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Notes I hope that this will help you with your study in history. And please give credit to Linda Lacour Hobar for her amazing work in history.

Mystery Of History (MOH)
From 1117 B.C. - To 256 B.C.

Lesson 28: Samson (1117 B.C.)
Samson was a man of great passion and was given supernatural strength which set him apart in another way. He served the Lord as a judge over Israel for about 20 years. But, through his life, he struggled with self-control and rage. God used Samson to accomplish His purposes. The story of Samson is found in the book of judges chapter 13-16. Before Samson was born an angel appeared before his mother and declared that her son will deliver Israel from the Philistines that have been ruling over the Israelites for about 40 years and that he would be set apart for God as a Nazirite. Like John the Baptism who was also a Nazirite. But God never revealed how Samson will deliver the Israelites from the hands of the Philistines. Samson grew up in Israel as a faithful Nazirite. Samson kept three vows:


 * (1) Never to drink alcohol
 * (2) Never touch something dead,
 * (3) Never cut his hair.

And because of his supernatural strength, he performed some amazing feats during his life. One time Samson killed a lion with his bare hands which was a brave thing to do. But, Samson broke one of Nazirite vows by touching the dead body of the lion he killed. And later on, he also broke the Nazirite vow not to drink alcohol because he was known to carouse and drink with the philistines which were the very people he was born to conquer. And then he decided to marry a Philistine woman. It is told that he was supposed to deliver the Israelites from the philistines but, instead he was marrying one and led to trouble. But the lord had already planned that this will happen(Judges 14:4).

After Samson got married, he gave a feast, and thirty companions joined him. But it was a bad situation because, at the feast, Samson provoked the guest with such a perplexing riddle that they burned down Samson's house and his father's. But the lord used it(judge 14:19). As a result, Samson lost his wife and tried to retrieve his wife but he failed because his father would not permit. And this made Samson ragingly angry. And in an act of complete revenge, he tied flaming torches to the tails of foxes and chased them into the philistines field. And Samson was beginning to fulfill his calling of weakening the philistines. On another occasion, Samson showed his superior strength by killing a thousand Philistines with only a jawbone of a donkey, and this victory has given him respect from the philistines and Israelites. And because of his supernatural strength, the philistine left him alone and no one dared to challenge him. Then for 20 years, he was able to serve the Lord as judge over Israel (judge 15:20).

However, Samson's secret strength became a serious problem for the philistines. Then another problem began when he fell in love with another Philistine woman, and her name was Delilah. But what Samson didn't know is that she was bribed by her people the philistines. Her given objective was to discover what made Samson very strong. And each day he tried to pester him until Samson finally revealed his secret to Delilah. He told her that his strength was in his hair because his hair has never have been cut(this was one of the vows he had kept as a Nazirite). Then Delilah lulled Samson to sleep and called a man to shave the seven locks of hair in Samson's head. (judge 16:19). And because of his strength that has been lost Samson who was a champion has now become a weakened man, and by this, he was easily taken by the philistines and to add to Samson's pain and humiliation his captors gouged out his eyes before they threw him in prison. But while he was in prison, his hair grew back and he returned to his faith in God. And in time the philistines forgot about where Samson's strength came from which was a huge mistake.

In 1117 B.C.(Before Christ) the leaders of the Philistines gathered to make sacrifices to their false god, Dagon. Samson was led out of prison to be taunted before the group. then Samson asks a young boy to direct him to two massive pillars centered in the room. As the 3000 people watched Samson prayed that he will regain his strength and that's what happened. He regained his strength and with his bare hands pushing the stone-cold pillar and with his last breath heknocked the two pillar and killed the 3000 philistines that were there and lost his life.

Lesson 29 zhou dynasty (1046-256 B.C.)
To understand China, you need to understand the dynasties that ruled this vast land. The Zhou dynasty started about the same time that Boaz and Ruth were getting married and though the dynasty was divided many times and lasted as a whole for about 800 yr. The original Zhou dynasty was founded by Emperor Wen. But he was unable to completely oust( or drive out) the members of the [dynasty] who were loyal to the Shang family. If you remember, a dynasty is a ruling family. King Wen’s second son, Wu Wang was far more successful in overthrowing the Shang family and is credited with the founding of the Western Zhou dynasty which was the name given to the first period of the zhou dynasty. The Western Zhou emerged after Wu Wang conquered the last Shang king in the famous chariot Battle of Muye in 1046 B.C. This battle is famous because slaves and prisoners of war from the Shang dynasty turned against their tyrant king and fought for Wu Wang! Suffering from the humiliation of this defeat, the last Shang king adorned himself with jewels, set his palace on fire, and ended his life in the flames. Then the Western Zhou proceeded to grow strong from the inside out. It was King Wen’s fourth son, Ji Dan, the Duke of Zhou, who helped. He was a very wise statesman. Ji Dan established music systems and institutions and improved the Chinese calendar. Do you wonder how someone “improves” a calendar? Well, Ji Dan built observatories to study the movement of the sun and stars. This information provided a better understanding of the seasons, which makes for more accurate farming and planting. That is one way the calendar is improved.

