2 Chronicles 36:11-20
Go Deep
(2 Chronicles 36:11-20)
Read 2 Chronicles 36:11-20. What impresses you. What questions do you have?
Read verses 11-13. What wrongs on Zedekiah’s part does the writer list? Which of these seems most serious to you?
Read verse 14. Do you think Zedekiah acted badly because the leading priests and people acted badly, or did they act badly because he did? Explain.
Read verse 15. How had God shown pity to his people? Wouldn’t his pity have been more meaningful if he had destroyed their enemies? Explain.
Verse 17 says that God brought the king of the Babylonians against his people. How could God be justified in doing something so extreme?
Read verses 18 and 19. From what you know about God’s people living then, how do you think they interpreted the events that transpired? (See Psalm 74 for an example.)
Read verses 20-21. Why is verse 21 included here?
Shayne mentioned the four things that gave Israel its identity: The land, the law, the king, and the temple. List four things that give (at least some) Americans their identity. What do you think would happen if Americans had that identity taken from them like the Jews did?
Read 2 Kings 25:27-30. Jehoiachin (also known as Jeconiah) was king in Judah for only three months. Why were those three months important?
Where do we see God’s faithfulness in the story of Jehoiachin?
List any good things you can think of that came out of the Babylonian conquest and the exile.
What does the story of the exile have to say to Christians living in the 21st century?
What, in your opinion, is the most important take-away from this passage?