This week, we shall finish the study
of 2 Chronicles of the Old Testament.
33:14-20—After Manasseh’s Repentance
(1) See if you can recall what his most humiliating part of God’s discipline in the hands of the Assyrians was? (33:11)
(2) After his return to Jerusalem, what did he do to ensure the safety of the City of David? (v. 14) Was it a right move on his part? Why or why not?
(3) How did he show that he now “knew that the Lord is God”? (vv. 13, 15-16)
(4) Did his repentance have any effect on his people? Why or why not? (v. 17)
(5) What lesson(s) can you learn from the life of Manasseh?
33:21-25—King Amon of Judah
(6) Did the repentance of Manasseh have any effect on his son? Why or why not?
(7) What does the Bible point out as the difference between Amon and Manasseh? (v. 23)
(8) What does this comment imply?
(9) As much as Amon was a very wicked king, should his officials kill him? (v. 24) Why or why not?
(10) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) Josiah became the king of Judah at the age of 8, while Amon died at age 24 (see 33: 21):
a. How old was Amon when Josiah was born?
b. How old was his grandfather Manasseh? (Manasseh died at age 67; see 33:1)
c. Without reading the life of Josiah, what kind of a king would Josiah likely turn out to be? Why?
d. What kind of a king did he turn out to be? (v. 2)
(2) In the 8th year of Josiah’s reign, i.e. when he was 16 (v. 3):
a. We have no idea who was really in charge of the nation between his ages of 8-15, but when he turned 16, what made that year the decisive turning point of his life and that of the nation?
b. What might have accounted for this turning point in his life?
(3) In the 12th year of Josiah’s reign, i.e. he was 20 (vv. 4-7):
a. How long had he been seeking God?
b. What impact did his seeking God have on him?
c. How complete was his reform?
d. How did he desecrate those altars of the idols? Why? (v. 5)
e. How far reaching was his reform? (v. 6)
f. Did he simply give orders and send officials to these towns outside of Judah to tear down and crush all those idols? (v. 7)
g. What does this tell us about the heart of Josiah?
(4) In the 18th year of Josiah’s reign, i.e. he was 26 (vv. 8-13):
a. How long was the period between the getting rid of idol worship in the land and the repairing of the temple of the Lord? (v. 8)
b. What does this reveal about what appeared to be more urgent to Josiah?
c. Was he right? Why or why not?
d. What did Josiah’s reform mean to the coffer of the temple? (v. 9)
e. In a way, Josiah could have used his own money to contribute to the repairs of the temple. By waiting for some 6 years (then turning the people from idol worship back to the Lord), whose money was used to repair the temple? How meaningful was it? (vv. 10-13)
(5) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) What is meant by having “found the Book of the Law in the temple”? (v. 14)
a. Where was it all these years?
b. How did they worship and teach the people without the Book of the Law up till then?
(2) What immediate impact did the hearing of the words of God in the Law have on the king? (v. 19) Why?
(3) Many Christians do not put much effort in reading the Bible itself:
a. How would they know how to follow the Lord and live their Christian lives?
b. What danger do they put themselves into?
(4) The king asked the priests to “inquire of the Lord” (v. 21).
a. Who were the well-known prophets serving at the time of Josiah? (see Jer. 1:2; Zeph. 1:1)
b. Why didn’t they go to them to inquire of the Lord?
(5) Who was the prophetess Huldah? (see v. 22 and also 2 Ki. 22:14)
a. Why didn’t they speak to Shallum instead of his wife?
b. What might this show us about the role of women in spiritual matters?
(6) Based on the words of the prophet (vv. 23-28), consider the following:
a. What caused the king to tear his robes and weep in God’s presence?
b. Would God carry out the “curse” declared by the Book of the Law? Why or why not?
(7) How did the king react to the words of the prophet? (vv. 29-32)
(8) How important was it that all the people, not just himself, would hear “all the words of the Book of the Covenant”? (v. 30)
(9) What lesson can we learn from this?
(10) What did the king ask the people to do in response to the hearing of the words of God? (vv. 31-32)
(11) How does it speak to the proper attitude toward reading and hearing the Word of God today?
