On the Kings of Judah (The Bible in 60 Days Project - Part II)

First there is Genesis, detailing the beginning of mankind to the point where the newly formed 12 tribes of the Israelites end up in Egypt because of their dealings with Joseph. By "Israelites," I mean the very first generation of Israelites--the father Israel, Jacob, finally dies at the very end of the book of Genesis.

Years later, in the book of Exodus, a man named Moses is chosen by Jehovah to lead the Israelites out of Egypt's and into a territory across the Jordan River where they get have their own country.

Long story short, they don't end up in this promised land as soon as they might have hoped because of consistent stubbornness against Moses and a lack of faith in Jehovah who would had just used a flurry of super miracles to deliver them from Egypt. As a result the contents of the books of Leviticus Deuteronomy and Numbers all take place in the ugly wilderness. Perhaps ugly scenery is why people never want to make movies about those books of the Bible that Moses wrote--besides the fact that a lot of it is recording and explanation of the law Jehovah gave to Moses and other technical details.

After these books--the books written by Moses--is the book of Joshua. Moses loses out on the privilege of entering into the promised land himself after committing a sin, and as a result the torch of leadership is passed on to Joshua.
The book of Joshua documents various battles in their quest to take over the Promised Land, the actual crossing the Jordan River and the first Canaanite conquest – the city of Jericho.

Next up is the book of Judges. While the book of Joshua covers a short 25 years of history, the book of Judges encompasses a sprawling 330 years of history. This book bridges the gap of time between the days of Moses and Joshua to the days of Samuel, Saul, David and Solomon.
There are a few big names in the book of Judges that you may remember: Samson, Jephthah and Ehud--who basically caused the fat Moabite King Eglon to die in an explosion of poop--sort of.
I may do a more detailed post on some of the judges later.

Next up is Ruth. I would summarize it, but in that same amount of time, you could probably just read the entire book of Ruth. It's ridiculously short. In fact, there is a dramatic Bible reading on JW.org that contains the entire book of Ruth in several minutes. Be warned: it contains a lot of crying. You can click on this sentence here if you want to hear it.
For a while, Ruth was my favorite book in the Bible.

Next up are first and second Samuel. These books deal with the famous characters Hannah, Eli, Samuel, Saul, Goliath, David, Jonathan, Absalom, Joab (not sure if he counts as famous) and finally King Solomon.

Almost there...

Next up are the two books of Kings and the two books of Chronicles.
Note: The books of Kings and Chronicles basically cover the same period of time.
The first 11 chapters of first Kings, all of first Chronicles and the first nine chapters of second Chronicles also deal with Solomon and David...

Now, we finally arrive to the subject of our blog post -- The Kings of Judah!
Who were the kings of Judah?
They were the 20 consecutive kings that ruled in Jerusalem after Solomon died – most of whose names you probably cannot remember. Really, at this point most of the big names in Hebrew part of the Bible have already lived and died.
Note: the last remaining big names of the Hebrew Scriptures--major prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Daniel--all lived during the time period of the last few Kings of Judah. Although the book of Job comes after the book of Kings and Chronicles, it actually talks about much earlier events that happened before Moses was even alive.

The Kings of Judah are a flurry of characters with names that sound like fake Bible names, such as Jotham, Jehoram, Jehoiachin and other Bible characters whose biographical details lurk in the dark deep corners of the advanced section of those various horrible Bible trivia card games out there, or names that can be reserved for when you're playing that one game where everyone tries to name one character from the Bible from each letter of the alphabet.
Suggestion: In case you end up playing this game, try to position yourself so that the letter "J" always falls on you--or better yet suggest an activity that is less boring such as reading sections of a phone book out loud.
By the way, the fact that these kings are obscure is confirmed by the fact that these king names are not recognized by my computers automatic spellcheck. A red squiggly line has doomed their names into insignificance.

The worst part of all is that the 20 Kings of Judah are not all the Kings that ruled in the area of Israel. There were also the kings of the Samarian Kingdom of Israel (Hmm...well I guess it's not necessarily the worst part of all. I guess some Kings making their own sons pass through the fire was a little worse).

