What I Noticed Today (2 Kings 22-23; 2 Chronicles 34-35)

2 Kings 22

In verses 1-20, Josiah was only eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 31 years.

• He was a good king, doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord.
• Josiah instituted reforms to rebuild the house of the Lord.
• Hilkiah, the priest, found a copy of the Law, read it and shared it with Josiah.
• Josiah tore his clothes and repented when he heard the words of the Law.
• Huldah, the prophetess, advised the king that because he had repented, the Lord would withhold his judgment on Judah until after he had died.

2 Kings 23

• Josiah brought all the elders of Judah together in Jerusalem along with the priest and prophets and read the book of the Law (probably sections of the Pentateuch).
• Josiah renewed the covenant with the Lord to keep his commands, decrees, and statutes.
• Josiah continued with his reforms bringing the worship of God back to the people of Judah. He even reinstituted the Passover celebration.
• He removed and burned all of the high places, Asherah, and other items that involved the worship of other gods.
• He did away with horses that had been dedicated to sun gods.
• Josiah even removed shrines in Samaria that the kings of Israel had made.

In verses 28-30, Pharaoh Neco II of Egypt came to help the king of Assyria (609 B.C.).

• Josiah died in a battle against Pharaoh Neco of Egypt at Megiddo.
• His servants brought him back to Jerusalem for burial.

In verses 31-33, Josiah’s son, Jehoahaz was made the king and reigned in Judah. Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he began to reign in Judah.

• He was a bad king doing evil in the eyes of the Lord.
• He had reigned only three months before Pharaoh Neco removed him.

In verses 34-36, Neco made Josiah’s son, Eliakim king in his place, and changed his name to Jehoiakim.

• Jehoiakim reigned eleven years in Judah. He was a bad king doing evil in the eyes of the Lord.
• Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king of Judah, and he reigned 11 years from Jerusalem.

Some thoughts for additional consideration:

• Evil king Ahaz fathered Hezekiah who followed the Lord, but he fathered the evil king Manasseh. Manasseh was evil early in his reign, but we will see him repent when we get to 2 Chronicles 33:12. The evil king Manasseh fathered the good king Josiah, but Josiah turned away from God later in his life (2 Chronicles 33:12).
• Manasseh tore down everything that his father Hezekiah built up, and Josiah tore down everything that his father Manasseh built up Josiah had God’s word when the copy of the Law was found, and that drove him to rebuild the house of the Lord, but with all this having and hearing God’s Word the people failed to heed God’s Word over time. A leader can do a lot to bring people back to God, but unless the people repent of their sin and follow God faithfully, they will soon turn back to their old sinful ways once again.

2 Chronicles 34

There is one good king left, Josiah, son of Amon.

In verses 1-2, Josiah was only eight years old when he became king, and there is no advisor mentioned for him as there was for Joash. He reigned over Judah for 31 years (640-609 B.C.) from Jerusalem.

In verses 3-7, in Josiah’s eighth year when he was 16 years old, he decided to seek the Lord.

• When he was 20 years old, he began the process of removing the high places, Asherim, and idols out of Judah.

In verses 8-13, in Josiah’s 18^th year when he was 26 years old when he ordered the temple to be restored.

• Josiah sent Shaphan, Maaseiah, and Joah to repair the temple. They bought money that had been collected from the people to Hilkiah, the high priest.
• The money was given to the workers who completed the work of repairing the temple.

In verses 14-21, during the restoration, Hilkiah, the high priest, found a copy of the book of the Law given to Moses (probably several scrolls of the entire Pentateuch).

• Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, the secretary, and Shaphan read it to Josiah.
• When Josiah heard the words of the Lord, he tore his clothes (a sign of mourning/grief) and called for someone to inquire of the Lord concerning the Word of the Lord.

In verses 22-28, Hilkiah the high priest along with Ahikam, Shaphan, Abdon, and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah.

• Huldah, the prophetess, prophesied disaster for the kingdom, but not during Josiah’s lifetime because Josiah had humbled himself and wept before the Lord.

In verses 29-33, Josiah gathered together all the leaders, the priests, and the Levites and read the book of the Law to them.

• Josiah read the law to the people (probably Deuteronomy),
• Josiah made a personal covenant with the Lord at that time and encouraged all the people to join him.
• The people joined him in a covenant with God and then proceeded to remove all the idols from throughout the land, including Israel.
• Throughout the reign of Judah, the people did not turn aside from worshipping the Lord.

2 Chronicles 35

In verses 1-4, in Josiah’s 18^th year when he was 26-years old Josiah instituted a Passover celebration and the Feast of Unleavened Bread on the fourteenth day of the first month.

In verses 5-19, He appointed the priests, the Levites, the musicians, and the gatekeepers to their specific roles.

• Every detail of the celebration was followed exactly as God had ordained.

In verses 20-27, Neco king of Egypt marched toward Carchemish (in Mesopotamia)

• Josiah decided to go out against Egypt. Pharaoh Neco told Josiah that he had no fight with the Judeans.
• Neco explained that God had told Pharaoh to fight the Babylonians, but Josiah did not listen to Neco’s warning.
• Josiah engaged in battle with Neco and was killed.
• Josiah was buried with his fathers, and all of Judah mourned his death.

Tomorrow: Zephaniah

What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.