Friday, January 10 – 2 Kings 22, 23
Study Questions:
1. What had been lost in the house of the Lord? (2 Kings 22:8)
2. What did Josiah command to be removed from the temple of the Lord? (2 Kings 23:4-7)
3. What national celebration did Josiah reinstitute after a long time? (2 Kings 23:21, 22)
Commentary and Reflection:
In this Bible study series, we have seen that, amid the apostasy of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, there are occasional oases of faithfulness by some kings with spiritual sensitivity. These kings took decisive steps of spiritual reform in the face of the negligence of the Jewish religious leaders.
One of those faithful kings was Josiah. He ascended to the throne at the age of just eight. Like Ahaz, his son Hezekiah, and now Josiah, son of Amon, they did not follow the bad example of their parents.
I believe we should give credit to the spirituality of their mothers. In this case, Jedidah must have placed a protective hedge around her son to ensure that he did not forget the God of Israel. What a beautiful testimony of a young king who, during his thirty-year reign, was determined to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord!
When he turned eighteen, Josiah took some of his first steps by removing all the high places and idols of pagan worship that were rampant in Jerusalem. Five years later, he took the initiative to repair the temple. Josiah was a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah.
(v.4) Apparently, funds had been collected for the repair of the temple for some time. The king had a group of trusted and honest men overseeing the resources for the project. (v.7) This is a good testimony and an example to follow for all who are responsible for the Lord’s goods.
We are struck by the fact that, for a long period, the book of the law had been lost in some repository of the temple. I wonder how the high priest and the other spiritual leaders of the people managed spiritual matters without the instruction of the law, particularly the book of Deuteronomy.
The discovery of the book of the law caused great commotion. After tearing his clothes in sorrow for the negligence of their ancestors, the king sent his officials to consult the prophetess Huldah.
In His mercy, the Lord recognized the king’s good intentions to amend the moral and spiritual decay of the people. That is why Huldah comforted him with the promise from the Lord that the punishment and destruction of Jerusalem would not happen in his days.
2 Kings 23:1-3. Upon receiving the Lord’s response, Josiah took immediate action and summoned all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. A call was made for the entire people to reaffirm the covenant that had been violated for so long.
Having completed the temple repairs, the king now ordered the high priest, the secondary priests, and the temple guardians to remove all the utensils dedicated to the worship of Baal and Asherah, and the host of heaven. They had even gone so far as to place an Asherah image in the temple. There were places of religious prostitution. This passage describes the detestable and rapid degradation that Judah had fallen into after having enjoyed such a bright and powerful kingdom.
Apostasy had reached an unimaginable level. The apostate kings had organized a whole system of priests who led idolatrous worship to Baal, the sun, the moon, and the zodiac signs. And to think that, even in modern times, millions continue to worship these idols.
The king was very determined in his task of cleansing Jerusalem from all these aberrations. He burned everything. When he saw the altar raised by the wicked King Jeroboam in Bethel, he burned it and desecrated the bones of the tombs as the prophet had foretold when he denounced the king’s sin.
After the cleansing, the king ordered the celebration of Passover. This was the most impactful Passover in the history of the Hebrew monarchy, since the time of the judges. There is no doubt that the legacy left by Josiah serves as a model of faithfulness and commitment to God, regardless of the negative circumstances that may arise.
The succeeding king of Judah was Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah. It is curious that the people placed Jehoahaz in power instead of Eliakim, the eldest son. He only reigned in Jerusalem for three months and did evil in the sight of the Lord. As the saying goes, it was “a debut and goodbye.” Later, Pharaoh Necho placed Eliakim as king and changed his name to Jehoiakim. “He took Jehoahaz and brought him to Egypt, where he died.”
We have much to learn from Josiah’s life of dedication to God. The Lord recognized his willingness and courage to carry out that great work of reform in Judah. Let us ask God to give us the same resolve to be faithful to Him, even if the heavens fall.
Blessings to all.
Professor Javier Diaz