SURVEY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
Lesson Six
CIVIL WAR & FALL OF NORTHERN KINGDOM OF ISRAEL
NOTE: 1st and 2nd Kings tries to give parallel accounts of both the kings of the north and kings of the south. However, they did not live and die at the same time, so sometimes one king overlaps with the lives of two or three kings at the other end of the country.
Because there were some kings who only ruled a couple of years and were assassinated, only the more prominent (for good or evil) kings will be mentioned.
Although the prophets are recorded in the last half of the Old Testament, they actually wrote mostly during the events of 1st and 2nd Kings. Therefore, their prophecies will be inserted at the time of whatever kings were reigning.
1 KINGS (PG. 339)
975 BC
DAY ONE:
12:12fThe younger advisors of Rehoboam, the next king and Solomon's son, told him to tell the people, "My father laid on you a ______yoke; I will make it even ______. My father scourged you with ______; I will scourge you with ______.'"
12:19fAs a result all the tribes but Judah (David's tribe) and Benjamin (Saul's Tribe) and the Levites (the priestly tribe with no land allotted) rebelled and a civil war ensued. The nation was never the same again.
12:25A man named ______became king of the northern ten tribes and set up the capital in ______(where Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well centuries later).
12:28fTo keep them from returning to Jerusalem to worship and perhaps be reunited with the south, he made two ______, and appointed priests that were not ______.
13:2An unnamed prophet announced that a southern king named ______would be born in future generations that would kill the ungodly priests of the calf gods.
14:22fBut the southern tribe of Judah did evil also under King Rehoboam, for they set up Asherah ______(representing the goddess of fertility and the male sex member) and male shrine ______.
14:31King Rehoboam's mother, one of Solomon's wives, was what nationality? ______
15:12fTwo generations later King Asa in Judah expelled the male shrine ______, deposed his grandmother as ______mother, and cut down the Asherah ______.
NOTE: It was apparently Rehoboam's wife who had begun the worship of Asherah. Normally, the women worshipped Asherah because she had male prostitute priests, and the men worshipped Baal because he had female prostitute priestesses. Even today it seems it is the women who introduce worship that is way out of the norm (AKA, today's witches, Shirley MacLain's followers, etc.)
920 BC
16:31fKing Ahab of the northern tribes married ______. They worshipped both the male god ______and the female goddess ______.
16:34A man from Bethel in Judah rebuilt the city of ______. In the cornerstone of the city was his ______son, and in the cornerstone of the gates was his ______son. What had Joshua predicted about this centuries earlier (see Joshua 6:26f, pg. 211)? "Cursed...is the man who...rebuild[s]...Jericho. At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its ______; at the cost of his youngest will he set up its ______."
17:1For God to get King Ahab's attention, his prophet ______told him there would be no ______for several ______.
17:12fElijah met a widow lady picking up ______so she could bake the last of her flour so she and her _____ could eat it and ______. But he asked that she make it for him instead.
17:15fShe agreed. As a result, her flour and oil did not ______.
NOTE: The last prophet to use miracles was Moses (plus a few by his successor Joshua) about 1500 BC. It is now about 900 BC. Although still under the Law of Moses, Elijah ushers in a new era, the era of the prophets, verified with miracles. Jesus and others in the New Testament often referred to the Law and the Prophets (i.e., Matthew 22:40, pg. 958).
DAY TWO:
17:20fWhen the widow's son died, Elijah laid himself over the boy ______times, praying for his ______to return. Did it? ______
18:20fElijah declared to the people in front of the ______prophets of Baal, "How long will you ______between two ______? If the Lord is God, ______him; but if Baal is God, ______him."
18:24fElijah challenged the Baal prophets to bring down ______to light their sacrifice. How long did the prophets appeal to Baal to answer their prayer? ______
18:27fElijah made fun of them and said, "Shout ______! Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or ______, or ______. Maybe he is ______." In response Baal's prophets ______themselves trying to prove their sincerity.
18:33fAt the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah built an altar, dug a trench around it, then ordered ______poured over the offering and wood ______times.
18:36All Elijah did to get God's attention was to ______forward and ______.
18:38God immediately sent fire onto the altar and it burned up the ______, the ______, the ______, the ______, and even the ______.
18:40Remember that in Old Testament times, God often punished people immediately.
