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2Kings 21-22

Thursday Evening Bible Study

April 11, 2013

Introduction

Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved?

After the death of King Solomon, the kingdom of Israel split into two nations.

The northern kingdom would be known as “Israel”.

The southern kingdom was known as “Judah”.

We’ve now entered that part of history where the northern kingdom has been wiped out and scattered through the Assyrian empire.

We had been looking at the reign of King Hezekiah in the southern kingdom.

He was a truly “good” king.

After the biggest victory of his life, when God destroyed 185,000 Assyrians, Hezekiah was told that he needed to get his affairs in order because he was going to die. Hezekiah pleaded with God, and God healed Hezekiah and gave him fifteen more years to live.

Now we’ll see what his son was like…

21:1-18 Wicked Manasseh

:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.

:1 Manasseh – M@nashsheh – “causing to forget”

He has the same name as the tribe of Manasseh.

He will be known as the worst of all kings of the southern kingdom of Judah.

:1 twelve years old – This would seem to indicate that he was born three years after Hezekiah’s life had been extended, but perhaps not so.

Scholars and tradition has it that this was actually the beginning of a ten year period when Manasseh was “co-regent” with his father. That means that Manasseh was 22 years old when his daddy died.

That also means that when Hezekiah got his warning that he would live another fifteen years, Manasseh was already 7 years old. It seems to be incorrect to think that Manasseh was born after Hezekiah’s health scare (and hence a bad result for a plea for long life). Instead, it would seem that Hezekiah had ten years training Manasseh to be a king before Hezekiah died.

:1 reigned fifty-five years – this is the longest reign of any king in the south.

Sometimes we have this notion that the nicer the king, the longer the reign. Not so.

:1 Hephzibah – Chephtsiy bahh – “my delight is in her”

Gill: it is a tradition of the Jews that she was the daughter of Isaiah, whose name, they say, is not mentioned, because so wicked a king was unworthy of such a grandfather.

This makes Hezekiah’s father-in-law to be the prophet Isaiah.

To me, this is one of the most beautiful names in the Bible.

Can you imagine the prophet Isaiah holding his little baby girl and telling her that “his delight is in her”?

I think every father ought to be telling that to his daughter.

Can you imagine Hezekiah holding his wife and telling her, “my delight is in you”.

I think every husband ought to be telling his wife this.

Isaiah uses this name in one of his prophecies about Jerusalem:

(Is 62:4 NKJV) You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, Nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate; But you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; For the Lord delights in you, And your land shall be married.

5 For as a young man marries a virgin, So shall your sons marry you; And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So shall your God rejoice over you.

Forsaken – ‘azab – to leave; to depart from, abandon, forsake, neglect

The Jews have felt very forsaken, especially those who have endured the Holocaust.

Desolate – sh@mamah – devastation, waste, desolation

Beulah – It means “married”

delighteth – chaphets – to delight in, take pleasure in. The root of “Hephzibah”.

Lesson

Desolation to delight

God would be taking this city of Jerusalem and changing it from a place of desolation, of disappointment, into a place of His delight.

The things we consider to be “mistakes” or “tragedies”, the things that make us feel “forsaken” or “desolate” may not be what we think.

Illustration

A Perfect Mistake

By Cheryl Walterman Stewart

Grandpa Nybakken loved life—especially when he could play a trick on somebody. At those times, his large Norwegian frame shook with laughter while he feigned innocent surprise, exclaiming, “Oh, forevermore!” But on a cold Saturday in downtown Chicago, Grandpa felt that God played a trick on him, and Grandpa wasn’t laughing. Mother’s father worked as a carpenter. On this particular day, he was building some crates for the clothes his church was sending to an orphanage in China. On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone. He remembered putting them there that morning, so he drove back to the church. His search proved fruitless. When he mentally replayed his earlier actions, he realized what happened. The glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and fallen into one of the crates, which he had nailed shut. His brand new glasses were heading for China! The Great Depression was at its height, and Grandpa had six children. He had spent twenty dollars for those glasses that very morning. “It’s not fair,” he told God as he drove home in frustration. “I’ve been very faithful in giving of my time and money to your work, and now this.” Several months later, the director of the orphanage was on furlough in the United States. He wanted to visit all the churches that supported him in China, so he came to speak one Sunday night at my grandfather’s small church in Chicago. Grandpa and his family sat in their customary seats among the sparse congregation. The missionary began by thanking the people for their faithfulness in supporting the orphanage. “But most of all,” he said, “I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year. You see, the Communists had just swept through the orphanage, destroying everything, including my glasses. I was desperate. “Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing those glasses. Along with not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my coworkers and I were much in prayer about this. Then your crates arrived. When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses lying on top.” The missionary paused long enough to let his words sink in. Then, still gripped with the wonder of it all, he continued: “Folks, when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been custom-made just for me! I want to thank you for being a part of that.” The people listened, happy for the miraculous glasses. But the missionary surely must have confused their church with another, they thought. There were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas. But sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face, an ordinary carpenter realized the Master Carpenter had used him in an extraordinary way.

