2 Kings 24:8-9 English Standard Version Jehoiachin Reigns in Judah 8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. Short passage today, but that's because there isn't much to say about this king. Jehoiachin became king when he was 18 years old and only reigned for three months (before Jerusalem falls, but we'll read about that next time). It shouldn't surprise us as things have been going from bad to worse that Jehoichin followed in the footsteps of his father and did evil in the sight of the LORD. We'll see the ultimate consequences of that next time.
2 Kings 23:36-24:7 English Standard Version Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 24 In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldeans and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by his servants the prophets. 3 Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the LORD, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not pardon. 5 Now the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. 7 And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates. We mentioned Jehoiakim briefly at the end of our last passage. He was the king that Pharaoh Necro put into power. Though he was part of the royal family, he was loyal at first to Egypt, however, that will all change in today's passage. Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he was made king and he reigned in Jerusalem for 11 years. It is no surprise to us that he did what was evil, just like his fathers had done.
Now during his time as king, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to attack Jerusalem and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. This would either mean that Nebuchadnezzar defeated Pharaoh Necro, or Jehoiakim saw a stronger king and switched allegiances. Whatever the case, Jehoiakim has not switched his tactic of paying taxes and protection money to foreign kings and being vassals for them. Because of this, the LORD brought raiders against Judah--the Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites all took advantage of Jehoiakim's weakness and freely attacked and raided with the intent of destroying Judah. They did not know they were accomplishing the prophecy that the Word of the LORD had spoken, but they were. The text event tells us that sure this came upon the people to put them out if the LORD's sight because of the sin of Manasseh (the one that was a relative of King Ahab that led Judah into idolatry and infanticide and setting up foreign gods in the LORD's Temple). The text even says that the LORD would not pardon this high-handed sin of rebellion. There is really nothing else said here about Jehoiakim other than he died and was buried with his fathers. There may be more to say in the book of Chronicles but the main thing to know here is that he made an alliance with Babylon which will result in Jerusalem and all Judah with it being taking into captivity and exile. Our question is answered as well as to why Jehoiakim stopped looking to Pharaoh Necro for help, for the Babylonians had pushed the Egyptians back to the pace we think of as Egypt today so that Babylon had control of all the land from the Nile River (if I'm interpreting correctly the meaning of "The Brook of Egypt") to the Euphrates River--that would include all the land that had been held by Assyria as well making Babylon the only "super-power" left in the area (the Medes and Persians would band together later to conquer the Babylonian empire which we'll read about in the book of Daniel). 2 Kings 23:31-35 English Standard Version Jehoahaz's Reign and Captivity 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. We would Josiah, the one described as the best king of Israel, would have a son that would follow in his footsteps, but Jehoahaz (who we probably know better as Jehoiakim, see verse 34) did what was evil in the sight of the LORD just as his ancestors had done. He came to power when he was 23 years old and he only reigned for three months in Jerusalem before he was captured and imprisoned by Pharaoh Necro the king of Egypt. Pharaoh Necro made Israel pay tribute to him (think "protection money" that the mobsters make you pay. If you pay they are supposed to protect you from enemies, but if you don't pay, then it is them you need protection from).
Pharaoh Necro then placed his own puppet king in power--Eliiakim the son of Josiah, but we know him better as Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim did whatever Pharaoh Necro asked for paying the tribute and taxes and making the people of Israel subject to Pharaoh. Even though he is a vassal king of Egypt, he will not last long for he will switch allegiances when a stronger super-power comes around. We'll talk about that next time when the LORD will allow the people of Judah to be conquered for foreign nations (many of these nations were the ones they were never faithful to destroy that the LORD commanded them to destroy during the Conquest of Canaan). 2 Kings 23:28-30 English Standard Version Josiah's Death in Battle 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? 29 In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him, and Pharaoh Neco killed him at Megiddo, as soon as he saw him. 30 And his servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's place. We'll have to look to the Book of Chronicles for more information on the life and deeds of Josiah. Today's passage is covered as well in 2 Chronicles 35:20-27. The LORD was apparently sending Pharaoh Necro, king of Egypt, to make war with and judge the king of Assyria. Pharaoh Necro came through Israel to do so since Assyria bordered Israel, and Pharaoh set up his camp within the borders of Israel. This is why Josiah went to make war with Pharaoh, as it appeared that Pharaoh was there to invade Israel and make war with them.
