May 21, 2023
Today we cover the final chapter of 2nd Kings which covers the fall of Judah, exile of the people and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.
Study Questions
1. In the ninth year of his reign: “This is the first time in
Kings that an event in the history of Israel is dated by a
foreign era.” This is strong evidence God was administering
_________ on Judah for her evil actions.
2. The army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they
overtook him in the plains of Jericho: This was a
considerable distance from Jerusalem. Zedekiah probably
thought that his strategy was successful, and that he had
escaped the judgment that prophets such as Jeremiah had
promised. Yet God’s _____ was demonstrated to be ____,
and he was captured in the plains of Jericho.
3. “It seems ironic that here, at the very spot where Israel first
set foot on the Promised Land, the last of the Davidic kings
was captured and his monarchy shattered. Here, where
Israel experienced her first ________ as the walls of Jericho
fell before unarmed men who ________ God, was the scene
of her last defeat.”
4. Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes,
put out the eyes of Zedekiah: This fulfilled the mysterious
promise God made through Ezekiel regarding Zedekiah
shortly before the fall of Jerusalem: I will also spread My net
over him, and he shall be caught in My snare. I will bring
him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans; yet he shall
_____________, though he shall die there.
5. He burned the house of the LORD: Solomon’s great
temple was now a ruin. It would stay a ruin for many years,
until it was humbly ________ by the returning exiles in the
days of Ezra.
6. Broke down the walls of Jerusalem all around: The
walls of Jerusalem – the physical security of the city – were
now destroyed. Jerusalem was no longer a place of safety
and security. The walls would remain a ruin until they were
rebuilt by the returning exiles in the days of ___________.
7. “In Hebrew, the first twelve verses of the chapter are one
long sentence, each verse beginning with ‘and.’ Clause is
heaped upon clause in a kind of cadence, as if each one
were another tick of the clock counting down Jerusalem’s
_____________.”
8. And carried their bronze to Babylon... the things of
solid gold and solid silver, the captain of the guard
took away: As the remaining people were taken captive to
Babylon, so also the remaining valuables from the temple
were taken. Jerusalem was left desolate, completely
plundered under the ____________ of God.
9. Thus Judah was carried away captive from its own
land: This was the land God gave to His people, the tribes
of Israel. They had possessed this land for some 860 years;
they took it by faith and _________, but they lost it through
________ and ____.
10. Released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison...
spoke kindly to him, and gave him a more prominent
seat: “This second appendix is added to remind the reader
that while Jehoiachin was still in Babylon as the
representative of David’s dynasty God still ___________ his
people. Some see this as intended to end the history on a
hopeful note, perhaps even of ‘Messianic revival’.”