Josiah

[B-A-C]

Before I get to Josiah, I'd like to talk about his grandfather for a moment.

In 2 Kings 21; We see Manasseh became King when he was 12 years old. He reigned for 55 years.
He did all kinds of evil. He built altars to Baal, he did abominations.
He sacrificed children in fire, practiced witch craft, had sorcerers, enchantments, and
"wrought much wickedness before the Lord". He set up idols and graven images in the temple.

2 Kings 21:9; says that Manasseh seduced the Israelites to do more evil, than all the nations
that the Lord destroyed before them.

That seems like a lot of evil.

Now even though God said he would never forsake them ( Deut 31:6; ) .... they forsook Him.

2 Kings 21:14; And <b>I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies;</b> and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies;
2 Kings 21:15; Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.

So God promised to punish them. Let's keep that promise in mind as we continue here.

It also says Manasseh shed a lot of innocent blood. ( verse 16 )

Now Manasseh had a son named Amon... he also became king.
Verse 22 says Amon became King when he was 22 years old.

And Amon did evil in the sight of the Lord, just as his father before him. ( verse 20 )
He served idols and forsook the Lord God. ( verse 22 )

It's interesting to note, that some people in the Bible forsook the Lord.

Amon was so evil that his servants conspired against him and killed him (in his own house).
(verses 23 and 24 )

After they did this... they made his son Josiah the king.

... to be continued ...

 

[B-A-C]

It seems that Manasseh was the most evil king of Israel, at least up until that time.

But Josiah, was just the opposite.
2 Kings 22:1; says Josiah was only 8 years old when he became king.

But he did right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his ancestor David. ( grandfather about 7 generations previously).

Josiah contacted Shaphan the scribe and Hilkiah the high priest, and had them start repairing the temple. ( verses 4 - 6 )

In verse 8 Hilkiah finds the Book of Moses (the book of the law) and gives it to Shaphan, and it says... Shaphan
read it.

In verses 9 and 10 Shaphan the scribe reads the words of the book of the law to Josiah the king.
Now sometimes people hear the words of the Bible and it has no effect on them.... but in this case,
Josiah becomes so upset that he tears his clothes. ( verse 11 ).

Sometimes when we listen the word, not just read it with our eyes and our mind, but really hear it with our
hearts, it should affect us. It should change us.

It interesting that Josiah recognizes that the wrath of God is set against his kingdom.
(remember God's promise to punish them, back in post #1)

Even though Manasseh and Amon were both long dead, the curse upon the kingdom remained.

So in verse 13 Josiah the king sends them out into the land to find someone who knows about this.
Hilkiah and Shaphan (and a few other people) end up finding Huldah the prophetess. ( verse 14 )

It's interesting how many prophetesses are mentioned in the Bible.
Miriam - Exod 15:20;
Deborah ( Judges 4:4; ) she is also called a judge.
Huldah is called a prophetess in 2 Kings 22:14; and 2 Chron 34:22;
Noadiah ( Neh 6:14; )
There is an un-named prophetess in Isa 8:3;

In the new testament, there in a prophetess named Anna ( Luke 2:36; )
There was a man who had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses ( Acts 21:9; )

Then of course there is the false prophetess Jezebel in Rev 2:20;

.... to be continued ...

 

[B-A-C]

Huldah (the prophetess) gives a message to Hikliah and Shaphan to give back to the king.
Now this is part of the story were Manasseh gets split off from the inheritance. Josiah was the king
in Judah (that's another study in itself).

2 Kin 22:15; And she said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,
2 Kin 22:16; Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read:
2 Kin 22:17; Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.
2 Kin 22:18; But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the Lord, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;
2 Kin 22:19; Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord.
2 Kin 22:20; Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.

God is still keeping his promise to punish the people who forsook Him, but He does not punish Josiah and
the people that turned back to Him.

.. to be continued ...