Even though Pharaoh Necro sent envoys to Josiah to tell him that he was not there to make war with him or with Israel, that his war was with Assyria and that the LORD had commanded him to go to battle with Assyria to punish them, Josiah still would not back down from going to war with Egypt. He disguised himself so that he could fight among the rank and file and not be recognized as the king. Like other kings that we have read about before, it was the shot of an archer that hit him and badly wounded him so that he had to tell the men with him to take him away from the battle. They took him out of the chariot he had been fighting in and put him in his second chariot and carried him to Jerusalem, but he died on the way and they buried him in his tomb in Jerusalem among the tombs of the other kings of Judah. Jeremiah the prophet wrote laments for the people as they mourned the death of King Josiah and the whole nation mourned for him and they established a rule that all of Israel should sing these lamentations for King Josiah regularly to remember him, for he was the best earthly king that they ever had and ever would have until the days when Messiah would take His place as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The people gathered together and anointed Josiah's son Jehoahaz as king of Judah in place of his father Josiah. As you can guess from something I already said, he would not be like his father and instead of being like his father who died trying to fight the Egyptians, Jehoahaz would make himself and all Judah servants of the Egyptians, thinking that only Egypt could save them from the enemies around them. He would even let the king of Egypt change his name to give him a new identity. We'll read about this and study it next time, but it will be just as the prophet spoke to Josiah that the LORD would not exile His people during the days of Josiah, but would wait until after he died. Everything is in motion now for the Exile to begin. 2 Kings 23:21-27 English Standard Version Josiah Restores the Passover 21 And the king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the LORD in Jerusalem. 24 Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. 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. 26 Still the LORD did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. 27 And the LORD said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.” After destroying all the idols and high places in the land, the first thing that King Josiah wants to restore is the Passover as this is the holy day that reminds the people how they became a people and a nation because the LORD Himself redeemed from Pharaoh and the Egyptians when they were slaves in the land of Goshen. It has been a long time since the Passover has been observed as it was commanded--definitely as far back and Rehoboam and Jeroboam the first kings in the Divided Kingdom, but possibly all the way back to King Saul including King David and King Solomon as well. Finally in the 18th year of the reign of King Josiah, the Passover was kept to the LORD in Jerusalem.
Now Josiah also put away all the mediums and necromancers and the household gods and idols that people worshiped and all the other abominations that were in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. He saw his job as king as to obey and enforce the covenant written in the book of Deuteronomy so that the blessings of the book and not the curses of the book would come upon the people. The text tells us that there was no king like him that came before him (not even David) who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might--a reference to Deuteronomy 6:5 which Jesus quotes as The Greatest Commandment. The text tells us that there also has been no king like Josiah to come after him. Apart from Jesus Himself, Josiah is the best king to rule over the LORD's people. However, the dye was cast as far as it came to the judgment that Judah was going to face. The prophecy had been made and would be fulfilled. After the days of King Josiah, the people would be taken into Exile for a time as punishment for breaking covenant with the LORD and all the abominable things they did, for they did all the evil things that King Manasseh provoked them to do. We know the story and know that even though the LORD drove His people out of the Land, He did not abandon His people. We have some of the books of History and the Prophets to tell us about that (specifically the prophets of Ezekiel and Daniel which were written during this time). The LORD will use this time of Exile to do great things in the hearts of the the Jews and in the hearts of the kings of major empires--the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and the Medes and Persians. All of the great empires of the time will be exposed to the LORD and His Word by the LORD sending His people away into foreign lands. They would be missionaries while they were in exile ,and just wouldn't know it until much, much later. 2 Kings 23:1-20 English Standard Version Josiah's Reforms 23 Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. 2 And the king went up to the house of the LORD, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD. 3 And 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 perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant. 4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations and all the host of the heavens. 6 And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people. 7 And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah. 8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from Geba to Beersheba. And he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one's left at the gate of the city. 9 However, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech. 11 And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts. And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 And the altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, he pulled down and broke in pieces and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. 13 And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 14 And he broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men. 15 Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned, reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah. 16 And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. 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 that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things. 17 Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.” 18 And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria. 19 And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the LORD to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel. 20 And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem. After hearing the words of the Book of the Law, Josiah knew that these were words that the people needed to hear and understand, because he was going to start making reforms to comply with the Law that he was now aware of. The king, in the presence of all the people made a covenant with the LORD to keep His commandments, testimonies, and statutes with all his heart and soul, and to keep the words of the covenant that were written in the Book of the Law (again, probably Deuteronomy). All the people in the hearing of the king also joined in the covenant.
