2 Kings 22 – 23 part 14
Tonight we will we examine King Josiah.
2 Kings 22:1 Josiah was
eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in
At the young age of 8 years old Josiah became king and he will reign for 31 years. If you remember his father Amon was a bad king and only reigned for 2 years and once again we see our pattern repeated of the father being bad and now the son being good. If fact Josiah was so good that he earned the rare saying that he walked in the ways of his father David.
2 Kings 22:3 Now it
came to pass, in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, that the king sent
Shaphan the scribe, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the house of
the LORD, saying: 4 "Go
up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money which has been
brought into the house of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have gathered from
the people. 5 "And let
them deliver it into the hand of those doing the work, who are the overseers in
the house of the LORD; let them give it to those who are in the house of
the LORD doing the work, to repair the damages of the house -- 6 "to carpenters and builders
and masons -- and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house. 7 "However there need be no
accounting made with them of the money delivered into their hand, because they
deal faithfully."
Josiah had already stated
rebuilding part of the house of the Lord and now he wanting to the high priest
to give these workers their money for their labor.
2 Kings 22:8 Then Hilkiah
the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the Book of the
Law in the house of the LORD." And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and
he read it. 9 So Shaphan the
scribe went to the king, bringing the king word, saying, "Your servants have
gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the
hand of those who do the work, who oversee the house of the LORD." 10 Then Shaphan the scribe showed
the king, saying, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And
Shaphan read it before the king.
So, as Hilkaih was looking through the treasures of the house of the Lord he makes a wonderful discover a book, which contained the Law of God. Apparently it hadn’t been seen in some time. However, these people were not completely without God’s Word because the prophets were still around. First, Shaphan reads the book himself and then he reads it to Josiah.
2 Kings 22:11 Now it
happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore
his clothes. 12 Then the king
commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of
Michaiah, (my-kye-uh) Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of
the king, saying, 13
"Go, inquire of the LORD for me, for the people and for all Judah,
concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the
wrath of the LORD that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not
obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written
concerning us."
Josiah realizes that the
words that are being read to him are from God and when he heard what God had
commanded them to do and he heard about the consequences of facing God’s wrath
if this commands were not kept this caused him to tear his clothes because he
knew that they had not been keeping God’s commands.
I wish people today would
be like Josiah so when the read the Bible and they realize that the way they
are living their life or the way they are worshipping God is wrong that they
would be distressed over it and not make excuses for what they are doing, but
jump into action and change the way they are doing things based upon the word
of God.
Josiah want Shaphan to
inquire of the Lord about what he heard from God’s word, so he can see what he
needs to do to make things right with God.
2 Kings 22:14 So
Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah (huhl-duh) the
prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of
the wardrobe. (She dwelt in
We have learned from this text that nothing is going to stop
the punishment that
18 "But as for the king of Judah,
who sent you to inquire of the LORD, in this manner you shall speak to him,
'Thus says the LORD God of Israel: "Concerning the words which you
have heard -- 19
"because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the LORD
when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants,
that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and
wept before Me, I also have heard you," says the LORD. 20 "Surely, therefore, I will
gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace;
and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this
place." ' " So they brought back word to the king.
Since Josiah had a tender heart and humbled himself before God by showing his distress about how his people had not been keeping the Word of God, God was going to make it to where the calamity that would be wrought by Babylonians would not happen while he was still living. This shows us what a difference it can make when a person humbles themselves before God.
2 Kings 23:1 Now
the king sent them to gather all the elders of
After hearing this news
from the Lord, Josiah is determined for his people to serve the lord and so
with his whole heart, mind and soul he proclaimed the mighty words of God so
that all could hear and understand what God wants them to do. This is what
preaching God’s Word is all about. It’s not about money our prestige its all
about proclaiming God’s message so that everyone can understand and know what
they must do to be pleasing to God. Next, we will be reading about how Josiah
gets busy and how he is doing his best to remove all the false alters and gods
from
2 Kings 23:4 And the
king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and
the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the articles that
were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned
them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to
Bethel. 5 Then he removed the
idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the
high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and
those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the
constellations, and to all the host of heaven.
6 And he brought out the wooden image from the house of the
LORD, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and
ground it to ashes, and threw its ashes on the graves of the common
people. 7 Then he tore down
the ritual booths of the perverted persons that were in the house
of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the wooden image. 8 And he brought all the priests
from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had
burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; also he broke down the high places at
the gates which were at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua the governor
of the city, which were to the left of the city gate. 9 Nevertheless the priests of the
high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD in
As you can see Josiah was
a busy man who was doing his best serve God. You could easily call what he was
doing a restoration movement. He was not concerned about what people thought
about these false things because he knew they were an abomination before God so
he destroyed them without hesitation. Let continue reading more of restoration
movement.
