This week, we shall finish the study
the book of 2 Kings in the Old Testament.
The eradication of idol worship by Josiah was not only complete but it also shows how deep the kings of Judah before him had plunged the nation into such perversions against the Lord:
(1) From vv. 4-7, can you name all the perversions that had taken place right inside the temple of the Lord?
(2) What did Josiah do to ensure the eradication of the worship of Baal and Asherah? (23: 4, 6)
(3) What was the act of scattering the dust (or powder) of the Asherah pole over the graves of the common people meant to do?
(4) What kind of prostitutes was once allowed inside the temple of the Lord? (23:7)
(5) The high places began as a convenient way of worshipping the Lord outside of the temple, modeled after the idol-worship of the Canaanites, and were eventually used also to worship all kinds of idols:
a. What did Josiah do to ensure the eradication of this form of idol worship? (23:5)
b. Whom did he use to carry out the desecration? Why? (23:8-9)
(6) How important was it that Josiah desecrated “Topheth”? (23:10)
(7) The Bible especially mentions Josiah’s destruction of other forms of idol-worship directly instituted by previous kings of Judah:
a. Sun-worshipping:
- Why would these kings worship the sun? (Job 31:27-28)
- How did Josiah deal with the horses and chariots dedicated to the sun? (v. 11—see Note below)
b. What might Ahaz and other kings use the altars on the roof for? (see Zeph. 1:5)
c. Why did Manasseh build altars in the two courts of the temple? (21:5)
d. How did Josiah deal with these altars? (v. 12)
e. What kind of high places did Solomon build and how did Josiah deal with them (vv. 13-14)
(8) As you’re reading the passage that depicts all of the above, what might be the thing that you find most shocking? Why?
(9) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note:
“Horses were regarded sacred to the sun by many nations…These horses were hardly kept to be offered to the sun in sacrifice…but as we must infer from the ‘chariots of the sun,’ were used for processions in connection with the worship of the sun…to drive and meet the rising sun.”
(K&D, 344)
Josiah’s eradication of idol worship extended beyond his own territory of Jerusalem and Judah:
23:15-18—Removal of Idol worship at Bethel
(1) Who set up the altar in Bethel?
(2) What was his purpose? (1 Ki. 12:26-27)
(3) How wicked was this form of idol worship? (1 Ki. 12:28-29)
(4) Since it was not within his territory (the nation of Judah), why did he care to demolish it?
(5) How did he demolish and desecrate this altar in Bethel?
(6) What prophecy was he fulfilling in the desecration of this altar? (1 Ki. 13:1-2)
(7) What might be the importance of the special mention of the grave (and bones) of the prophet who confronted Jeroboam but was subsequently killed by a lion? (1 Ki. 13:26-32)
23:19-20—Removal of Idol worship in Samaria
(8) What was Samaria like in the time of Josiah, i.e. after the fall of the Northern Kingdom? (17:24-41)
(9) What did he do to eradicate idol worship in Samaria?
(10) What risk was he taking?
(11) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
23:21-23—The celebration of Passover (it will be helpful to also read 2 Chr. 35:1-19 for a fuller account of this event)
(1) The king gave the order:
a. Should the observation of Passover not be a mandate to all Israelites? (Exod. 12:24)
b. Why should it be done now at the order of the king to the people (2 Ki. 23:21) and to the priests (2 Chr. 35:10)?
c. What does it say about the spiritual condition of the people and the priests?
(2) If you are able to scan through the more detailed account in 2 Chronicles 35, how do you feel about the king’s command which extended to the putting of the ark back in the temple (35:3), the arranging of Levites and priests into subdivisions (35:5, 10), the putting in place of musicians (35:15), and the final comment in v. 18?
23:24-28—Utter Extermination of apostasy
(3) How different was the getting rid of mediums, spiritists and household gods from the extermination of other forms of idol worship mentioned previously?
(4) How does this signal the utter extermination of all forms of apostasy by Josiah?
23:25-28—Biblical Comments
(5) How does the Bible commend Josiah’s effort? (v. 25)
(6) Since this was the case, why wasn’t Josiah’s effort in spiritual reformation enough to change the fate of Israel? (vv. 26-27)
(7) Why was the sin of Manasseh cited as the reason? (See 2 Ki. 21:10-16; 24:3 and Jer. 15:4)
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
23:29-30—Death of Josiah
(1) We have no idea why Josiah sought to intervene with Pharaoh Necho’s effort to help the king of Assyria, but 2 Chronicles 35:22 makes it clear that Necho had “God’s command” to hurry and asked Josiah not to stop him:
a. Why would God give a command to a gentile king?
b. In your opinion, why did Josiah choose to ignore the word of Necho?
c. What was the result of his action?
d. What lesson can we learn from his mistake?
e. The prophet Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah (of which there is no extant copy); however, how might you eulogize Josiah at his funeral? (see 2 Chr. 35:25)
23:31-34—King Jehoahaz of Judah
(2) Given the information in 22:1, how old was Josiah when Jehoahaz born?