Remember the 12 tribes of Israel as mentioned in my summary of the book of Genesis?
Well, each of those tribes turned into a mini nation of their own. All 12 tribes were unified as one kingdom under the rule of Saul, David and Solomon, but after the death of Solomon the 12 tribe kingdom divided into two parts--a 2 tribe kingdom based in Jerusalem (Kingdom of Judah) and a 10 tribe kingdom based in Samaria (Kingdom of Israel).

I would include a list and details about all of the kings of the 10 tribe, Samarian Kingdom of Israel, but seeing that this post is beginning at the point where most of my blog posts end, I will not test your patience.
Here is just a quick listing of them in chronological order. Basically they were pretty much all bad just so you know.
Note: You can find a listing of all the kings of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah in the appendix part of the new revised edition of the New World translation.

Kings of the Kingdom of Israel:

1. Jeroboam I
2. Nadab
3. Baasha
4. Elah
5. Zimri
6. Tibni (Sort of...)
7. Omri
8. Ahab (Eek! He was really bad, though technically Jezebel was really doing the ruling at this point and using Ahab as his whipping boy)
9. Ahaziah
10. Jehoram
11. Jehu (possibly the best of all of the kings of Israel. He destroyed Jezebel and eliminated Baal worship but ultimately did not have a complete heart towards Jehovah)
12. Jehoahaz
13. Jehoash
14. Jeroboam II
15. Zechariah (obviously not the same Zechariah of the little prophets!)
16. Shallum
17. Menahem
18. Pekahiah
19. Pekah
20. Hoshea

(Kingdom of Israel comes to an end and is assimilated by Assyria in 740 B.C.E. -- 133 years before the Kingdom of Judah is famously destroyed by Babylon in 607 B.C.E.)

Now onto the Kingdom of Judah and all its kings!
I used a different Smiley to indicate whether or not they were a good king, average king or an outright bad king. None of these kings actions can be completely summarized with emoticons...but...well...that's what I'm going to do anyways.
Also, all of the years are in "B.C.E."
What is presented here is not an exhaustive summary of all the actions each king did in his life. For that, I recommend you actually read the related books in the Bible and the Insight book sections for each of these kings--that is where I got all of the following information. My purpose of making this list is to get myself and others excited about lesser known characters in the Bible and get a more complete overview of the contents in this section of the Bible. Perhaps, you will be able to pick up on connections and make parallels which could be helpful in your own personal meditation or preparation of Bible Highlights comments when we get to this section in our Congregation Weekly Bible Reading.

Kings of the Kingdom of Judah

Rehoboam

Ruled as king for 17 years

997 - 980

:(

• Was the last king of the united monarchy, and then, of course, the first ruler of the Southern two tribe Kingdom of Judah and Benjamin
• When asked by Jeroboam—the representative of a delegation people—whether repressive measures laid upon them by Solomon could be removed, he reacted by saying that he would become an even harsher ruler than Solomon supposedly was in his last days. It was these actions that led up to the division of the 12 tribe kingdom
• Rehoboam initially wanted to forcibly reunify the kingdom, but then later decided not to
• Was actually initially a good king who walked closely to the laws of Jehovah but later left true worship after his kingship was strongly established

Abijah

Ruled as king for only 3 years

980 - 978
:(

• Hostilities between the two tribe kingdom and the kingdom of Israel led by Jeroboam continued to grow and this time reached the point of war; Abijah condemned their calf worship
• Despite this action, overall he followed the evil traditions of Rehoboam and didn't have a heart complete to Jehovah.

