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Home Group Notes - Good Kings Bad Kings

After the death of Solomon the kingdom of Israel split into two. The northern kingdom, known as Israel or Ephraim broke away under Jeroboam, only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin continued under the leadership of David’s family in the south. In 722 BC under King Hoshea a terrible calamity befell the northern kingdom. The Assyrians invaded its capital, Samaria, and the people were carried into exile. The writer of 2 Kings is in no doubt that this was the direct result of their idolatry and turning away from God over many years. Assyrian policy was to disperse subject people around the empire and resettle others in lands they had taken over, so the identity of the northern kingdom was effectively lost in 722.

These studies will look at the kings of Judah who followed this disaster. How would they react to the fate of Israel? Would they heed the warning and return to the worship of the one true God? How would God speak to them in the dangerous and unpredictable international situation of the time? The writer of 2 Kings measures all succeeding kings by comparing them to David. Two kings received his highest praise and admiration and the first of these, Hezekiah, is the subject of this study and the next one.

There are six studies this term, leaving one week for a social.

Read 2 Kings 18

v1-18 What do we learn from these verses about the kind of king Hezekiah was?

Hezekiah was not afraid to make changes, even (v4) destroying something very ancient and precious. What experience have we had of God leading us to make a difficult change in our own life or in a church situation?

What effect might the fall of the northern kingdom have had on Judah?

Israel had turned away from the Lord and followed other gods (17:7-20 etc.!). In what areas do we find temptation to put other things before God?

v19-37 What do the Assyrians say to try to undermine confidence in Hezekiah’s policy?

How does the Assyrian commander try to use the Judaeans’ faith as a weapon against them?

Three times the Assyrian commander suggested that the Lord would not protect them. When have you worried about God’s apparent lack of protection?

Read 2 Kings 19:1-20, 29-37

(I’ve left out a small section, as it is quite a lot to read, but read it all it you want to and have time)

v1-8 How did Hezekiah respond to the Assyrian message in chapter 18?

v14 What was his response to the second message?

How can Hezekiah’s prayer help us to pray in times of crisis?

How can the reactions of others help or hinder our reliance on God in difficult times?

What does God’s reply to Hezekiah through Isaiah tell us about the way he works?

Have any members of the group experienced God turning a situation around when all seemed hopeless?

18:4 Numbers 21:6-9 tells us about Moses making this bronze snake.

18:7 Isaiah had encouraged Hezekiah’s father, Ahaz, to rely on God and not on the Assyrians (Isaiah 7, 2 Kings 16), but he was ignored. Ahaz had paid tribute to Assyria, but Hezekiah stopped this payment.

18:14 When Sennacherib began to take reprisals, Hezekiah paid up, but Sennacherib carried on with his attack.

18:9-12 Knowing what had happened to Israel probably caused Hezekiah to reform his own nation.

19:1 Isaiah was prominent in the royal court. He advised Hezekiah’s father, Ahaz, and traditionally was martyred by Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh. These chapters in 2 Kings are paralleled in Isaiah 36 & 37.

The group might like to read Isaiah 38 and 39 before the next study. It is an alternative version of 2 Kings 20 and 21, which we will be looking at in the next study.

Good Kings Bad Kings Study 2

2 Kings 20:1-11

What do these verses tell us about Hezekiah’s relationship with God?

Isaiah does not seem displeased at Hezekiah’s request for a sign. When do we think it is all right to ask God for a sign?

Can anyone in the group share an occasion when God has confirmed something to them in an unexpected way?

2 Kings 20:12-21

Why did Hezekiah treat the messengers from Babylon in the way he did?

Are we surprised at Hezekiah’s response to Isaiah’s prophecy?

2 Kings 21:1-18

What actions did Manasseh take that went against God’s laws?

What images do the prophets use and what do these images suggest about Israel’s future?

Why did Hezekiah’s influence not survive his death? How was Manasseh able to bring about such a reversal of policy?

How can we stand against trends in society that seem to go against what God wants?

20:11 The stairway of Ahab was probably a sundial of some kind.

20:14 Babylon was destroyed by the Assyrians in 689. When Sennacherib died, his son Esarhaddon rebuilt it. As the Assyrian rulers became weak, Babylon grew in power, eventually defeating Assyria in 612 BC and taking over as the world power.

21:13 Ahab’s royal line in the northern kingdom was ended, because of Ahab’s disobedience to God’s commands.

If the group wants to read on for next time, we will be looking at Josiah.

Read 2 Kings 21: 19 - 23:30

Manasseh’s son, Amon, followed in his father’s footsteps, but only reigned for two years before being assassinated. His son, Josiah, although only eight years old, was placed on the throne.

Read 2 Kings 22:1-20;

What events led to the finding of the Book of the Law?

What was Josiah’s response to the reading of the Book?

Why does Josiah seek confirmation from a prophet?

What message does Josiah receive through Huldah?

Where would we look for confirmation that God has spoken to us?

How did Josiah show respect for the word of God?

Much of today’s culture ignores God’s laws. In what areas do we feel pressure to follow culture rather than God’s law?

Read 2 Kings 23:1-3, 21-30

What might the effect of the renewing of the Covenant have had on the people?