(3) Was Jehoahaz privileged to see the radical reform done by his father?
(4) Why then would he turn away from the footsteps of his father?
(5) What was his fate?
23:35-37—King Jehoiakim of Judah
(6) It is interesting to note that while Pharaoh Necho removed Jehoahaz and replaced him with his brother Eliakim, he also changed his brother’s name to Jehoiakim— “El-iakim” means “God will set up”, while “Jeho-iakim” means “Jehovah will set up”:
a. Why did Necho not change his name into one of the Egyptian names that bears the name of his gods, and instead he changed his name to honor Jehovah—the God of Israel?
b. Given Necho’s previous encounter with Josiah in the name of God, what might this change of name indicate?
(7) How old was Jehoiakim when he was installed king? Was he any better than his predecessor?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
24:1-7—Death of Jehoiakim
(1) What happened to Judah during the reign of Jehoiakim?
(2) What was the reason given by the Bible?
(3) While 2 Kings simply records his death:
a. What was the prophecy concerning his fate? (Jer. 36:27-31)
b. Why? (Note: While the deportation of Jews did begin during Jehoiakim’s 3rd/4th year—see Dan. 1:1 and Jer. 25:1—the first official deportation is reckoned as having taken place in the time of Jehoiachin)
24:8-17—Jehoiachin, King of Judah
(4) How long did Jehoiachin reign?
(5) What kind of a king was he?
(6) The 1st deportation to Babylon:
a. What prophecy was fulfilled by Nebuchadnezzar in removing treasures from Jerusalem? (2 Ki. 20:17, Isa. 39:6)
b. Who were among the first batch of exile? (vv. 15-17)
24:18-20—Zedekiah, King of Judah
(7) Mattaniah was Josiah’s youngest son and would have been 10 years old when Josiah died. Like Necho, Nebuchadnezzar made this vassal king change his name, but not to a Babylonian name, but to a Hebrew name, Zedekiah, meaning “Righteousness of Jehovah”: What might be the implication of Nebuchadnezzar’s action?
(8) In spite of his name-change, what kind of a king was he?
(9) What was the Bible's verdict of him and Judah in spite of his attempted rebellion against Babylon?
(10) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) Zedekiah (in spite of Jeremiah’s prophecy of captivity in Jer. 27:12-13) decided to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar (vv. 1-7):
a. How long was he able to hold off the mighty Babylonian army? (vv. 1-3)
b. What eventually did him in? (v. 3)
c. What was the fate of Zedekiah? (vv. 5-7)
d. Did he deserve such a severe punishment?
(2) Destruction to God’s temple and Jerusalem (vv. 8-12) — the 19th year of Nebuchadnezzar = 11th year of Zedekiah:
a. What happened to the house of God and the royal palace?
b. What happened to the houses and important buildings of Jerusalem?
c. What happened to the walls of Jerusalem?
d. What happened to most of the people in Jerusalem?
e. What kind of a city had Jerusalem become?
f. What was the reason given back in 24:20?
(3) Removal of sacred objects (vv. 13-17)
a. Make a list of the things taken away from the temple of the Lord.
b. What would the temple look like even if it were not burnt down?
(4) Capture of notable people (vv. 18-21)
a. Make a list of these notable people captured.
b. What happened to them subsequently?
(5) Although a limit of 70 years was put on their captivity (Jer. 29:10), what kind of a place would those people return to?
(6) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) With very few people left in this devastated city of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah as care-taker of Judah. He was the son of Ahikam — see Jeremiah 26:24 about what Ahikam did to Jeremiah.
(2) Many of the fighting men who broke free from the Babylonian siege (25:4) now came back and joined Gedaliah; so did many who escaped to Moab, Ammon and Edom (Jer. 40:11). What was God’s intention for them (through the overseeing of Gedaliah) even with the severe and complete punishment He gave Jerusalem? (also see Jer. 42:7-12)
(3) However, one of the these army officers, Ishmael, was actually sent by the king of the Ammonites and he assassinated Gedaliah and killed the Babylonian soldiers posted (Jer. 40:14; 41:3), and the rest of people fled to Egypt for fear of the Babylonians:
a. Should they have fled to Egypt? (Jer. 42:19ff)
b. Apart from the fact that Egypt would also fall to Babylon, what would happen to them once they were in Egypt? (Jer. 44:8)
(4) How was Jehoiachin treated toward the latter part of his life in Babylon?
(5) What might be the reason or message for ending the account of the nations of Israel and Judah on such a note?
(6) The end of 2 Kings marks the end of the nation of the people of God which lasted from 588/6 B.C. to A.D. 1948 — it was more than 2,600 years.
a. What might be the most important lesson one can learn from the Books of the Kings, i.e. 1 & 2 Samuel (beginning with the anointing of the first king) and 1 & 2 Kings (to the end of the nation of Israel)?
b. What should be the most important lesson to modern-day Israel?
(7) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?