The Western Zhou dynasty remained intact for almost 300 years. It saw its share of ups and downs and internal problems. After the last king of the Western Zhou was assassinated, his son Prince Bing fled east to start a new era of the Zhou dynasty. It was called the Eastern Zhou because Prince Bing moved the capital of the dynasty east to the city of Luoyi (which now is Luoyang). Bing became the new king in 770 B.C. (Yes, in English, he would be King Bing.)Militarily, the Eastern Zhou was never as strong as the Western Zhou dynasty, but it lasted nearly 500 years! One reason for its success is that eventually people were picked to rule areas because of their expertise, not because they were born into the position. That change in leadership made a big difference in the way things were run. What was life like, then, in the Eastern Zhou dynasty? It was busy! Some Chinese cities back then had as many as 100,000 people. Many of them were farmers who grew millet and used irrigation to water their crops. (Millet was the most common grain of ancient China before rice became more popular.) The Eastern Zhou dynasty had roads leading from state to state, coins produced for trading, and sites built for making iron. And iron was important to the Egyptians. And better weapons could be made from iron. The Chinese had enough to sell and trade with other countries.

The hard part of life during this time in China was the huge gap that existed between the rich and the poor. The rich lived luxuriously in palaces, while the poor struggled and huddled in the simplest of huts. Adding to the problem of class differences were the many years of civil war between the Chinese states during which thousands of men fought and died at a time. It was often the poor who made up the armies. Morally and spiritually, the Zhou believed that a “Mandate of Heaven” blessed their ruler. It’s believed that Ji Dan, the duke of Zhou first taught this concept — perhaps to justify the overthrow of the Shang. Ji Dan taught that the Mandate of Heaven could be taken away if the ruler behaved badly! As a result, ancient Chinese rulers lived up to very high standards of behavior. Although fear may have motivated the Chinese emperors to lead fairly, this belief helped to make China more stable. We see this stability in the fact that the Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou together lasted until about 256 B.C., almost 800 years.

Lesson 30: Samuel (1095 B.C.)
Not long after Samson crushed the Philistines, Israel’s final judge came to power. He was also a prophet. His name was Samuel his character appeared to be far stronger than that of Samson. And in his honor, there are two books of the Old Testament named after him. One neat thing about studying Samuel is that we have stories about him as a baby, a boy, and a grown man. Before Samuel was even born, his mother, Hannah, prayed for him. She loved the Lord dearly but had no children. Hannah prayed to God and said that if He would just give her a baby, she would dedicate the baby back to God for a lifetime of service. That is exactly what happened. The Lord did give Hannah a baby and she did send him to serve the Lord. As a blessing for Hannah’s sacrifice, the Lord later gave her five more children, three boys, and two girls. Samuel had only a few years to live with his mother and father in Ramah before he was weaned and sent to live with the priest and serve at the Tabernacle (which at this time was located in Shiloh). I think Samuel’s mother and father must have taught him well in his early years because when Samuel went to work for the priest, he showed himself strong. Eli, the priest at the Tabernacle of Shiloh, had unruly sons who worked at the Tabernacle, too. The Bible says the sons were “corrupt” and “did not know the Lord.” But Samuel never appeared to be influenced by them. Samuel was so sensitive to the Lord that he heard Him speak out loud when Samuel was just a young boy. The voice was so strong that Samuel at first thought it must be Eli talking to him. “Samuel, Samuel,” he heard one night. It was the Lord. God spoke to Samuel directly to reveal the fate of Eli and his wicked sons. From then on, the Bible says, “Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him. . . and all Israel. . . knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord.” (1 Sam. 3:19–20).

The books of 1 and 2 Samuel record many exciting stories from the life of Samuel, which overlapped the lives of both Saul and David. One such story was when the Philistines stole the Ark of the Covenant! It was a mistake. The Philistines attempted many times to keep the Ark of the Covenant for themselves but were never successful. For seven months, the Ark was passed from one city to the next. But each city was plagued with terrible tumors for having possession of Israel’s sacred Ark.The Philistines tried to make up to the Israelites by giving back the Ark and offering gifts. The gifts were tumors and rats made of gold! The Philistines gave them that they might “give glory to the God of Israel” and hope He would “lighten His hand” against them, their gods, and their land. (1 Samuel 6:5) You can read the rest of the details in 1 Samuel 6–7.

