1) Rehoboam - not a godly king, not successful religiously 

2) Abijam(h) - continued sins of his father

3) Asa - First godly king; good ruler; removed own grandma from the city b/c she was an idol worshipper; restores temple and temple prostitutes; fights n. kingdom (asks syrians for help and not God)

HINT: RAA

Rehoboam - SOUNDS like an ungodly king

Asa - Think of Aslan; godly

1. Jehosphaphat (asa's son; co-ruled with asa; good king; strong army)

   2. Jehoram (jehosphaphat's son;  wife brings baal worship and corrupts him; kills 6 brothers)

   3. Ahaziah (succeeds his father; influenced by mother; killed)

   4. Queen Athaliah (first and last OT queen; daughter of Jezebel; baal worship; kills grandchildren that will claim the throne; she's killed b/c ppl didn't like her)

    

   HINT: JJ QA

1) Joash - 7 years old; gets rid of lots of baal worship and high places; puts money box at temple to raise funds to rebuild it; assassinated.

2) Amaziah  - has all of his father's assasins killed; defeats edomites; idol worshipper

3) Uzziah (Azariah) - 16 y/o; most succesful king of S. kingdom;  expands kingdom and fortifies it

4) Jotham - refuses to ally w/ assyria so is threatened with attack

HINT:

Jellybeans Are Undescribably Juicy

HINT2:

Amaziah (sounds like "a messiah", which is "god approved kings.")

586

Assyrian Dominance, 743-640

1) Ahaz - religious defection (baal worship coming back); military attacks on him, loses territory; temple closed

2) Hezekiah -  temple opened; city is attacked

3) Manasseh - 12 y/o; very evil (killed anyone who didn't like him); sawed Isaiah in half 

4) Amon - reverted back to idolatry; servants conspired to kill him.

Hint: AH MA!

Babylonian Dominance, 640-586

1) Josiah - 8 y/o; destroyed the high places, images, etc. 

2) Jehoahaz - taken captive by egyptians

3) Jehoiakim - put on throne by egyptians; spends a lot of money

4) Jeholachim - 16 y/o; can't fight off babylonians; taken captive by babylonians

5) Zedekiah - revolts against Nebuchadnezer

HINT: J(4)Z

1) Babylonian rulers (Nebuchadnezzar, Amel Mardulk; Neriglissar, Labashi-Marduk; Nabonidus and Belshazear

2) Persians - Cambyses I, Cyrus, Cambyses II, Darius I, Xerxes, Artaxerxes I

HINT:

Babylonian Rulers (Noses Are Noisy Like Nobody's Business)

Persians (Candy Canes Can Delight Xylophones Always)

Jerusalem, 586

1) Gedaliah - appointed as governor over Babylonian controlled Jerusalem

2) Ishmael - assassinated

3) Jeremiah

HINT:

God is Just

• 3 groups - 1) Daniel, friends, and others; 2) Middle group, includeing Ezekiel (10,000); 3) Take all but the poorest
• Two Prominent people - 1) Daniel; 2) Ezekiel

1) Institutions maintained--Rabbis came into play; synagogues invented

2) Freedom of movement

3) Correspondance privileges 

4) Employment opportunities

5) Fertile land

1) Nebachadnezzar - very successful, most famous for the hanging gardens in Babylon

2) Amel-Marduk - 2 year reign; evil; murdered by brother in law

3) Neriglissar - lots of military campaigns, dies of natural cauess

4) Labashi-Marduk - Assassinated by a group, including Nabonidus

5) Nabonidus and Belshazear - brings the moon gods back; not well liked

6) Persians/Mido-Persian empire

1) Cambyses I - rules persia before they take babylon

2) Cyrus - took over babylon, dies in battle

3) Cambyses II (Cyrus' son) - no major role in biiblical events;  murders brothers so there would be no competition;

4) Darius I (Hystspes) - creates postal system across empire; temple gets completed

5) Xerxes I - king in book of Esther; son of Darius; very successful military leader

