After The End Of Judges Study Guide

The United Monarchy

At the end of Judges, we see the beginning of Monarchy. The Books of 1st and 2nd Samuel were written around 960 B.C., after the death of David in the United Israel. The author is unknown. The Israelites grew tired of the Judges and demanded a King to rule over the land. The Israelite elders came to the Prophet and leader Samuel, requesting a king for Israel. After asking the Lord for guidance, Samuel was instructed by God to give the Israelites a King, but also to warn them what they were getting themselves into. The Lord said to Samuel, “Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.” The Israelites once again doubted God’s divine authority as their King, and chose a human king. Samuel anoints Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, to be the king of Israel. King Saul started out promising, but ended up losing favor with the Lord and being rejected altogether. But the Lord would choose another king

Now the kingdom of Judah was ruled by a man of God named Hezekiah. The Bible says, “He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commandments the Lord had given Moses.” In the southern Kingdom the great Prophet Isaiah was working the will of the Lord and advising King Hezekiah. When the mighty army of the Assyrians came against Judah, they came against the hand of God. Before the battle, Hezekiah prayed, “O Lord God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God.” The Bible says the angel of the Lord visited the Assyrian camp that night and killed one hundred and eighty-five thousand men. The next day the Assyrian army retreated. The Essence of the Old Testament states, “Judah survived the Assyrian threat in 701 BC and enjoyed nearly a century of divine protection until the Babylonian invasion in 605