Now, although Samuel was a good judge, the people of Israel struggled with faithfulness to God. Over and over, they were brought to repentance under the leadership of Samuel. Even then, though, the people complained about one main thing. They wanted a king. The neighbors of the Israelites had kings, and the Israelites wanted to be like them. The Israelites’ desire for an earthly king saddened God’s heart because He was their king! Samuel warned the people that having an earthly king would bring its own set of problems. They refused to listen. In 1 Samuel 8, it is recorded that God heard the people’s request. And God sent Samuel to anoint a king and that king was king saul who was anointed in 1095 B.C.And then followed by David, etc...God warned the Israelites that having an earthly king would bring them difficulties and God was right. Very few of the kings of Israel were good. With a king, a whole new era began in the history of the Israelites, and the period of the judges was over.

Lesson 31: King Saul (1095 B.C.)
King Saul is a tragic figure in the story of the Old Testament. On the one hand, he’s a great guy; on the other hand, he’s awful. After consulting with the Lord, Samuel anointed Saul to be the first king of Israel in 1095 B.C. The practice of “anointing by oil” had many different uses in that era. Here it is symbolic of Saul’s being “set apart as a king.” When Saul was first chosen to be king, he was more than qualified. He was humble, generous, pure, and on top of that, tall and handsome. What a great guy! All these qualities are attributed to him in the Book of 1 Samuel. Most importantly, he had God’s spirit upon him. The Book of 1 Samuel 10:9–10 says that “God gave him another heart. . . then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.”

There we have evidence of the source of Saul’s greatness. It was the Lord. However, by Chapter 13 in 1 Samuel, we begin to see some problems develop. At one time, Saul grew impatient waiting for Samuel to bless the troops before battle. He began to take action on his own rather than wait on God. On another occasion, he cut short the counsel of the priests and rushed his men off to battle without eating. They didn’t do well because of their hunger. Saul was not listening to the wise counsel God provided him through the priests and the prophets. One final act of foolishness was when Saul disobeyed God’s command to kill the evil king of the Amalakites.

In a state of pride, Saul spared the king, and greedily, he kept some of the best livestock that had been captured. He had been told not to. I suppose the Lord wanted Saul to trust in Him for provision, not in his army. To make matters worse, Saul then had the nerve to blame his poor decision on his men. This disobedience and arrogance were the beginning of the end for Saul. In 1 Samuel 16:14, the Bible says, “The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him.” Saul’s distressing spirit seemed to last the rest of his life. Sometime later, he also had to deal with the rising fame of David, who eventually succeeded him as king.

Saul practically went mad with jealousy and spent his last years on a manhunt for David. Tragically, Saul ended his own life, defeated in every way. It is said that a man of such promise could fail so dramatically. This first king of Israel proved to be disappointing, just as the Lord had warned through Samuel. It is a reminder to us to heed God’s Word, to not take God’s blessings for granted, and to not allow pride and impatience to rule us.

Lesson 32: David (1055 B.C.)
David is probably one of the most loved characters of the entire Bible. Interestingly, he was not always “good.” Why then is he so popular with those who study God’s Word? It could be that we feel we know him so well. He poured out his soul in the writing of at least 73 of the 150 Psalms in the Old Testament. And though he had some flaws, he was called by God “ ‘a man after My own heart.’ ” (1 Sam. 13:14 and Acts 13:22) That probably explains our being drawn to him. As found in 1 and 2 Samuel. We first learn of David when the prophet Samuel went to anoint him as the second king of Israel. David was a boy at the time. Samuel anointed David in secret because Saul was still reigning as the first king of Israel. Jesse, David’s father, and all his brothers were a bit shocked to learn that the youngest boy of the family would be the future king. Not long after the anointing, David received his first “assignment,” so to speak. He was to leave the shepherd’s life temporarily to visit the king’s palace. You see, King Saul couldn’t sleep at night. (He was struggling with the “distressing spirit”)David, who was a skilled harpist, was sent to help soothe the restless spirit of Saul through music. It is so ironic that the unusual relationship between Saul and David began there at the palace through such calming circumstances. For later, this same soothing shepherd boy drove Saul practically insane. Upon completing the task of playing music for the king, David returned to his shepherd’s work for a time. That is, until his well-known encounter with Goliath, the giant.

