Judah actually seems to have descended more readily into idolatry and the worship of false gods than did Israel. This process had begun with Solomon and the pagan practices of his foreign wives. It now returned with a vengeance.

The people of Israel had been forbidden from participating in these pagan practices. But now they entered into them with a passion. As a result, the Lord soon brought judgment upon the land.

The 21st Dynasty of Egypt had been friendly to Israel to the point of Pharaoh's daughter being wedded to King Solomon. However these good relations did not last past Solomon's death.

Now there came a Libyan to the throne who founded a new ruling family - the 22nd Dynasty. He is known in historical records as Sheshonq (the Biblical Shishak). He was able to reunify the country which had been previously divided and brought a certain amount of stability to the crown. He then turned his attention to foreign policy, renewing an alliance with Byblos and regaining control of Nubia.

It is likely this same Sheshonq who had given refuge to such enemies of Israel as Jeroboam and Hadad the Edomite.

Now he marched into Judah. Archaeological records list 150 cities which he claimed to have taken in this campaign. Among the cities which were looted was Jerusalem and its temple.

Egyptian records list the thousands of pounds of gold and silver that the son of Shishak offered to the Egyptian gods following his raid into Canaan. This was the plunder which he had taken from Solomon's Temple.

From this time on, the reign of Rehoboam would be only a shadow of its former glory. The golden shields of Solomon were replaced by shields of bronze, a less-valued commodity. The old forms continued, but they lost some of their luster.

Jehoshaphat sent officials throughout Judah accompanied by Levites to teach the Law of the Lord to the people.

He had a strong military policy, fortifying the cities of Judah and even establishing garrisons within territories belonging to Ephraim. He was able to field an army of nearly a million men. Both the Philistines and the Arabians were vassal states to Judah during this period.

It was during his reign that Assyria was repulsed by a coalition of Israel, Aram and a number of other countries at Qarqar.

When Ahab approached him with the offer of an alliance, Jehoshaphat was agreeable. The alliance was sealed by the marriage of Ahab s daughter to Jehoshaphat's son.

Later in the same year, Ahab and Jehoshaphat marched against Damascus and were defeated. Ahab was killed in the battle and Jehoshaphat barely escaped.

Returning to Judah, Jehoshaphat was rebuked by the prophet Jehu for having entered into the alliance with an enemy of Yahweh. Jehoshaphat repented of his sin and continued his religious reforms, establishing a judicial system invested in the Levites and priests.

The first thing that Jehoram did upon coming to the throne was to murder all of his brothers and other high-ranking nobles so that none might pose a threat to his authority.

Jehoram had married Athaliah, daughter to Ahab and Jezebel. He followed after his wife in the Canaanite religious system. Shrines to Baal were set up in the high places around Judah.

During his reign, Edom revolted and became an independent state. Perceiving this weakness, the Philistines and the Arabs raided Judah, murdering and pillaging. They even plundered the king's own palace and put to death most of his sons.

Ultimately, the Lord judged Jehoram with a disease which caused his bowels to fall out. He died a terrible and painful death.

As long as Jehoida lived to guide the young king, the nation prospered. Under his direction, the Temple was cleansed and restored. The sacrifices which had been abandoned were reinstated.

After the death of Jehoida, Joash was swayed by the opinion of the young liberal party and began to worship false gods.

He even went so far as to have Zechariah, the son of Jehoida, stoned when he spoke out against this idolatry.

The Arameans invaded Judah and Jerusalem, pillaging the city and killing many of the king's officers. What was remarkable about this invasion is that the victorious invaders were vastly outnumbered by the military forces of Judah.

This military defeat was a judgment from the Lord against Judah and her wayward king. Joash was finally assassinated by his own servants.

Amaziah was a good king, obeying all of the commands of Yahweh during the first part of his reign.

After a successful expedition into Edom, he brought back the idols of the Edomites and set them up for display. It was not long before they were being worshiped.

Soon after this, Amaziah was defeated in battle against the Israelites of the Northern Kingdom. The Israelites led Amaziah in chains back to Judah. They pillaged Jerusalem, tearing down a portion of the wall and looting the gold and silver in the Temple.