Asa

Ruled as king for 41 years

977 - 937
:)

• The first good king of the kingdom of Judah, and the first king to zealously fight against apostate worship in the 20 year history of the kingdom
• When being attacked by a giant force of over 1 million Ethiopian warriors, Asa was successful because he leaned on Jehovah in prayer
• Later when confronted by 10 tribe nation of Israel, now led by Baasha, he showed inconsistency by trying to form an alliance with Syria instead of relying on Jehovah
• Later on when he had a physical sickness in his feet, he continued to show lack of reliance on Jehovah
• Despite his setbacks, the Scriptures mention him as a faithful king of Judah overall

Jehoshaphat

Ruled for 25 years

936 - 913
:)

• His reign was a relatively peaceful – he even received presents from the Philistines and the Arabs.
• Gave focus to the institution of a better judicial system.
• Unwisely formed an alliance with King Ahab of the Kingdom of Israel and nearly lost his life in an incident where King Ahab was killed by the Syrians
• Later on he became naval allies with Ahab’s successor who was also wicked in the tradition of Ahab
• Anointed his son Jehoram as king while he was still alive

Jehoram

Ruled for 8 years

913 - 906

Became king at 32 years old.

(Note: in the Scriptures there are two people by the name of Jehoram around this time. This is Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat, not Jehoram son of Jezebel and Ahab who was a king in the Kingdom of Israel—not the Kingdom of Judah)
:( :(

• Married Jezebel’s daughter Athaliah (sister of the other Jehoram — See above)
• Murdered his six brothers and turned his subjects away from Jehovah to other gods
• The Arabs and Philistines overran Judah and took Jehoram’s wives and sons captive
• Died of an intestinal sickness and “went away without being desired.”

Ahaziah 

Was king for only 1 year around 906

(Note: Once again, we have two kings of the two different kingdoms with the same name. This is  Ahaziah son of Jehoram and Athaliah, not Ahaziah son of Ahab and Jezebel—brother of the other Jehoram)
:(

• Followed in the wicked ways of his mother Athaliah. 
• Was fatally wounded by Jehu’s army and died at Megiddo.

Queen Athaliah

Ruled for 6 years

905 - 908
:( :(

• The only female ruler of Judah
• Killed off all others of the royal (David’s) line (after hearing Ahaziah was killed by Jehu) with the exception of Jehoash who was hidden by the high priest
• Sons robbed from Jehovah’s temple and offered its belongings to Baal
• Was thwarted by the high priest when Jehoash was seven years old and infamously shouted “Conspiracy! Conspiracy!” before she was executed

Jehoash

Ruled for 40 years

898 - 859
:|

• When he listened to the high priest Jehoida, things went well
• Was married by the time he was 21 and had a few sons and daughters which saved the Davidic line from being severed
• Repaired the temple which was now over 150 years old and likely faced neglect during the reign of Athaliah.
• Tried to do a fundraiser for temple repair which the Levites didn’t fully support, but later changed his methods for getting the funds and repair work moved ahead to completion. 
• Eventually after Jehoiada’s death at the age of 130, princes turned Jehoash away from Jehovah to the worship of idols and poles.
• Even went as far as to kill Jehoiada’s son Zechariah whose last words were “May Jehovah see to it and call you to account.”
• Not long after, Jehoash was invaded by the Syrians and suffered badly.
• He was killed by conspiracy at the age of 47.

Amaziah

Ruled for 29 years

858 - 829
:|

• Executed those who conspired against his assassinated father but listened to the law of Moses by not punishing their children
• Had some enthusiasm for true worship, but didn’t have a “complete heart”
• First military campaign against Edom was successful but then strangely started worshiping the gods he found in the land he conquered, causing Jehovah to logically ask him why he was seeking after gods that couldn’t deliver its own people out of Amaziah’s hand
• The second campaign was terrible from beginning to end. He provoked Jehoram of the then much stronger Kingdom of Israel into battle, was defeated badly and captured
• Jehoram made a breach in Jerusalem’s wall. Treasure and hostages were taken back to the Kingdom of Israel in Samaria
• Later as a result of a conspiracy, he was killed in a city called Lachish

Uzziah (a.k.a. Azariah)

Reined as king for 52 years

829 - 778

Began ruling at 16 years old
:)

• Isaiah, Hosea, Amos and maybe Joel lived at the same time period as him
• There was an unusually strong earthquake during his reign
• He did what was right because of the instruction of a man named Zechariah (Note: This is not the same person as the ‘famous’ Zechariah who was a prophet in later times)
• Was famous for his military successes because of Jehovah’s help
• Had a great interest in agriculture and livestock making improvements for water supply and having vineyards and farms in the mountains and in Carmel.
• Was stricken with leprosy on his forehead for pridefully burning incense in the temple and spent the rest of his life as a leper while his son Jotham administered affairs.

