Year 4 Week 31 Day 211-217 July 30 August 5, 2015
Week 31 Day 211-217 July 30 August 5, 2015 I. Invocation and Adoration: O Jesus, Thou hast promised to all who follow Thee, That where Thou art in glory, there shall Thy servant be; And Jesus, I have promised to serve Thee to the end. O give me grace to follow, my Master and my Friend. Amen (John Bode 1816-1874) Reading of Proverbs 5:1-14 (Optional) We have finished reading the Book of Psalms as a part of our preparation for worship, and now we shall use the Book of Proverbs as an optional reading to transition us from worship to confession: Read this passage a few times each day, not for the sake of Bible study, but to grasp a major thought each day and translate that thought into either adoration or confession. II. Confession Pause now and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you your sins and ask for forgiveness. III. Thanksgiving List, one by one, things for which you should give thanks.
IV. Scriptural Reflection: This week, we shall continue to study the book of 2 Kings in the Old Testament. Read slowly and reflectively the assigned passage twice at least and consider the questions below each day: Day 211 2 Kings 23:4-14 The eradication of idol worship by Josiah was not only complete but it also shows how deep the kings of Judah before him had plunged the nation into such perversions against the Lord: (1) From vv. 4-7, can you name all the perversions that had taken place right inside the temple of the Lord? (2) What did Josiah do to ensure the eradication of the worship of Baal and Asherah? (23: 4, 6) (3) What was the act of scattering the dust (or powder) of the Asherah pole over the graves of the common people meant to do? (4) What kind of prostitutes was once allowed inside the temple of the Lord? (23:7) (5) The high places began as a convenient way of worshipping the Lord outside of the temple, modeled after the idol-worship of the Canaanites, and were eventually used also to worship all kinds of idols: a. What did Josiah do to ensure the eradication of this form of idol worship? (23:5) b. Whom did he use to carry out the desecration? Why? (23:8-9) (6) How important was it that Josiah desecrated Topheth? (23:10) (7) The Bible especially mentions Josiah s destruction of other forms of idol-worship directly instituted by previous kings of Judah: a. Sun-worshipping: i. Why would these kings worship the sun? (Job 31: 27-28) ii. How did Josiah deal with the horses and chariots dedicated to the sun? (v.11 see note below) b. What might Ahaz and other kings use the altars on the roof for? (see Zephaniah 1:5) c. Why did Manasseh build altars in the two courts of the temple? (21:5) d. How did Josiah deal with these altars? (v.12) e. What kind of high places did Solomon build and how did Josiah deal with them (vv. 13-14)
(8) As you re reading the passage that depicts all of the above, what might be the thing that you find most shocking? Why? (9) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life? Note: Horses were regarded sacred to the sun by many nations These horses were hardly kept to be offered to the sun in sacrifice but as we must infer from the chariots of the sun, were used for processions in connection with the worship of the sun to drive and meet the rising sun (K&D, 344) Day 212 2 Kings 23:15-20 Josiah s eradication of idol worship extended beyond his own territory of Jerusalem and Judah: Removal of Idol worship at Bethel (23:15-18) (1) Who set up the altar in Bethel? (2) What was his purpose? (1 Kings 12:26-27) (3) How wicked was this form of idol worship? (1 Kings 12:28-29) (4) Since it was within his territory (the nation of Judah), why did he care to demolish it? (5) How did he demolish and desecrate this altar in Bethel? (6) What prophecy was he fulfilling in the desecration of this altar? (1 Kings 13:1-2) (7) What might be the importance of the special mention of the grave (and bones) of the prophet who confronted Jeroboam but was subsequently killed by a lion? (1 Kings 13: 26-32) Removal of Idol worship in Samaria (23:19-20) (8) What was Samaria like in the time of Josiah, i.e. after the fall of the Northern Kingdom? (17:24-41) (9) What did he do to eradicate idol worship in Samaria? (10) What risk was he taking? (11) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life? Day 213 2 Kings 23:21-28 23:21-23 The celebration of Passover (it will be helpful to also read 2 Chronicles 35: 1-19 for a fuller account of this event) (1) The king gave the order: a. Should the observation of Passover not be a mandate to all Israelites? (Exodus 12:24)?
