Merom Springs

Land grab

Israel and Judah take land from Syria and Edom

Israel, Judah, and Moab are the big winners in a land grab. Each nation fought for control over their individual corners of the region.

Assyria weakens Syria

Assyria attacks Syria, leaving it too weak to defend itself against an opportunist like Israel's King Jeroboam. Jeroboam II recovered territory Israel lost to Syria. He restores Israel’s border from Lebo-hamath in the north (about 50 miles/80 km northwest of Damascus),  to the Dead Sea in the south. A prophet named Jonah, son of Amittai, said it would happen. Jonah came from the town of Gath-hepher.

God helped make it happen

The LORD helped Jeroboam do these things because he saw how desperate the people had become. There was no one else willing to help them, free or slave. One more reason the LORD helped is because he promised not to let anyone erase them from the world. Those are the reasons he helped Jeroboam II, son of Jehoash.

Edom and Judah gain land, too

Edom can't stop the young king of Judah, Amaziah, still in his early 20s and ambitious. After taking Edom, he challenges Israel to a battle. He loses, gets captured, and for punishment, Israel's soldiers knock down part of Jerusalem's city walls. Many citizens are taken as slaves.

Moab's last stand

As for Moab, the combined armies of Judah and Israel can't break through the defenses of Moab's capital city, Kir-hareseth. Moab’s king saw he was losing the city. So, he took 700 swordsmen and tried to punch through Edom’s line and scatter the enemy. He failed and had to retreat.

King sacrifices his son on city wall

Then he killed his oldest son, who would have succeeded him as king. He burned the body on top of the city wall as a sacrifice for everyone to see. Israel saw it, too. Angry and disgusted, they went home.

Where to find more Bible maps

The Casual English Bible® has more than 900 Bible maps, many in 3D style. You can search for maps by place name, such as "Sea of Galilee."

Dedicated Bible map search engine

But you can also search for maps by Bible book, such as searching for all the maps in the book of Joshua. In addition, you can search by country, region, or era on a timeline, such as when Israel had kings or when Jesus was on earth. Here's a link to the dedicated Map Search Engine.  

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For more Bible features

• Stephen M. Miller's website and blog
• The Casual English Bible
• Bible YouTube channel