Sometimes God takes the things that are painful for us and uses them in the lives of others.

Though you may FEEL like God thinks you are a disappointment, the truth is that you are His delight!!!

How could it be that God could take someone “forsaken” like me, and make me His delight?

It happened at the cross, where Jesus took all the bad things in my life and cleared them away by dying in my place.

(Is 53:4–5 NKJV) —4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

:2 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.

:2 he did evil

This was one bad king.

He is going to be known as the worst of the worst.

Yet his dad was one of the best kings.

He even possibly ruled with his dad together for ten years.

Lesson

Bad kids and good parents.

I think it’s wrong when we look at people who have “gone bad” and assume that it’s because of their parents that they turned out so bad.

Yes, good parenting has a tendency to turn out good kids, but it’s not a guarantee.

If you’re thinking that bad children are products of dysfunctional families, the problem is there is no such thing as a “perfect” or “functional” family, there are just varying degrees of “dysfunction”.

All of us have sin.

All of us make mistakes.

Think of God’s original children. Could there be a better “Father” than God?

Yet Adam and Eve rebelled against God.

Each person will grow up and have to face God with the consequences of their own actions, and not give excuses like blaming it on their parents.

(Dt 24:16 NKJV) “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin.

:3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.

:3 he rebuilt the high places

We saw how Hezekiah was the first to finally remove these “high places”, and yet Manasseh is quick to restore them back.

:3 made a wooden image

wooden image – ‘asherah – a Phoenician goddess

:4 He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.”

:4 altars in the house of the Lord

These altars are actually inside the “holy place”, inside the doors of the temple itself.

:5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.

:6 Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger.

:6 made his son pass through the fire

This was the worship of Molech, just as the Canaanites and Phoenicians worshipped. It was essentially burning your baby alive in the red hot arms of the statue of Molech.

Molech was formed as a bronze statue with his arms outstretched. He was heated in the fire until he became red hot, and then the little children would be placed in his arms as a sacrifice as the priests beat their drums and yelled their chants to drown out the baby’s screams as it died in the arms of Molech.

:6 practiced soothsaying

The idea is to determine which days are your lucky days and which days are your unlucky days.

This was done either through judging omens (like looking at a cat’s liver to see if it’s going to be a good day) or through astrology (checking your chart).

:6 witchcraft … spiritists … mediums

These were all forbidden by the Lord:

(Dt 18:10–12 NKJV) —10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you.

It’s a mistake to think that all who practice these things are simply hucksters and charlatans. Satan is real, and he has real power. God doesn’t want His people getting sucked into these various things that will open doors to lead them away from God.

:7 He even set a carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the Lord had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever;

:8 and I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers—only if they are careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.”

:7 Asherah … in the house

He actually places the Asherah right in the temple of Yahweh.

:9 But they paid no attention, and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.

:9 Manasseh seduced them

(Pr 29:12 NKJV) If a ruler pays attention to lies, All his servants become wicked.

A ruler isn’t the one solely responsible for the spiritual health of a nation, but a rule has a great influence on a nation.

We ought to be regularly praying for our nation’s leaders.

:10 And the Lord spoke by His servants the prophets, saying,

:10 His servants the prophets

The prophets God at work at this time were: Isaiah, Joel, Nahum, and Habakkuk.

God doesn’t let wickedness continue without addressing it.

God always give plenty of warning.

:11 “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations ( he has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols),

:11 more wickedly than all the Amorites

As we saw in Deut. 18, the things Manasseh was doing were the very things that God brought judgment on the Amorites for.

The Amorites were part of the inhabitants of the land when Joshua brought Israel in to conquer the land.

