BIBLE TEST 4

Elijah

Prophet in Israel during the divided kingdom period who is best known for performing miracles and opposing worship of the Canaanite storm god Baal

Ahab

King of Israel during the divided kingdom period who built a temple to the Canaanite storm god Baal and committed many other sins

Jezebel

Queen of Israel who encouraged her husband to promote worship of Canaanite gods and commit other sins

Josiah

King of Judah best known for reforming worship to align with laws in Deuteronomy, especially removing places of worship outside the Jerusalem temple and reinstituting Passover

Manasseh

King of Judah whose many sins (including setting up altars to Canaanite gods in the Jerusalem temple) led God to decide to destroy the kingdom of Judah

Nebuchadnezzar:

King of Babylon who conquered Jerusalem and exiled many of the people of Judah to Babylon

Cyrus:

King of Persia who gave the exiles from Judah permission to return and rebuild the temple

Zerubbabel:

Descendant of David who led the first group of returned exiles and served as governor while the temple was rebuilt

Ezra:

Priest and scribe who led the second group of returned exiles with the purpose of teaching the people about God’s law

Nehemiah

Leader of the third group of returned exiles, who served as governor and rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem

Amos:

A prophet from Judah but who prophesied in Israel during the divided kingdom period and wrote about judgment coming on Israel and other nations due to mistreatment of the vulnerable.

Hosea

A prophet in Israel during the divided kingdom period who was told to marry an adulteress and buy her out of slavery after she betrayed him as a symbol of God’s love for Israel.

Jeremiah

A prophet in Judah just before the Babylonian exile who tried to warn the Judahites about the exile. The book named after him also includes a prediction of a new covenant, where all sin would be forgiven and the law would be written on people’s hearts.

Zechariah

A prophet who urged the first wave of returned exiles from Babylon to start rebuilding the temple. His book is one of the first to contain some elements of apocalyptic literature.

Daniel:

A prophet who was taken into exile in Babylon and rose to prominence in the Babylonian and Persian courts. Many scholars question whether he wrote the book named after him and even whether he was a real person. The book named after him is half narrative, half visions, some of which resemble apocalyptic literature.

High places

Small temples dedicated to Yahweh or to other gods, usually on mountains, which several biblical authors considered illegitimate

Babylonian Exile

Period after the fall of Jerusalem when many people of Judah were taken captive to Babylon

Redeem:

to buy out of slavery or rescue from some other predicament

Apocalyptic literature:

a genre of literature that developed out of prophecy, which claims to reveal hidden knowledge