A burial inscription in Jerusalem that is now on display in the Israel museum. It reads: "To this place where brought the bones of Uzziah, not to be opened." It is dated to be written during the first century of the common era, and thus indicates a reburial of his bones.

Jotham

777 - 762

Ruled for 16 years

Began ruling when he was 25
His Subjects :( He himself :)

• Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah were prophets during his rule
• His subjects did what was wrong, but he personally did what was right in Jehovah’s eyes
• Had many construction projects during his reign, building a gate for the temple and fortified places etc
• Warred with the Ammonites and finally won. He subsequently obligated them to give resources on a yearly basis
• During his reign pressure from the Syrians and the Kingdom of Israel under King Pekah grew stronger

A signet ring (seal) that supposedly says "belonging to Jotham"

Ahaz

762 - 745

Ruled for 16 years
:( :(

• There is a little confusion as to how old he was when he began to reign. Since his son Hezekiah was 25 when he began to reign, this would imply that Ahaz was less than 12 years old when fathering Hezekiah! Some manuscripts say he was 25 when he began ruling.
• Offered up his own sons as sacrifices in the Valley of Hinnom.
• Was attacked from three sides as a result of his badness from the Syrian/Kingdom of Israel alliance from the North, the Edomites from the Southeast and the Philistines from the West
• Lost the valuable port of Elath on the Gulf of Aqaba during his reign
• Isaiah sought to reaffirm to Ahaz that the powerful Syrian/Kingdom of Israel alliance wouldn’t succeed to place a king not from the offspring of David on the throne of the Kingdom of Judah and foretold the “Immanuel” prophecy, saying that the alliance would no longer be a threat by the time the child grew up.
• Formed his own alliance with Assyria that brought temporary relief when they smashed the Syrian/Kingdom of Israel alliance, but then was under control under the yoke of Assyria as a result. He had a duplicate of the pagan altar in Assyria built in front of the temple in Jerusalem and made pagan altars at every corner in Jerusalem.
• The Kingdom of Israel became in subjection to Assyria as well because of Ahaz’s actions. The Kingdom of Israel would later be totally assimilated with Assyria.

A stone carving of Tiglath-Pileser III. It was this king of Assyria that King Ahaz had dealings with. I had the opportunity to see this stone carving myself during my trip London's British Museum in 2011 

Hezekiah

745 - 717
Ruled as king for 29 years

Became king at 25 years old

:) :) :) :) 

• With a record of consistently “sticking to Jehovah,” Hezekiah was considered the greatest of all the Kings of Judah
• On Nisan of 745, he cleansed the temple and had it restored by the 16th of that month
• Celebrated the Passover one month later by means of the provision in the law since the people were unclean at Nisan 14
• Even invited by “runners” those from the now Assyrian-ruled ten tribe Kingdom to come for the passover and many non-Israelite worshipers joined as well
• The passover was so successful that they extended the subsequent Festival of Unleavened Bread to two weeks instead of one! There was never as much rejoicing in Israel since the time of Solomon
• After the celebration, attendants destroyed sacred pillars all over—even ones in the Kingdom of Israel
• Hezekiah destroyed the copper serpent of Moses because it had become an idol
• Compiled some of the Proverbs of Solomon (Proverbs 25 to 29)
• Wrote Isaiah 38:10-20 where he mentions his “string selections” and it is believed that he wrote Psalm 119 before he was anointed king
• Rebelled against the Assyrian rule
• Struck down the Philistine cities that had evidently become allied with Assyria
• In 742, King Shalmaneser of Assyria lays siege to Samaria and eventually Assyria takes it over completely—ending the Kingdom of Israel

This is evidently a volcanic rock mini statue of King Shalmaneser III. It is now on display in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum in Turkey. This king had various dealings with the kings of Israel and there are inscriptions from another black pillar mentioning kings such as Jehu. This is not the king that eventually overthrew Samaria. After him, Shalmaneser V began the siege that eventually led to the fall of Samaria. We do not know who was the Assyrian king at the exact moment Samaria finally fell, although it may have been King Sargon