2 Kings 23:15
Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which
Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar and
the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and crushed it
to powder, and burned the wooden image.
16 As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs that were there
on the mountain. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them
on the altar, and defiled it according to the word of the LORD which the
man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. 17 Then he said, "What
gravestone is this that I see?" So the men of the city told him,
"It is the tomb of the man of God who came from
This section is really
interesting because Josiah is fulfilling prophecy and he wasn’t even aware of
it.
1 Kings 13:1 And
behold, a man of God went from
This prophecy was made to
Jeroboam when he had set up this alter at
2 Kings 23:21 Then
the king commanded all the people, saying, "Keep the Passover to the LORD
your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant." 22 Such a Passover surely had
never been held since the days of the judges who judged
Not only has Josiah
destroyed these false alters and God he has restored the Passover. Now we have
detailed account of this Passover in 2 Chr. 35, which shows why it said that a
Passover like this one has not been held since the days of the judges. Now,
this is not saying that there hasn’t been Passover during this time because we
know that Josiah’s great grandpa Hezekiah held a Passover, but it wasn’t like
the one that Josiah did because Josiah’s was done at the right time and was
done by the letter of Law. Also we learn in 2 Chr. 35:18 that all of
2 Kings 23:24
Moreover Josiah put away those who consulted mediums and spiritists, the
household gods and idols, all the abominations that were seen in the land of
Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might perform the words of the law which were
written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the
LORD. 25 Now before him there
was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his
soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him
did any arise like him.
Josiah was a great
example for us to follow because he was dedicated to serving God with all his
soul and his might. There was no other king that had done so well to serve God
according to His Law. Now, his great grandpa Hezekiah had something similar
said about him, but his statement was focused in on his trust in God. As we
have seen, Josiah was a great king.
2 Kings 23:26
Nevertheless the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with
which His anger was aroused against Judah, because of all the provocations with
which Manasseh had provoked Him. 27
And the LORD said, "I will also remove Judah from My sight, as I have
removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and
the house of which I said, 'My name shall be there.' "
While Manasseh is
specifically pointed out, we can know that it wasn’t just his acts alone that
caused God’s wrath to come upon on
2 Chronicles 35:20 After
all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to
fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates; and Josiah went out against
him. 21 But he sent
messengers to him, saying, "What have I to do with you, king of
Here we have another
interesting section of scripture because it shows that Josiah took his fate in
his own hand and made his death of peace not come to pass. Here is what
happened. The Egyptians were going to fight against the Assyrians in
Now Josiah is sent a
messenger from the Egyptians that said God has asked the Egyptians to go
against these Assyrians and that their fight is not against
So for what ever reason,
Josiah decided to go against this warning and he conceal his identity and fight
against the Egyptians anyway and he get shot with an arrow. In this instance,
he went against God’s warning and so he died from this arrow and thus he did
not die a peaceful death. The Bible teaches us over and over again that we will
reap the benefits of God’s promises if we remain faithful, but if we go against
God those promises will not be kept and we will have to face the consequences
of our actions just as Josiah faced the consequences of his actions.
Now, we need to keep in
mind that this was just one thing recorded for us that he did wrong because
everything else shows that overall he was always faithful to God and kept his
Law. I wish we had more information on why he did this at the end of his life,
but we do not. At his death, we can see that the people and Jeremiah all wept
at his passing because he was a great leader and servant of God. Now, let’s
finish up our chapter as we take a quick look at 2 more kings that were sons of
Josiah.
2 Kings 23:31
Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned
three months in
Jehoahaz was not a good
king and he only reigned for 3 months. The Egyptians were in control over them
now and the Pharaoh locked Jehoahaz up so that he could not reign and he made
2 Kings 23:34 Then
Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place of his father
Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Pharaoh took Jehoahaz and
went to
Now, the Pharaoh decides
to make Eliakim the next king and he changes his name Jehoiakim. This son isn’t
any better than Jehoahaz as he did evil in the sight of the Lord as well. He
reigned for 11 years, but just like his brother this was just an honorary
position because the Egyptians were the ones in control and
Well, it won’t be much
longer now until
This lesson has shown us
how humbling yourself before God can make a difference, but at the same time it
shows that there is a limit to God Grace and mercy. Once a nation overfills its
cup with sin, they will have to face the wrath of God and that exactly what we
are seeing with