One of the underlying reasons why the Israelites were to wipe out the inhabitants of the land and not just move in next to them was because it was time for God’s judgment on these wicked people.

And here Manasseh has now brought the nation to the point where they are acting more wickedly than the people God had judged to give them their home.

:12 therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle.

:13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.

:13 the measuring line of Samaria

Measuring lines and plummets are construction tools used to make sure things are built straight and true.

A measuring line was used to measure distance, a plum line is used to measure whether something is standing vertical or not.

It’s the idea that God would be judging the southern kingdom by the same standard that He judged the northern kingdom.

If the northern kingdom didn’t get away with it, neither would the southern kingdom.

Lesson

God’s judgment is uniform.

God doesn’t have different standards of judgment, but one.

He is the fairest of all judges.

Think about some of the things that are happening in our nation.

The breakdown of the family.

We like to complain about the gay agenda trying to redefine marriage, and that’s an appropriate concern.

But what about other aspects of our morality that also tear apart families?

Think about the high divorce rate – how easily we enter into marriage without doing the work that it takes to sustain marriage?

Think about the sexual immorality in the media, even in the hamburger commercials while you’re watching a baseball game.

Addictive substances

Some people are quite upset about the gradual legalization of marijuana and the ripple effects it will have across society.

Personally, I have to say that as a nation we messed up when we went back to legalizing alcohol.

We get so used to one level of sin that we ignore its consequences and start sinking to a lower level of sin (like alcohol to marijuana).

Quote:

Billy Graham has said that if God doesn’t judge the United States for its wickedness, then He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.

Are we praying for our nation?

:13 as one wipes a dish

Time to wash the dirty dishes. Pretty vivid picture.

:14 So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies,

:15 because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.’ ”

:14 deliver them into the hand of their enemies

As we saw on Sunday morning (Daniel 1), this happened in stages.

The first set of captives taken back to Babylon included Daniel, in 605 BC.

The next batch were taken to Babylon, including Ezekiel, in 597 BC.

The final destruction of Jerusalem took place in 586 BC.

:15 since the day their fathers came out of Egypt

Though Manasseh was the straw that broke the camel’s back, this judgment has been building since the time of Moses.

:16 Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord.

:16 shed very much innocent blood

Tradition says that Isaiah was martyred during the reign of Manasseh (696-642) by being sawed in two inside a hollow log.

The writer of Hebrews (11:37) talks about martyrs who were sawn in two.

(Heb 11:37 NKJV) They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword…

The Jewish version of Isaiah’s death goes like this:

“Manasseh sought to kill Isaiah, and he fled from him, and fled to a cedar, and the cedar swallowed him up, all but the fringe of his garment; they came and told him (Manasseh), he said unto them, go and saw the cedar, “and they sawed the cedar”, and blood was seen to come out.”

Manasseh killed his grandfather.

:17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh—all that he did, and the sin that he committed—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

:17 the rest of the acts of Manasseh

We get a little more on Manasseh in 2Chronicles.

(2 Ch 33:10–13 NKJV) —10 And the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen. 11 Therefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon. 12 Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, 13 and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.

:11 bound him with bronze fetters

God had the Assyrians take Manasseh as a prisoner.

Manasseh is listed in the Assyrian records among 22 kings of the “west land” who were servants of the Assyrian king.

Assyrian annals indicate that Esarhaddon (681-669 B.C.) assembled all the kings of the “westland” to secure Ashurbanipal’s succession. Manasseh is listed among the 22 kings of the “Hatti-country” who were in vassalage to Esarhaddon.

:13 heard his supplication

The “Prayer of Manasseh,” one of the 14 books of the O.T. Apocrypha, is based entirely on these four verses.

It has not been considered “inspired” by the church, and though it might have interesting historical value, don’t try to make too much from it ...

