This text has been written to do an analysis of the kings of Israel from the first king named Saul to the last king named Zedekiah. After Solomon, the nation of Israel had divided into two separate kingdoms. The southern kingdom had been the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The northern kingdom had been the other ten tribes which had included Manasseh and Ephraim because of the double portion inheritance that had been given to Joseph. The Levites had not been included with either kingdom because they had not owned any property. But as will be seen in this text, they had mostly gone with the southern kingdom and the house of David. In the northern kingdom beginning with Jeroboam I, there had been a total of nineteen kings leading up to Hoshea. It had been under Hoshea that the northern kingdom had fallen to the Assyrians in 722 BC. In the southern kingdom beginning with Rehoboam, there had been twenty kings leading up to Zedekiah. The southern kingdom had fallen to the Babylonian empire under King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC.
The sad commentary on the northern kingdom is that not one of their nineteen kings had sought the Lord. The scriptures declare each one of them as NOT having walked in the ways of the Lord. However, that same commentary had mostly been true of the southern kingdom, too. Of its twenty kings, only eight of them had tried to live for the Lord. They are Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoash, Amaziah, Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah, and Josiah. But even they had done some very ungodly things. A few obvious lessons that one can learn from a careful study of those kings are that they had tried to serve the Lord but that they had not even been close to perfect. They had made some very bad alliances. One such alliance had been between Jehoshaphat and Ahab. It had been a coming together of one of the very best kings of the southern kingdom with one of the very worst kings of the northern kingdom. But to have made that whole situation worse, the son of Jehoshaphat had actually married the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. So from that time on, it had been a race to the bottom for both kingdoms. So while the northern kingdom might have gotten there first, the southern kingdom had not been very far behind.
Another goal of this text has been to put the major and the minor prophets into the context of when they had lived. It had been to see what those prophets had said and to whom they had said it. So, doing this study and trying to pinpoint timeframes for each king and for each prophet has been somewhat involved and complicated. Not all commentators have agreed on exactly when some of the kings had lived and reigned. In fact, some of their estimates have varied by as much as ten, fifteen, or even more years. Therefore, the work of archaeologist Dr. Edwin R. Thiele has been used much in trying to figure out consistent beginning and ending years of reign as well as when a son might have ruled with his father before actually having come to the throne. So as this history is concluded, it is hoped that it will be both educational and interesting to those people that like to study such things. It certainly has been for this author. In addition, it is also hoped that the Lord will be honored and glorified by this kind of study of His Word. To Him be the praise, the honor, and the glory for all that He has done throughout the ages.
The sad commentary on the northern kingdom is that not one of their nineteen kings had sought the Lord. The scriptures declare each one of them as NOT having walked in the ways of the Lord. However, that same commentary had mostly been true of the southern kingdom, too. Of its twenty kings, only eight of them had tried to live for the Lord. They are Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoash, Amaziah, Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah, and Josiah. But even they had done some very ungodly things. A few obvious lessons that one can learn from a careful study of those kings are that they had tried to serve the Lord but that they had not even been close to perfect. They had made some very bad alliances. One such alliance had been between Jehoshaphat and Ahab. It had been a coming together of one of the very best kings of the southern kingdom with one of the very worst kings of the northern kingdom. But to have made that whole situation worse, the son of Jehoshaphat had actually married the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. So from that time on, it had been a race to the bottom for both kingdoms. So while the northern kingdom might have gotten there first, the southern kingdom had not been very far behind.
Another goal of this text has been to put the major and the minor prophets into the context of when they had lived. It had been to see what those prophets had said and to whom they had said it. So, doing this study and trying to pinpoint timeframes for each king and for each prophet has been somewhat involved and complicated. Not all commentators have agreed on exactly when some of the kings had lived and reigned. In fact, some of their estimates have varied by as much as ten, fifteen, or even more years. Therefore, the work of archaeologist Dr. Edwin R. Thiele has been used much in trying to figure out consistent beginning and ending years of reign as well as when a son might have ruled with his father before actually having come to the throne. So as this history is concluded, it is hoped that it will be both educational and interesting to those people that like to study such things. It certainly has been for this author. In addition, it is also hoped that the Lord will be honored and glorified by this kind of study of His Word. To Him be the praise, the honor, and the glory for all that He has done throughout the ages.