In case you don’t know the story, it goes roughly like this. Not one soldier in Israel was willing to fight against a Philistine “giant” by the name of Goliath. David was just checking up on his brothers when he heard about the standstill. He was shocked that none of the soldiers had confidence in God for a victory. So, with just a simple slingshot, he showed them all what a powerful God he served. He slung a stone right to the head of Goliath that sent him crashing to the ground! As David was still a young man, it was incredible that he had the faith to fight Goliath with just a slingshot and without any armor! From this act of courage and confidence in God, we begin to see how different David was from ordinary men. With the story of the victory over Goliath circulating all over Israel, David gained more praise and honor than King Saul could handle. David became loved by the people of Israel; he earned a lifetime friendship with Saul’s son Jonathan, and Saul’s daughter Michal fell in love with him. Not bad for a former shepherd boy. David married Michal and for a while enjoyed his great success.

Most importantly, 1 Samuel 18:14 tells us that “David behaved wisely in all his ways and the Lord was with him.” However, things soon changed dramatically for David. King Saul’s rage and jealousy over David’s popularity with the people of Israel and with Saul’s children was enough to drive Saul to madness. For years, Saul stalked David, who had to flee the palace that had become his home and at times go so far as to live in caves. Some of the Psalms of David were written from this dark time of his life while being hunted like an animal. He wrote, “O Lord. . . ‘You are my refuge, My portion in the land of the living. Attend to my cry, For I am brought very low; Deliver me from my persecutors, For they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise Your name.’ ” (Ps. 142:5–7. See also Psalm 57.)

David knew he was the next rightful king of Israel, but he had to hide to save his own life. More than once David had the opportunity to attack Saul and kill him. But with a quiet confidence in God’s will, David chose to spare Saul’s life. David never meant to be Saul’s enemy. During those years on the run, David’s character was greatly developed through hardship. The final day came, however, when Saul and Jonathan both died in battle. Even in Saul’s death, which should have been a relief and a victory for the next king, David remained respectful of him. He had a special song written in Saul’s memory. He wrote, “ ‘Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives, and in their death, they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. . . how the mighty have fallen. . . ’ ” (2 Sam. 1:23, 25) With the loss of Jonathan, David’s closest friend, his grief at the time was more than doubled. The entire Book of 2 Samuel tells the rest of the story of David’s life and his reign as one of the greatest kings of Israel.

The stories are magnificent. David conquered the city of Jerusalem and made it the capital of Israel. That is why Jerusalem is sometimes called the “city of David.” (Bethlehem is also referred to as the “city of David” because he was from there.) In the process of moving to Jerusalem, David orchestrated a great parade to have the Ark of the Covenant transported there. Knowing what you know about the sacred Ark, you can imagine how meaningful it was to the Israelites to give it a real “home.” For the joyous occasion, David assembled 30,000 men and all kinds of instruments to bring the Ark into Jerusalem. Then he stripped down to just simple cloth and “danced before the Lord with all his might.” (2 Sam. 6:14).

David wanted to go so far as to build an elaborate temple for the Lord, but God told him that the task was reserved for David’s son Solomon. However, God did make a special covenant with David to assure him that his throne would last forever. (This came true through the bloodline of Jesus, the King who does reign forever.) We also see in 2 Samuel the amazing story of Mephibosheth a crippled man who was the last of the descendants of Saul. Rather than be threatened by this man and want to do away with him, David brought Mephibosheth into his palace and gave him a place of honor. This act of kindness, as well as many others, demonstrated just how extraordinary David was. He was loved by his people; he was victorious in battle, and he walked closely with the Lord. Unfortunately, even good kings make mistakes. A day came when David’s greatness was tarnished. Though he had seven wives, he desired to have one more woman — a woman who was already married to another man! Her name was Bathsheba. When it came to this matter of the heart, David went to the extent of murder to get what he wanted. By David’s orders, Bathsheba’s husband was sent to the front line of battle where he would surely be killed.

David’s plan worked, as he wanted it to. With the death of Bathsheba’s husband, David freed Bathsheba to become his wife. But David’s sins of lusting, lying, and plotting murder were seen by God. David and Bathsheba paid a great price for their sin. Their firstborn child was stricken by the Lord and died. Do you wonder how David responded to this? We don’t have to wonder. Psalm 51 gives us a record of what David prayed after his sin with Bathsheba. He cried out to the Lord in repentance: Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise. You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart — These, O God, You will not despise. (Psalm 51:14–17) David’s reign as king of Israel lasted 40 years (1055 B.C. to his death in 1015 B.C.).

