Sunday
Evening Bible Study
September 22, 2002
Introduction
We've been looking at the reigns of the various kings of Israel.
We are now in the home stretch, with the last of the good kings, Josiah.
He becomes king when he is eight years old, after his father had been
assassinated (2Ki.21:24; 22:1).
It wasn’t until he was sixteen years old that he came to know the Lord:
(2 Chr
34:3 KJV) For in the eighth year of his
reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his
father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the
carved images, and the molten images.
When he was twenty, in his 12th year, he began to clean up the country of
idolatry.
2Kings 22
:1-2 Josiah reigns in Judah
:1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign,
Josiah – Yo’shiyah – “whom Jehovah heals”
:2 he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD,
right – yashar – straight, upright, correct, right
:3-7 Temple
Restoration begins
:3 in the eighteenth year of king
Josiah,
He's now 26 years old.
:3 Shaphan
Shaphan = "rock badger"
As you read through the Bible over and over, you come across things that
kind of connect to each other and you wonder.
For me, this name is one of those "connections". As I came across it, it kind of rang a bell
in my head.
This is the first time chronologically in Scripture that the name "Shaphan" is found.
Only here and in the parallel passage in 2Chronicles is it used to describe
a specific individual who is the subject of attention.
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 him dead:
Jer 26:24 Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam
the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they
should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death. (AV)
We're going to see him later in this chapter.
One of these descendants even is appointed the temporary governor over the
land by Nebuchadnezzar.
2Ki 25:22 ¶ And [as for] the people that
remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left,
even over them he made Gedaliah
the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler. (AV)
He was Shaphan's grandson, by Ahikam.
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:
Jer 36:11
When Michaiah
the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the
LORD, (AV) ...
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:
What seems
insignificant to us is important to the Lord.
Actually, I have to be honest with you, that Shaphan
back in Josiah's day was probably known as a very important person.
Yet to us, we hardly bother with him, we pass right over him.
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:
Jer 1:1 The
words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that [were] in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: (AV)
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 ...
:4 the keepers of the door
Sometimes these "keepers" are looked upon as guards at the
temple.
The Hebrew word here (shamar) actually means
"to keep, guard"
:5 to repair the breaches of the
house,
The temple had been greatly neglected and needed repair.
:7 no reckoning made with them …because
they dealt faithfully.
Because these workmen had such a good reputation, there were no audits or reports
required of how they spent the money on the temple.
Lesson:
Faithfulness has it's rewards.
The word used in our verse is:
'emuwnah
- firmness,
fidelity, steadfastness, steadiness
from
'emuwn - faithfulness, trusting
which is from 'aman - to
support, confirm, be faithful.
... and this word is found in ...
Among other things, David tells of the qualifications of those who would
like to go to work for him:
(Psa 101:6 KJV) Mine eyes shall
be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.
I was thinking about how that would make a great item for
a description of a job qualification at church - "faithfulness".
I think it's also one of God's job qualifications.
Hang in there!
Sometimes we get to wondering what good it's doing being the
"faithful" employee.
"But it's not doing any good, nobody notices what I'm doing ..."
(Col 3:22-25 KJV)
Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not
with eyeservice, as menpleasers;
but in singleness of heart, fearing God: {23} And whatsoever ye do, do it
heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; {24} Knowing that of the Lord ye
shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. {25}
But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and
there is no respect of persons.
God sees. And that's what's really important.
:8-20 The Book is found
:8 I have found the book of the law
in the house of the LORD.
The book of the law refers to the writings of Moses, the first five
books of the Bible (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:
2Ch 34:14 And when they
brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the
priest found a book of the law of the LORD [given] by Moses. (AV)
Some have suggested that this was a copy of the Law that was kept in the
Holy of Holies, according to:
(Deu
31:25-26 KJV) That Moses commanded the
Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, {26} Take this
book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD
your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.
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.
Wouldn't it be sad if we were a church that was so far removed from God's
Word, that it somehow got lost in all the garbage?
Lesson
Rediscovering God’s Word.
:10 Shaphan
read it before the king.
I wonder how much he read.
I think he at least read Lev. 26 or Deut. 28.
That's where God's promises of judgment are given to the people if they
don't obey His laws.
:11 he rent his clothes.
Josiah is so terrified with the promises of judgment in the book, that he
goes into mourning, tearing his clothes.
:13 Go ye, inquire of the LORD for
me,
Josiah wants to know just how bad a situation they're really in.
:13 for great is the wrath of the
LORD that is kindled against us
Josiah understands just how serious it is.
Perhaps Shaphan read to him where God promised judgment
if the people would not turn to Him:
(Lev 26:31-33 KJV) And I will make your cities waste, and bring
your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour
of your sweet odours. {32} And I will bring the land
into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at
it. {33} And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword
after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.
Lesson:
God's Word produces action.
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?
