Era 8 of 13

The divided kingdom

975–588 BC387 years

1 Kings 12 – 2 Kings 25

Israel and Judah under separate kings; the prophets warn; Samaria and then Jerusalem fall.

How the dates are set: Boundaries from Ussher: the kingdom divides 975 BC; Samaria falls 721 BC; Jerusalem falls 588 BC.

Events 51

• The kingdom divides 975 BC
  When Solomon's son Rehoboam threatened even heavier burdens, the ten northern tribes broke away under Jeroboam, leaving Judah and Benjamin to the house of David.
• Jeroboam's golden calves at Bethel and Dan 975 BC
  To keep his people from worshiping in Jerusalem, Jeroboam set up golden calves at Bethel and Dan, appointed his own priests, and invented his own festival.
• Shishak of Egypt plunders Jerusalem 971 BC
  In Rehoboam's fifth year, Pharaoh Shishak invaded Judah and carried off the treasures of the temple and palace, including Solomon's gold shields.
• Abijah defeats Jeroboam 957 BC
  Outnumbered two to one, King Abijah of Judah appealed to Israel not to fight against Yahweh, and Judah won when they cried out to God.
• Asa's reforms and victory over Zerah 941 BC
  King Asa removed idols from Judah, and when Zerah the Cushite invaded with a vast army, Asa prayed and God gave Judah the victory.
• Omri builds Samaria 924 BC
  After a civil war, Omri became king of Israel and bought the hill of Samaria, which became the northern kingdom's capital.
• Ahab and Jezebel promote Baal worship 918 BC
  Ahab married Jezebel, a princess of Sidon, built a temple for Baal in Samaria, and did more to provoke God than any king before him.
• Elijah announces a drought 910 BC
  The prophet Elijah told Ahab there would be no dew or rain except at his word; God fed Elijah by ravens and through a widow at Zarephath.
• Elijah on Mount Carmel 907 BC
  Elijah challenged 450 prophets of Baal to a contest on Mount Carmel; Baal was silent, but God answered Elijah's prayer with fire from heaven, and then sent rain.
• Elijah at Horeb: the still small voice 907 BC
  Threatened by Jezebel, Elijah fled to Mount Horeb, where God met him not in the wind, earthquake, or fire, but in a still small voice, and sent him back to work.
• Naboth's vineyard 899 BC
  When Naboth refused to sell his family vineyard, Jezebel had him framed and stoned; Elijah announced God's judgment on Ahab and Jezebel.
• Ahab dies at Ramoth-gilead 897 BC
  Ignoring the prophet Micaiah's warning, Ahab went to war at Ramoth-gilead in disguise; a random arrow struck him between the joints of his armor.
• Elijah taken up to heaven 896 BC
  As Elijah and Elisha walked across the Jordan, a chariot of fire separated them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind; Elisha received a double portion of his spirit.
• Elisha's ministry 896–838 BC
  For about sixty years Elisha served as Israel's prophet, performing more recorded miracles than anyone in the Old Testament except Moses.
• Naaman healed of leprosy 890 BC
  Naaman, commander of Aram's army, came to Elisha for healing; after grudgingly washing seven times in the Jordan, he was cleansed and confessed that Israel's God is the only God.
• Jehu's revolt 884 BC
  Anointed by Elisha's messenger, the army commander Jehu killed King Joram of Israel, King Ahaziah of Judah, and Jezebel, and wiped out Ahab's family and the worship of Baal.
• Athaliah's coup; young Joash crowned 878 BC
  When Ahaziah died, his mother Athaliah killed the royal family and seized Judah's throne; baby Joash was hidden in the temple for six years, then crowned by the priest Jehoiada.
• Joash repairs the temple 856 BC
  King Joash had a collection chest placed at the temple, and the people gave generously to repair God's house.
• The priest Zechariah stoned 840 BC
  After Jehoiada died, Joash turned to idols; when Jehoiada's son Zechariah rebuked him, the king had him stoned in the temple courtyard.
• Amaziah challenges Israel and is defeated 826 BC
  Proud after beating Edom, Amaziah of Judah challenged Jehoash of Israel, who answered with a parable about a thistle and a cedar, then crushed Judah's army and broke down Jerusalem's wall.
• Joel prophesies the day of Yahweh 808 BC
  After a devastating locust plague, Joel called Judah to return to God and promised that God would pour out his Spirit on all people.
• Jonah preaches to Nineveh 800 BC
  Jonah ran from God's call to preach to Assyria's great city, spent three days in a great fish, then preached in Nineveh, and the whole city repented.
• Amos preaches at Bethel 790 BC
  Amos, a shepherd from Judah, went north to prosperous Israel and denounced its injustice, empty worship, and oppression of the poor.
• Hosea's ministry to Israel 790–725 BC
  God told Hosea to marry Gomer, who was unfaithful to him, as a living picture of Israel's unfaithfulness and God's unfailing love.
• Assyria's King Pul invades Israel 771 BC
  Pul of Assyria invaded, and King Menahem paid him a thousand talents of silver, raised by taxing every wealthy man in Israel, to secure his throne.
• Isaiah's vision of the Lord 759 BC
  In the year King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord enthroned in the temple, surrounded by seraphim crying “Holy, holy, holy,” and answered God's call.
• The sign of Immanuel 742 BC
  When Aram and Israel attacked Judah, Isaiah urged King Ahaz to trust God and gave him a sign: a virgin would conceive and bear a son named Immanuel, “God with us.”
• Micah foretells a ruler from Bethlehem 740 BC
