Chronological Bible Study – Aug 3

What I Noticed Today (2 Chronicles 32-33)

2 Chronicles 32

Sennacherib, king of Assyria, invaded Judah.

In verses 1-8, after a period of peace Sennacherib, the king of Assyria invaded Judah and surrounded many of the fortified cities.

• Hezekiah re-routed the water in Jerusalem so Sennacherib would not have access to it.
• He rebuilt the city walls, built towers, and had weapons and shields made to prepare for battle.
• He gathered the people together and encouraged them saying the Assyrians only had human strength, but they had the Lord fighting for the.

In verses 9-19, Sennacherib’s messengers stood outside the city walls of Jerusalem taunting the people to shake their confidence in God.

• This is another good example of how the people of that time believed each country had its own gods, and that battles between nations were actually battles between their gods.
• The Assyrians had been victorious in previous battles so they assumed their gods were stronger than others and would give them victory.

In verses 20-23, Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah prayed to God, and the Lord sent an angel who annihilated the Assyrian army.

• Sennacherib returned home in disgrace, and his own sons killed him.
• The Lord gave Hezekiah rest from his enemies, and he was exalted in the eyes of other nations.

In verses 24-26, at some point later, Hezekiah became sick.

• He had no sons as heirs, so he prayed to God and God healed him, giving him 15 more years.
• But Hezekiah became prideful and did not thank God or give God credit for all that God had done for him (2 Kings 20:12-19).
• This angered God, but Hezekiah humbled himself, so God did not bring destruction upon him.

In verses 27-31, Hezekiah’s wealth and great works are recounted:

• Hezekiah had accumulated great wealth because the Lord prospered him.
• He made treasuries to store the gold and silver and built warehouses to store the grains wine, and oil.
• He built stables for all the cattle and flocks.

In verses 32-33, Hezekiah died and was buried with honor in Jerusalem among the kings of Judah.

• His son Manasseh became king in his place.

2 Chronicles 33

The reign of Judah’s King Manasseh.

In verses 1-9, Hezekiah had a son, Manasseh who began to reign when he was only 12 years old after his father, Hezekiah died.  He reigned for 55 years in Jerusalem.

• Manasseh began as a bad king, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord.
• He rebuilt the high places, erected altars to Baal, and made Asherah and worshiped them.
• He even placed altars in the Lord’s house, burned his own sons in fire, and consulted with spiritists.
• Manasseh led the people of Judah astray, doing more evil than the people the Lord had displaced before the people of Israel.

In verses 10-17, the Lord spoke to Manasseh, but he refused to listen, so the Lord allowed the king of Assyria to capture him and take him to Babylon in chains.

• In his distress, Manasseh humbled himself and cried out to the Lord.
• The Lord heard him and brought Manasseh back to Jerusalem.
• Manasseh took away the high places, altars, and idols, and resumed sacrifices to the Lord in the temple.

In verses 18-20, Manasseh died and his son, Amon, ruled in his place.

In verses 21-24, Amon was 22 years old when he became king, and he reigned Judah for two years from Jerusalem.

• Amon worshiped idols and sacrificed before carved images as his father had done.
• But unlike his father, Amon did not humble himself.
• Amon’s servants conspired against him and killed him in his own house.
• Then the people rose up and killed the men who assassinated Amon.
• The people made Amon’s son, Josiah king in his place.

Some thoughts for additional consideration:

• Hezekiah is a picture of a well-organized and strategic leader who was faithful to God. His great success and wealth made him prideful, but he repented of his pride, humbled himself, and the Lord continued to bless him.
• Hezekiah and the people’s devotion to God following their Passover celebration impressed me. They had worshiped God, but now they took the additional steps of cleansing the land of idols and gave generously supporting the priests and Levites through their tithes and offerings.
• Manasseh was too young to have seen how the Lord had been faithful to his father when he himself became king. Unlike most of the kings we have studied who started out good and fell, or those who were always bad, Manasseh started out bad, but humbled himself and turned to God later in his life.
• God’s grace in hearing Manasseh’s prayer encourages me. Manasseh had done everything he could to lead the people away from worshipping the Lord, yet in his distress, he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord heard his prayer! God’s grace in action!

Tomorrow: Nahum

What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.