Josiah realized that some changes needed to be made, and they needed to be
made right away.
:14 Huldah
the prophetess,
Huldah = "weasel"
Huldah isn't the only woman that God had spoken.
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.
Lesson:
God can speak through women too!
The evangelist Philip had some interesting girls:
Ac 21:9 And the same man had four daughters, virgins,
which did prophesy. (AV)
Joel prophesied about the end times:
Joe 2:28
And it shall come to pass afterward, [that] I will pour out my spirit upon all
flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams,
your young men shall see visions: (AV)
I think we would draw a line at a woman being a pastor-teacher, according
to 1Tim.2:12 ... (that's another study ...)
(1Ti 2:12 But I
suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in
silence.)
:16 Behold, I will bring evil upon
this place,
God is going to keep His promise and bring judgment on the nation.
:19-20 Because thine 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.
thou hast humbled thyself – kana‘–
to be humble, be humbled, be subdued, be brought down, be low, be under, be
brought into subjection
Lesson
A tender heart
God pays attentions to
hearts that are tender towards Him.
David wrote:
Ps 51:17 The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit:
a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. (AV)
:20 gathered into thy grave in
peace;
Even though Josiah would die in a battle, it was a battle with Egypt,
and it wasn't one that God had led him into because of judgment.
It was a battle he got himself.
The overall judgments that God would bring on Judah
would not occur in Josiah's lifetime.
:20 thine eyes shall not see all the
evil which I will bring upon this place.
Nebuchadnezzar's first attack came four years after Josiah's death.
You kind of get the idea that Josiah kind of postponed God's judgment
because of his heart, his actions, and his prayers.
2Kings 23
:1-14 Reforms begin
:2 he read in their ears all the
words of the book
This might have been done because God specifically commands the kings to be
one of those who was most familiar with God's Word:
Deut. 17:18-20 And it shall be, when he sitteth
upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a
book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read
therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God,
to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: 20 That his heart be not lifted up above his
brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand,
or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and
his children, in the midst of Israel.
I think this is a wonderful example for all of us who find ourselves in
positions of leadership, even as a leader in our homes.
Lesson:
Lead with God’s Word.
Are you the one in your home who is the most familiar with God’s Word?
I think it starts with us as parents, keeping in God's Word daily
ourselves.
I think we ought to be reading God’s Word with and to our kids.
It's too easy to get busy with our own projects, or just let them sit and
watch TV.
Illustration:
The Christian home is the seedbed from which springs personal piety and
much of the vitality of both church and state. Richard Baxter discovered this
truth in a very practical way. As a
young preacher he was called to a large parish composed primarily of people who
seemed more interested in their social status than in understanding and obeying
the Word of God.
Baxter was disturbed by the spiritual coldness of his parishioners and
found his work extremely difficult.
After much prayer and heart- searching to know the will of God, the
young pastor was confident that he had received the answer. "I believe the way to save the church
and this community," he said to a friend, "is to establish family
altars in the homes of my members."
He spent the next three years in visitation, earnestly pleading with his
people to set aside a time each day for prayer and Bible study.
Soon his congregation began to catch fire with a new zeal for God. Those
who rededicated their homes exerted such a strong spiritual influence that his
church was revived and was being filled with sturdy saints and receptive
hearts. His ministry became increasingly
effective because many of his people had followed the example of the patriarch
Joshua who declared unequivocally, "...as for me and my house, we will
serve the Lord."
:3 the king stood by a pillar
This is just what kings do. This is
where the kings would stand for important occasions or announcements
(2Ki.11:14)
:3 all the people stood to the
covenant.
This is their way of agreeing to obey the covenant.
We are told:
2Ch 34:33
And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that
[pertained] to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, [even] to serve the LORD their God. [And]
all his days they departed not from following the LORD, the God of their
fathers. (AV)
Josiah brought about a kind of reformation among the people.
But BEWARE!
Lesson:
Outward reforms don't always tell what's going
on inside.
During Josiah's time, the nation got rid of lots of idolatry, it had to, it
was the law of the land.
Josiah would rule for 13 more years from this point until his death (he
ruled for 31 years, this is his 18th year ...)
But after Josiah was gone, the people went back to what they REALLY wanted
to do.
The prophet Jeremiah tells us that after Josiah died, the people simply
went back to their evil ways because that’s what they wanted to do all along (Jer. 26).
Are the changes in your life real, or are they "enforced"?
What do you do when nobody's around?
This is why we need a little reserve in our response when a person
"accepts" the Lord.
We hope and pray that it's a true conversion.
The test is what happens over time, and whether or not the person actually
allows God to make changes in them.
:4 the priests of the second order
I think this probably refers to how the priests were divided into
divisions. David had divided the priests
up into 24 divisions, and they rotated “shifts” (1Chr. 24:7)
:7 the houses of the sodomites,
There had been male prostitutes who lived right next door to the temple.