6) Artaxerxes I (longimanus) - successful ruler; son of Xerxes

1) First groups that return: Sheshbuzzar, Zerubbabl, Jeshua 

2) Lead by Ezra

3) Led by Nehemiah

1) Esther

2) Elephantine colony in Egypt - built temple to God in Egypt; Ark of the Covenant went with them to Egypt

1) Persia falls to Alexander the Great; dies of natural causes

2) 4 Generals - 2 successful - a) Ptolemy Lagus (Greece, Jewish areas; b) Seleucus I - North of Israel (Turkey, etc.); 2 Unsuccessful - a) Antiochus (Epiphanes) IV (wants them to surrender, they won't); b) Judas Maccabeeus

3) Hasmonian family

4) Herodian family

Jewish Life Developments

1) Synagogues - places to meet

2) Teaching the Law - Rabbis; study and interpret OT and Law; they make rules about keeping the rules.

3) Influential groups (Pharisees, Essences, Sadducees, Zealots - HINT: PESZ)

1) Apocalyptic - images, symbolism, etc.; to keep secrets from the Romans

2) Septuagint - first translation of the OT into Greek so the Jews in Greece could read it.

3) Apocryphal books - record history, help to understand time period

4) Dead Sea Scrolls - translated and copied by the essences; very early, but accurate

Hint: ASAD

All STDs Are Deadly - Patty Stevens came up with this acronym. Blame her, not me!

1) Divisions - lists of people returning to Jerusalem to rebuild

2) Leaders - Zerubbabel, along with Jeshua (priest, Levitical)

3) # of people - approx 50,000

4) King - Cyrus

5) Time - First 6 chapters cover about 22 years

60 year gap/pause = book of esther (between ch 6 and ch 7)

1) Divisions - Chapters 7-8, the 2nd group of ppl that are returning; Ch 9-10 tells us about what needs to be done to restore the relationships of people that are in Jerusalem

2) Leaders - Ezra

3) Number of people - 2000

4) Kings - Artaxerxes

5) Time - About 1 year (Ch 7-10)

1) Ch 1-6; 22 years; 1st return

2) 6-7; 60 years; Esther

3) 7-10 - 1 year; 2nd return

Ezra 1-5

(tell what has happened in each chapter)

Chapter 1) Cyrus tells them they can go back and rebuild temple

Chapter 2) Shows that they kept track of leneage, even in captivity.

Chapter 3) They rebuild the altar so they can offer sacrifrices; celebrate feasts; try to restore the foundations of the temple in the 2nd year

Chapter 4) Opposition to their rebuilding by enemies of Judah and Benjamin

Chapter 5) Haggai and Zechariah show up and prophesy that they should rebuild; Rebuilding begins again. Darius finds a decree from Cyrus that they can go back and rebuild.

Ezra 6-10

(tell what has happened in each chapter)

Chapter 6)- Darius decrees that they may rebuild and makes the opposers pay for it and provide sacrifices for them to make to God

(break for 60 years - Esther happens)

Chapter 7) Artaxerxes is now king; Ezra arrives on the scene; He is a scribe, and God is upon Him. 

Chapter 8) List of those returning. No levites, so they find some to go back to the temple; took up an offering for rebuilding.

Chapter 9) Ezra speaks of and prays about intermarriage, and is very upset about it. 

Chapter 10) Ezra includes himself in the people's sin not b/c he partook in it, but to identify with them.

Nehemiah

(over 19 years)

1st half: Temple rebuilt by now but city and walls are still in a mess.

Preparations: 1st - in Susa; 2nd - in Jerusalem

2nd half: Restoration of the people - Renewal of the covenant and obedience to the covenant

Nehemiah was born in captivity - he has never been to Jerusalem.

He is a cupbearer to the king (trusted advisor)

1) Compassion and emotion (1:4) - Nehemiah is not hard hearted

2) Compassion and prayers (1:5-10) (identifies with people)

3) Compassion and action (1:11)

1) Verbal attacks and mocking

2) Physical attacks - fail because they pray and act against it...Nehemiah is good at this)