1. =Its retired situation=: hemmed in by mountains and deserts; at a distance from the ordinary lines of travel; not in the direct path of conquest from any other nation. Ju'dah had few foreign wars as compared with Is'ra-el. 2. =The unity of its people.= They were not ten tribes loosely connected, but one tribe, with a passionate love of their nation and a pride in their blood. 3. =Its concentration at Je-ru'sa-lem.= Through all its history there was but one capital, where the palace of the king and the temple of the Lord were standing together. 4. =The reverence for the House of Da'vid= also kept the people together. There was no change in dynasty, and the loyalty of the people grew stronger through the generations toward the family on the throne. There being no usurpers, the throne was permanent until destroyed by foreign power. 5. =The purity of its religion= tended to keep the nation united and to keep it in existence. No bond of self-interest or of blood will hold a people together as strongly as the tie of religion. Ju'dah's strength was in the measure of her service of God, and when she renounced Je-ho'vah her doom came speedily. III. =Periods in the History.= Though Ju'dah was not without political contact with other nations, yet its history is the record of internal events rather than external relations. We may divide its history into four epochs. 1. =The first decline and revival.= 1.) The reigns of Re-ho-bo'am and A-bi'jah marked a decline indicated by the E-gyp'tian invasion and the growth of idolatry. 2.) The reign of A'sa and Je-hosh'a-phat showed a revival in reformation, progress, and power. Under Je-hosh'a-phat, Ju'dah was at the height of prosperity. This was the time of peace with Is'ra-el and of strength at home and abroad (2 Chron. 17. 5; 20. 30). 2. =The second decline and revival.= 1.) For nearly two hundred years after the death of Je-hosh'a-phat the course of Ju'dah was downward. E'dom was lost under Je-ho'ram (2 Chron. 21. 8); the Ba'al-ite idolatry was introduced by the usurping queen, Ath-a-li'ah (2 Kings 11. 18); the land was again and again invaded under Jo'ash and Am-a-zi'ah, and Je-ru'sa-lem itself was taken and plundered. 2.) But a great reformation was wrought under Hez-e-ki'ah, who was the best and wisest of the kings of Ju'dah, and the kingdom again rose to power, even daring to throw off the As-syr'i-an yoke and defy the anger of the mightiest king then on the earth. At this time came the great event of the destruction of the As-syr'i-an host (2 Kings 19. 35).