Josiah put them out of business.
:8 from Geba
to Beersheba,
Geba was on the northern border of Judah,
Beersheba was the southernmost
part.
:9 the priests of the high places
came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem,
There were Levitical priests who had been
offering worship, presumably to Yahweh, but out on the high places.
Josiah did not allow these men to come and lead worship through sacrifices
in the temple of Jerusalem.
He did allow them to eat unleavened bread with the other priests, though.
:10 he defiled Topheth,
This was the place where the Molech worshippers offered their children to
Molech.
:10 the valley of the children of Hinnom,
This was a valley on the south side of mount
Zion.
Also later known as "Gehenna", which
became a picture of hell.
:13 which Solomon the king of Israel
had builded for Ashtoreth
It's kind of interesting that Solomon's idols were still around in Josiah's
day.
He dealt with even the very old things, things that had lingered on and on.
:14 filled their places with the
bones of men.
This is the best way to “gross out” the “gods” of these places of idol
worship.
It's kind of scary to think of how Josiah had been cleansing the land of
idols since his 12th year, and all this stuff was still left!
Before, he was operating according to his conscience, hopefully being led
somewhat by the Spirit of God.
Yet now he’s operating according to God’s Word.
Lesson:
God's Word brings deep cleansing.
We can certainly grow a lot as we simply learn to obey the leading of the
Holy Spirit.
But the problem is that the Holy Spirit has to work through a sinful
person, you.
And we don't always like to be as honest with ourselves as we ought to be.
We tell ourselves, "Well, just a few nice pictures of
pretty girls can't be all that bad ... after all, it's all part of God's
creation, isn't it?"
We can be pretty easy on ourselves.
But when we stay in God's Word, it doesn't mess around with us!
(Heb 4:12 KJV) For
the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of
soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart.
God's Word gets right to the point.
2Tim. 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness: 17 That the man of God
may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good
works.
Stay in the Word!
:15-20 Cleaning up Bethel
:15 the altar that was at Bethel,
and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel
to sin,
Bethel – “the house of
God”
This was the big thing that had contributed the most to the fall of the
northern kingdom.
Jeroboam felt that if his people were allowed to go back to Jerusalem
to worship during the regular feasts, that they might end up leaving his
country for good.
So he devised a counterfeit religion, to keep the people satisfied, and
they worshipped golden calves in the cities of Dan in the north, and Bethel
in south of Israel.
:16 according to the word of the
LORD which the man of God proclaimed,
At the time that Jeroboam had set up his false worship, a prophet came up
to Bethel and warned that it would
be destroyed by a person named Josiah.
(1 Ki
13:2 KJV) And he cried against the altar
in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold,
a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee
shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and
men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.
Lesson:
God has a plan for you.
Josiah isn't the only one that God has had a plan for.
(Eph 2:10 KJV) For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath
before ordained that we should walk in them.
We are God's "made-things", His "poema", his
works of beauty.
God has "good works" which He was already set up
ahead of time for us to do.
All we have to do is do them.
:18 Let him alone; let no man move
his bones.
Out of respect for the prophet that had prophesied concerning himself, he
let the guys bones alone.
:21-23 The Passover is held
:21 Keep the passover
...
The people had forgotten about the Passover.
The Passover was Israel's
oldest feast, celebrating the one event that really pulled them together as a
nation, when they were delivered from slavery in Egypt.
You can read more details about this Passover in 2Chron.35.
:22 Surely there was not holden such a passover from the
days of the judges
The parallel passage states:
2Ch 35:18 And there was no passover
like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did
all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as
Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that
were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. (AV)
That's quite a statement, considering the people that had been around
between Samuel's day and Josiah's day.
That includes people like King David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat, and even Josiah's
great-grandfather, Hezekiah.
Hezekiah had held a passover after restoring
temple worship, but his passover had some problems:
They had to hold it a month late because the people couldn't get
spiritually prepared in time.
Many of the priests were still spiritually unready when they celebrated,
and the people also had arrived at the feast in an "unclean"
condition.
When people from the north had been invited to the feast, they only laughed
at Hezekiah.
Yet with Josiah's passover, everything was in tip-top
condition, and the feast was held exactly as the Lord had commanded it should
be.
Lesson:
The "good old days" might still be
ahead of us.
Sometimes it's easy for us to look back through history and think
longingly, "I sure wish I could have lived then ..."
I've been reading the autobiography of Charles Finney, and the history of
the revivals that took place in New York
and Pennsylvania during his life.
I read the stories and think, "Gosh, I wish we could have times like
that now ..."
Why not?
The best times don't have to be the ones far in the past, there's plenty of
room for "best times" in our own future.
What made Josiah's passover
so great?
As I've read it, there seems to be one thing that stands out the most as a
reason why Josiah's passover is held up as being so
great.
