Exilic and Postexilic Years: Ezekiel to Malachi

The much-awaited Volume III starts with the factors of various schools of biblical criticism and the development of archaeology in the Holy Land, from trying to prove the Bible to searching for evidence of the development of Israelite history. The history of the indigenous Canaanite people is reviewed within the context of the Hebrews' centuries-long struggle against Canaanite polytheism. Would monolatry (the recognition of other gods along with the one Hebrew God) or monotheism triumph? The conquest of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and the Exile brought turbulence and deep sorrow to the Israelites. But God had a plan for His people.