Today’s passage: 2 Kings 23:1-37

Helpful thoughts:

• The “Book of the Covenant” is the first five books of the Old Testament.  Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
• “From Geba to Beersheba” in verse 8 is representative of all Judah.  Josiah cleared out all pagan idolatry all over Judah.
  • Josiah’s cleansing went as far back as Solomon’s building of idolatrous structures and as far north as the altars which Jeroboam, the first king of Israel had built to prevent the people from going to worship in Jerusalem.  He even had the northern priests who were still practicing this false worship executed.
• The Valley mentioned in verse 10 is what Jesus refers to when speaking of Gehenna, or the “hell of fire” (Matthew 5:22).  This valley came to be used as an illustration of eternal hell.
• The northern nation of Israel was now an Assyrian province and referred to as “Samaria.”

Questions to consider:

1. According to verse 25, what other king loved the Lord and loved his neighbors more than Josiah (Including David)?  What evidences of this truth are found in this chapter?
2. Why is it important to remember that Josiah knew that God had already decided to judge Judah?  Was Josiah just doing these things to try to get God to change His mind?  Why is it only right for all of us to honor the Lord and love Him with our whole heart?
3. What does the ending of this chapter remind us of the heart of man?  Why is this so sad?  What had God’s chosen people failed to be faithful to do?  Why must we remember that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)?

Today’s passage: 2 Kings 22:1-20

Helpful thoughts:

• This chapter serves as a wake-up call if we haven’t experienced that already.  When Josiah ordered the restoration of the Temple, they found the Word of God…and read it.  And this was regarded as a monumental thing.
  • When the king heard the Bible being read, it was his first time.
  • The Word of God is precious!  We are beyond blessed to have such access to it.  Keep reading!
• When Josiah heard the actual law, straight from God’s Word, he didn’t need any experts to tell him anything. He knew Israel and Judah had disobeyed.  God’s Word is to be understood as it is plainly written.
• When Josiah wanted to here from God, God sent him back to the book (Verse 16).  He simply affirmed what He had already had written down.

Questions to consider:

1. How had any or all of the religious leaders and those who desired to obey God learn about Him before they found this copy of the Word of God?  What can happen when we rely only on what is passed down by word of mouth?  What happens to traditions over time if they are not rooted in the Bible?
2. How critical would this moment have been in the history of God’s people, including us?  Why do we still have God’s Word today?  How has God preserved His Word?
3. What was God’s response to Josiah’s contrition?  What must we understand about ourselves before we will ever cry out to God for rescue?  What does God promise to do when we ask (1 John 1:9)?

Today’s passage: 2 Kings 21:1-26

Helpful thoughts:

• Verses 1-9 should grieve us as it grieved God.  The weight of verses 8-9 is very heavy.
  • The son of the king who removed all pagan worship has brought all of it and more back.
  • The king in Jerusalem is offering his own sons as burnt offerings to false gods.
  • The Temple is now being used to worship numerous false gods.
  • King Manasseh has led his people astray to do more evil than the nations God used Israel to judge.
• It is taught in Jewish history that the prophet Isaiah was one of those innocent people whose blood was shed.  Evidently, Manasseh had him put into a hollow log and sawed in half. (Hebrews 11:37)
• The people of Judah who put Amon’s killers to death would most likely have desired to preserve the Davidic line in Jerusalem.

Questions to consider:

1. With all of the wickedness we read about Manasseh in this passage, what does 2 Chronicles 33:10-20 teach us about the grace and mercy of God?
2. What do verses 23-24 teach us about the sovereignty and the promises of God? (Matthew 1:10)
3. Does God require the obedience of His people in order to accomplish His will?  Is the book of Revelation only going to happen if we do a good enough job?  Why is it right for us to obey and to love God with our whole hearts?

Today’s passage: 2 Kings 20:1-21

Helpful thoughts:

• Verses 2 and 3 never say that Hezekiah asked God to allow him to live longer.  He may have simply been concerned about the consequences of his death, such as the aggressiveness of the Assyrians or the young age of his son.
  • His prayer could have been an appeal to God to continue to preserve Judah in his absence.
• Hezekiah’s healing and the sign he requested may have been the action that set the ball rolling in Judah’s relationship with Babylon (2 Chronicles 32:31).
• Hezekiah was a godly king, and yet a man who fell short of the glory of God.  His extra fifteen years may have been a blessing in many ways, and it also brought consequences.

Questions to consider:

1. Was Judah safe because Hezekiah was alive?  Who was her Savior and Shield?
2. What would Hezekiah have been like once he physically died and went to heaven?  If he desired to live longer, in what ways could that be a loving request?  In what ways is heaven better? (Philippians 1:21)
3. If you’re reading this and you are a follower of Christ, you have a God-ordained reason to still be here.  What would God have you to be using your energies to do?  Who has he given you to love?  To serve?  To point to Christ?  How will you find true fulfilment in life?

Today’s passage: 2 Kings 19:1-37

Helpful thoughts:

• By God’s grace, King Hezekiah’s thoughts were turned back to the Lord.  Sennacherib had picked a fight with God, the only right thing for Hezekiah to do was to cry out to the Lord and be faithful to His side along with the rest of God’s people.
• The gods of all these other people groups did not defend them because they did not exist.  Hezekiah prayed this way in verses 15-19.  His faith was not in vain because his faith was in the God who is sovereign…and real.
• People who do not believe in God or reject Him as their lord are also guilty of taking all of the blessings of His common grace for granted.  Unbelievers are not in some third category, independent of the spiritual warfare of this world.  They are in direct opposition to God and guilty before Him.  They need to hear the Gospel and be saved.
• The sign which starts in verse 29 is directed to Hezekiah and Israel.
  • The Lord’s protection of Judah from Assyria was to be seen as a guarantee of the future kingdom.