b. Why should it be done now at the order of the king to the people (2 Kings 23:21) and to the priests (2 Chronicles 35:10)? c. What does it say about the spiritual condition of the people and the priests? (2) If you are able to scan through the more detailed account in 2 Chronicles 35, how do you feel about the king s command which extended to the putting of the ark back in the temple (35:3), the arranging of Levites and priests into subdivisions (35:5, 10), the putting in place of musicians (35:15) and the final comment in v.18? 23:24-28 Utter Extermination of apostasy (3) How different was the getting rid of mediums, spiritists and household gods from the extermination of other forms of idol worship mentioned previously? (4) How does this signal the utter extermination of all forms of apostasy by Josiah? 23: 25-28 Biblical Comments (5) How does the Bile commend Josiah s effort? (v.25) (6) Since this was the case, why wasn t Josiah s effort in spiritual reformation enough to change the fate of Israel? (vv. 26-27) (7) Why was the sin of Manasseh cited as the reason? (See 2 Kings 21:10-16; 24:3 and Jeremiah 15:4) (8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life? Day 214 2 Kings 23:29 24:7 23: 29-30 Death of Josiah (1) We had no idea why Josiah sought to intervene with Pharaoh Necho s effort to help the king of Assyria, but 2 Chronicles 35:22 makes it clear that Necho had God s command to hurry and asked Josiah not to stop him: a. Why would God give command to a gentile king? b. In your opinion, why did Josiah choose to ignore the word of Necho? c. What was the result of his action? d. What lesson can we learn from his mistake? e. The prophet Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah (of which there is no extant copy); however, how might you eulogize Josiah at his funeral? (see 2 Chronicles 35:25) 23: 31-34 King Jehoahaz of Judah (2) Given the information in 22:1, how old was Josiah when Jehoahaz born? (3) Was Jehoahaz privileged to see the radical reform done by his father? (4) Why then would he turn away from the footsteps of his father?
(5) What was his fate? 23: 35-37 King Jehoiakim of Judah (6) It is interesting to note that while Pharaoh Necho removed Jehoahaz and replaced him with his brother Eliakim, he also changed his brother s name to Jehoiakim El iakim means God will set up, while Jeho-iakim means Jehovah will set up : a. Why did Necho not change his name into one of the Egyptian names that bears the name of his gods, and instead he changed his name to honor Jehovah the God of Israel? b. Given Necho s previous encounter with Josiah in the name of God, what might this change of name indicate? (7) How old was Jehoiakim when he was installed king? Was he any better than his predecessor? (8) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life? Day 215 2 Kings 24:1-20 24:1-7 Death of Jehoiakim (1) What happened to Judah during the reign of Jehoiakim? (2) What was the reason given by the Bible? (3) While 2 Kings simply records his death: a. What was the prophecy concerning his fate? (Jeremiah 36: 27-31) b. Why? (Note: While the deportation of Jews did begin during Jehoiakim s 3 rd /4 th year see Daniel 1:1 & Jeremiah 25:1 the first official deportation is reckoned as having taken place in the time of Jehoiachin) 24: 8-17 Jehoiachin, King of Judah (4) How long did Jehoiachin reign? (5) What kind of a king was he? (6) The 1st deportation to Babylon: a. What prophecy was fulfilled by Nebuchadnezzar in removing treasures from Jerusalem? (2 Kings 20:17, Isaiah 39:6) b. Who were among the first batch of exile? (vv. 15-17) 24:18-20 Zedekiah, King of Judah (7) Mattaniah was Josiah s youngest son and should be 10 years old when Josiah died. Like Necho, Nebuchadnezzar made this vassal king change his name, but not to a
Babylonian name, but a Hebrew name, Zedekiah, meaning Righteousness of Jehovah : what might be the implication of Nebuchadnezzar s action? (8) In spite of his name-change, what kind of a king was he? (9) What was the verdict of the Bible on him and Judah in spite of his attempted rebellion against Babylon? (10) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life? Day 216 2 Kings 25:1-21 (The Fall of Jerusalem) (1) Zedekiah (in spite of Jeremiah s prophecy of captivity in Jeremiah 27:12-13) decided to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar (vv. 1-7): a. How long was he able to hold off the mighty Babylonian army? (vv. 1-3) b. What eventually did him in? (v.3) c. What was the fate of Zedekiah? (vv. 5-7) d. Did he deserve such a severe punishment? (2) Destruction to God s temple and Jerusalem (vv.8-12) the 19 th year of Nebuchadnezzar = 11 th year of Zedekiah: a. What happened to the house of God and the royal palace? b. What happened to the houses and important buildings of Jerusalem? c. What happened to the walls of Jerusalem? d. What happened to most of the people in Jerusalem? e. What kind of a city had Jerusalem become? f. What was the reason given back in 24:20? (3) Removal of sacred objects (vv. 13-17) a. Make a list of the things taken away from the temple of the Lord. b. What would the temple look like even if it were not burnt down? (4) Capture of notable people (vv. 18-21) a. Make a list of these notable people captured. b. What happened to them subsequently? (5) Although a 70 years limit was put on their captivity (Jeremiah 29:10) what kind of a place would those people return to? (6) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life? Day 217 2 Kings 25:22-30 (1) With very few people left in this devastated city of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah as care-taker of Judah. He was the son of Ahikam: see Jeremiah 26:24 about what Ahikam did to Jeremiah.