 

[B-A-C]

Huldah (the prophetess) gives a message to Hikliah and Shaphan to give back to the king.
Now this is part of the story were Manasseh gets split off from the inheritance. Josiah was the king
in Judah (that's another study in itself).

2 Kin 22:15; And she said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,
2 Kin 22:16; Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read:
2 Kin 22:17; Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.
2 Kin 22:18; But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the Lord, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;
2 Kin 22:19; Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord.
2 Kin 22:20; Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.

God is still keeping his promise to punish the people who forsook Him, but He does not punish Josiah and
the people that turned back to Him.

.. to be continued ...

 

[B-A-C]

Sorry about the duplicate post, but now it will not let me go back and delete the second one.

It seems that somewhere along the way.. perhaps when the Israelites were seduced by Manasseh to do evil... that they lost their way.

But Josiah re-established the covenant with the Lord.

2 King 23:1; Then the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
2 King 23:2; The king went up to the house of the Lord and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.
2 King 23:3; The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.

And all the people there entered into the covenant with him.

2 King 23; from verse 4 all the way to verse 20 talk about how Josiah removed all the idols and asherahs,
he removed the altars were evil sacrifices were made, he removed the temple prostitutes, he had the
books and incenses that were dedicated to false gods destroyed.

Sometimes I wonder if we still have things from our past that we need to remove. Old idols stuck away
that no one knows about. Old love letters, old swimsuit illustrated issues, old playboy magazines that
we forgot about. Maybe it's time to clean house?

... to be continued ...

 

[B-A-C]

2 Kin 23:21; Then the king commanded all the people saying, “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God as it is written in this book of the covenant.”
2 Kin 23:22; Surely such a Passover had not been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah.
2 Kin 23:23; But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was observed to the Lord in Jerusalem.

It's interesting the passover had not been observed in several generations. It's difficult to say exactly how
long this went on, but it had been going on since the days of the judges. Yet even though it hadn't been
observed in quite a while, Josiah instituted it again.

2 Kin 23:24; Moreover, Josiah removed the mediums and the spiritists and the teraphim and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.
2 Kin 23:25; Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.

Josiah also removed, the spiritists, the witches, sorcerers, and mediums. I am amazed at how prevalent
new age palm reading, fortune telling, horoscopes, and psychic hotlines have become in this generation.
People are looking for answers, but of course they are looking in the wrong places. It difficult to know what
teraphim might be. Some say images of angels, others say "abominable or detestable things". Yet others
say this could be cleromancy or casting dice in order to determine decisions.

There was no king in Israel like Josiah.... not before him, nor after him.
He loved the Lord with all his heart, soul and might. ( verse 25 )

This comes from Deut 6:5; Deut 10:12; Deut 11:13; Deut 13:3; Deut 30:6; Joshua 22:5; etc...
Jesus repeated these verses in Matt 22:37; and Mark 12:30;
It seems we should still love the Lord this way even today.

.. to be continued ...

 

[B-A-C]

2 Kin 2:26; However, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him.
2 Kin 2:27; The Lord said, “I will remove Judah also from My sight, as I have removed Israel. And I will cast off Jerusalem, this city which I have chosen, and the temple of which I said, ‘My name shall be there.’”

Now God held his judgment and wrath against Judah while Josiah was king.
But after the time Josiah, God's anger and wrath still burned against them, even though
Manasseh had been dead for many years.

2 Kin 2:28; Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
2 Kin 2:29; In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. And King Josiah went to meet him, and when Pharaoh Neco saw him he killed him at Megiddo.
2 Kin 2:30; His servants drove his body in a chariot from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

Pharaoh Neco killed Josiah. This happened at Meggido. Also known as Har Meggedo, or Armagedon
in some Bible versions. This is where one one of the final battles of the tribulation will happen.

2 Kin 2:31; Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
2 Kin 2:32; He did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.

Josiah's son Jehoahaz went back to doing evil as Josiah's father and grandfather before him.