When a conspiracy was uncovered, Amaziah fled to Lachish to escape assassination. The conspirators followed him there and put him to death.

Apparently this was not considered to be a move against the Davidic Dynasty, but rather was designed to place a worshiper of Yahweh upon the throne (2 Chronicles 25:27).

Like his father before him, Uzziah began his reign with a return to Yahweh.

Uzziah concentrated on building up a very strong, professional military. He used this to conquer the Philistines and the Arabians.

He also built up much of Jerusalem, adding towers, gates and war machines to protect the city.

Ostraca is a piece of broken pottery. It was used as scrap paper. In this case, it served as a receipt. Dated between the 7th and 9th century B.C., it is not known where it was originally discovered, but it somehow made its way into the private collection of Shlomo Moussaieff (London, England).

Translation reads as follows: According to your order, Ashyahu the king, to give by the hand of [Z]echaryahu silver of Tarshish for the house of Yahweh 3 shekels.

As soon as he came to the throne, Ahaz began to follow the Canaanite religious practices, even sacrificing his own children to the false gods.

Because of the sins of Ahaz, the Lord allowed the Philistines, the Edomites and the Syrians to invade and conquer the border cities of Judah. It was at this time that Judah lost the port of Elath on the Gulf of Aqaba.

Because of these military threats, Ahaz made an alliance with the Assyrians, robbing the Temple to send money to bribe Tiglath-Pileser. In return, the Assyrians offered to attack Aram and Israel (they had been planning to do so anyway).

Isaiah confronted Ahaz and advised him to trust in the Lord instead of Assyria. He even offered to give Ahaz a sign from the Lord to prove the truth of his words. When Ahaz refused to choose a sign, the Lord Himself chose one, promising that a child world be born and that, before the child had reached a certain age, the kings of Aram and Israel would be overthrown.

It is in the midst of this prophecy that Isaiah tells of a Child whose name would be Immanuel, literally "God with us."

Tiglath-Pileser 3rd died in 727 B.C. and Israel took this opportunity to revolt, stopping payment of the annual tribute. Ahaz wisely continued to pay the required tribute as the Assyrians swept down from the north, laying siege to the capital city of Samaria. For three years, Samaria held out under the siege until famine and disease had decimated the population. When the city fell in 721 B.C., the surviving population was deported. The Northern Kingdom of Israel had ceased to exist.

The Jews of the Southern Kingdom were terrified as they watched the inhuman cruelties which the Assyrians inflicted upon their captives.

Now. the Assyrians began to eye the Southern Kingdom of Judah. It was only a matter of time before they attacked.

One of Manasseh's first acts was the arrest and execution of the prophet Isaiah. The old prophet was placed inside a hollow tree trunk and then sawn apart.

Manasseh was involved in all of the practices of the Canaanite religious system.

(1) Worship of false gods.

(2) Child sacrifice.

(3) Sorcery.

(4) Idols in the Temple of God.

Because of Manasseh's sin, the Lord allowed the Assyrians to invade Judah. The Scriptures tell how Manasseh was captured and taken in chains to Babylon. At this time in history, Babylon was a part of the Assyrian Empire and Esarhaddon, the king of Assyria, used it as his southern palace.

In Babylon, Manasseh repented and turned back to God. Soon after this, he was released and allowed to return to Jerusalem. He now led Judah back to the Lord, tearing down the false idols in the land.

As he grew older, Josiah began a program of reforms, breaking down the idols and executing the Canaanite priests. Then he began the work of rebuilding the Temple.

While the Temple was being restored, a copy of the Scriptures was located. It was brought to Josiah and read to him.

When Josiah heard the terms of the covenant of Yahweh read, he was struck with the realization that Judah had transgressed that covenant. Accordingly he now led the nation in a prayer of repentance. For this, he was informed by the prophetess Huldah that the nation would not be judged in his lifetime.

The final years of Josiah's reign saw a great number of changes on the international scene. Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, fell to the combined assault of the Medes and the Chaldeans in 612 B.C.

A remnant of Assyrians escaped to Carchemish where they allied themselves to the Egyptians in an attempt to hold off the Medes and the Chaldeans.

