of Jehovah and their quick collapse indicate that the kindlings of
spiritual life which they seem to manifest were not real spiritual
revivals. Many people did no doubt turn in truth to God. but the
rapidity with which each effort was followed by a return to deeper
depths of immorality, such as those indicated by Amos 5:l6, 7:17, 8:6;
Is. 1:23, 10:1; and Hos. 9:15 give evidence of the abounding
wickedness of the period.

The Wealth and Luxury. There is much in the discourses to indicate
that wealth abounded and that kings and other influential men lived in
luxury. The upper classes indulged in all the follies of the idle rich
and showed the usual heartlessness toward the poor. The following list
of scriptures will indicate some of the things which they possessed
and which they did: Amos 5:11, 3:15, 6:4; Jer. 22:14; Is. 5:ll-12,
3:18-23, 21:7. To this list the student by comparison and reference
can add many others.

Contemporary Nations. No study of this period would be complete
without a knowledge of the other nations that influenced this time.
Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Media, Phoenicia, Carthage, Greece and Rome
all influenced Judah. From the Bible narratives and from secular
history the student should become acquainted with the leading events
in the history of this period of each of these nations.

Lessons of the Period. It is most difficult to put down the permanent
lessons or teachings of this period. To the teachings of the prophets
given above the following are well worth preserving as lessons for our
day as well as theirs. (1) All reformation must begin at the house of
God and in connection with his worship-witness the reform work of Asa,
Jehoshaphat, Joash, Hezekiah and Josiah. (2) Religion must set the