His later years proved to be challenging and heartbreaking because one of his sons, Absalom, rebelled against him. Just as King Saul once rose against David, Absalom did the same. You can read Psalm 3 to better understand David’s pain from the situation. But as only a good father would, David loved his son Absalom still! David mourned and grieved deeply when Absalom died a strange and gruesome death. He was fatally speared after being accidentally caught in a tree by his hair and pulled off his mule. (2 Samuel 18:33). Perhaps it's passionate Scripture like these that help make David such a favorite Bible character.

We have a clear view of his soul through Old testament stories and his very own writings in the Psalms. We know of his love for the Lord, the mistakes he made, and the pain he harbored through so many of his relationships. Read Psalm 145, the last one he wrote, to catch a glimpse of David’s unwavering faith. It was genuine and it was real. Read Psalm 145, the last one he wrote, to catch a glimpse of David’s unwavering faith. It was genuine and it was real.

Lesson 33: Solomon (1015 B.C.)
When Solomon was given the chance to asked anything from God, he asked neither wealth, nor power, nor long life, but he asked for wisdom. This is what made him one of the greatest men who ever lived. Just before King David died, he advised his son, Solomon, saying "'...keep the charge of the Lord your God: to walk His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it's written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn.'"(1 kings 2:3)

Solomon listened to his father. He took the throne I 1015 B.C.(about six months before king David died)and establish his kingdom according to his father's wishes. According to 1 kings 3:5, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream. In it, He said,'"Ask! What shall I give you?'" Solomon's answer was verypleasing to God. According to 1 Kings 3:7-9, he said, "Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king...but I am a child; I don' know how to go out or come in. And Your servant is in the midst of Your people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Therefore give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who can judge these great people of yours?"

The Lord's response is so significant to the outcome of Solomon's life that God said in 1 king 3:11-13. God granted him in return, like riches and long life, is even more amazing. According to 1 king 4:34, "And men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to hear the wisdom of Solomon." When guests would visit, they would usually bring gifts of huge proportion to show their appreciation to Solomon. And this made Solomon wealthier, making God's promise come true. Much of his wealth was used to build a beautiful temple for the Lord's glory as God had told David.

The dimension and furnishing of the temple were cunning. And it was built from all kinds of special wood like cedar from Phoenicia and overlaid with pure gold. Much like the Tabernacle that was used for worship in the wilderness in the time of Moses, the Temple contained a Most Holy sanctuary. This became the permanent home of the sacred ark of the covenant. And all the Temple's items had a deep spiritual meaning, and the new Temple of the Lord was tremendously significant, and for the Israelites, this became the holiest of holy and was valued by everyone in Israel. But it wasn't special because of the act that Solomon built it, but it was special because of who lived and dwelled in there and that was God(1 kings8:10-13). And Solomon's great wisdom was made evident through the book he wrote from the Old Testament which was the book of Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, and practically all of the book of proverbs. Solomon mostly wrote a lot concerning his discovery that wealth and fame are not everything because these things are only temporal and that this is not our's even if we achieve it because all of this belongs to God.

That's why Solomon spent most of his life-wise enough to know that God all he needed and the main source of riches and fame, but. Unfortunately, Solomon reached the point when his life failed to practice what he preached, he began to want more horses, more riches, and more wives than there were necessary for one king, and this violated an instruction for kings as it is given in Deuteronomy 17: 16-17. Then Solomon became guilty of all of these things he had done. He had all things like horses, riches, silver, gold, and more, But his greatest downfall was his love for women especially foreign women, and Solomon already has so many wives and concubines. And probably most of these women were gifts to the king, as the tradition was back then But the greatest problem was that he began to worship false gods of his wives, and most of his wives worshipped a god named Baal.

According to 1 kings 11:4, it was said that Solomon was unable to remain faithful to God that gave him so much, and even with Solomon's great wisdom, he strayed from the one and only true God, and the Lord was angry, and because of this God said Solomon that after his death his kingdom will be torn into two because of his sin. And what God said became true Israel remained split and this happened for many centuries to come as a result of his disobedience. And very few of the later kings of Israel didn't ever honor God, unlike David and Solomon's early years. And Solomon's later reign was flawed by sin but, he left us a great legacy of wisdom in the book of Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and most of the book of Proverbs.

