II Kings Chapter 22
Please read: II Kings 22 –
After the reign of the wicked king Manasseh, his son Amon reigned. The Bible says that he carried on with all the wicked ways of his father. The only difference was that Amon did not get to sit on the throne for very long because he was assassinated by his own people. And the people put his eight-year-old son Josiah on the throne.
We are not told who the godly influence in this young boy’s life was. Perhaps it was his mother, Jedidah or possibly a priest from the temple. But there is a beautiful statement made about this king that was completely different than his father and his grandfather. The statement is this, “And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.”
This is proof that we each have our own individual choice whether we want to follow after God or follow after the ways of the world as our parents may have done. Our past does not have to dictate our future.
Let's Reflect
1. How many years did Josaiah reign as king of Judah?
2. When Josiah was 26 years old, he sent special instruction to the high priest Hilkiah. What instructions did he want carried out in the temple?
3. Verse 7 may seem like an odd statement that the workers of the temple were just declared trustworthy with the money. But a parallel passage in II Chronicles 34 indicates that these men were already working to repair the temple best they could, but the king made a declaration to give these men monies to help them buy what they needed to do the repairs. The men had already proven themselves as trustworthy. This is very similar to what King Jehoash did in chapter 12. The damage to the temple in the past 57 years or more must have been extensive. What did the workers need to buy to repair it?
4. While they were retrieving the money from the temple to give to the workers, what was found?
5. It was part of their tradition that the laws of God were passed down from generation to generation but imagine what a gift it would have been to find the recordings of the law written down by Moses. According to Deuteronomy where was this book supposed to have been kept at all times?
Deuteronomy 31:24-27 When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book to the very end, Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant
of the LORD, “Take this Book of the Law and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against you. For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are.
6. What was the king’s reaction to having heard the book of the Law read to him?
7. King Josiah immediately became concerned about the wrath of God that would come upon the nation because of the sinful ways of their forefathers. He asked that they inquire of the LORD for him and for all the people. Who did they find that was a prophetess of God?
8. The prophetess of God had a message for the king. First, that God had said there was a great disaster coming down on Judah and its people. Secondly, she told him that God’s wrath could not be quenched. (You might recall that the king’s grandfather had been told that this judgement was coming for his terrible acts of sin. See II Kings 21:11) Thirdly, in her message she mentioned to the king that God had seen that the law was read before the king, and God had seen his reaction to it. What personal message and promise did she have for King Josaiah?