(2) Many of the fighting men who broke free from the Babylonian siege (25:4) now came back and joined Gedaliah, so did many who escaped to Moab, Ammon and Edom (Jeremiah 40:11): what was God s intention for them (through the overseeing of Gedaliah) even with the severe and complete punishment He gave Jerusalem? (also see Jeremiah 42:7-12) (3) However, one of the these army officers, Ishmael was actually sent by the king of the Ammonites and he assassinated Gedaliah and killed the Babylonian soldiers posted (Jeremiah 40:14; 41:3), and the rest of people fled to Egypt for fear of the Babylonians: a. Should they have fled to Egypt? (Jeremiah 42:19ff) b. Apart from the fact that Egypt would also fall to Babylon, what would happen to them once they were in Egypt? (Jeremiah 44:8) (4) How was Jehoiachin treated toward the latter part of his life in Babylon? (5) What might be the reason or message for ending the account of the nations of Israel and Judah on such a note? (6) The end of 2 Kings marks: the end of the nation of the people of God which lasted from 588/6 BC to AD 1948 more than 2,600 years a. What might be the most important lesson one can learn from the Books of the Kings, i.e. 1 & 2 Samuel (beginning with the anointing of the first king) and 1 & 2 Kings (to the end of the nation of Israel)? b. What should be the most important lesson to modern-day Israel? (7) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
V. Meditative Reflection Day 211 The Test of Peace and Prosperity Therefore I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place. (2 Kings 22:20) Both Hezekiah and Josiah were kings who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and both were promised that the punishment prophesied against the nation would not happen in their lifetime, and yet their response to such a promise could not be more different. We read in 2 Chronicles 32:31 that God used the visit of the Babylonians and this subsequent promise to test what was in the heart of Hezekiah and his heart was fully revealed when he said, The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good, divulging his inner thought: Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime? (2 Kings 20:19). In other words, Hezekiah failed his test. All he cared about was himself and his earthly well-being. Josiah s response showed where his heart was. He cared not so much about himself and his generation, he desired that even if the prophesied disaster could not be avoided, at least, the coming generations would be spared as far as possible, and thus he sought to get rid of all forms of idol worship and perversions within his land and beyond. He did not only remove the idols, but ground them into powder. He did not only put a stop to idol worship, he made the pagan priests desecrate the high places and altars and sent them away (likely to their own pagan nations). And, he did not only destroy idol worship, he reinstituted the worship of the Lord with the reading (and obviously teaching also) of all the words of the Book of the Covenant and led all the people (to pledge) themselves to the covenant (2 Kings 23:2-3). The Scripture ends the account of Josiah s reform with his giving an order to all the people to celebrate the Passover, the most important remembrance of who they are a people saved and belonged to God and God alone! (2 Kings 23:21-23) No wonder the Scripture says that 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. (2 Kings 23:25) Josiah certainly passed his test with flying colors!
Day 212 The Godlessness of God s People Furthermore, the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah. (2 Kings 23:15) As we are reading the accounts of individual kings of Israel and Judah, we get a general sense of the perversions and apostasy that many of them had plunged the people and the nation into, but the full force of their collective evil is only felt in our reading of the reform undertaken by Josiah. We learn that - Many of the pagan altars were actually placed within the temple of the Lord and even under successive reforms, the altars and the articles for idol worship were permitted to remain and they included o Articles made for Baal and Asherah (23:4) o The Asherah pole itself (23:6) - Male shrine prostitutes were allowed to have their quarters located right within the compound of the temple, and no doubt, were permitted to do their business inside (23:7) - The kings appointed pagan priests to propagate idol worship who were paid or treated the same as the priests of the Lord (23:5, 9); - They engaged in the evil practice of the worship of Molech which involved the sacrificing of their sons and daughters in the fire (23:10); - The kings followed the pagan practice of sun-worship, with horses and chariots placed at the entrance of the temple of the Lord (23:11); and - The kings led the way in their rebellion against the Lord with Ahaz erecting pagan altars in his private quarters, Manasseh putting altars inside the temple courts, and Solomon erecting high places, poles and sacred stones for many pagan deities (23:12-14). A people chosen by God had degenerated into such a sorry state and their rebellion had lasted king after king. One can get a sense of how deeply ingrained was their rebellion against the Lord, and that all the effort of Josiah in implementing a reform based on the Law of Moses could hardly change the evil in the hearts of the people. No wonder, we read at the end of the account of Josiah s reform, the Bible remarks that, However, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah (2 Kings 23:26).
While Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law, God has promised a deliverer from Zion, He will turn godlessness away from Jacob and take away their sins and one day, all Israel will be saved. (Romans 9:31, 11: 26-27) Day 213 Remembering the Salvation of the Lord The king gave this order to all the people: Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant. (2 Kings 23:21) The reform under Josiah was not only drastic and complete, but I believe it was also carried out at lightning speed. The Bible mentions that it was in his 18 th year of reign that Josiah sent his official to urge the priest to get moving with the repairs or restoration of the temple of the Lord (22:3), and it was in the process of this project that the Book of the Law was discovered, likely within a short period of time after the commencement of the project (22:8) The king quickly had the book read to him and he responded with repentance and grief, asking the priest and his official to enquire of the Lord (22:14) The words from the prophetess moved him to gather the entire people to hear the reading of the Law and he led the people to pledge themselves to the observance of the Law (23:3) Now, the Bible says that the king gave order to celebrate the Passover also in his 18 th year of reign (23:23), and we know that the Passover was observed on the 14 th day of the 1 st month (2 Chronicles 35:1). If we interpret the Biblical account literally (which I do not see why we should not), it is likely that all the events preceding the Passover described above happened within the first two weeks of the 18 th year, and the Passover was the first festival mandated by the Law in the year. Since they had just pledged to obey the Law, it would only be logical that they immediately put the pledge into action with the observance of the Passover. According to the Chroniclers, no Passover had been observed like this in Israel since the day of the prophet Samuel; and none of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated such a Passover as did Josiah with the priests, the Levites and all Judah and Israel who were there with the people of Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 35:18). This highlights the fact that since the time of Samuel, i.e. the establishment of kingship, it was the first time that a king initiated and led the nation to remember the deliverance of God that included both Judah and Israel as one united people, and it was celebrated by all the people, not just the priests and the Levites.
The unity and the universality of the celebration of the Passover was such a fitting act of confirming their covenant with the Lord in repentance, in remembering of the salvation of the Lord, in recommitting themselves as the People of God and in acknowledging the Lord as their God! Today, as we observe the Holy Communion, it is also a most fitting time for repentance and reaffirmation of our commitment as one united body of Christ and in acknowledging the lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives. Day 214 Spiritual Pride Josiah, however, would not turn away from him, but disguised himself to engage him in battle. He would not listen to what Necho had said at God s command, but went to fight him on the plain of Megiddo. (2 Chronicles 35:22) With the biblical comment that Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did (2 Kings 23:25), Josiah was likely the most godly king of Israel after David, and with the mentality of time, one would assume that he would die a good death. However, such was not the case. Josiah was killed in the battle. We have no idea why Josiah felt obliged to intercept Pharaoh Necho as he sought to help the king of Assyria (2 Kings 23:29) in his effort to ally with the Assyrians to fight against the rising power of Babylon. But it is clear that Necho felt the presence of God and did so with what he perceived as the command of God. This he made clear to Josiah and the Bible affirms that Necho had said at God s command (2 Chronicles 35:22). The puzzling question is: why didn t Josiah listen? With what we are told in the Bible about Josiah s godliness, we can safely assume that if Josiah knew that God had actually told Necho to hurry up and that his intervention amounted to opposing God (2 Chronicles 35:21), he would definitely refrain from interfering with Necho. So the better question to ask is, Why didn t Josiah believe the words of Necho? We who consider ourselves as spiritual should know the answer. Necho was a pagan and not a God-fearer while Josiah was more than a God-fearer, he loved the Lord. Therefore, the natural question that Josiah had upon hearing the words of Necho was, Why would God speak to you and not to me? or Why would God use you who do not even know Him, to speak to me? The truth of the matter is, God can use anyone or anything He chooses to speak to His people, and I have experienced this myself.
