II Kings Chapter 23
Please read: II Kings 23 –
We now get a clear picture of just how depraved the land was. This was the promised land with a city that was to be called the city where God put His name on it, Jerusalem. Instead, Jerusalem along with all the other cities throughout the land, had been made putrid by all the sin and idol worship and worship of other gods. No wonder the wrath of God was against the people.
King Josiah upon hearing the reading of the book of the covenant was convicted by God’s Words. He began a crusade to destroy all the places and implements of false worship. What is described in this chapter is a man filled with righteous anger who completely destroyed all idols, monuments, and altars. He even pulled the bones out of the graves that belonged to the false priests who worshipped other gods or even satan and burned them up on their idolatrous altars. He did this cleansing work in both Judah and in Israel. There had been hundreds of years of this incestuous worship and King Josiah was committed to getting rid of it all.
Josiah was able to cleanse the northern kingdom as well because at this time in history the Assyrians had become a weak country and they had already taken captive and removed most of the citizens of Israel. There were only a handful of people left in the northern kingdom. And it was one of these that answered the question Josaiah asked regarding whose bones lay in a particular tomb. He was told they were the bones of the unnamed prophet of God who had said that Josiah would do this very act of cleansing in the future. Imagine being told that the actions you are doing are a fulfillment of prophecy spoken by a prophet of God many years prior.
1 Kings 13:2-3 And the man cried against the altar by the word of the LORD and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’” And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the LORD has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.’”
Let's Reflect
1. According to verse 3 what did King Josiah do after hearing the Word of God read aloud?
2. Not only did Josiah tear down all of the altars and monuments turning them to dust; he also destroyed the people who were guilty of this type of worship. What type of people does verse 24 record that Josaiah cleaned out?
3. In verse 10 we learn that he set fire in Topheth hot enough to melt down the idol god Molech. This is the idol upon which baby infants had been sacrificed to this god. According to verse 11 what other monuments did he burn down?
4. I wish we knew how long it took him to accomplish this cleansing work. What is described certainly sounds like it was a huge project to get rid of it all. He travelled into the northern kingdom as well to do this. What city is described in verse 19 where Josiah also tore down idols?
5. Verse 21 tells us that when he returned to Jerusalem, he re-established the memorial service of Passover. This memorial service or feast was a remembrance of the people’s redemption from Egypt. God had instructed them to celebrate the Passover yearly. How long had it been since the people had celebrated Passover?
6. Verse 25 describes King Josiah as a very godly king. He wanted to do what was right. But the next verse tells us that even with all his efforts, God’s wrath was still upon Judah. This would indicate that the people of Judah were not truly repentant. They were simply going through the motions being led by a godly king. What did God say would be the judgement upon Judah?
7. How did Josiah die? His son Jehoahaz was made king but only for 3 months since he was taken captive by the Pharoah of Egypt. Another son of Josiah was made king, Eliakim (or Jehoiachin). We read that Jehoiachin did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD. We can see the “handwriting on the wall,” the time of the wrath of God upon Judah was drawing very close.
