Review
Last week we learned about all the 39 kings of Israel and Judah.
What were God’s prophets (those who deliver God’s messages to the kings to return to God) doing during all this time?
They kept delivering messages to the kings to return to God or there would be trouble. The LORD used Elijah to show that He was the one true God (see Mount Carmel and the prophets of Baal story). The LORD used Elisha almost like a king because he led God’s people in doing miracles and fighting battles, etc.
1 and 2 Chronicles
The 13th and 14th book of the Bible are 1st and 2nd Chronicles (respectively). The accounts these books contain happen alongside the stories of 1st and 2nd Kings, but are only focused on Judah’s kings (because they were the ones carrying on the Davidic covenant).
1 Chronicles chronicles Adam and goes through the life of King David.
2 Chronicles chronicles King Solomon and goes through all of Judah’s kings to the exile.
Watch the Fabulous Bentley Brothers sing about 2 Chronicles:
The Exile of Israel and Judah
There were no more kings after the list of 39 because time had run out. Israel had been warned time and time again to turn back to the LORD. Moses told the people back after the exodus that God wanted to bless Israel so she could be a blessing to the world if they obeyed and were true to Him. If they weren’t true to the LORD their enemies would carry them away from the promised land. King Solomon, when the Temple was being dedicated, reminded the people that if they didn’t stay true to God, enemies would carry them away.
They haven’t been true to God at all! (Ian)
While the two nations of Israel had been ignoring God, two great enemies had been growing in the east: Assyria and Babylon.
Israel’s Exile
God is true to His word. For 200 years He waited for the northern tribe to turn back to Him. Now he was done waiting. In 722 BC…
…the Assyrians swept into Israel (the northern 10 tribes) and destroyed it., The last king of Israel, Hoshea, and many of the people in the north were dragged off in chains to Assyria. The northern kingdom of Israel no longer existed.
Judah’s Exile
What about the southern kingdom of Judah? God gave them more time because they had more kings who obeyed and did right in the sight of the LORD. For every king that followed God, there were two that didn’t (versus in the north there was only one good king among all of them!). Additionally, the Davidic covenant is in effect in the kingdom of Judah.
If God’s chosen people ignored Him, if they worshiped other gods and God did nothing about it, the world wouldn’t learn to respect God’s holiness. (Pastor Paul)
In 586 BC, 140 years after the northern kingdom’s exile…
…King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians attacked and captured Jerusalem. The last true king of Judah, Jehoiachin, and many of the people of Judah and Benjamin were dragged off to Babylon in chains.
Jerusalem was burned, walls pulled down, and the Temple (the one King Solomon built) destroyed.
Is this the end of God’s rescue plan?
No descendant of David was on the throne of Israel. There was no throne in Israel. There was no Israel. In the midst of all this judgment, God used one of His prophets to deliver an important message. His name was Isaiah and he lived from about 740 to 680 BC. God had Isaiah warn the north and the south about the terrible things that were going to happen… about the end of Israel.
The amazing message from Isaiah was about a coming Messiah, or anointed one. Anointing was a sign of someone becoming a king of God’s people. Isaiah said there was another anointed one (messiah) coming, another king from the line of David… a king that will rule forever.
Immanuel means: God with us.
A girl will have a baby who will be king over God’s people and will be “God with us.”
In the middle of a seemingly hopeless situation, God sends Isaiah to speak about a blessing coming for the whole world… from the family of David… a child is on its way… the hope of Israel, the hope of the world.
Amazing! The hope of the world isn’t an army, it’s a baby! (Buck Denver)
How long are they stuck in Assyria and Babylon?
Do they ever get to go back to the land of Israel?
Next time…
source YouTube
source What’s in the Bible? Curriculum Unit 6 Week 4