Manasses 1:1-15 O Lord Almighty, God of our fathers, of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and of their righteous posterity; 2 thou who hast made heaven and earth with all their order; 3 who hast shackled the sea by thy word of command, who hast confined the deep and sealed it with thy terrible and glorious name; 4 at whom all things shudder, and tremble before thy power, 5 for thy glorious splendor cannot be borne, and the wrath of thy threat to sinners is irresistible; 6 yet immeasurable and unsearchable is thy promised mercy, 7 ¶ for thou art the Lord Most High, of great compassion, long-suffering, and very merciful, and repentest over the evils of men. Thou, O Lord, according to thy great goodness hast promised repentance and forgiveness to those who have sinned against thee; and in the multitude of thy mercies thou hast appointed repentance for sinners, that they may be saved. 8 Therefore thou, O Lord, God of the righteous, hast not appointed repentance for the righteous, for Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, who did not sin against thee, but thou hast appointed repentance for me, who am a sinner. 9 For the sins I have committed are more in number than the sand of the sea; my transgressions are multiplied, O Lord, they are multiplied! I am unworthy to look up and see the height of heaven because of the multitude of my iniquities. 10 I am weighted down with many an iron fetter, so that I am rejected because of my sins, and I have no relief; for I have provoked thy wrath and have done what is evil in thy sight, setting up abominations and multiplying offenses. 11 And now I bend the knee of my heart, beseeching thee for thy kindness. 12 I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I know my transgressions. 13 ¶ I earnestly beseech thee, forgive me, O Lord, forgive me! Do not destroy me with my transgressions! Do not be angry with me for ever or lay up evil for me; do not condemn me to the depths of the earth. For thou, O Lord, art the God of those who repent, 14 and in me thou wilt manifest thy goodness; for, unworthy as I am, thou wilt save me in thy great mercy, 15 and I will praise thee continually all the days of my life. For all the host of heaven sings thy praise, and thine is the glory for ever. Amen.

Lesson

Forgiven

You may feel like you’ve committed the worse sin that’s ever been done.

Yet God offers you His complete forgiveness.

(1 Jn 1:9 NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Even Manasseh was forgiven by God.

Quote:

Forgiveness is always free. But that doesn’t mean that confession is always easy. Sometimes it is hard. Incredibly hard. It is painful (sometimes literally) to admit our sins and entrust ourselves to God’s care.

Erwin W. Lutzer (1941– )

Lesson

Consequences

We’re going to see, that even though Manasseh himself repented, the wickedness he brought into the nation would change it forever.

Sometimes we can fool ourselves into thinking that if we commit a sin, it will be okay because we can just ask repent and all will be okay.

We may indeed be forgiven by God, but that doesn’t eliminate earthly consequences to our sin.

Example:

If you rob a store and get arrested, you may cry out to God for forgiveness while you sit in jail. God will forgive you.

But you will still need to serve your time for your crime.

For Manasseh, we will see that even though he himself repented, the example he had given to his son and the nation had scarred them forever.

:18 So Manasseh rested with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. Then his son Amon reigned in his place.

He wasn’t buried in the normal royal tombs of the good kings of Judah, but was buried in his own palace garden.

21:19-26 Amon

:19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.

:20 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done.

:21 So he walked in all the ways that his father had walked; and he served the idols that his father had served, and worshiped them.

:22 He forsook the Lord God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord.

:21 all the ways that his father had walked

Here is one of the consequences of Manasseh’s sin. His son was just like him.

Lesson

Just like daddy

There’s something in kids that wants to have a hero to follow, an example to follow.

God’s plan is that it should be their parents.

(Pr 17:6 NKJV) Children’s children are the crown of old men, And the glory of children is their father.

Kids have a built in admiration for their parents.

Sometimes it is the good stuff they copy

Play “Umpire” video

Sometimes it is the bad stuff they copy.

With Amon we see a son who copies the worst of his father, but seems to ignore when his father finally gets things straightened out.

Illustration:

After a hard day at the office, a man went home to his wife and three year old daughter. “Have you got a kiss for daddy?” he asked the tot.

“No” she replied.

“I’m ashamed of you!” he teased. “Your daddy works hard all day to bring home money for you and this is how you behave. Come on now where’s my kiss?”

Looking him right in the eye, she answered, “Where’s my money?”

• “Laugh,” The Lion Magazine, Lions Club International, April 1994.

Illustration:

The teacher, after correcting class papers, remarked to the student. “I don’t see how one person can make so many mistakes on his homework.”

The student considered for a moment, then replied, “It wasn’t just one person, my dad helped.”

• Laugh, from The Lion Magazine, Lions Club International, 300 22^nd St., Oak Brook, IL 60521-8842, Dec. 93, Jan. 94.

It may be tough, but we are to be a good example.

(Eph 6:4 NKJV) And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

:23 Then the servants of Amon conspired against him, and killed the king in his own house.

