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Kings of Judah: 2 Chronicles 22-36
David became the standard for the kings of Israel and Judah. After the kingdom divided, most of the kings were evil. Not one of the kings of Israel followed God. Only a handful of the kings of Judah followed God. Because of the sin of Israel, led by the kings, Assyria took them captive and destroyed their capital in about 721 B.C. Judah last until 586 B.C., largely because of the fact that they did have some righteous kings.
The two most notable kings of Judah were Hezekiah and Josiah. Both of them “did right in the sight of the LORD,” according to the standard David had set. Both of them spearheaded reforms in Judah that would help turn the people back to God for a time.
Hezekiah was king when Assyria captured the northern kingdom of Israel. They also tried to capture Jerusalem at this time, but were unsuccessful. Hezekiah, along with Isaiah the prophet, were righteous and God heard their prayers. “So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria...”
Sadly, Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh, was wicked. He turned the people back away from God to do evil. He repented late in his life, but the evil he did were to reap terrible consequences for Judah.
Josiah was Manasseh’s grandson, and he did all he could to bring about reform in Judah. He turned the people back to God once again, but after he died they did evil. Their destruction was certain. None of the rest of the kings could stop their impending doom.
Discussion
1. Why was Israel destroyed so much sooner than Judah?
2. How many good kings did Israel have? How many did Judah have? (there were some not mentioned above)
3. Why can we confidently say that Hezekiah and Josiah were the two best kings of Judah? What did they accomplish for Judah?
4. How did the leaders of Israel and Judah affect the downfall of the respective nations? What does this say about the importance of leaders and their influences?