Lesson 34: The Phoenicians (1000 B.C.)
At the same time that Israel was adjusting to its new kings, the Phoenicians which were originally the Canaanites lived on the coast of the mediterranean sea near Israel were climbing to the height of their civilization. This was about 1000 B.C. The Phoenicians were also known for their products and goods. Their capital was Sidon, Sidon was a name which means to catch fish because living on the coast would probably lead to a lot of fishing but, the philistines were further south but on the same coast. The Phoenicians maintained their place on the map at least through the days of Paul's missionary journeys but, now the countries of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel occupy the land of the Phoenicians. And since the Phoenicians lived near the sea, they had a lot of experience in the water. the Phoenicians are also known as the greatest seafarers and traders of the ancient age because they sail very well. and because of that, they were able to travel all over the world trading their goods and colonizing new cities. they were able to go as far as Spain and northern Africa and settled a city named cartage.

one of the Phoenician's most famous goods was a beautiful purple-red dye that came from the gland of a sea snail called a murex snail. the expensive cloth was made from this dye and was cherished by the Greeks and Romans. but making this cloth was a very smelly job. the snails were collected in a large net and then left to rot. eventually, workers could skim a liquid off the top to make the dye. the city of the tyre, near the capital, became rich from this trade but also known for the stinky garlic-like odor. the Phoenicians might have derived their name from this reddish dye because the greek word phonios means red. another trade item of the Phoenicians was transparent glass. the art of glass blowing is very complicated we can hardly imagine life without glass. but before the Phoenicians could make it, although the Egyptians were already pretty good at glass making the Phoenicians had 30 letters alphabet that is the basis of our language today.

Up until this time other people use symbols to represent whole words or parts of words. people would have to learn hundreds of symbols to communicate in writing. the Phoenicians, along with the Hebrews, began to make symbols to represent one sound. their first alphabet had 22 characters, but thousand of words could be made by combining them.phonics came from the Phoenicians so if you learned to talk and read using phonics you can thank the Phoenicians for their contribution to this system which also named for them. there are two Phoenicians people we know about from stories in the bible.

(1) one is king Hiram of Tyre. he sold cedarwood to Solomon when he built the temple of Jerusalem. do you know the cedar of Lebanon? Lebanon was famous for this wood called cedarwood and remember that the Phoenicians are now at the place where Lebanon was

Lesson 35: the kingdom of Israel divides (975 B.C)
we know that king Solomon made Israel the greatest nation but ended being divided because of his sin and is still divided until 975 B.C.. but it wasn't only made by Solomon's sin but it also had to do with the mistakes made by rehoboam a.k.a. Solomon's son. when Solomon died his son took charge as king over Israel even though he wasn't that wIse as his father. IN his early reign he was harsh to his people. He became so consulting with the wrong man that it says in 1 kings 12:8 that he rejected the counsel which the elders have given but chosen the men that grew up with him.

And as result to his mistake, the counsel was disastrous and declared in 1 kings 12:14 that he will add to your yoke and will chastise you with scourges. And as result 10 out of the 12 tribes rebelled against Rehoboam and chose jeroboam the son of Nebat and king Solomon's servant to be their king. the 10 tribes that rebelled kept the name Israel but referred to as the northern kingdom because they were placed north of Israel. But unfortunately, jeroboam was not wise and not a spiritual leader.

And he led the 10 tribes out from their faithfulness to the one and only God but worshiped golden calves since the temple was in Jerusalem which was under the reign of rehoboam. bu he ruled for 22 years in this manner. And the other two tribes the tribe of Judah and benjamin were still under the rule of king rehoboam. And they called themselves Judah for short. and that's where the name"Jew" comes. And Judah was called the southern kingdom for obvious reasons. Rehoboam reigned over Judah for 17 years and did not do better in honoring God than the northern kingdom. because according to 1 kings 14:22 that Judah did evil things in the sight of the lord and provoked him to jealousy by their sins which they did more than their fathers have done

Lesson 36: Elijah, the fiery prophet (896 B.C.)
Elijah was no city boy. he was brought up in a rugged countryside. and his personality reflected it. rather than write Elijah spoke. Elijah lived during the reigns of Ahab, Ahaziah, and Jehoram, these were the kings of Israel the northern kingdom. Ahab did evil in the sight of the lord more than the kings before him( 1 king 16:30) one of Ahab's sin was marrying the princess of Tyre in Phoenicia, many of them worshipped the false God named Baal and Jezebel was included as one of those. Ahab the king of Israel adopted the worship of Baal instead of the one and only God. because of Ahab's sin God sent Elijah to proclaim under His instructions that it would not rain until Elijah says so. And after he said this to king Ahab he fled for his life. Because both Ahab and Jezebel wanted Elijah dead. but God took care of him in the wilderness where he hid from Ahab and jezebel. and each day the Lord sends ravens to feed him bread and meat every day for years. And God led a widow to take care of him and in return to the widow and to show that he is a true man of God. he did two miracles. first, he kept food in the widow's home, and even more miraculous he raised the son of the widow from the dead.