When Pharaoh Echo, the king of Egypt, began to march through Palestine toward Carchemish, Josiah tried to intercept him at Megiddo.

In spite of the warning of Necho that he had been sent by God, Josiah met him in battle in the Valley of Megiddo. In the heat of the battle, Josiah was shot by a stray arrow and he ultimately died from his injury.

Josiah had left three sons and a grandson. Each one of them would sit for a time upon the throne of Judah. With Josiah dead, the people of Judah placed Joahaz upon the throne.

Pharaoh Necho met Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish on the Euphrates in 605 B.C. The Egyptians were defeated with enormous losses. They retreated south with Nebuchadnezzar hot on their heels.

Prince Nebuchadnezzar pursued the Egyptian forces all the way down to Palestine, encountering no serious resistance along the way.

As Nebuchadnezzar arrived in Canaan, he called for Jehoiakim, king of Judah, to swear allegiance to him and pay a tribute. Jehoiakim complied and was permitted to retain his throne.

Nebuchadnezzar also took hostages from among the Hebrew nobility at this time. Among these hostages was Daniel.

Nebuchadnezzar mounted an invasion into Egypt in 601 B.C. The outcome of this campaign was indecisive with each side inflicting heavy casualties upon the other. As a result, Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon to regroup and strengthen his forces.

Jehoiakim saw this and interpreted it as a defeat for Nebuchadnezzar. He promptly rebelled and allied himself with the Egyptians. Retribution from Babylon was quick in coming.

Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and threw Jehoiakim into chains, and placed his 18 year old son Jehoiachin on the throne.

Zedekiah was constantly vacillating between Egypt and Babylon. In 593 B.C. when Pharaoh Necho died, representatives from the city-states of Edom, Moab, Ammon and Tyre met in Jerusalem, hoping that the new Egyptian ruler would join them in a new rebellion against Babylon.

However, the new pharaoh, Psammetichus 2nd, adopted a policy of non-interference. The plot against Babylon left Zedekiah on the spot and he had to travel to Babylon where he swore allegiance once again to Nebuchadnezzar.

In 588 B.C. Psammetichus 2nd died and Pharaoh Hophra (Apries) came to the throne of Egypt. He immediately persuaded the countries of Palestine to join him in a revolt against Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar assembled his army and invaded Palestine, setting up his headquarters at Riblah on the Orontes River. From there, he launched simultaneous invasions of Judah, Ammon, Edom and Tyre with a small reconnaissance patrol to the Egyptian border.

Zedekiah sent messengers to Jeremiah, asking for help from the Lord. Jeremiah's response was that the city of Jerusalem was doomed.

Judah was quickly overrun except for the cities of Jerusalem, Lachish and Eziekah. The siege of Jerusalem began on January 588 B.C. It would be another year and a half before the city was taken.

The siege of Jerusalem was temporarily interrupted when Pharaoh Hophra led the Egyptian army up into Palestine in an attempt to relieve Tyre and Sidon.

Meanwhile, Pharaoh's army had set out from Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who had been besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they lifted the siege from Jerusalem (Jeremiah 37:5).

Many of the inhabitants of the city were heartened by this, thinking that it indicated a turn in their fortunes. Instead of heeding the warnings of Jeremiah, they strengthened their resolve to hold out against; Nebuchadnezzar.

As Pharaoh Hophra marched up along the Way of the Philistines, the Chaldeans who had been besieging Jerusalem pulled out and hit the Egyptians, driving them back into Egypt. Having defeated the Egyptian threat, they returned to Jerusalem.

The siege continued for many long months as the food ran out and disease and starvation spread through the city.

On July 10, 586 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar's forces broke through the northern wall of Jerusalem. It would be another month before the southern wall could be taken.

Zedekiah was forced to watch his sons being executed and then his eyes were put out. He was thrown into chains to be dragged back to Babylon where he would die in prison.

The Jewish survivors were hauled across the Syrian Desert to Babylon, many of them perishing en route. The Southern Kingdom of Judah had ceased to exist.

Jerusalem was burned and the walls of the city were torn down. All military, civil and religious leaders were either executed or carried away into captivity. Only the poorest of the peasants of Judah were allowed to remain in the land that was by now completely desolate.