How does doing things together as a group, rather than individually, help us?

Can anyone in the group share a passage of Scripture that has been particularly significant in their life?

God’s written word had been lost for many years, but we have it readily to hand. How can we deepen our commitment to God’s Word?

v25 Josiah receives the highest praise from the writer of 2 Kings. What aspects of Josiah’s character might we want to imitate?

22:8 The Book of the Law has traditionally been thought to be the book of Deuteronomy, although it may have been the whole Pentateuch (Genesis – Deuteronomy).

23:4-23 These verses describe in detail Josiah’s reforms. Baal and Asherah were the Canaanite god and goddess of the Canaanite fertility religion, the religion of the original inhabitants of the Promised Land, which was always a temptation to the people of Israel and Judah.

23:29 Pharaoh Neco was marching through Judah to join the Assyrians, with whom he had made an alliance against Babylon. Josiah may have felt threatened by this and tried to stop the Egyptian advance. However, he was killed and Judah became a vassal of Egypt in 609 BC.

Our next study is on Jehoiakim, one of Josiah’s sons. Read 2 Kings 23:36-24:7 and Jeremiah 36.

After Josiah’s death the people of Judah chose his son, Jehoahaz as king, presumably because he was willing to carry on Josiah’s anti-Egyptian policy. However, Pharaoh Neco replaced him with another of Josiah’s sons, Eliakim and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He ruled as a puppet of Egypt until 605 BC, when Nebuchadnezzar defeated Egypt at the battle of Carchemish and became king of Babylon. At that time Nebuchadnezzar also invaded Judah, which became a vassal of Babylon and the first deportation took place. Among the young men who were taken to be educated as future Babylonian administrators and governors were Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Jehoiakim eventually rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, who was on his way to crush the rebellion when Jehoiakim died, being succeeded by his son, Jehoiachin in 597 BC.

These events are covered 2 Kings 23:31-24:7, but this study will look at two incidents from Jehoiakim’s reign recounted in Jeremiah chapters 26 and 27. Jeremiah started his ministry in the 13^th year of Josiah and prophesied during the next four reigns.

How do people respond to Jeremiah’s message at first?

What makes them change their minds?

How do Micah’s words help Jeremiah’s case?

What is the result of Jeremiah’s preaching?

How can we make sure that we apply God’s words to our own situations, rather than seeing them as referring to other people?

How do various groups of people respond differently to the reading of the scroll?

How does Jehoiakim’s reaction to hearing the word of God contrast with that of Josiah’s in the last study?

What special message does the second scroll have for Jehoiakim?

In what situations is it difficult to keep faithfully speaking God’s word?

What helped Jeremiah in these chapters?

How can we encourage each other to remain faithful?

v6 Shiloh – The home of the tabernacle after the people arrived in the land of Canaan, destroyed by the Philistines.

v17-19 – The elders remembered the words of Micah and spared Jeremiah, but they did not heed the message.

Jehoiakim’s son, Jehoiachin became king as Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army were virtually at the gates of Jerusalem. After three months, Jehoiachin surrendered and was taken into exile, along with the queen mother and the leaders of the nation: the nobility, army officers and skilled workers, including a man called Ezekiel. The most influential were taken to be turned into good Babylonian citizens, leaving only the poorest and those thought unlikely to put up any credible resistance to Babylon. Another of Josiah’s sons, Mattaniah, was made king by Nebuchadnezzar, who gave him the name Zedekiah.

Read 2 Kings 24:8 – 25:21

What were the key events that led up to this disaster?

How does this account of the fall of God’s people make us feel?

Why did the descendents of Josiah fail to give proper leadership to God’s people?

How might these studies influence how we pray for our national and church leaders?

What specific needs of our nation at the moment should we be praying for?

What do we learn about God’s character from the way he dealt with his people in this period?

What warning and challenges from these studies can we apply to our own lives?

Read 2 Kings 25: 27-30

These verses form a curious footnote to the book of Kings. Do these verses make you feel optimistic or pessimistic about the future for God’s people after this terrible calamity?

Of course, this was not the end of God’s dealings with his people, but it was a disaster for the nation. A chapter of their history had ended and nothing would ever be the same. It required them to look again at what it meant to be God’s chosen people. This chapter we have looked at today must rank as one of the saddest in the Old Testament, but even before the fall of Jerusalem, God had already spoken to Jeremiah about hope for the future. We will look at this next time, in Jeremiah 33.

Read Jeremiah 33:1-13

What situation is Jeremiah facing?

What promises does God make for the future?

What will be the signs of the restoration God promises?

How will the people show their thankfulness to the Lord?

Read Jeremiah 33:14-26

What specific promise does the Lord make in these verses?

How was this fulfilled?

How did the kings we have looked at in this series fall short of God’s ideal for kingship?

Thinking back over some of the kings we have looked at in these studies, what characteristics did any of them share with God’s righteous king, Jesus?

v18 Sacrifices in the temple are no longer needed. What kind of sacrifices can we offer to God?

How does the Lord confirm his faithfulness to these promises?

The Lord does not want his people to be despised. How can we encourage one another as the people of God?

How has God given us hope in difficult situations?