1. Identify and explain the significance of key terms, passages, people, and themes from this section including: Judah, Jehoshaphat, Micah, Hezekiah, Uzziah, Isaiah, judgment, hope, justice/righteousness, Isaiah 24-27, Nahum, Assyrians, Manasseh, Zephaniah, Josiah, Jeremiah, Babylonia, Habakkuk, Lamentations, and Obadiah.
2. Locate on a map the key places in this section, including: Judah (southern kingdom), Jerusalem, Egypt, Assyria, Nineveh, Babylonia, Edom, and Babylon.
3. Know the sequence of events for this period.
The reign of Jehoshaphat
The reign of Hezekiah
The ministry of Isaiah
The destruction of Assyria
The revival under Josiah
The ministry of Jeremiah
The fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians
4. Explain the scriptural teaching on justice/righteousness and why God emphasizes this virtue so much in the major and minor prophets.
Required Readings and Study Items
(Bible software upgrade may be required for "Dictionary" and "Study Bible Notes", see "Order" button on "Cover")
1. Discovering God, Philip Yancey, pp. 87-104, Zondervan Publishing House: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1989 (click on the "Text" button).
2. Click on the "Text" button and then click on unfamiliar words or phrases in blue and bold type.
3. Click on the "Explore" button, open the Bible Dictionary, and do a search on the words "judgment," "hope," "justice," "righteousness" and all other terms and people listed in Learning Objectives #1 and #2. Scroll through the search "hits" and read the key article(s) associated with each term.
4. Click on the "Explore" button, open the Study Bible Notes, and read the following:
A. "Date" and "Theme and Message" for Micah
B. "Date" and "Themes and Theology" for Isaiah
C. "Background" and "Theological Themes" for Nahum
D. "Purpose and Theme" for Zephaniah
E. "Date" and "Message" for Habakkuk
F. "Unity and Theme" for Obadiah
G. "Isaiah 6:1" in Isaiah
H. "Background" and "Theme and Message" for Jeremiah
5. Click on the "Study" button and learn:
Geography - "Major Areas" and "Divided Kingdom & Return"
6. Click on the "Library" button and read the "References" associated with the "Southern Kingdom" section.
7. Click on the “Links” button in this section and follow each link to other related areas of study.
8. Click on the "Facts" button and review the Bible facts associated with 2 Kings 1 & 2 Chronicles, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah.
Suggested Readings
1. Read 2 Chronicles 26, supplementing that with the article in the Bible Dictionary on "Uzziah" and the information in the Study Bible Notes on Isaiah 6:1 ("Explore" button). Compare and contrast Uzziah's experience upon entering the temple with Isaiah's experience in the temple. Reflect upon why each man had such a different experience.
2. "God's Ways Are Not Our Ways: Habakkuk," Stuart Briscoe, pp. 117-130 in Taking God Seriously, Word Books: Waco, Texas, 1986.
3. "On Seeing Myself," (related to the prophet Isaiah) Gordon MacDonald, pp. 139-150 in Facing Turbulent Times, Tyndale House: Wheaton, Illinois, 1981.
4. "I Am Only a Youth," (related to Jeremiah) Eugene Peterson, pp. 45-56 in Run With the Horses, InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, Illinois, 1983.
5. "Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah," by Raymond B. Dillard & Tremper Longman, pp. 267-312, 385-390, 397-420, in An Introduction to the Old Testament, Zondervan Publishing House: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1994.
6. "Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah," by John Sailhammer, pp. 363-386, 420, 423-430 in NIV Compact Bible Commentary, Zondervan Publishing House: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1994.
7. "Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah," by R.K. Harrison, pp. 764-821, 898-903, 919-943 in Introduction to the Old Testament, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1969.
For Further Review:
Go to the next page and test yourself by taking the quiz over the material which you have studied. When you have finished, check your answers by clicking on the "Answers" button.
SOUTHERN KINGDOM: QUIZ
1. In your own words, describe why the kingdom of Judah was able to outlast the northern kingdom of Israel for over a century.
2. Obadiah prophesied against:
A. Assyria
B. Babylonia
C. Egypt
D. Edom
3. The basic issue that Habakkuk wrestled with concerned:
A. The justice of God and the problem of evil
B. The power of God and the rise of the Babylonians
C. The destruction of the northern kingdom by the Assyrians
D. The affluence of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
4. One of the most detailed passages in the entire Bible on the world to come is:
A. Micah 1
B. Jeremiah 7 and 8
C. Isaiah 24-27
D. Zephaniah 2
5. Two different kings, at different times, led revivals for Judah. They were:
A. Hezekiah and Josiah
B. Manasseh and Asa
C. Uzziah and Jotham
D. Ahaz and Hezekiah
6. Nahum prophesied against the:
A. Babylonians
B. Egyptians
C. Judeans
D. Assyrians
7. Babylon was to the _________ of Judah.
A. West
B. East
C. North
D. South
8. Which of the following events came last?
A. The reign of Hezekiah
B. The reign of Jehoshaphat
C. The revival under Josiah
D. The destruction of Assyria
E. The ministry of Isaiah
9. ___________ was accused of treason by his countrymen because he advocated surrender to the Babylonians.
A. Jeremiah
B. Isaiah
C. Micah
D. Zephaniah
E. Habakkuk
10. The southern kingdom in general, and Jerusalem in particular, was destroyed by the:
A. Assyrians
B. Egyptians
C. Babylonians
D. Edomites
11. In your own words in two or three paragraphs, explain the scriptural teaching on justice/righteousness and why God emphasizes this virtue so much in the major and minor prophets.