2Ki 23:21 And the
king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover
unto the LORD your God, as [it is] written in the book of this covenant. (AV)
Josiah had a particularly special relationship with God's Word.
It had radically changed his life when he discovered the
book!
And now he's being careful to do everything, including
celebrating this feast, exactly as the Book says.
Summary:
The greatest days of revival could actually be ahead of us.
The key is whether or not we'll live according to the Word of God or not.
If we choose to compromise our lives and let the world
influence us, we'll be limited.
:24-28 More cleansing
:25 like unto him was there no king
before him
Something very similar was said of his great-grandfather, Hezekiah:
2Ki 18:5 He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all
the kings of Judah, nor [any] that were before him. (AV)
Gill: Hezekiah might excel him in
some things, as Josiah might excel Hezekiah in others.
:25 that 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;
heart
lebab - inner man, mind, will, heart,
soul, understanding
soul
nephesh - soul, self, life, creature,
person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion
might
m@`od - might, force, abundance
It's kind of interesting to see that there's only one other verse in the
Bible that uses these same three Hebrew words (heart, soul, might) like this:
De 6:4-5 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God [is] one LORD: 5 And
thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy might. (AV)
Lesson:
Passion AND the Word
It seems that often churches tend to fall into one of two categories.
There are churches with a lot of passion, with an emphasis on emotional
experiences, yet aren't real strong when it comes to teaching the Bible.
The danger is that they can get off track by basing
everything upon an emotional experience.
Their whole goal is to get the people pumped up
emotionally.
There are churches that stress the Bible, and yet don't have much passion
in them.
They're deader than a doorknob when it comes to passion
for the Lord.
But they know their Bible.
We need BOTH!
We need a balance of passion for the Lord, but guided by a grounding in
God's Word.
Illustration:
They're like two wings of an airplane.
You don't get off the ground unless you have a balance between the two.
:26 Notwithstanding the LORD turned
not from the fierceness of his great wrath,
It was already too late. God's judgment for the many years of the peoples'
sin was already on it's way.
It's not that Josiah's revival didn't do any good.
We saw last week that God promised to wait until after Josiah was king for
the judgment to come.
Lesson:
Judgment is still coming.
We need to have our eyes opened that even if there is one last great
revival before the Lord comes back, it still won't change the fact that He must
bring judgment on the world.
But there's no reason we shouldn't be praying to snatch as many as we can
from the jaws of hell.
:26 because of all the provocations
that Manasseh had provoked him
Even with Manasseh, even though he repented, he had caused such widespread
immorality, that the nation never recovered from it.
:29-30 Josiah's death
:29 Pharaohnechoh
king of Egypt
went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates:
By now, 609 b.c., Assyria
had become so weak that she had lost practically all her empire, especially to
the Babylonians (or Chaldeans).
Nineveh (the capitol of Assyria)
had fallen three years earlier, in 612, and the Assyrians had moved their
forces around the cities of Haran
and Carchemish
on the upper Euphrates River.
The Babylonians decided to it was time to completely wipe out the Assyrians,
and advanced to attach at Carchemish.
Egypt was
more fearful of Babylonia than Assyria,
and launched an attack through Palestine
with the idea of coming to Assyria's assistance at Charchemish.
This would be one of the great battles of history.
:29 king Josiah went against him;
and he slew him at Megiddo,
Josiah apparently like the Babylonians best (kind of a pennant race), and
decided to do a little warring of his own, trying to trip up the Egyptians on
their way to rescue the Assyrians.
He met Pharoah Neco at Megiddo,
the same battle field as Armageddon, in the valley
of Jezreel, in the north of Israel.
But instead of helping the Babylonians, Josiah ended up dead.
Neco proceeded after his brief interruption with
Josiah, on up to Carchemish,
where he joined with the Assyrians in 609 b.c. For three years they gave the Babylonians a
lot of trouble, until in 605 b.c., Nebuchadnezzar
gave a surprise attack, wiping out the city, and chasing the Egyptians as far
south as Hamath.
Lesson:
Walking with God doesn't exempt you from stupid mistakes.
Here's this great, righteous king.
But he makes a great big, stupid, bozo mistake.
He should have never tried to take on Pharaoh Neco.
Neco even tried to warn Josiah, but Josiah didn't
pay any attention to the warnings. (2Chronicles 35:21-25)
I think that often we can get the idea that as long as we're going to Bible
Studies, having daily Quiet Times, and even praying a little every once in a
while, that whatever we do will magically turn out wonderful.
As if we can make no mistakes.
It's not that simple.
It's only as we're seeking the Lord, and obeying HIS leading that we can
make no mistakes.
But if we aren't paying attention to God's leading, we can make some pretty
BIG mistakes.
