Part III:  Judah 

The history lesson tonight is from the Biblical accounts of Ezra and Nehemiah concerning the captivity and return of the southern kingdom of Judah.  In these accounts of the return,  "the seed of Israel" and "Jews" are the names relating to the returning exiles of Judah.  All other references will be noted within the text.

Dates used are not always agreed upon by Bible scholars and are not quoted with authority.  The dates used in tonight's lesson are from a web site forwarded to me by ZLM;  http://www.mindspring.com/~cvn76/thebooks/h-chron.html

Please wait until after the session is over to comment or ask questions.  Or you may email me at tovah49@hotmail.com.

Part III:  Judah

Review:  Last week we learned that the twelve sons of Jacob (Israel) became the nation of Israel and was eventually ruled by the house of David.  In 927 BC ten of the tribes revolted against David's grandson as king.  They became known as the northern kingdom of Israel.  The two tribes, Benjamin and Judah, became known as the southern kingdom of Judah.  The Levites and the Aaronic priests also joined Judah because Israel (the ten tribes) had named her own priests and worshipped idols. Jerusalem was the capitol of Judah, Samaria was the capitol of Israel (the ten tribes).

In 722 BC the northern kingdom of Israel (the ten tribes), was taken captive by Assyria, and pagans were brought in to occupy their land.  Through exile to other lands and intermarriage, the children of Jacob lost their identity among the Gentile nations and are often referred to as the "ten lost tribes".

Captivity of Southern Kingdom of Judah

Twenty years or so later, God swore to also remove the southern kingdom of Judah because king Manasseh led the people to worship idols.

II Kings 11:27, " And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen and the house of which I said, My name shall be there."

From 608-605 BC The kingdom of Judah was taxed in order to pay tribute to Pharaoh Nechoh of Egypt after he captured their king and replaced him with his son Eliakim, whom the Pharaoh renamed Jehoiakim.

In 605 BC King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, after capturing Egypt, captured Jerusalem and the King and the princes, and all the mighty men; "none remained except the poorest sort of the people of the land." Nebuchadnezzar made the king's uncle ruler over Judah, and changed his name from Mattaniah to Zedekiah.

II Kings 24:20, "For through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until He had cast them out from His presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon."

In 597 BC King Nebuchadezzar of Babylon captured Zedekiah, slew his sons before him and "put out his eyes" before carrying in fetters to Babylon.  Nebuchadezzar then returned to Jerusalem and burned the Temple, and tore down the walls of Jerusalem. All of the vessels of the Temple were either destroyed or taken to Babylon.  No one was left in the land except the poor to take care of the land.  Judah served the king of Babylon until the Persian reign.

The Return of Judah to Jerusalem and Rebuilding the Temple

In 538 BC God spoke to Cyrus, king of Persia, to build His house in Jerusalem.  The chiefs of the fathers of Judah, Benjamin, Levi, the priests, "with all them whose spirit God had raised", rose to go up to build the house of the Lord.  The number who returned to Jerusalem was over 50,000.  According to Ezra 2:40, there were only 74 Levites.

Ezra 2:59, "And these were they which went up from Telmelah, Telharsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer; but they could not show their father's house, and their seed, whether they were of Israel."

Telmelah and Telharsa were apparently places on the river of Chebar, the same place Ezekiel visited with the exiles in Eze 3:15.

Ezra 2:59 seems to relate to the places from which exiled priests had come to Jerusalem.

According to Youngs Biblical Concordance, when they could not prove their lineage, they returned to their homes on the Chebar.

Ezra 2:62, "These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put them from the priesthood."

In 2 Kings 16:6 is the first time we see in the Bible those of Judah referred to as Jews.

The Hebrew word, "Yehudim" is plural for "Yehudah" or "Judah".  The word "Jews" is the translation for "Yehudim".

In 516 BC the second Temple was finished.  Ezra 6:14, "And the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo.  And they built, and finished it according to the commandment of God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia."

In 457 BC Ezra, of the Aaronic priesthood, went up to Jerusalem from Babylon, and more of the children of Israel went with him.  Apparently, none of the tribe of Levi had begun with them because Ezra had to send for one.  At the time of Ezra, there were only thirty-eight Levites accounted with the children of the captivity who came with him from Babylon.