(12) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
(1) When did Josiah begin repairing the temple and when was the Book of the Law found? (34:8)
(2) The reading of the Law of Moses had led to Josiah’s tearing his robe and he made the people renew the covenant with the Lord (34:31). When did he follow the requirement of the Law in observing the Passover again after the lapse of many years? (35:1, 19)
(3) In re-establishing temple worship, and especially the celebration of the Passover, Josiah gave the following orders to the priests and the Levites (vv. 2-6):
a. Who were the Levites, in particular, that he spoke to? (v. 3)
b. Where was the sacred ark all these years?
c. Why did it have to be returned to the temple before any worship could commence?
d. What particular instruction did he give for the carrying of the ark and why? (v. 3 and 1 Chr. 13:9; 15:15)
e. What should they do before they could prepare the lambs for sacrifice? (v. 6)
(4) Setting an example (35:8-9)
a. Why set the first example in the giving of the sacrificial animals for the celebration of Passover?
b. What impact did the king’s example have on the leaders?
(5) The celebration (vv. 10-19)
a. What did the presentation of sacrifice involve?
b. What if they had gone ahead to do so without the discovery of the Book of the Law?
c. How well organized was this celebration? (vv. 15-16)
d. How meaningful was this celebration? (v. 18)
(6) What is the message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
The Death of Josiah
(1) With the reformation of Israel brought about by the godly Josiah, what kind of an ending to his reign might you have expected? Why?
(2) The event mentioned here is the famous Battle of Carchemish between the Egyptians and the Assyrians, initiated by the former whose troops needed to pass through the land of Palestine (vv. 20-24):
a. Why did Josiah think that he should intercept the powerful army of Egypt?
b. Does the Bible mention that Josiah had consulted the Lord or his prophets?
c. Did the powerful Egyptian king want to fight with Josiah?
d. Whose name did the Egyptian king invoke for his action? (v. 21)
e. Why do you think Josiah would not listen? (v. 22)
f. Why did Josiah choose to disguise himself in battle? (v. 22, see the example in 2 Chr. 18:28-31)
g. Did it work?
h. Why not?
i. What lesson can we learn from this incident?
(3) How did the prophet greet the death of Josiah and why? (v. 25)
(4) How did the people of Israel greet his death?
(5) While we no longer have the laments composed specifically for Josiah, what might you write as Josiah’s epitaph?
(6) What is the main message to you today, and how may you apply it to your life?
The Beginning of the End: Josiah marked the last of godly kings in Judah and the beginning of the end of the nation of Israel:
(1) Jehoahaz (vv. 1-4)
a. How old was Jehoahaz when he became king? (v. 2)
b. How old was Josiah when Jehoahaz was born? (Remember Josiah reigned for 31 years, since he was 8.)
c. What happened in the 8th year of Josiah’s reign? (i.e. when he was 16; 34:3)
d. In all of his 23 years, what did Jehoahaz witness in the life of his father and the nation?
e. What kind of a king did he turn out to be?
f. How long did he last as a king and what was his ending?
(2) Jehoiakim (vv. 5-8)
a. Who was Jehoiakim? (v. 4)
b. How old was he when he became king? (v. 5)
c. In what aspects was his life similar to those of his brother, Jehoahaz? (v. 5)
d. See Jeremiah 36 to get a sense of how he treated the warning from the Lord.
e. How did his reign end? (vv. 6-7; also see Dan. 1:1 and Note below)
(3) Jehoiachin (v. 9)
a. After successive wicked kings, Judah was nearing the end of its fate. Read the warning God gave to Jehoiachin through Jeremiah (see Jer. 22:24-30).
b. How did this warning come to pass? (v. 10)
(4) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note:
The third year of his reign marked the first deportation to Babylon, 604 B.C.; the second was in 597 B.C. during Jehoiachin’s reign and the last one was in 586 B.C. under Zedekiah’s reign.
The Fall of Jerusalem
(1) Who was Zedekiah? (v. 10)
(2) How old was he when he became king? (v. 11)
(3) What would he have witnessed before he was made king by Nebuchadnezzar?
(4) How did he treat Jeremiah and his messages? (v. 12 and Jer. 37 in particular)
(5) Since Zedekiah did not trust in God and had become a vassal king under Nebuchadnezzar:
a. Why did he choose to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar?
b. What influence did he have over the people, including the priests? (v. 14)
(6) Why did God, as late as it was, still keep sending prophets to the kings of Judah, and the people? (v. 15)
(7) How had they consistently responded to the words of the Lord? (v. 16)
(8) Was the fate of God’s people avoidable?
(9) What was the final outcome of their persistent rebellion against their God? (vv. 17-20)
(10) Why did the Bible say that upon their defeat and exile, “The land enjoyed its Sabbath rest”? (v. 21)
(11) Has God given up on them entirely? (vv. 21-22; see Jer. 25:9-12; 27:6-8; 29:10)
(12) How miraculous was the event of their return from exile under another foreign power? (v. 23)
(13) What important lesson(s) can you learn from the history of God’s people?
(14) How may you apply it to your life?