History · 35 stories
Stories
Solomon's Wisdom and Reign
Solomon gathers all Israel, travels to the high place at Gibeon, and offers a thousand burnt offerings before God appears to him by night and invites him to ask for anything; Solomon humbly asks only for wisdom to govern God's people, and God grants it — whereupon Solomon returns to Jerusalem and reigns over Israel.
8 parts
Solomon Builds the Temple
Solomon sends to Huram for help: first a master craftsman, and Huram answers by dispatching Huram-abi, a man of mixed Tyrian and Israelite blood skilled in every craft; then cedar, cypress, and algum timber, which Huram's servants will float on rafts to Joppa for Solomon's men to carry inland. Solomon counts the foreigners in Israel and sets them to hauling, quarrying, and overseeing, then at last breaks ground on Mount Moriah — the very place where Yahweh had appeared to David — in the second month of his fourth year as king.
4 parts
Dedication of the Temple
Solomon unites Israel to bring the ark into the newly built temple, prays for forgiveness and restoration, and God answers with fire and glory as the nation celebrates in joyful dedication.
15 parts
God's Covenant With Solomon
God appears to Solomon at night, accepting the temple, pledging attentiveness to repentant prayer, promising dynastic blessing, but warning of ruin if they abandon him.
4 parts
The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon
A powerful foreign queen travels to Jerusalem, tests Solomon's legendary wisdom, exchanges lavish gifts, and returns home in awe of both the king and his God.
4 parts
The Kingdom Divides
Rehoboam's rejection of wise counsel and harsh answer to Israel's plea for relief splits the united kingdom, sending the northern tribes into lasting rebellion.
7 parts
Rehoboam's Reign in Judah
Rehoboam fortifies Judah and walks faithfully at first, but after turning from God he faces Shishak's invasion — only partial humility saves Jerusalem, though at the cost of its treasures.
7 parts
Abijah Defeats Israel
Abijah reigns over Judah, confronts Jeroboam's larger army with a speech invoking covenant faithfulness, and wins a decisive victory that ends with Jeroboam's death and Abijah's prosperity.
5 parts
Asa Reforms Judah
Asa inherits Judah's throne, purges idolatry across the land, calls the nation to seek God, and enjoys divine peace that lets him fortify prosperous cities.
5 parts
Asa Defeats the Cushites
Asa leads Judah against a million-strong Cushite army, cries out to God, and wins a devastating rout, plundering the region before returning to Jerusalem.
5 parts
Asa Renews the Covenant
Encouraged by a prophet, Asa purges idolatry, renews the altar, and leads a joyful all-Israel covenant oath to seek Yahweh—even deposing his grandmother for Asherah worship.
4 parts
Ahab's Death at Ramoth-Gilead
Jehoshaphat allies with Ahab to fight at Ramoth Gilead; despite Micaiah's true warning, Ahab disguises himself and is killed by a stray arrow, while Jehoshaphat escapes and returns home to face a seer's rebuke.
7 parts
Jehoshaphat's Justice Reforms
Jehoshaphat travels through Judah turning the people back to God, then appoints judges in every fortified city and a high court in Jerusalem, charging them all to judge without partiality or bribes, fearing God rather than man.
3 parts
Jehoshaphat's Miraculous Victory
Facing a vast coalition army, Jehoshaphat leads Judah in fasting and prayer, and God routs the enemies without Judah striking a single blow.
8 parts
Jehoshaphat's Final Years
Jehoshaphat joins the wicked king Ahaziah to build a fleet at Ezion Geber, but a prophet declares that because of the alliance Yahweh will wreck their work — and the ships are destroyed before they ever sail.
2 parts
The Reign of Jehoram
Jehoram seizes Judah's throne by murdering his brothers, embraces Ahab's idolatry, and suffers Elijah's foretold judgments—invasion, disease, and a dishonored death.
5 parts
The Reign of Ahaziah
Ahaziah's brief, wicked reign—shaped by Ahab's house and his mother Athaliah—ends when Jehu's revolt catches him at Jezreel and he is hunted down and killed.
