Second Kings 23:21

The Bible says in Second Kings 23:21-23, “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.[22] Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;[23] But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem.” Of course, one of the things that King Josiah read about when he started reading the Bible was the Passover. The first Passover was the tenth of the ten plagues that were brought upon Egypt in order to get Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go to the Promised Land. God said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” If the blood of the innocent animal was applied, then the death angel did not take the firstborn son. Jesus was killed on the Passover. Jesus was our Passover lamb. The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. We get to enter the ultimate Promised Land: heaven, because Jesus died for us. King Josiah was correct: the Passover was extremely important.

The Bible says in Second Kings 23:24-25, “Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.[25] And like unto him was there no king before him, 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; neither after him arose there any like him.” Why was Josiah given such honor and praise? It says about Josiah that “like unto him was there no king before him.” There were some good kings in Judah: David and Solomon and Hezekiah to name a few. Why was it said that Josiah was greater than them all? After he read the word of God, it says in verse twenty-five that Josiah “turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might.” That is why. Jesus was asked once what is the greatest commandment, and Jesus quoted from the law from the book of Deuteronomy, and Jesus said in Mark 12:30, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

The Bible says in Second Kings 23:26-28, “Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.[27] And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.[28] Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?” This tells us something about the law and the curse of the law. Thank God that we live under grace through Christ and not under law. The law is very unforgiving. The law requires complete and total obedience: something that no one has done except for Jesus. In spite of all the good things that Josiah had done. In spite of how much he loved God for years, it was not enough to satisfy the righteous judgement of God against the wickedness that had already happened. The same is true in our lives. There is nothing that you nor I can do to satisfy God. But if our faith and trust is in Jesus, then God is satisfied. Faith alone saves. Faith in Jesus and nothing else saves the soul and results in God being happy with us. The world around us is falling apart and judgment is coming, but thank the Lord that in the midst of all of this, individuals can turn to Jesus and follow Him.

The Bible says in Second Kings 23:28-30, “Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?[29] In his days Pharaoh-nechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.[30] And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's stead.” Even though Josiah was perhaps the greatest King of Judah, and even though he loved God with all of his heart, mind, and strength; he still had to face the problems of life. He still was subject to the disasters of life. He was still a man who would die. He died in battle. He died when God was giving the upper hand to Egypt. God had already decided that Judah would not be preserved as a nation. Notice that the victory of Egypt over Judah was at a place called Megiddo. Many battles have been fought there because it is a perfect place for armies to meet at that great broad plain and to come against each other. The Battle of Armageddon will take place at the same spot, and will take its name from Megiddo.

The Bible says in Second Kings 23:31-37, “Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.[32] And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.[33] And Pharaoh-nechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.[34] And Pharaoh-nechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there.[35] And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaoh-nechoh.[36] Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.[37] And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.” Judah has obviously become very weak militarily. First Egypt came, and then finally Babylon will come. Two kings in a row that are very wicked. The wicked leaders become bad examples to the people. The wicked leaders set the direction that the country goes. The wicked leaders set up practices and priorities that allow more and more sin and that encourage the people to sin more and more. They forgot God and turned to false ideas and false religion and false philosophies. Notice verse thirty-seven: “he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD…” God sees and God knows. Repent and ask for forgiveness because God always forgives, but if you do not repent and ask for forgiveness, then God always judges. He is the just Judge, and He sees and He knows.

The Bible says in Second Kings 24:1-6, “In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him.[2] And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets.[3] Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did;[4] And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon.[5] Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?[6] So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.” When the Lord wants something to happen, it is going to happen. The Lord wanted Nebuchadnezzar to conquer Jerusalem, and nothing or no one was going to stop it from happening. Notice that the first part of verse three says, “Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah…” Jesus only has to speak the word, and it will happen. Any miracle can take place and any problem can be fixed if Jesus just says the word.

The Bible says in Second Kings 24:7-12, “And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt.[8] Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother's name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.[9] And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.[10] At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.[11] And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.[12] And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.” And so the last king of Judah in this lineage of kings was Jehoiachin. He became king when he was eighteen years old, and he was evil, and he only lasted three months until he surrendered Jerusalem to the king of Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar. There was still Zedekiah to come, but we do not have to regard him as a king in the normal sense of the word in that he was set up by Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar had already conquered Jerusalem, but he just had not yet destroyed it. There would be one more king of both Judah and Israel: Jesus. They put over the top of Jesus’ cross in three languages: the King of the Jews. And Jesus is not done. He will return and reign, not only as king of the Jews but also as King of the whole earth. We repeat what John says at the end of the Bible in the book of Revelation, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

The Bible says in Second Kings 24:13-20, “And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said.[14] And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.[15] And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.[16] And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.[17] And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father's brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.[18] Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.[19] And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.[20] For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.” Zedekiah was unwise to rebel again Babylon, because such rebellion would result in Nebuchadnezzar deciding to totally destroy Jerusalem. All of the buildings would be leveled: the temple, the walls surrounding Jerusalem: everything. Why was Zedekiah so foolish to rebel against Babylon when Babylon was so much stronger? Verse twenty tells us: “For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass…” It is very important that we receive wisdom from God. Without His wisdom our lives also will be a disaster. Without Him we will make the wrong decision at the wrong time. Thankfully, God invites us to find wisdom from Him. It says in James 1:5, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not: and it shall be given him.”

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