:31-34 The short reign of
Jehoahaz
:31 Jehoahaz
Jehoahaz = "Jehovah has seized"
He also had another name, Shallum (Shallum = "retribution")
Josiah actually had four sons, three of whom would take a shot at ruling
over Judah.
1Ch 3:15 And the
sons of Josiah [were], the firstborn Johanan, the
second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth
Shallum. (AV)
:31 he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
Not very long.
:32 he did that which was evil in
the sight of the LORD,
Instead of following in his father's footsteps, he quickly reverts to wicked
ways. I wonder just how much trouble he could get into in three months?
:33 Pharaohnechoh
put him in bands
bands – chains
Because Josiah had gone out to battle against the Egyptians, and lost, the
nation of Judah
was now under the control of the Egyptians, and Pharaoh Neco
decided who he wanted to be ruling the country.
Apparently Jehoahaz was not too sympathetic to the Egyptians. So he was
arrested.
:33 Riblah in the land
of Hamath,
Riblah is about 65 miles north of Damascus.
Apparently, Neco summons Jehoahaz northward to
check him out, and when he got there, had him put in chains.
:33 a tribute of an hundred talents
of silver, and a talent of gold.
100 talents of silver = 3 3/4 tons of silver
a talent of gold = 75 pounds of gold
It's at this time that the Lord gives a prophecy to Jeremiah regarding
Jehoahaz (Jer. 22:10-13),
he’s going to die in captivity.
:34 Pharaohnechoh
made Eliakim the son of Josiah king
Neco wanted to be the one deciding who should be
king, and he chooses another of Josiah's sons, Eliakim.
Eliakim = "God raises" or
"God sets up"
:34 turned his name to Jehoiakim,
Jehoiakim = "Jehovah raises up"
The practice of changing another person's name was done to show a person
who was in charge.
:35-37 Jehoiakim
reigns in Judah
:35 but he taxed the land to give
the money
Jehoiakim paid what Pharaoh asked, but he did it
by taxing the people extra to make up for it, so it didn't cost him anything.
:36 Jehoiakim
was twenty and five years
He was actually two years older than his brother Jehoahaz, who was 23
(vs.31)
:37 did that which was evil
Another rotten apple.
2Kings 24
:1-4 Jehoiakim's
reign
:1 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
came up
In 605 b.c., Nebuchadnezzar finally defeated the
Egyptians in a battle at Carchemish.
Later that year, he came through the land
of Judah to make sure that his new
conquest, all of Egypt's
territories was in control.
The beginning of the end has started.
Josiah the good king is dead, and now, three years later, the serious
trouble begins.
He makes Jehoiakim his servant, and at the same
time, takes some captives back with him to Babylon,
including the prophet Daniel and his friends.
Lesson:
Hang in there.
God spoke to Jeremiah:
Jer 12:5 If
thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou
contend with horses? and [if] in the land of peace, [wherein] thou trustedst, [they wearied thee], then how wilt thou do in
the swelling of Jordan? (AV)
I'm not sure exactly when Jeremiah received this prophecy (it's kind of
unclear), but perhaps it was as early as during the times of good Josiah.
And Jeremiah was getting tired out in his ministry then, how would he ever
handle it when the persecution comes, when the city would be under siege, when
people would die from Nebuchadnezzar's armies?
We go through tough times and think we can’t handle any more.
Yet God is building endurance in us.
Endurance only comes from enduring hard times.
You don’t learn to swim unless you get in the water. You don’t learn to endure unless you endure.
:1 Jehoiakim
became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him.
Instead of sending his tribute money to Egypt,
he now sent it to Babylon.
After three years, he decided to rebel against Babylon,
possibly with a promise of help from Egypt.
:2 the LORD sent against him bands
of the Chaldees ...
According to Eupolemus, this army consisted of
Medes and Babylonians, and, besides 10,000 chariots, there were in it 180,000
footmen, and 120,000 horsemen.
:3 Surely at the commandment of the
LORD came this upon Judah
We don't often like to think of this, but this is God's judgment.
Somehow we get the idea that God only does happy, flowery, sweet, and
gentle things in our lives.
But God is also a God of judgment.
Lesson:
Judgement will come
Peter writes:
(2 Pet 3:10-12 KJV) But the day of the Lord will come as a thief
in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and
the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that
are therein shall be burned up. {11} Seeing then that all these things shall be
dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and
godliness, {12} Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God,
wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat?
:4 for the sins of Manasseh,
We've mentioned this before, that even though Manasseh himself repented in
the end of his sins, the things he had done had so influenced the nation, that
they never were able to fully recover and repent from the wickedness that had
been brought about.
:5-7 Jehoiakim's
death
:6 Jehoiakim
slept with his fathers:
It's a little unclear as to just how he died, though he died shortly after
being taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar.
We are told in 2Chronicles that Nebuchadnezzar came to take him away in
chains to Babylon:
(2 Chr
36:6-7 KJV) Against him came up
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon. {7} Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels
of the house of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.
