This week, we shall continue the
study of 2 Chronicles of the Old Testament.
26:1-5—Uzziah Succeeded Amaziah
(1) Since Uzziah was only 16 when he was made king, what impact might his father, Amaziah have on him?
(2) How did he turn out as far as the Bible is concerned? (vv. 2-5)
(3) While we have no idea who Zechariah was (likely the high priest in Uzziah’s early reign), consider the following:
a. What impact did Zechariah have on the king?
b. How does v. 5 prepare us for the latter part of the king’s life?
26:6-15—Prosperity under Uzziah
(4) How far did Uzziah exert his military power? (vv. 6-8; note that the Meunites were probably residents of Mount Seir in Edom)
(5) What must life (of the people) be like under the reign of Uzziah? (vv. 9-10)
(6) How special was Uzziah’s army? (vv. 11-15)
(7) What was the reason for his success? (v. 5)
(8) But how did Uzziah see his success? (v. 16)
(9) The Bible attributes pride to Uzziah’s burning incense in the temple himself:
a. Why did the priests seek to stop him from so doing? (v. 18)
b. What might be Uzziah’s rationale behind his action?
c. How did he respond to the action of the priests? (v. 19)
d. How did God step in to intervene? Why? (vv. 19-20)
e. What important lesson might we learn from this incident?
(10) Where did he spend the rest of his life? (v. 21)
(11) Do you think he eventually repented? Why or why not?
(12) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) How old was Jotham when he became king? (v. 1)
(2) What happened before he officially succeeded his father? (26:21)
(3) What impact should his father’s mistake have on him?
(4) What kind of a king did he turn out to be? (v. 2)
(5) What was the reason given for his success? (v. 6)
(6) Did he follow his father’s footsteps when he became successful? Why or why not?
(7) What important event took place when he first ascended to the throne when his father passed away? (Isa. 6:1)
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) How old was Ahaz when he ascended to the throne?
(2) What should he have learned from his father Jotham?
(3) What kind of a king did Ahaz turn out to be? (vv. 1-4)
(4) Of the sins of Ahaz, which appeared to be the most detestable? (v. 3)
(5) Can you explain why Ahaz did not follow his father’s footsteps, but the footsteps of the kings of Israel?
(6) What was the result of his wickedness? (v. 5)
(7) The Bible explains that the loss to the king of Israel, Pekah, was “because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors” (v. 6).
a. How serious was this defeat? (vv. 6-8)
b. Why then did the prophet Obed rebuke the Israelites for their role in chastising the people of Judah? (vv. 9-11)
c. How did some of the leaders in Israel respond to the rebuke of the prophet? Why?
d. What did the victorious soldiers do in response to the words of the prophets and the leaders? (v. 14)
e. How special was their action? (v. 15)
f. Why do you think they would treat these captives with such kindness?
(8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) What kind of a condition had Ahaz plunged the nation into? (see the map in your Bible to get a sense of how the nation was basically surrounded by enemies from all sides—vv. 16-18)
(2) What is the reason given by the Bible again for the demise of Judah? (v. 19)
(3) What should Ahaz have done under the circumstance? (Remember, he had the prophet Isaiah at his disposal.)
(4) What did he do instead? (vv. 16, 21)
(5) What was the Bible’s verdict on his effort to seek help from the Assyrians? (vv. 20-21)
(6) Why would he even turn to the gods of Aram? (vv. 22-23: you may want to read 2 Ki. 16:7ff for a fuller account of Ahaz’s sins in this respect)
(7) What was the Bible’s verdict on his effort to seek help from the gods of Damascus? (v. 23)
(8) What is the message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) What kind a nation did Hezekiah inherit from his father Ahaz? (28:2-4)
(2) When did he begin the work of repairing the temple? (v. 3)
(3) What does this tell you about Hezekiah?
(4) What was the first thing he ordered the priests and Levites to do at the assembly? (v. 5) Why?
(5) What sins of their parents did Hezekiah point out? (vv. 6-7)
(6) What had the sins of their parents led to according to Hezekiah? (vv. 8-9)
(7) By repairing the temple and restoring worship, what did Hezekiah intend to do? (v.10)
(8) What did Hezekiah remind the priests and Levites not to be negligent about? (v. 11)
(9) How long did it take the Levites and the priests to cleanse the temple? (vv. 15-17)
(10) In
your opinion, what had this act of sanctification of the temple meant to the following?
a. The priests and the Levites
b. The people of the nation
c. The king himself
(11) What might be the things that our church needs to be cleansed of today?
(12) What is the main message to you today, and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) Now that the temple had been purified, Hezekiah was ready to present a “sin offering” to the Lord: (vv. 20-24)
a. Why did he involve the city officials in this process? (v. 20)
b. “Seven” appears to the number for “completeness” in the OT: For what (or whom) was this sin offering made and why? (v. 21)
c. What was the meaning of the laying on of hands on the goats? (see Lev. 16:16, 21)
(2) The re-establishment of music in worship: (vv. 25-30)
a. What kinds of musical instruments were involved? (vv. 25-26)
b. When did the music (singing accompanied by musical instruments) begin? (v. 27)
c. How long did it last? (v. 28)
d. What role did music play in this worship?
e. What did the king and everyone do when the offerings were finished? (v. 29)
f. With what did the Levites praise the Lord? (v. 30)
g. What was the whole atmosphere like? (v. 30)
(3) The presentation of “free-will” offerings (vv. 31-35)
a. What did Hezekiah invite the people to do after the sin offering was completed? (v. 31)
b. How did the assembly respond to the king’s invitation? (v. 31-33)
c. The skinning of animals for sacrifice was supposedly the sole (sacred) responsibility of the priests (Lev. 1:6)
- Why were there not enough priests to do the skinning?
- How was the problem solved?
(4) What was the outcome of this day of celebration? (vv. 35-36).
(5) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) What was Hezekiah’s intention of inviting “all Israel” to come and celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem?
(2) What was the reason why Jeroboam set up two idols at Dan and Bethel in the first place after he split the kingdom into two halves? (1 Ki. 12:26-29)
(3) Now that the Northern Kingdom was destroyed (see v. 6), what was the chance that the people from Israel would respond enthusiastically to the invitation? Why?
(4) The Passover was to be celebrated on the first month, the month they left Egypt (Exod. 12):
a. When did they now decide to celebrate this Passover? (v. 2)
b. What was the reason for this arrangement? (v. 3)
c. What were the two exceptions allowed by the Law of Moses to postpone the celebration to the second month? (see Num. 9:6-13)
d. Did they meet the two requirements? (v. 3)
(5) The invitation (vv. 6-9)
a. How might the survivors in Israel feel about the loss of their nation?
b. How might they look upon the Lord?
c. What did King Hezekiah point out as the reason for their current plight? (v. 7)
d. What hope did he offer them? (v. 9)
e. How should they signify their return to the Lord? (v. 8)
(6) What reception did the couriers receive in general? (v. 10)
(7) Was it not anticipated? Why or why not?
(8) Why then would “some” from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun be willing to accept the invitation?
(9) Whether it was those from Israel, or the people within Judah, what was the reason for their unity in following the king’s order? (v. 12)
(10) What is the main lesson you have learned about Hezekiah and how may you apply it to your life?