:24 But the people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon. Then the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.

:25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

:26 And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. Then Josiah his son reigned in his place.

Like his father, he is denied a burial in the royal tombs but is buried in the royal gardens.

22:1-2 Josiah Reigns

:1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.

:2 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

:1 Josiah was eight years old

We have another boy king.

:2 he did what was right

This will be the last of the good kings.

2Kings doesn’t record this, but 2Chronicles tells us that something happened when Josiah was sixteen.

(2 Ch 34:3 NKJV) For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images.

He began to seek God when he was sixteen.

When he was twenty, he began to clean things up, removing the mess his father had made.

22:3-7 Temple Repairs

:3 Now it came to pass, in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the scribe, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the house of the Lord, saying:

:4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money which has been brought into the house of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people.

:5 And let them deliver it into the hand of those doing the work, who are the overseers in the house of the Lord; let them give it to those who are in the house of the Lord doing the work, to repair the damages of the house—

:6 to carpenters and builders and masons—and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house.

:7 However there need be no accounting made with them of the money delivered into their hand, because they deal faithfully.”

:3 in the eighteenth year of King Josiah

Josiah is now 26 years old.

:3 Shaphan the scribe

Shaphan = “rock badger”

Shaphan is one of those “unsung heroes” in the Bible. We don’t even recognize his name, though it pops up if you will look for it.

Only here and in the parallel passage in 2Chronicles do we see the actions of Shaphan himself, but we see his name pop up in other ways.

But in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, there are several people that come up, who are all descendants of “Shaphan”, possibly this guy.

You can check them out when you read through those books. (Jer. 26:24; 29:3; 36:10; 39:14; Eze. 8:11)

One of them was a man who rescued Jeremiah from people who wanted to kill the prophet:

(Je 26:24 NKJV) Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

We’re going to see Ahikam later in this chapter.

Another one was a man who was sensitive enough to the Lord to realize that Jeremiah was really speaking for the Lord, and called everybody’s attention to it:

(Je 36:11 NKJV) When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the book,

Another of these descendants is appointed governor by Nebuchadnezzar.

(2 Ki 25:22 NKJV) Then he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left.

He was Shaphan’s grandson, by Ahikam.

Shaphan is one of those people that you don’t pay much attention to, but he seems to have a large influence behind the scenes.

Lesson

The good influence

To be honest, Shaphan was probably known as a very important person in Josiah’s day.

Yet to us, we hardly bother with him, we pass right over him.

Yet the closer you look, the more you realize the impact this man’s life had.

But he was an important part of God’s plan back in Josiah’s time.

He was a scribe - a person trained in writing skills and used to record events and decisions. During the Exile in Babylon educated scribes apparently became the experts in God’s written word, copying, preserving, and teaching it (like Ezra).

He was a part of the temple restoration.

He also raised a family that would impact many other lives (especially Jeremiah’s!)

:4 Hilkiah the high priest

Some say that this isn’t the same guy, but there’s another Hilkiah who is the father of Jeremiah:

(Je 1:1 NKJV) The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,

Anathoth was one of the cities that had been given to the priests to live in from the tribe of Benjamin, and was only 2 1/3 miles northeast of Jerusalem.

Interesting possibility…

:6 to repair the house

During the reigns of Manasseh and Amon, the Temple had begun to fall into disrepair.

We saw during the reign of Jehoash (2Kings 12), that there was a box in the Temple set up for people to put their money in.

This money is now going to be again used to take care of the repairs.

There were three categories of these finances:

census money

This was money that every person twenty years and older was obliged to pay every time they were “numbered” (Ex 30:13,14)

It was a half shekel for the ransom of their souls, and it is called the collection or burden Moses laid on them in the wilderness (2Ch 24:6,9)

assessment money

When a man makes a vow, changes his mind, and then has to buy himself out of it (Le 27:1-8), he had to pay for not giving God what he had promised.

The Targum calls it “the money of the redemption of souls”

a man purposes in his heart

Money that a person decides freely in their own heart that they want to give to the Lord.

22:8-20 Finding the Book

:8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.

:8 I have found the Book of the Law

This would be the writings of Moses, the first five books of the Bible, known as the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy).

Some feel that because of the wording in the parallel passage, that this might have actually been Moses’ own copy of the Law:

(2 Ch 34:14 NKJV) Now when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord given by Moses.