It was a few years before this that Jeremiah had a prophesy from the Lord concerning
Jehoiakim (Jer. 22:13-30).
In the prophecy, God warned Jehoiakim about
his greed and violent temper. And now the warning has come to pass.
:6 Jehoiachin
Jehoiachin = "Jehovah establishes"
Also known as "Coniah"
Coniah = "Jehovah will establish"
The son of Jehoiakim, the grandson of Josiah, now
takes the throne.
:7 the king of Egypt
came not again any more
Even though Josiah had fought against Egypt,
his son, Jehoiakim, was a friend of Egypt,
having been made king by Pharaoh Neco.
It is thought that when Jehoiakim rebelled
against Nebuchadnezzar, he did it in 601 b.c., when Egypt
was able to successfully keep the Babylonians from crossing their border.
But now, the "friend" of Judah
could give no more help because Nebuchadnezzar had conquered everything from
the Nile to the Euphrates.
Lesson:
You can't always count on your friends to bail
you out.
The kings of Judah
too often were counting on others to bail them out.
What they needed to do was to repent and get right with God.
Solomon wrote:
Pr 18:24 A man of
[many] friends [comes] to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a
brother. (NAS)
David wrote:
Ps 34:4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and
delivered me from all my fears. (AV)
:8-9 Jehoiachin's
reign
:9 he did that which was evil
All the kings after Josiah were “evil”.
:10-17 Nebuchadnezzar comes
:10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
came up against Jerusalem,
This could be in response to Jehoiachin’s father
(Jehoiakim) rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar and
refusing to pay tribute (24:1).
:12 Jehoiachin
the king of Judah
went out to the king of Babylon,
He wisely surrenders to Nebuchadnezzar.
Jehoiachin surrendered the city to the
Babylonians on March 16, 597 B.C.
:12 he, and his mother, and his
servants, and his princes, and his officers:
Jehoiachin is taken captive along with his
mother, just as Jeremiah prophesied:
Jer 22:26 And I
will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where
ye were not born; and there shall ye die. (AV)
:12 in the eighth year of his reign.
In the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, not Jehoiachin's.
:13 all the treasures ...
This time, Nebuchadnezzar takes everything that's valuable out of the
kingdom.
It seems he doesn't want the nation to have anything to make treaties with
other countries with.
:13 as the LORD had said.
Over a hundred years ago, Jehoiachin's ancestor,
King Hezekiah had entertained visitors from the distant kingdom
of Babylon.
He thought he'd impress these men, and in his pride, gave the visitors a
tour of all his wealth, showing them everything he had.
I wonder if those very emissaries reported to their king, who had it
recorded in their archives about all the wealth in the kingdom
of Judah.
After they had left, the prophet Isaiah paid a visit to the king and asked
about what happened:
2Kings 20:14-18 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king
Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they
unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon. 15 And
he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things
that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that
I have not shewed them. 16 And Isaiah
said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD. 17 Behold, the days come, that all that is in
thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day,
shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. 18 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee,
which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the
palace of the king of Babylon.
:14 even ten thousand captives,
Among those taken to Babylon
(in 597 b.c.) in this second group (the first went in
605 b.c., including Daniel) is the prophet Ezekiel,
who was one of the priests.
His prophetic ministry will start when he gets to Babylon:
Eze 1:2-3 In
the fifth [day] of the month, which [was] the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity, 3
The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans
by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was
there upon him. (AV)
The major prophets at work during this time:
Jeremiah was in Jerusalem,
ministering to the people in Judah.
Daniel was taken to Babylon,
and had a ministry to the kings in Babylon,
even rising himself to be the second most powerful man in the world at the
time.
Ezekiel was one of the captives, and his role was to minister to the Jews
who were in captivity in Babylon.
This time of the Babylonian captivity was one of the most important times
in the history of the nation Israel.
It was the thing that finally got the Jews free from worshipping other
gods.
Lesson:
Trials can be meant to purify us.
Heb 12:11 Now no
chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but
grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the
peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
(AV)
The Jews were being "spanked", and they learned from it, they
learned to get rid of their idolatry.
:17 Mattaniah
his father's brother king in his stead,
Mattaniah = “gift of Jehovah”
Jehoiachin's uncle is now made king.
Mattaniah is now the third son of Josiah to rule
over Judah.
He apparently is the youngest son, since he is now only 21 years old.
Eleven and 1/2 years ago, when his father died, he would have been 10 years
old, while his older brother Jehoahaz (the first to become king) was 23 years
old, and his half-brother Jehoiakim (the next to
become king) was 25 years old.
:17 changed his name to Zedekiah.
This is a display of Nebuchadnezzar's authority, changing the king's own
name at his whim.
Zedekiah = "Jehovah is righteous"
Note: Zedekiah is a major player in
the book of Jeremiah.