The temple was then cleansed of all the articles that were made for the worship of Baal and Asherah and those items were burned with fire outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and the ashes of these items were carried to Bethel. Josiah then deposed all the priests that were ordained by the bad kings to be priests in the service of the false gods and goddesses where the people worshiped in the high places. He tore down the Asherah pole that was in the Temple and also burned that with fire and sprinkled its ashes on the graves of the common people (a graveyard would already be an "unclean" place, so this would not defile a place that was clean). He then tore down the houses of all the male cult prostitutes which were marked with symbols that showed their dedication to the goddess Asherah. He gathered all the priests of the cities of Judah and defiled all the high places where people worshiped the false gods and he broke down the altars at the high places where the sacrifices had been offered, including those near the gates of the cities. He also defiled the place where people went to make child sacrifices to Molech so that no one could go there any more to make these detestable child sacrifices. There were kings that the previous king had dedicated to the sun at the gate to the Temple, and he removed them also, and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire for they had been dedicated to the sun by those who were sun-worshipers. He also pulled down and removed the altars that Ahaz and Manasseh had made and when he had pulverized them, he spread the dust in the Kidron Brook. Josiah also defiled the high places that were to the east of Jerusalem, to the south of the mount of corruption--were Solomon had built places of worship for all of his foreign wives and concubines. He broke down the pillars, cut down the Asherim, and filled those places with bones of men to make them unclean and unable to be used as a place of worship. Then Josiah dealt with the sin of Jeroboam (though that was at Bethel in the north) and he tore down, burnt and pulverized the altar that Jeroboam had built which had lead the northern kingdom of Israel to sin. He also burned the Asherah that were there. Josiah saw the tombs there were there and he took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar to defile it, according to the world of the LORD that was spoken to Jeroboam by the prophet. When he saw the tomb of that prophet and was told that it was the man of God whose prophecy he had just fulfilled, Josiah said to leave his bones be and that no one should touch his tomb. Then Josiah continued his campaign in the north to remove all the shrines and high places in Samaria (there were a lot of them), and he sacrificed (put to death) all the pagan priests at these high places where were there and burned human bones on top of them to defile them. Only after all this was done did Josiah return to Jerusalem. While the Land may have been cleared of idols, the hearts of the people were not cleansed from their idolatry, and though they professed that they would obey the Law of the LORD with their mouths, their lives would suggest something else entirely. 2 Kings 22:8-20 English Standard Version Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law 8 And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “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 And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king. 11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. 12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and 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 kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.” 14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter), and they talked with her. 15 And she said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. 18 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 19 because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD. 20 Therefore, behold, 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 disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king. When the renovations of the Temple are underway, the high priest finds The Book of the Law (Deuteronomy) that any King of Israel (or Judah) was required to read and make his own copy of to keep by his throne so that he could reference it often. The high priest gave the book to the secretary who read it and then the secretary immediately went to the king and reported their progress and findings:
9 And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king. When the king heard the words of The Book of the Law, his heart was rent, even though he was a good king, for he was convicted of sin. He tore his (very expensive, royal) clothes--remember that clothing was one of the commodities that people traded in back then, accepted in most transactions as a form of legal tender. This was an outward sign of something happening inwardly in the heart of the king. The king then sent his closest advisors to go inquire before the LORD on behalf of the king, the people, and all of Judah about the words in the book--specifically about what they could do to avoid the curses in the book, because it was obvious to the king that the people had not been obeying the Law of the LORD. This is the judgment that the high priest brought back against the people of Judah (remember that the high priest was mediator between God and man and from time to time served as a prophet, calling for repentance and warning of coming judgment): ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. Yet the LORD was merciful on Josiah because his heart was broken and torn for his sin and the sin of his people and he had repented: 8 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 19 because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD. 20 Therefore, behold, 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 disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” That is to say that the LORD will let Josiah escape the coming judgment by allowing him to die before it takes place. He will not be caught up in the judgment against the wicked, but instead will be gathered to his fathers--presumably to Paradise or Abraham's Bosom (the place of peace and rest for those who were waiting for Jesus' death on the cross to pay for all their sins so that they can be with the Lord forever and ever). |
Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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