July 25 | Discovery

Study Questions for Groups

By Michael C. Mack

1. How did you live your faith as God’s ambassador last week, helping someone know that the Lord is God?

2. What new challenge did you face over the past week?

Ask two people to read aloud 2 Chronicles 36:11-23 one after the other, preferably from different Bible versions. Then ask a third person to summarize the passage in one minute or less.

3.  What words or phrases from verses 11-21 express to you the general mood of this passage?

• How would you describe the mood of verses 22-23?

4. Let’s dig deeper:

• In your own words, how would you describe King Zedekiah?

• What influence did Zedekiah have on the people?

• In what ways was God patient and loving with the people even as they became increasingly unfaithful to him?

• What consequences did the people eventually have to face?

• How do you reconcile the fact that Cyrus the Great, a pagan king, freed the Jewish exiles, allowed them to return to Judah, and rebuilt their temple?

5. What do you learn about God’s nature, especially his sovereignty (his supreme control over all), from this passage?  

6. What do you learn about the nature of humans?

7.  What connections do you see between humility and obeying God?

8. How will you be a godly influence with the people closest to you this week?

9. Based on our study and discussion, complete this sentence: “This week, I will . . .”

10. What challenge or opportunity do you anticipate this week?

For Next Week: Read and reflect on Galatians 1:6-12; 2:1-10 as we begin a new study of the book of Galatians. You can also read next week’s supplemental texts as well as the Study and Application sections as part of your personal study.