His name appears 48 times. God has lots to say to this man!
:18-20 Zedekiah reigns in Judah
:18 he reigned eleven years
He is going to be the last king over Judah.
:18 his mother's name was Hamutal,
His mother was the same as Jehoahaz (2Ki.23:31), making him his full
brother, but different from Jehoiakim (2Ki.23:36)
:19 he did that which was evil
Bad to the end.
2Kings 25
:1-7 Jerusalem
is conquered
:1 in the ninth year of his reign,
The ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, not Nebuchadnezzar's.
It is now 588 BC. There are two years left until the fall.
:2 unto the eleventh year
Note: The siege wasn't a straight
two year period.
There was actually a brief break where Jeremiah records:
Jer 37:5 Then
Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans
that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem. (AV)
But the break was very brief, and Nebuchadnezzar came back, just as
Jeremiah warned he would (Jer.37), and beseiged Jerusalem
again.
During this time, Jeremiah was busy at work, giving warnings to king
Zedekiah in Jerusalem (Jer. 32:1-5; Jer. 27:12; Jer. 38:17)
Lesson:
God always gives lots of warnings.
The problem is that we don’t often pay attention to them.
Illustration:
There once was a farmer who heard that a great flood was coming.
First the police came by and told him to evacuate, but he said he’d try to
stick it out, he was trusting God.
Then when the water began to get higher and higher, a boat came by, but he
refused it, and said he’d stick it out, he was trusting God.
Then finally as the water was getting to the top of the house, a helicopter
came by.
But he said no, he’d stick it out, he was trusting God.
Finally, the man drowned.
“God, why did you let me drown?” he asked.
God replied, “I sent the police, the boat, and the helicopter, what more
do you want?”
:3 the famine prevailed
This is one of the goals of Nebuchadnezzar.
He isn't trying to kill all the people. He's just trying to make them weak
enough that when he comes in to take the city, they won't be able to put up a
fight.
:4 the city was broken up,
The city was broken into on July
16, 586 B.C
:4 all the men of war fled by night
Jeremiah fills in a few details in his own personal account (Jer. 39:2-4)
:4 the king went the way toward the
plain.
The plain of the Jordan,
to the northeast.
:5 all his army were scattered from
him.
When the king is captured, all his men desert him.
This is another prophecy that's
being fulfilled, but one that's given from Babylon by the prophet Ezekiel (Eze. 12:10-14)
:6 brought him up to the king of Babylon
to Riblah;
Riblah - This was a city 200 miles
north of Jerusalem, 65 miles north of Damascus, and was the same place that
Pharaoh Neco used as a temporary headquarters after
killing Josiah, and then taking his son Jehoahaz captive there (2Ki.23:33)
At this same time,
Nebuchadnezzar is also conducting campaigns against the city of Tyre, and other cities in Judah, according to some ancient
documents known as The Lachish Letters.
:7 they slew the sons of Zedekiah
before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah,
This was to be part of the punishment of a rebellious king, in which the
last thing he sees with his own eyes is his children being killed in front of
him.
For the rest of his life, the last thing his eyes recorded would be in
front of him, the death of his own children.
Strangely enough, several prophecies are coming into play:
We read that Zedekiah would see the king of Babylon
with his eyes:
Jer 32:4 ...
shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;
We also read that though he would be taken to Babylon
as a prisoner, he wouldn't actually "see" it.
Eze 12:13 My net
also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare: and I will
bring him to Babylon [to] the land of the Chaldeans; yet
shall he not see it, though he shall die there. (AV)
Lesson:
Just because you don't understand how things
work, God's Word is still true.
There are times when we come across seemingly contradictory passages, and
we can't understand how they can both be true.
But don't worry, God will work it all out in the end!
God isn't limited to your inability to understand.
Aren't you glad!
God says:
Isa 55:9 For
[as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (AV)
Paul writes:
1Co 13:12 For now
we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but
then shall I know even as also I am known. (AV)
:8-17 The city is burnt and leveled
:8 in the fifth month, on the
seventh day of the month
For us, August 16, 586 BC.
It's been about a month since the wall of Jerusalem
had been broken into, and now it's time to bring Jerusalem
it's punishment.
:9 he burnt the house of the LORD,
Solomon's temple is destroyed.
:10 brake down the walls of Jerusalem
round about
They're removing Jerusalem's
protection.
Lesson:
Sin opens us up to more attack.
The nation has been in rebellion against the Lord, and now their defenses
are all shot.
One of Satan's tactics is to tell us that if we just give in this one time
to sin, that the pressure will be over, God will forgive you, and you can go on
with life.
But what he doesn't tell you is that a little more of your wall has just
been torn down.
And the next time that Satan attacks you, you have even less resistance
against him.
Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist
the devil, and he will flee from you. (AV)
:11 carry away
And so we have the third group taken to Babylon.