The first summer after I obeyed God s call to full-time ministry and entered seminary, I found myself wanting to find a summer-job to supplement my income. Since I had had some connection with General Motors, I was hoping to find a summer job in Detroit. I happened to share this thought with a former college classmate who was not a born-again Christian; he sternly said, Paul, do not look back! While I was bothered that I was rebuked by someone whom I considered not capable of knowing God s will, I knew deep in my heart that God had sent him to rebuke me. In a moment of humbleness, I instantly remember the incident of Necho and put away my pride and accepted the rebuke. Day 215 Sons of Josiah Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his predecessors had done. (2 Kings 23:36-37) The radical reformation by Josiah did prove to be a futile effort as his successive sons appeared to be totally oblivious to the godly example and influence of their fathers. Since the accounts of 2 Kings are very brief about the deeds of these sons, allow me to supplement here, from the book of Jeremiah, a more detailed summary of one of his sons, Jehoiakim, who was considered Judah s most evil king next to Manasseh: a. He built a plush palace, with huge rooms, many windows, paneled throughout with a fragrant cedar, and painted them a beautiful red. This he accomplished with forced slave labor while his own people were suffering (22:13, 14). b. He was full of selfish greed and dishonesty (22:17). c. He murdered the innocent, oppressed the poor and reigned with ruthlessness (22:17) d. He butchered with a sword a godly and fearless prophet named Uriah, having him first tracked down in Egypt and brought back to Jerusalem (26:23) e. He often attempted to silence the prophet Jeremiah (26:24; 36:19, 26). f. On one occasion he burned a scroll which contained the inspired writings and prophecies of Jeremiah. But this backfired, as the prophet rewrote all the king had burned and added a chilling prophecy against Jehoiakim (36:22, 23, 27-32). (Source: Willmington s Guide to the Bible, 162-3)
It is worth-noting that Jeremiah prophesied about Jehoiakim s death in that he would not be mourned by his immediate family or his servants, and that He will have the burial of a donkey dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem. (22:18-19). Day 216 Fighting Against God So in the ninth year of Zedekiah s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it. (2 Kings 25:1) As Nebuchadnezzar surrounded the city of Jerusalem, we read in Jeremiah 21 that King Zedekiah enquired of the Lord through Jeremiah. The reply of the Lord was of three folds: (1) Nebuchadnezzar was God s instrument to fight against them, and if they choose to resist by holding on to the city, they would be struck down by a plague, and the king, his officials and those who survive the plague would be handed over to Nebuchadnezzar; (2) However, if they surrender, their lives would be spared; and (3) The royal house of David (i.e. the king and the princes) should stop oppressing the people and administer justice. I believe, the Lord was hoping that with this message the king might repent, and presumably he did and ordered the people to proclaim freedom for their slaves which they unfortunately reneged on fairly quickly (Jeremiah 34:8ff). At the end, the king chose to resist the whole army of Nebuchadnezzar and one had to admire his determination because he was able to hold off the mighty army of Babylon for a good one and half years, until the famine was so severe that the only choice they had was to break out of the walls of the city and fled. Zedekiah was captured and his eyes were gouged (2 Kings 25:4-7) and he died in prison (Jeremiah 52:11). It is such a pity that Zedekiah had such great courage to fight against the powerful Nebuchadnezzar, but he did not have the same courage to submit to the will of God. Worse, by fighting against Nebuchadnezzar, he was in fact fighting against God. No one can fight against God and win!
Day 217 Submission is Hard Gedaliah took an oath to reassure them and their men. Do not be afraid of the Babylonian officials, he said. Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. (2 Kings 25:24) Toward the end of the nation of Judah, through the mouths of His prophets, especially Jeremiah s, the Lord had repeatedly confirmed that the destruction of the nation was inevitable, and that the kings and the people should submit to God s will and surrender to their enemies. As we learn from the Book of Jeremiah, it was not a popular message and Jeremiah was put in prison as a result. However, even as the nation was destroyed, God chose to preserve a remnant in Jerusalem and bless them (Jeremiah 42:10-12). In fact, God also promised the eventual return of the exile to Jerusalem in 70 years (Jeremiah 29:10). All they had to do was to submit to the will of God, totally depend on God for their deliverance and well-being, and wait for His timing in the meantime. Unfortunately, they would have none of that and at the assassination of Gedaliah, the remnant chose to flee to Egypt against the express command of the Lord (Jeremiah 42:19ff). It was such an apt ending to that part of the history of Israel in that they thought they were fleeing to freedom; they were in fact fleeing from the presence of the Lord! What a lesson to all of us today as well!
VI. A Time for Silence You have meditated much with your intellectual faculty today. Now have a moment of silence (the length is up to you, 5 or even 30 minutes), and ask God quietly, Lord, is there any important message from you today that I might have missed? Show me, your servant is listening? VII. Supplication Use the following chart to cover people and ministries that you want to remember before the Lord, apart from praying for yourself: Sunday Your family Other people Church Ministries Other Ministries City & World Others Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday VII. Benediction Mat the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart by pleasing in your sight. Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen. (Psalm 19:14)