And after years of hiding, Elijah finally met up with Ahab a place called mount Carmel where they had a showdown of the power of the Gods and involves fire. elijah's motivation was pure to demonstrate who God was. and he prayed something in 1 kings 18:37. and this was what happened on Mount Carmel; Elijah told the prophet of Baal to layout a bull sacrifice to their false god and to call on him to ignite it with fire. And they called from morning to midday and no one answered. Then when it was Elijah's turn, Elijah placed a bull on an altar he built for the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And asked the people to drench the sacrifice three times with water and fill a trench around the altar with more water. And the people did as Elijah told them to do. And when evening set in for the time of offering. Elijah prayed that God would make himself known, then in 1 king 18:38 says that the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice together with the wood, stones, dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. then the result of this miracle, people fell on their faces declaring in 1 king 18:39 "'the lord, he is a god! the lord, he is a god!'". when king Ahab went back to jezebel and told her what happened she plotted to kill Elijah and She sent a messenger to let him know about what she was planning to do. and Elijah was so disturbed by her evil plan that he pleaded to GOD to take his life! so the Lord sent another angel again to nourish him with a jar of water and a cake baked over hot coals. the lord did this because he was preparing Elijah for a 40 day trip to Horeb with no food as all.

And at Horeb, the lord used a strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire to get Elijah's attention but, still spoke to him in a still small voice. the lord instructed Elijah to anoint Hazael as king over Syria, Jehu as a future king over Israel, and Elisha as a prophet to take his place. but before either jehu or Elisha filled their positions. Elijah had some last business with Ahab. he confronted Ahab one more time about his sins. but this time it had to do with a vineyard in 2 kings 9:30-37.elijahs the last miracle would display the power of god to Ahaziah the next king of Israel was an evil king who served the false god Baal and provoked the Lord to anger. and one way was to call upon a false god to know his future. through Elijah, God sent fire down from the heavens and consumed Ahaziah's men at three different times to show who is the only true God then Ahaziah died just as Elijah prophesied.

Then Jehoram ruled next and then jehu whom Elijah anointed. in 2 kings there's an amazing story by the title Elijah and the chariot of fire that says that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire and separated the two of them Elijah and Elisha and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. and Elijah never died a natural death in 896 B.C. except, he was taken to heaven in a whirlwind.

Lesson 37: Elisha (Israel’s Prophet) (895 B.C.)
Elisha was standing Next to Elijah as God swept Elijah away in a whirlwind with a chariot of fire and horses. And when Elisha saw this and it was a life-changing sight. Elisha was a wonderful man. And it is recorded that he performed at least 17 miracles in his lifetime. "Parallels" are when God uses two similar stories to make a point. The lives of Elijah and Elisha are a parallel relationship to John the Baptist and Jesus. you see Elijah like John the Baptist, spent a lot of time away from the crowds of people, living off the land and boldly Speaking of God. he also spent time in the wilderness, too preaching of repentance and eating wild locust. Elisha spent more time with the people of Israel performing gentle life-giving miracles much as Jesus did.

Miracles can show us the greatness of God and lead others to believe in Him. In 895 B.C., three kings asked Elisha for help in fighting the Moabites. there had been no rain in Israel, and the troops were parched. Elisha told the troops to dig pools in the dry earth, and the pools would be filled. and the pools were miraculously filled with water but in the eyes of the Moabites, it was blood. And a large pool of blood would fool any army into thinking their enemies were dead. But they were not. Unprepared for the battle the Moabites rushed into the camp of the Israelites only to find them alive and well. And the Israelites easily defeated them that day. And another miracle to remember was the healing of Naaman. Naaman lived as far away as the country of Syria, which is north of Israel. And even that far away he heard the amazing miracles of Elisha and his God. Naaman had leprosy and sought out Elisha for healing, even though he wasn't a Hebrew. Elisha told Naaman to wash in the Jordan river seven times and he would be healed. Though skeptical at first, Naaman did it. And he was healed! No one was ever cured of leprosy in those days. Naaman’s response was what we might hope for.

Because in 2 kings 5:15 Naaman change his faith and turned to The one and only God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, And Jacob. Elisha also performed miracles for the Shunammite woman. This woman had given Elisha a place to stay, but she had no son and her husband was old. For her hospitality, Elisha promised her she would have a son. And she did. Later, however, this boy was very ill and died in his mother’s arms. This woman of great faith believed that Elisha could heal her son since he was a “gift” from this man of God. Miraculously, Elisha did revive the boy and gave him life. Not only did Elisha perform miracles, but he also predicted Future events. Because according to 2 Kings 8:7-15, Elisha predicted the death of king Ben had of Syria. on top of that he predicted that king Hazael the next king of Syria would be harshly ruling over the Israelites. and he did, Hazael threatened the king of Judah and Israel for 43 years.

