This week, we shall continue the
study of 2 Chronicles of the Old Testament.
The Celebration of Passover
(1) The priests and the Levites were ashamed (vv. 13-16):
a. Why were they ashamed?
b. Did it have anything to do with v. 14?
c. What did they do as a result?
(2) There were people, especially from outside of Judah who came to present and eat sacrifices while unclean (vv. 17-20).
a. What might be the reasons for their uncleanness? (see Lev. 7:19, 11:28, 12:2; 13:3; 15:2, 16-24 for some of the reasons)
b. What should they have done before participating in this celebration? (see the example in Lev. 11:28 )
c. What if they eat any of the sacrifice while unclean? (see Lev. 7:20-21)
d. Why did Hezekiah not prohibit them from participating at the celebration and pray for them? (vv. 18-19)
e. Did God hear Hezekiah’s prayer? Why or why not?
f. What does this tell us about the difference between the letter and the spirit of the Law? (see 2 Cor. 3:6)
(3) How special was this celebration that gave everyone great joy? (v. 21)
(4) Why did Hezekiah choose to speak to the Levites with words of encouragement? (v. 22)
(5) What special contribution had they made concerning this celebration?
(6) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
30:23-27—The Celebration of Passover (Continued)
(1) Why did the whole assembly feel the need to celebrate the festival beyond the originally prescribed seven days? What does it say about the spiritual condition in that it was the decision of the “whole assembly”?
(2) What example did the king set for the people? (v. 24)
(3) How did it impact the officials of the city?
(4) Have you any idea how long it has been since such a joyous celebration of this scale has taken place? (v. 26; see 2 Chr. 7:4ff—more than 250 years)
(5) Was God really pleased with their sacrifices and worship? (v. 27) Why?
31:1-8—Post-Celebration Events
(6) What happened after this celebration? (31:1)
(7) What might account for such drastic actions, even outside of Judah?
(8) In re-establishing the duty roster for the priest and Levites,
a. What example did the king set for them? (v. 3)
b. What order did he give the people after he set his own example? (v. 4)
c. How did the people respond to the king’s order? Why? (vv. 5-7)
(9) How would you describe the contribution of Hezekiah to the revival of the nation? Why was he so successful?
(10) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) What was the result of the people’s response in resuming their obligation to tithe? (v. 8)
(2) What did tithing mean to the Levites and the priests? (v. 10; see Num. 18:21 as well)
(3) Why did Hezekiah have to step in to take care of the “heaps” of offerings? (vv. 11-13)
(4) With proper storage in place, what did Hezekiah do to ensure that all priests and Levites even outside of Jerusalem were properly provided for? (vv. 14-15)
(5) What was the emphasis in v. 18 and the explanation given at the end of the verse concerning the distributors?
(6) What three adjectives were used to describe the deeds of Hezekiah? (v. 20)
(7) What was the meaning of each of these adjectives?
(8) What was the basis of such commendations? (v. 21a)
(9) What was the result of his obedience to the Lord? (v. 21b)
(10) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) The last chapter ends with the comment that “And so he (Hezekiah) prospered” (31:21) and once again the Bible commends him for his faithfulness in this opening verse (32:1): Why then would God allow such a powerful enemy to invade Judah (in fact, the Assyrians had almost reached Jerusalem)? (v. 1)
(2) In defense of the city, the king and his officials decided to block off the springs outside the city Jerusalem. What was the purpose of this action? (v. 4)
(3) What else did Hezekiah do to defend the city? (v. 5)
(4) Were these actions wise?
(5) Does it mean that Hezekiah did not trust in the Lord? Why or why not? (see vv. 6-7)
(6) How does v. 7 echo the encouragement of the Apostle John in 1 John 4:4?
(7) Why was Hezekiah so confident that his God will prevail over the powerful Assyrian army? (v. 8)
(8) What effect did his word of encouragement have on the people of Judah in the face of such an imminent attack by the powerful Assyrians who were the dominant world power of the time?
(9) What is the message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note:
While the Chronicler seeks to focus on the faith of Hezekiah, it is helpful to get a more complete picture of the incident by reading the account of 2 Kings 18:13-18.
(1) 2 Kings 18:13-18 shows us that by that time Judah had lost all the fortified cities except Jerusalem and Hezekiah had been humbled to the point that he paid tribute to the Assyrians by stripping the gold off the temple structure:
a. How would the people of Judah feel toward their king and their God?
b. If you were Hezekiah, how would you feel about the situation?
(2) How did Sennacherib challenge the faith of Hezekiah? (vv. 10-12)
(3) What effect might his words have on the people of Judah?
(4) What proof did Sennacherib give to back up his claim? (vv. 13-15)
(5) How did Sennacherib directly challenge the Lord? (vv. 16-17)
(6) Why did the officers of Sennacherib choose to speak in Hebrew? (v. 18)
(7) 2 Kings 18:36 says that the people remained silent; what might they being saying in their hearts?
(8) What would you do at this time, if you were Hezekiah?
(9) What did Hezekiah do? (v. 20; also see 2 Ki. 19:1-2)
(10) How did God answer their prayers? (v. 21; see also 2 Ki. 19:35-37 for greater details)
(11) What blessings did this battle lead to? (vv. 22-23)
(12) What is the main message to you today, and how may you apply it to your life?
32:24—Hezekiah’s sickness (read 2 Kings 20:1-11 also)
(1) How did Hezekiah face his seemingly terminal illness?
(2) Should he have asked for healing?
(3) How many additional years did God give him to live?
(4) Whom did he give birth to in this period? (see 2 Chr. 33:1)
32:25-31—The Pride of Hezekiah
(5) How does the Bible describe his success and prosperity? (vv. 27-29)
(6) Do you think his fame could match those of his forefather Solomon?
(7) What caused him to be proud? (v. 25)
(8) How did the Lord deal with his pride?
(9) Read the event of the visit of the convoys from Babylon in 2 Ki. 20:12-19.
a. In what way did the event show his pride?
b. How did he respond to the rebuke of the prophet?
32:32-33—Death of Hezekiah
(10) Take a moment to reflect on the life of Hezekiah:
a. If you were to write an epitaph of this king, what would you write?
b. What is the main lesson you can learn from his life?
c. How may you apply it to your life?
(1) Since Manasseh was only 12 years old when he became king, how old was Hezekiah when he was born? (According to 29:1 Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king and reigned in Jerusalem for 29 years.)
(2) Why didn’t Hezekiah have any spiritual influence on Manasseh?
(3) Consider Manasseh’s drastic change of course from Hezekiah’s (vv. 2-9):
a. Try to list one by one the sins that he had committed against the Lord.
b. When the Bible mentions his sin of building altars (for other gods) in the temple of the Lord (v. 4), why does it point out the promise of God that “My name will remain in Jerusalem forever” (1 Ki. 9:3)?
c. In mentioning the sin of putting the image Manasseh made in the temple of the Lord, what warning does the Bible point out (vv. 7-8)? Why?
d. What might be the most unexpected thing he did as far as you are concerned?
e. What might be the most abominable? Why?
(4) What impact did his sin have on the people? (v. 9)
(5) What did the Lord do first to call Manasseh and his people to repentance? (v. 10)
(6) Did it work? Why or why not?
(7) What did the Lord do next? (v. 11)
(8) How did Manasseh respond to God’s chastisement? (v. 13)
(9) Are you surprised that given the wickedness of Manasseh, the Lord would forgive him? Why or why not?
(10) What is the main lesson you have learned about Manasseh and how may you apply it to your life?