Questions to consider:

1. Why did Hezekiah pray for the protection of Judah?  What was the goal (Verse 19)?  What is the chief goal of God working in our lives still today?
2. Why had Sennacherib won any of his previous battles (Verse 25)?  Did the gods of Assyria give him those victories?  Did he muster up the powerful strength himself?  To Whom did Sennacherib owe his successes?  Even in his opposition, who was in complete control of the king of Assyria (Verses 27-28)?
3. After the death of so many troops, without a single fight, what should Sennacherib have realized?  What did he go home and do (Verse 37a)?  Why do you think he chose to worship Nisroch?  What would we have been hoping for?

Today’s passage: 2 Kings 18:1-37

Helpful thoughts:

• The fall of Samaria occurred just as Judah was going through its greatest reform and repentance under king Hezekiah.  There was a stark contrast of events in these kingdoms.
• Hezekiah had trusted the Lord, but when the empire that defeated Israel retaliated and started moving in on Jerusalem, he simply tried to pay him off.  He didn’t have to do that.
  • God had preserved Jerusalem before, He could certainly do it again.
  • Just like sin itself, Sennacherib couldn’t be satisfied.  He wanted total surrender.
• The Assyrians’ challenge from verses 19 on gives Hezekiah the perfect opportunity to point the world to the Lord.  It also shows they had done their homework.  They knew how to manipulate the truth to intimidate their enemy.
  • The Assyrians made sure to speak in Hebrew to tempt the people of Judah away from their king.

Questions to consider:

1. What gods did these challengers name as the ones who would have rescued Samaria?  What does that teach us about the common knowledge that day of whom the Samaritans worshiped?
2. Why is this challenge so foolish?  Is the Lord just a god of a local area or country?  Who has the upper hand in this tense moment of invasion?  The ones with the riches and giant army or the ones with Almighty God?
3. What does Hezekiah’s moment of weakness or lack of faith remind us of all people in the Bible (Outside of Jesus)?  He was a great King and feared the Lord (Compared to other kings), and he needed a Savior because he too was a sinner.  Who is the hero of the story of the Bible?  Who is your hero?

Today’s passage: 2 Kings 17:1-41

Helpful thoughts:

• Israel has fallen.
  • We are told why in verses 7-23.
  • It was not an economic downturn.  It was not poor military strategy.  It was her rejection God.
• The king of Assyria exiled much of the people of Israel and settled the area with people from other lands.  The new peoples intermarried with those of Israel who remained and became a new people group, the Samaritans.
  • They treated God like the rest of their false gods.  They did enough to think they had assuaged His anger, and blended their worship.
  • Verse 33 seems to contain their perspective (Or at least their fear of consequence), while verse 34 speaks the whole truth.
    • “The feared the Lord…they do not fear the Lord.”
• This new people group, after all Israel had been through, after having become a half-Jewish, half-Gentile group, was still given the opportunity to follow the Lord.  They were not rejected from receiving the commands, but they rejected God just as Israel had since the days of Jeroboam I.
  • The book of 2 Kings was written during the Babylonian Exile of Judah.  When the writer says, “to this day” that is the day to which he refers.
  • These are the Samaritans we read about in the Gospels during the days of Christ.
  • There are still around 800 Samaritans living in Northern Israel today.  They still have a variant version of Judaism they practice.  They do not believe the Messiah has come.

Questions to consider:

1. If the Israelites had felt that God was being unfaithful to Him, why would they have been wrong?  How had God remained entirely faithful?
2. Why should it not surprise us that God expected this new people to continue worshiping Him?  Is there anyone on the face of the earth who would not be blessed to worship God?
3. What is the result of truly fearing the Lord?  How does a right fear draw us to Christ?

Today’s passage: 2 Kings 16:1-20

Helpful thoughts:

• The king of Judah burned his son to death in worship of Molech, the god of the Moabites.
  • The phrase at the end of verse 3 refers back to God’s command from Deuteronomy 18:9-12.
  • No king of Judah was said to have worshiped the false gods at the high places since Solomon.
• Urijah was the High Priest in the Temple.  So, just to review:
  • The King of Judah sent the silver and gold from the Temple of the LORD to get help from the Assyrians.
  • The King of Judah went to the king of Assyria and desired to worship the same way Tiglath-Pilesar did.
  • The King of Judah asked the High Priest of the Lord to make the Temple conform to the standards of the Assyrians (Which required the Temple be made UN-like the way God commanded) and the High Priest did it.
  • The Temple for the LORD in Jerusalem was now being used to worship like the Assyrians.  The worship of the Lord became the secondary form of worship in the temple.  And, some of the instruments had been repurposed for pagan practices.

Questions to consider:

1. Who is the King to whom Ahaz should have plead for rescue in verse 7?
2. Why should the actions of Ahaz be so shocking?  What did he do beyond simply remodeling the Temple?
3. In verse 18, we are told that Ahaz had the king’s entrance to the Temple removed on account of the king of Assyria.  This means he was hoping to prevent the King of Assyria from getting to the Temple from the throne should he take it.  Ahaz wanted to be able to hide in the Temple!  What is the irony of this action?  What had Ahaz just done to the Temple?  Whom did Ahaz truly fear and what did his misplaced fear result in?