19:11Just as God passed by Moses on the mountain centuries earlier (see Exodus 33:18 and 34:6, pg. 88), now God would do the same thing for Elijah. Was God in the wind? ______Was God in the earthquake? ______Was God in the fire? ______Was God in the whisper? ______
19:19Elijah chose ______to be his apprentice and eventually his successor.
21:4When King Ahab's neighbor, Naboth, would not sell him his vineyard, Ahab went home, went to bed, and ______.
21:7fHis wife, ______, solved the problem by having two ______falsely testify that Naboth had cursed ______and the ______. By the Law of Moses, such must be stoned to death (see Leviticus 24:15 & 16. This was the same law used against Jesus to have him executed centuries later.
21:25fKing Ahab ______himself to do ______in the eyes of the ______(but not in the eyes of the people) urged on by his ______. He acted like those God previously ______out of the land.
2 KINGS (PG. 335)
DAY THREE:
2:7fOn Elijah's last day on earth, as he walked along with Elisha, he struck the ______river with his ______and it ______so they could walk across on ______land. Does this sound familiar? Who else did something similar (see Exodus 14:21, pg. 68)? ______
2:9fThen Elijah gave Elisha any wish he wanted. Elisha asked for a ______portion of Elijah's ______." Elijah said it would come true if Elisha ______him when he was taken from the earth.
2:12As they walked along, a ______of fire, and ______of fire came between the two of them, and Elijah went up to ______in a ______.
2:19fWhen men of Jericho told Elisha their water was ______, Elisha threw ______into a spring, and never again did it cause ______.
4:1The widow of a prophet asked Elisha for help because he died in debt and his creditors were coming to sell her ______sons as ______.
4:2fAll she had was a little ______. At Elisha's command, she gathered up empty ______, and filled them all with oil from her one ______. Selling the oil, she was able to pay her husband's debts and live on the rest.
4:9fElisha stayed with a woman and her husband so much whenever he traveled through that they made him a small ______of his own.
4:14fTo reward her, Elisha told this barren woman that this time next year she would hold a ______.
4:32fSeveral years later, the boy died. So Elisha laid over him, touching only ______to ______, ______to ______, and ______to ______. He paced, then did it again, then the boy ______.”
5:1Naaman was a ______of the army in Aram (Syria), but had ______.
5:11fWhen Elisha told him to dip seven times in the Jordan River, Naaman got ______. He wanted to "obey" God his own way. His servant said if the prophet had told him to do some ______thing, he would have done that. Do we do that when we read how to be healed of our sins and become Christians? Would we rather walk ten miles and make the headlines than submit ourselves to the humiliating things God tells us to do to become saved? What is your opinion? ______
8:20fAbout this time, the nation of Edom (named after Esau, Jacob's/Israel's twin brother) rebelled against the Israelites. Thereupon, Obadiah wrote his warning and prophecy to Edom. God cared just as much about other nations as the one he chose.
OBADIAH (PG. 895)
885 BC
1:3fEdom was famous for its people living in the ______of the rocks. They did not believe that even God could bring them ______(see also verse 8).
1:12fTheir sin was that they ______over the people of Judah and their ______. They were warned not to ______through the gates of God's people.
2 KINGS (PG. 369)
880 BC
8:26fKing Ahaziah down in Judah was an ______king because his mother, Athaliah, was the daughter of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.
10:27King Jehu of Israel gutted the temple of ______and all its prophets, and turned the temple into a ______.
10:29But King Jehu did continue to worship the golden ______.
DAY FOUR:
11:1fWhen queen mother Athaliah's son was killed, she killed the rest of her royal ______herself. The only one to escape was her one-year-old grandson, Joash, who was hidden in the ______for ______years.
11:11fWhen he was seven years old, he was placed near the altar in the ______with ______stationed around him, and a ______put on him.
11:14fWhen the queen mother heard the shouting and trumpets, she shouted "______!" She was then taken to the horse stalls and executed.
850 BC
12:6When King Joash was ______years old, he had the ______repaired.
13:4fAt that time, the northern kingdom of Israel was also saved. Their great army headed to both Nineveh and Israel were led by the king of ______(Syria).
13:6Despite being saved, the king of Israel did not tear down what in Samaria? ______
JOEL (PG. 881)
830 BC
There was a devastating attack of locusts which destroyed all crops (see Joel 1:4). At this time, Joel prophesied about Judah's near future and the eventual future of mankind.
1:6Joel warns that, not only have locusts invaded and eaten up the land, but a ______will do the same.