During Ezra's account we find that the children of Israel have polluted themselves with "strange wives", but agree to be separated from them.  This included the priesthood and the Levites.

Ten years later Nehemiah was in the palace at the capitol of Persia and heard that the remnant of the Jews who were left of the captivity were in great affliction and reproach at Jerusalem.  The wall of Jerusalem was broken down and the gates burned with fire.  Nehemiah received permission from the king to return to Jerusalem to make repairs.

And all the rulers, and the priests, and all the people helped restore the wall and the gates of Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 5:1, "And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews."  Apparently there had been a time of famine in the land and people had mortgaged their land and vineyards to buy corn and to pay the kings tribute.  Their children had become servants and were brought into bondage, and other men had their land and vineyards.

Nehemiah called together the nobles and rulers and rebuked them for their usury of their own brethren.  After that all the land and vineyards were restored to the people, and Nehemiah was appointed as governor in the land of Judah.  In the twelve years that Nehemiah was governor, he never charged the people as the previous ones had.  Also he and his servants continued to work on the wall.

Nehemiah 5:17, "Moreover there were at my table one hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, beside those that came unto us from among the heathen that were about us."

In 445 BC the wall of Jerusalem was completed, and the city was large and great, but there were few people living within and the houses were not built. Nehemiah gathered the people so that they might be "reckoned by genealogy."

Nehemiah 7:5 "...And I found a register of genealogy of them which came up at the first, and found written within," and the exact accounting of Ezra is repeated here.

And Ezra brought out the book of the law and read to the people, and again all the people agreed to separate themselves from their strange wives and make a covenant with the Lord.

Even in the days of Nehemiah, he saw Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon and of Moab:

Nehemiah 13:24, "And their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people."

Judah Sins Again

In 397 BC, almost fifty years later, Jerusalem is found in sin again.

Malachi 2:11, "Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: for Judah has profaned the holiness of the Lord which he loved, and has married the daughter of a strange god."

The priests and the Levites have profaned the covenant which they sealed in the account of Nehemiah, in which the entire nation accepted the curse or blessing according to the law of Moses.

Malachi 3:9, "Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation."

Summary: 

332 BC Alexander the Great enters Jerusalem

323 BC Ptolemy captures and rules over Egypt, Judea, and part of Syria.  He keeps control over Palestine until 198 BC when he was overrun by Antiochus III.  In 167 BC Antiochus IV banned obedience to Mosaic law and required all Jews to conform to pagan practices. He builds a statue of Olympus in the holiest part of the Temple.

In 167 BC Judas Maccabeus revolted against the Syrian governor of Samaria, and in 164 BC regained control of the Temple.  This momentous event has been celebrated ever after as the festival of Hanukkah.  Jewish independence lasted 101 years after the recapture of the Temple.  In 67 BC Rome intervenes by invitation of Hyrcanus II, and in 63 BC Pompey captures Jerusalem.

In 47 BC Herod, a third generation Jew, was named as governor of Galilee.
In 40 BC the Parthians invaded Palestine and Herod fled to Rome. There Mark Anthony named Herod "king of the Jews" and Herod captured Jerusalem and Judea.
In 37 BC Herod sat on the throne unchallenged as "king of the Jews".
In 20 BC Herod began rebuilding the Temple and finished in a year and a half.
The outer structures and grounds were finished six years later.

By the time of Jesus' ministry, Herod's son Phillip ruled the non-Jewish area of Gaulanitis, and his brother Herod Antipas, ruled Galilee.  Judea, formerly Samaria and Judah, was subordinate to Syria, but had its own Roman governor.

The Sanhedrin court in Jerusalem governed all local and religious affairs, although Rome held supreme military, financial, and judicial authority.

When the New Testament begins, the Jews living during the time of Jesus, were the descendents of the southern kingdom of Judah.  The northern kingdom of Israel (the ten tribes) had lost its identity among the Gentile nations.

Next Week Part IV:  The Kingdom of God

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