• Later, in 732, King Sennacherib seizes the fortified cities around the tiny Kingdom of Judah. Hezekiah offers to pay off the king and the king accepts by demanding 300 silver talents (1,982,000 dollars) and 30 gold talents (11,560,000 dollars) to save the city, although this works only temporarily

A stone carving of King Sennacherib of Assyria on display in the Louvre Museum in Paris

• In the meantime he strategically stopped up water sources outside Jerusalem so that in case the Assyrians laid siege, they wouldn’t have enough water supplies
• Built the 533 meter long aqueduct from Gihon in the East to the pool of Siloam below the City of David during this time period

In 1838, American archaeologist Edward Robinson found Hezekiah's aqueduct, which is still in tact and can be visited today. According to historians, since Jerusalem is on a mountain, it is easier to defend, however since it is desert area, finding water supplies is the bigger challenge to survival. According to a guide, the tunnel has a 6% gradient, allowing waters to flow from the Gihon spring to the pool of Siloam, and it was 40 meters underground.

Ruins at the Pool of Siloam. Of course in this picture it looks tiny, but that is supposedly because so many buildings have been placed in the area of the pool over the centuries subsequent to Hezekiah's time.

• Sennacherib returns and uses a "Rabshekeh" (military leader) who speaks Hebrew to taunt Hezekiah, saying that Jehovah cannot save Jerusalem just as the other gods couldn’t save the other nations that were destroyed by Assyria
• Hezekiah, though distressed, does not give up. Isaiah prophetically informs Hezekiah that Sennacherib will withdraw due to a threat in his home land. Sennacherib withdraws after hearing that he is being attacked by Ethiopia, but continues to send threatening letters to Hezekiah
• As a result of Hezekiah’s fervent prayers and reliance on Jehovah’s friend Isaiah, Jehovah dispatches an angel that strikes down 185,000 of Assyria’s best troops in one night. Sennacherib is later killed by the sword of two of his own sons
• Gets a malignant boil and is danger of death. He is concerned because he hasn’t had a child yet to carry on the Davidic line. Sees a miracle where a shadow moves in the opposite direction that it should. Jehovah reassures him that his life will be extended 15 more years. 3 years later, he fathers Manasseh.
• Hezekiah becomes haughty for a brief time and for an unexplained reason, but then repents
• He unwisely shows the entire treasury of Jerusalem to a messenger from Babylon. Isaiah prophesies that in time the Babylonians would carry off everything to Babylon
• Hezekiah humbled himself and Jehovah reassured him that it wouldn’t happen in his lifetime

Manasseh

716 - 662

Ruled for 55 years

Began ruling when he was 12 years old
:( :( :( :(

• Did everything bad. Rebuilt the high places his father destroyed, made his sons pass through fire, worshiped Baal and all other false gods, building two false religious altars on the temple grounds, practiced magic, promoted spiritistic practices, allegedly sawed Isaiah apart, etc
• During his reign, the land’s conduct was worse than the nations Jehovah devoted to destruction during the conquest of the Promised Land
• Was punished by being taken captive to Babylon — one of Assyria’s royal cities
• Here Manasseh repented and returned to Jerusalem to build an outer wall for the City of David and remove the idols in the temple and in the high places that he himself had built. He further encouraged all to serve Jehovah

Amon

661 - 660

Ruled for 2 years

Began ruling at 22
:(

• Continued in the bad course of his father and was assassinated by his own servants
• The people of the land put the assassins to death and put Josiah on the throne

Josiah

659 - 629

Reigned for 31 years

Began ruling at 8 years old.
:) :) :)

• Three of his four sons would eventually become kings themselves, although none of the sons would follow Josiah’s good example. 
• Found an original copy of the law written in Moses’ own hand. After hearing it read, he ripped his outer garments in distress—realizing that the people had not been following the law
• Conducted the biggest Passover ceremony since the days of the prophet Samuel years before around the time of Saul.
• Was mortally wounded by the Egyptians at a battle in Megiddo.