But keep in mind, if this was Moses’ handwriting, it’s 700 years old.

Some have suggested that this was a copy of the Law that was kept in the Holy of Holies, according to:

(Dt 31:25–26 NKJV) —25 that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying: 26 “Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there as a witness against you;

It is thought that during the reign of Manasseh, all the copies of the Scriptures had been destroyed, except for this one copy, possibly hidden by someone in the temple.

As Hilkiah’s crew has begun the restoration work, someone comes across the hidden Scriptures.

Could you imagine a church where people didn’t know anything about God’s Word?

:9 So Shaphan the scribe went to the king, bringing the king word, saying, “Your servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of those who do the work, who oversee the house of the Lord.”

:10 Then Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

:11 Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes.

:11 he tore his clothes

This was Josiah’s response to hearing the Word of God.

Lesson

Rediscovering the Word

For some of us, perhaps we’ve lost a little of the wonder that comes from reading through the Bible the first time.

God still wants to show you things, some for the very first time.

It’s alive. It continues to work.

(Heb 4:12 NKJV) For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Play “It’s Alive” clip

Ask God to speak to you as you read your Bible. Open it up expecting Him to speak. Pay attention to Him. Discover His Word.

Sometimes it might shock us when we actually pay attention to what it says.

It might make us tear our clothes in grief.

:12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying,

:13 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

:13 great is the wrath of the Lord

Josiah understands just how serious it is.

Perhaps Shaphan read to him where God promised judgment if the people would not turn to Him:

(Le 26:31–33 NKJV) —31 I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas. 32 I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it. 33 I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.

If you had been in Josiah’s place, seeing the idolatry that your father and grandfather had done, watching the wickedness in the land around you, how would you have responded? You might have torn your clothes too.

:14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke with her.

:14 Huldah the prophetess

Lesson

God uses women

Huldah isn’t the only woman that God had spoken through.

There was Miriam (Ex.15), and Deborah (Judg.5).

Why didn’t they go to consult Jeremiah or Zephaniah?

We don’t know.

Perhaps their ministries weren’t yet completely established.

Jeremiah had only been prophesying for 5 years.

Perhaps they were out of town (Jeremiah may have been in Anathoth???)

Perhaps Huldah was older with a more established reputation.

The evangelist Philip had some interesting girls:

(Ac 21:9 NKJV) Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.

Joel prophesied about the end times:

(Joe 2:28 NKJV) “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.

:15 Then she said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me,

:16 “Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants—all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read—

:17 because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath shall be aroused against this place and shall not be quenched.’ ” ’

:16 I will bring calamity on this place

God is going to keep His promise and bring judgment on the nation.

It doesn’t do any good to warn your kids about the consequences of their disobedience if you never follow through with the punishment.

:18 But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, in this manner you shall speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Concerning the words which you have heard—

:19 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the Lord.

:20 Surely, therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place.” ’ ” So they brought back word to the king.

:20 gathered to your grave in peace

Even though Josiah would die in a battle, but his death wasn’t because of judgment, it was because of his own stupidity.

We talked on Sunday about the coming climactic battle between Babylon and the Assyrians at Carchemish in 605 BC.

The Assyrians were allied with the Egyptians to hold off the Babylonians.

Josiah would try to intervene because he liked the Babylonians. Josiah would try to stop the Egyptians as they marched north to Carchemish, and he fought with them in a battle at Megiddo, and he died.

It was one of those stupid moments where a guy tries to do what he thinks is the right thing, and it’s not.

But he didn’t die because of God’s judgment on Josiah’s kingdom.

That would come a couple of years after Josiah’s death.

:19 because your heart was tender

tender – rakak – to be tender, be soft, be weak; to be timid, be fearful; to be softened, be penitent; soft like wax, impressionable.

Lesson

A tender heart

If we’re not careful, we can allow our hearts to grow callused. We get hurt by circumstances in life. We get hurt by people. And we can allow our hearts to grow stiff and hard. Jeremiah the prophet wrote around this time:

(Je 4:3–4 NKJV) —3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns. 4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, And take away the foreskins of your hearts, You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Lest My fury come forth like fire, And burn so that no one can quench it, Because of the evil of your doings.”

God pays attentions to hearts that are tender towards Him.

David wrote:

(Ps 51:17 NKJV) The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.