  The prophet Micah, a country man from Judah, condemned the corruption of Samaria and Jerusalem and foretold that Israel's eternal ruler would come from little Bethlehem.
• Assyria takes Galilee captive 740 BC
  Ahaz paid Assyria to rescue him from Aram and Israel; Tiglath-pileser captured Damascus and carried the people of Galilee and Gilead into exile.
• Hezekiah reopens the temple 726 BC
  In his first month as king, Hezekiah reopened and cleansed the temple that his father Ahaz had closed, and invited all Israel, north and south, to a great Passover.
• Samaria falls; Israel exiled to Assyria 721 BC
  After a three-year siege, Assyria captured Samaria and deported the people of Israel; the northern kingdom came to an end.
• Sennacherib invades Judah 713 BC
  In Hezekiah's 14th year, the Assyrian king Sennacherib captured Judah's fortified cities, and his officer mocked Hezekiah's trust in God outside Jerusalem's walls.
• Hezekiah's illness and fifteen more years 713 BC
  Isaiah told the dying Hezekiah to put his house in order, but when Hezekiah wept and prayed, God added fifteen years to his life and made the shadow go back ten steps.
• Hezekiah shows his treasures to Babylon's envoys 712 BC
  When envoys from Merodach-baladan of Babylon came to congratulate him, Hezekiah proudly showed them all his treasures; Isaiah foretold that everything would one day be carried off to Babylon.
• The angel of Yahweh strikes Assyria's army 710 BC
  Hezekiah spread Sennacherib's threatening letter before Yahweh and prayed; that night the angel of Yahweh struck 185,000 in the Assyrian camp, and Sennacherib went home.
• Manasseh fills Jerusalem with idols and blood 698 BC
  Hezekiah's son Manasseh, king at 12, rebuilt the pagan shrines, sacrificed his own son, practiced sorcery, and shed so much innocent blood that God declared Jerusalem's judgment certain.
• Manasseh taken to Babylon; he repents 677 BC
  Assyrian commanders took Manasseh to Babylon in chains; in his distress he humbled himself, and God restored him to Jerusalem.
• Nahum foretells Nineveh's fall 660 BC
  A century after Jonah, Nahum announced that Nineveh, now at the height of its cruelty and power, would be utterly destroyed.
• Josiah purges the idols 630 BC
  Josiah became king at eight; at twenty he began tearing down the idols and shrines throughout Judah and even in the ruined northern kingdom.
• God calls Jeremiah 629 BC
  God called young Jeremiah, a priest's son from Anathoth, to be a prophet to the nations; he would warn Judah for forty years and see Jerusalem fall.
• The Book of the Law found in the temple 624 BC
  While repairing the temple, the high priest found the Book of the Law; when it was read to Josiah he tore his clothes, renewed the covenant, and led the greatest Passover since the judges.
• Josiah killed at Megiddo 610 BC
  Josiah went out to stop Pharaoh Neco at Megiddo and was killed; Neco deposed his son Jehoahaz after three months and made Jehoiakim king.
• Habakkuk: the righteous will live by faith 609 BC
  Habakkuk asked why God tolerated Judah's evil, and then why he would use the even more wicked Babylonians to punish them; God answered that the righteous will live by faith.
• Daniel and his friends taken to Babylon 607 BC
  Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and took young nobles to Babylon, including Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who resolved not to defile themselves with the king's food.
• Jehoiakim burns Jeremiah's scroll 606 BC
  Jeremiah dictated his prophecies to Baruch, who read them in the temple; King Jehoiakim cut the scroll apart column by column and burned it, and Jeremiah dictated it all again.
• Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream 604 BC
  Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of a great statue of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay struck down by a stone; Daniel revealed the dream and its meaning: four kingdoms, and then God's everlasting kingdom.
• Jehoiachin and 10,000 exiled to Babylon 599 BC
  After Jehoiakim died, his son Jehoiachin reigned three months before Nebuchadnezzar carried him, the nobles, the craftsmen, and 10,000 captives to Babylon, and made Zedekiah king.
• Jeremiah's letter to the exiles 599 BC
  Jeremiah wrote to the exiles in Babylon: settle down, pray for the city, don't listen to false prophets, and trust that God will bring you back after seventy years.
• Ezekiel's vision by the Chebar River 595 BC
  Among the exiles in Babylon, the priest Ezekiel saw a vision of God's glory on a throne carried by living creatures and wheels full of eyes, and was called to be a watchman for Israel.
• Babylon besieges Jerusalem 590–588 BC
  When Zedekiah rebelled, Nebuchadnezzar's army surrounded Jerusalem; during the eighteen-month siege Jeremiah was imprisoned and thrown into a muddy cistern, yet bought a field as a sign that Judah had a future.
• Jerusalem falls; the temple is burned 588 BC
  Babylon broke through Jerusalem's walls; Zedekiah was captured, blinded, and taken to Babylon, and a month later the temple, palace, and city were burned.

People alive in these years 1

Solomon

Kings and rulers 40

SolomonRehoboamJeroboam IAbijahAsaNadabBaashaElahZimriOmriAhabJehoshaphatAhaziahJoram (Jehoram)JehoramAhaziahAthaliahJehuJoashJehoahazAmaziahJehoash (Joash)Jeroboam IIUzziah (Azariah)ZechariahShallumMenahemPekahiahJothamPekahAhazHosheaHezekiahManassehAmonJosiahJehoahazJehoiakimJehoiachinZedekiah

See the chart of the kings of Israel and Judah

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