The first group was taken in 603 b.c. when
Nebuchadnezzar came against Jehoiakim, made him his
servant, and took back the cream of Jewish young men, including Daniel and his
buddies.
The second group was taken after Jehoiakim
rebelled, and his son Jehoiachin took the
throne. In 598 b.c.,
Jehoiachin, along with 10,000 others including
Ezekiel, were taken captive to Babylon.
Now the last batch is taken at the final fall of Jerusalem,
586 b.c.
:12 left of the poor of the land to
be vinedressers and husbandmen.
Nebuchadnezzar's plan was not to allow the land to be ruined, but to stay
productive.
:13 did the Chaldees
break in pieces,
This was just practical.
The pillars and the sea were way too large to carry back to Babylonin one piece.
:15 such things as were of gold,
Some of these things are going to go into storage in the vaults of Babylon. King Belshazzar
would take out some of these same gold and silver vessels and use them in a big
party (Dan. 5:2).
:18-21 The Leaders are executed
:18 Seraiah
the chief priest,
This was an ancestor to Ezra, possibly his father or grandfather:
(Ezra 7:1
KJV) Now after these things, in the
reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son
of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,
:20 Nebuzaradan
captain of the guard took these,
These were all the leaders that were left in the city that could have the
potential of gathering the remaining people together and mounting resistance
against Nebuchadnezzar's army.
:21 slew them at Riblah
Riblah - This was a city 200 miles
north of Jerusalem, 65 miles north of Damascus.
This was Nebuchadnezzar's field headquarters.
:22-26 Governor Gedaliah is killed
:22 Gedaliah
the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan,
ruler
Gedaliah is not from the royal lineage of King
David, and he is only appointed governor, not king over Judah.
Nebuchadnezzar is not taking any more chances allowing someone with the
authority of a king to rule over the people in Judah.
:23 Gedaliah
to Mizpah,
Mizpah is eight miles north of Jerusalem.
Gedaliah sets up his government there, since Jerusalem
is in ruins.
:23 Ishmael ... Johanan
These two guys are going to be kind of important, as we'll see.
:24 Fear not to be the servants of
the Chaldees
Gedaliah is only telling them what the Lord has
spoken through Jeremiah, yet this isn't what these guys want to hear.
You can read more about Gedaliah in Jeremiah
40-43.
:26 for they were afraid of the Chaldees.
Going to Egypt
would be a terrible mistake. Jeremiah would
be warning them against going to Egypt. But they would do it anyway.
Lesson:
Fear of people leads to bad judgment.
Solomon wrote:
Pr 29:25 The fear of man bringeth
a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD
shall be safe. (AV)
Some of the biggest mistakes in the Bible happened because of the fear of
man:
Abraham was afraid of Abimelech, and his wife
Sarah was taken into Abimelech's harem! (Gen.20)
Aaron was afraid of the people, and so he made a golden calf, leading the
people into idolatry (Ex.32)
Saul disobeyed God's command to wipe out the Amalekites
because he feared the people (1Sam.15)
Peter was afraid of the Jews and denied the Lord three times (Mat 26)
What are the decisions you are facing right now?
Are some of the choices you face ones that are driven by fear?
Be careful about them.
Jesus said:
Mt 10:28 And fear
not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather
fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (AV)
:27-30 Restoration begins
:27 seven and thirtieth year of the
captivity of Jehoiachin
Jehoiachin was 19 years old when taken captive,
and this would now make him 56 years old. It's March of 560 b.c.
:27 Evilmerodach
king of Babylon
This guy was the son of Nebuchadnezzar.
:28 spake kindly to him, and set his
throne above the throne of the kings
Things begin to change for the only surviving King of Judah.
:27-30 Jehoiachin
(Jer. 22:28-30) Is this man Coniah
a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they
cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word
of the LORD. 30 Thus saith the LORD,
Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no
man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any
more in Judah.
Coniah, or, Jehoiachin,
would be taken captive to Babylon,
where he will die in captivity, with none of his sons becoming kings of Judah.
Ironically, part of Jesus' genealogy is actually traced back to Jehoiachin.
Joseph could trace his lineage back to the kings, through Jehoiachin.
Does this break the prophecy?
No, even though Jesus was legally Joseph's son, He wasn't biologically
Joseph's son.
Jesus' only human parent was Mary, who traced her genealogy back to David
through David's son Nathan instead of Solomon.
:30 all the days of his life
The process of restoration is going on.
The story didn't end when all the people were taken to Babylon.
Lesson
God's heart is for restoration.
You may feel like you're on the road to Babylon,
on the road to prison.
But in God's eyes, you're on the way toward restoration.
Our plan:
Galatians 6:1-2 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault,
ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness;
considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. 2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
If you see someone fallen, don't count them out.
They're just ripe for God's work of restoration.