Ruins of the ancient city of Megiddo, better known by its Greek name: Armageddon

• Was the last good king of Judah

Jehoahaz (a.k.a. Shallum)

Reigned for the shortest period of all the Kings of Judah (3 months in early 628) 

(Note: There was also another Jehoahaz that reigned in the Kingdom of Israel, but of course, by this time the Kingdom of Israel didn’t exist)
:(

• Ruled badly for three months and then was captured at Riblah by the Egyptian Pharoah at the time, and was taken back to die in Egypt under captivity. This is what Jeremiah, who lived at this same time period, prophesied

Jehoiakim (a.k.a. Eliakim)

628 - 618

Ruled for 11 years

Began ruling at 25 years old. 

:(

• Was the older brother of Jehoahaz, but reigned after his capture from the Egyptians
• His reign was marked by injustices cruelty and murder. Also he faced harassment from Chaldean Syrian Moabite and Ammonite marauders
• Wanted to build a new luxurious palace even though the city had little money as a result of a taxation from Egypt
• It was during his reign that the prophet Jeremiah warned that unless the people changed their ways, Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed. As a result the king tried to kill Jeremiah, but he was saved by a man named Ahikam. Earlier another prophet by the name of Urijah gave a similar message and as a result was put to death
• Had pieces of a scroll written by Isaiah's, by means of his friend Baruch, ripped out piece by piece and thrown into the fire.
• Meanwhile, on 625, the fourth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar defeats Pharoah Necho and took dominance over the area of Syria and Palestine. This decisive battle of Carchemish took place 600 km north of Jerusalem. 
• Rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar after facing pressure from him
• Jerusalem is laid siege to by Babylon as is mentioned in the opening words of the book of Daniel. It is likely that Jehoiakim is killed around this time (approximately 618). Jewish tradition, according to Josephus, says Nebuchadnezzar killed the king and commanded that his body be thrown outside walls

Jehoiachin (a.k.a. Jeconiah)

Rules for only 3 months and ten days in 617

:(

• Jerusalem is conquered in 617 and Jehoiachin is taken captive back to Babylon along with others (Note: This conquering of Jerusalem was different from the total destruction of Jerusalem which happened 10 years later)
• Much later, around 580, Jehoiachin is released from prison and given a favorable position over the other captured kings now living in Babylon for unclear reasons

Zedekiah (a.k.a. Mattaniah)

617 - 607
:(

• Son of Josiah and uncle to Jehoiachin
• Is put on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar and made to swear by Jehovah that he will be loyal to Babylon
• At this point Jerusalem is already completely under Babylonian control. It was by Nebuchadnezzar order that Zedekiah had his name changed from Mattaniah
• Early in his reign, he is visited by messengers from various nearby nations who perhaps want to form a coalition against Babylon
• Jeremiah advises that they do not rebel against Babylon and instead accept their subjection to them
• Around 612 Ezekiel begins his prophetic work and sees in a vision that back in Jerusalem there is much idolatry. At this time Ezekiel is miles away in Babylon
• Zedekiah forms in alliance with Egypt and rebels against Babylonian rule
• There are many indications that Zedekiah was an exceptionally weak, wishy-washy ruler trying to please everybody including Jeremiah the Babylonians and his own subjects
• In 607 B.C.E., Jerusalem is finally completely destroyed. He flees but is captured in flight, has his eyes blinded and is taken back as prisoner to Babylon.

The end!

Well, that's it for now.

Hope you enjoy and find this guide useful.

After tonight, I will be starting the Psalms in my 60 day Bible reading project. Looking forward to new insights and thoughts from reading it. Have a great day everyone!

--

A couple of notes:

In recent days the video I made of my version of the "best life ever" song has reached 10,000 views! I never expected this and think it is kind of cool, but please check out the superior real version which is now available on the new tv.jw.org. I thought it was really fun to make that song but I have no desire to become overly popular because any of my stuff. All the attention should go to the official channel.

JW.org has recently posted and updated on the situation in Africa regarding the Ebola outbreak. Unfortunately a few of our brothers and sisters have died. Please take the time to read this article when you can bye clicking on the link here.