He pushed king josh to pay him tribute, wounded king Jehoram in battle, and seized lands east of the Jordan from king jehu. speaking of jehu, did you know that he is the only king of Israel whom we have a known picture. in the records of Shalmaneser the third and a king of Assyria. there exist a vivid carving of jehu that shows him bowing down and paying tribute to Shalmaneser. this carving shows great credibility of the scriptures, which tells us of Shalmaneser in 2 kings 17:3. Back to ElishaEven in his death, he touched others. When Elisha was buried, another dead man was placed close enough to his bones to make contact. The dead man came back to life! (2 Kings 13:20–21.) Some theologians see this miracle as a foreshadowing of Jesus’ ministry to come: giving life to the dead.

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Thank you for reading my work. And special thanks to Linda lacour Hobar

Author: Nathan M. David With the help of: Linda lacour Hobar's work

Gravitational Force
Gravitational force is the attraction between all masses in the Universe, especially the Gravity of Earth's mass for bodies near its surface.

What is Gravitational Force?
Gravitational force is the force that pulls any body of surface to the center of the Earth. Legend says that a young boy named Isaac newton recognized that an apple fell from the tree instead of flying up because of the gravitational force of the Earth's center. Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation is used to explain the gravitational force. This law states that every massive particle in the universe attracts every other massive particle with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. This general, physical law was derived from observations made by induction.

Another way, more modern, way to state the law is: ‘every point mass attracts every single other point mass by a force pointing along the line intersecting both points. The force is proportional to the product of the two masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the point masses’. Gravitational force surrounds us. It is what decides how much we weigh and how far a basketball will travel when thrown before it returns to the surface. The gravitational force on Earth is equal to the force the Earth exerts on you. At rest, on or near the surface of the Earth, the gravitational force equals your weight. On a different astronomical body like Venus or the Moon, the acceleration of gravity is different than on Earth, so if you were to stand on a scale, it would show you that you weigh a different amount than on Earth.

Law of Universal Gravitation
Isaac Newton compared the acceleration of the moon to the acceleration of objects on earth. Believing that gravitational forces were responsible for each, Newton was able to draw an important conclusion about the dependence of gravity upon distance. This comparison led him to conclude that the force of gravitational attraction between the Earth and other objects is inversely proportional to the distance separating the earth's center from the object's center. But distance is not the only variable affecting the magnitude of a gravitational force. Consider Newton's famous equation

Fnet = m • a

Newton knew that the force that caused the apple's acceleration (gravity) must be dependent upon the mass of the apple. And since the force acting to cause the apple's downward acceleration also causes the earth's upward acceleration (Newton's third law), that force must also depend upon the mass of the earth. So for Newton, the force of gravity acting between the earth and any other object is directly proportional to the mass of the earth, directly proportional to the mass of the object, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance that separates the centers of the earth and the object.

The UNIVERSAL Gravitation Equation
But Newton's law of universal gravitation extends gravity beyond earth. Newton's law of universal gravitation is about the universality of gravity. Newton's place in the Gravity Hall of Fame is not due to his discovery of gravity, but rather due to his discovery that gravitation is universal. ALL objects attract each other with a force of gravitational attraction. Gravity is universal. This force of gravitational attraction is directly dependent upon the masses of both objects and inversely proportional to the square of the distance that separates their centers. Newton's conclusion about the magnitude of gravitational forces is summarized symbolically as

Since the gravitational force is directly proportional to the mass of both interacting objects, more massive objects will attract each other with a greater gravitational force. So as the mass of either object increases, the force of gravitational attraction between them also increases. If the mass of one of the objects is doubled, then the force of gravity between them is doubled. If the mass of one of the objects is tripled, then the force of gravity between them is tripled. If the mass of both of the objects is doubled, then the force of gravity between them is quadrupled; and so on.

Since gravitational force is inversely proportional to the square of the separation distance between the two interacting objects, more separation distance will result in weaker gravitational forces. So as two objects are separated from each other, the force of gravitational attraction between them also decreases. If the separation distance between two objects is doubled (increased by a factor of 2), then the force of gravitational attraction is decreased by a factor of 4 (2 raised to the second power). If the separation distance between any two objects is tripled (increased by a factor of 3), then the force of gravitational attraction is decreased by a factor of 9 (3 raised to the second power).