4 parts
Athaliah Seizes the Throne
After slaughtering the royal heirs to seize Judah's throne, Athaliah rules six years unaware that infant Joash survives, secretly hidden in the temple.
2 parts
Joash Crowned King
Jehoiada the priest rallies Judah to crown young Joash king, execute usurper Athaliah, renew the covenant with Yahweh, restore temple worship, and demolish Baal's house.
3 parts
Joash Restores the Temple
Joash restores Yahweh's temple with Jehoiada's help, but after the priest's death he turns to idols, kills Jehoiada's son, and dies betrayed and unburied among kings.
8 parts
The Reign of Amaziah
Amaziah wins a great victory over Edom but adopts its gods, ignores a prophet's warning, and is crushed by Israel before dying in a conspiracy.
8 parts
The Reign of Uzziah
Uzziah rises from boy-king to celebrated ruler of Judah, but his pride drives him to usurp the priests' role, and God strikes him with leprosy that isolates him until death.
8 parts
The Reign of Jotham
Jotham reigns faithfully, builds and defeats enemies, grows mighty before God, then dies and passes the throne to Ahaz.
2 parts
The Reign of Ahaz
Ahaz's reign plunges Judah into idolatry and child sacrifice, bringing devastating defeats, while a prophet's mercy returns captives home and Ahaz ends by shutting God's Temple and covering the land with pagan altars.
8 parts
Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship
Hezekiah reopens and purifies the long-neglected Temple, consecrates the priests and Levites to cleanse it of every defiled vessel, then leads Jerusalem's leaders in a great day of offerings and song that restores full worship before Yahweh.
3 parts
Hezekiah's Great Passover
Hezekiah invites all Israel to Jerusalem, where a faithful remnant gathers for an unparalleled Passover—met with healing, extended feasting, widespread idol-smashing, and joy unseen since Solomon.
3 parts
Sennacherib's Invasion of Judah
When Sennacherib invades and mocks Yahweh, Hezekiah fortifies Jerusalem, rallies the people, and prays with Isaiah — until an angel destroys the Assyrian army and nations honor Judah's deliverance.
6 parts
Hezekiah's Illness and Pride
Hezekiah survives mortal illness through prayer, but pride brings divine wrath until his humbling averts judgment, and he dies honored by all Judah.
4 parts
Manasseh's Captivity and Repentance
Judah's most wicked king plunges the nation into deep idolatry, is taken captive to Babylon, repents in exile, and is restored to Jerusalem where he attempts reform.
5 parts
The Reign of Amon
Amon reigns briefly in Jerusalem, surpassing his father's evil without ever humbling himself, until his own servants assassinate him and the people crown his son Josiah.
3 parts
Josiah's Reform and Renewal
Young King Josiah purges Judah of idolatry, discovers the lost Book of the Law, repents before a prophetess's warning, and leads all Israel in a sweeping covenant renewal.
6 parts
Josiah Purges and Restores Judah
In his twelfth year Josiah sweeps through Judah and the old northern territories — smashing high places, burning Asherah poles, and scattering the ashes of pagan altars — then six years later crowns his reform by keeping in Jerusalem a Passover of a scale unmatched since Samuel's day, personally supplying thirty thousand animals and marshalling priests and Levites in their ancient order.
2 parts
The Death of Josiah
Josiah ignores a divine warning, meets his death in battle against Pharaoh Neco at Megiddo, and is mourned by all Judah in lasting lamentation.
2 parts
The Fall of Jerusalem
Zedekiah's rebellion and the people's contempt for God's messengers bring the Chaldeans to Jerusalem, where they slaughter young and old without compassion, plunder the temple treasuries, and burn God's house to the ground.
4 parts
Cyrus Decrees the Return
Babylon's seventy-year exile ends as Yahweh stirs Cyrus to decree the exiles free and commission a new temple, leaving God's people with an open door home.
4 parts