fifty years before their captivity. Judah fared only a little better, lasting only about another one hundred and forty years before their captivity came. However, in Judah, there was only one dynasty of kings; that of King David. David was Israel s second king and was such a contrast from Saul, the first king. Saul was chosen by the people; David was chosen by God. Saul served his own self-interests; David was a man after God s own heart. David, though he sinned on several occasions, was favored by God. David had the hope to build a house for God but God would not allow him to do it. Instead, God said to David, I will build you a house. The house for David that God built was a dynasty of kings that began with David, continued through his son Solomon and other descendants who followed, and will continue eternally through his descendant, Jesus, who just also happens to be the deliverer that God had promised to send into the world. When the nation split into two kingdoms, the Davidic line ruled in the southern kingdom of Judah. Twenty kings ruled but just under half of them did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord. A dozen kings of Judah contributed to the nation s sin and departure from God. Following is a list of the southern kings and the number of years they ruled. Their stories can be read in the books of the Kings and the Chronicles of the Old Testament as well as among some of the prophetic books. Rehoboam (17); Abijam (3); Asa (41); Jehoshaphat (25); Jehoram (8); Ahaziah (1); Athaliah (6); Joash (40); Amaziah (29); Azariah (Uzziah) (52); Jotham (16); Ahaz (16); Hezekiah (29); Manasseh (55); Amon (2); Josiah (31); Jehoahaz (3 months); Jehoiakim (11); Jehoiakin (3 months); and Zedekiah (11). While the southern kingdom survived a little longer than the northern kingdom, due to her departure from God and resultant decline into sin, she eventually suffered the punishment of deportation and captivity as had her big sister, Israel. This is the illustration the prophet Jeremiah used to describe the path and plight of the two kingdoms. Israel, like an older sister, had walked in the ways of sin and had suffered the consequences for doing so. Instead of learning from the mistakes of her older sister, little sister Judah followed in her footsteps. Unfortunately, she met the same consequences. Unlike Israel though, Judah did return from captivity so that God could keep alive his plan to bring the descendant of David and Messiah into the world. Although the David dynasty suffered a time out period of rule on David s throne which is still in effect today, at an appointed time in the future, David s descendant will again sit on the throne of his father David. In that day, that descendant will be Jesus, the Messiah and deliverer that God sent into the world. In that day, Jesus will not only rule a regathered Israel, but will rule the entire world. Of his throne and of his kingdom, there will never be an end. The promise that God made to David to establish his kingdom forever will be fulfilled in Jesus Christ the King of Kings. The nation of the Hebrews had such an opportunity to work with God in his purpose in the world. They squandered this opportunity by wanting to have their own way. The Bible exhorts us to look at their example and not make the same mistake. If we do, we will suffer the consequences of sin as Judah did who did not learn from the sins and mistakes of Israel. God still works in the same way among mankind today. Let us not be fooled into thinking that we can get by with having our own way without paying the high price for such a sin against God. If Israel and Judah suffered the consequences of their sin, so will those who walk in the same ways.
LESSON OUTLINE BLOCK 2 THEME 8: THE CAPTIVITIES LESSON 3 (67 OF 216): JUDAH S KINGS I DAVID S DYNASTY ESTABLISHED A. David B. Solomon II THE DAVIDIC DYNASTY S DECLINE AND DEPORTATION A. The kings B. Judah, the little sister III THE DAVIDIC DYNASTY CONTINUES A. Jesus SCRIPTURES TO BROADEN YOUR UNDERSTANDING 1. The decline and deportation of Judah 2 Kings 18-25 Jeremiah Lamentations LINES OF THEOLOGICAL CONNECTION 1. THE DOCTRINE OF GOD God will not be mocked: what a man sows, he reaps God s sovereignty over kings and kingdoms 2. THE DOCTRINE OF SIN Sin has consequences Repentance of sin 3. CHRISTOLOGY Jesus is the promised deliverer of God
QUESTIONS ANSWER KEY 1. How many dynasties ruled in the nation of Judah? 1 2. Whose dynasty ruled in Judah? David 3. What promise did God make to David concerning his dynasty? That it would be established forever 4. How will God fulfill this promise to David? In Jesus Christ 5. What illustration did the prophet Jeremiah use of Israel and Judah? That of a little sister following in the wrong ways of her big sister 6. What can we learn from the sin and captivities of the two kingdoms? That sin has consequences and those who walk in sin will pay the price 7. What should we do in light of these two examples of Israel and Judah? Learn from their examples and not walk in sin. 8. You have an influence on those who are watching your life. Do you have any siblings who might be following in your footsteps whether those footsteps are good or bad? Student response
BLOCK 2 THEME 8: THE CAPTIVITIES LESSON 3 (67 OF 216): JUDAH S KINGS QUESTIONS TO INSPIRE THOUGHT 1. How many dynasties ruled in the nation of Judah? 2. Whose dynasty ruled in Judah? 3. What promise did God make to David concerning his dynasty? 4. How will God fulfill this promise to David? 5. What illustration did the prophet Jeremiah use of Israel and Judah? 6. What can we learn from the sin and captivities of the two kingdoms? 7. What should we do in light of these two examples of Israel and Judah? 8. You have an influence on those who are watching your life. Do you have any siblings who might be following in your footsteps whether those footsteps are good or bad?