2:1The day of the ______is coming too.
2:12fTherefore God declares, "______to me." Rend your ______instead of your ______. Perhaps then God will ______from sending that ______.
2:20If they repent, the army from the ______will be driven out. (NOTE: That army was the Assyrians that will take the northern kingdom of Israel into captivity some day, but not be able to capture Judah.)
2:28After delivery, God will pour out his ______on all people. When was this fulfilled (see Acts 2:1 and 14-17, pg. 1056)? ______
2 KINGS (PG. 371)
825 BC
14:25During the reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel there was a prophet from Gath Hepher, a servant of God named ______. During this time, the As-Syrians were rising in power and it was just a matter of time before they took over the northern kingdom. The capital of Assyria was Nineveh.
DAY FIVE:
JONAH (PG. 897)
825 BC
1:1fWhen God told Jonah to preach in Nineveh, Jonah ______from God and boarded a ship headed for Tarshish (Spain).
1:11fWhen the ship nearly sank during a storm, Jonah told them the storm would stop if they would do what? ______.
1:17Did God provide a whale to swallow Jonah? (Be careful of your answer. Read the Bible carefully!) ______
2:1It is the opinion of some that Jonah actually died inside the fish because he said he cried from the depths of the ______. Also, centuries later, Jesus said the sign he was the son of God would be the sign of Jonah (see Matthew 12:39-41, pg. 945). Just as Jonah was in the bowels of the fish three days, Jesus was in the bowels of the earth three days, dead. See also Jonah 2:6.
3:4Jonah then went to Nineveh to warn that in ______days they would be ______(by the King of Aram/Syria).
3:7The king decreed everyone fast and pray to ______, so they were saved.
4:1How did Jonah feel about them being saved? ______Why do you think he reacted that way? ______
______
2 KINGS (PG. 372)
810 BC
15:1fAzariah (Uzziah) became king of southern Judah when he was how old? ______His mother was a Jewess from ______. During this time, Amos prophesied against other nations besides the Jews.
HOSEA (PG. 871)
750 BC
Also during this time, Hosea began to prophecy, writing down the events of his married life as they progressed over forty years during the reign of several kings of Israel in the north and Judah in the south.
1:2God told Hosea to take an ______wife because the Jews were guilty of ______against God.
1:9Hosea's third child by her he named ______which means, "Not Mine." Not only was this son not Hosea's, but the Jews were no longer God's.
2:13The Jews were committing adultery with what gods? The ______
2:19But God promised that if she ever repented and returned to him, "I will ______you to me ______."
3:1fYears later when his wife was offered on the auction block as a slave, Hosea went to town and bought her for ______shekels of ______and some barley. But when he brought her home, he said she would have to live awhile as though she had no husband. This was a prophecy that the Jews would some day repent and then be without a king for a long time (which happened between BC 600 until the time Jesus came).
DAY SIX:
4:6God said, "My people are destroyed from lack of ______" of God's Word. Do you think that is true today? ______Why? ______
______
4:7The more priests (preachers) they had, the more they sinned. Could that be so also today? ______In what way? ______
8:7They sow the ______and reap the ______.
8:14Israel has forgotten his ______.
11:1"When Israel was a ______, I loved him, and out of ______I called my ______." This was not only a fact of history, but a prophecy of Jesus (see Matthew 2:15, pg. 934) as a child.
11:8God cried out to sinners, "How can I ______you ______?"
12:7Even dishonest ______were part of the fall of the Jews.
12:10Another prophecy about Jesus: After bringing his son [Jesus] out of Egypt, he spoke in ______.
13:14Another prophecy about Jesus: "I will ransom them from the power of the ______; I will redeem them from ______."
AMOS (PG. 886)
5:8[Use King James Version for this] Amos prophesied that the shadow of death will turn into the ______. This occurred when who arrived (see Matthew 4:16f, pg. 936)? ______
5:21fIn the mean time, God declared to the worshippers, "I ______, I ______your religious feasts." God considers our worship songs as just ______when we are disobedient.
8:9fAnother prophecy. The sun will go down at ______in mourning of an only ______. This was fulfilled in Matthew 27:45, pg. 966. What was happening? ______
______
8:11When a nation is bent on sinning, God sends a famine, not of food, but of hearing God's ______. Do you think that is happening today in other parts of the world? ______
What about in our own nation as compared with a few generations ago? ______