Memory Verse :2 Chronicles 34:19
Life Application: When convicted of sin we must humble ourselves.
Bible Text:
2 Chronicles 33:1-2
2 Chronicles 33:12-13
2 Chronicles 33:22-23
2 Chronicles 34:1-33
Deuteronomy 31:24-26
Josiah was eight years old when his father, King Amon, died, and he became king. Josiah’s father, Amon, had not followed God. He practiced idolatry and he would not repent from his evil.
2 Chronicles 33:22-23 NKJV
“But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done; for Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and served them. And he did not humble himself before the Lord, as his father Manasseh had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.”
Josiah’s grandfather was also very wicked, but he finally turned to God later in life during an affliction.
2 Chronicles 33:1-2 NKJV
“Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. But 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 Chronicles 33:12-13 NKJV
“Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, 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.”
For the first eight years of his life Josiah had watched his father and the wicked life he led. Even after the death of his father the people around Josiah continued to worship idols and do evil in the sight of the Lord.
It would have been easy for Josiah to do what everyone else was doing. However, Josiah was a leader who took a stand for God. When he was 16 years old he began to seek God. At around the age of 20 years old, he chose to follow after King David, his Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather. Josiah sought God and then he began to remove or destroy the wooden, carved, molded images in his kingdom. Also the altars of Baal and the incense altars were destroyed.
2 Chronicles 34:1-7 NKJV
“Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.
And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 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. They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and the incense altars which were above them he cut down; and the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images he broke in pieces, and made dust of them and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. And so he did in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali and all around, with axes. When he had broken down the altars and the wooden images, had beaten the carved images into powder, and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.”
Josiah wanted the people to worship God so he sent some men to repair the temple, which had been neglected for a long period of time. The people worked faithfully on repairing the temple.
2 Chronicles 34:8-13 NKJV
“In the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God. When they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites who kept the doors had gathered from the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, from all the remnant of Israel, from all Judah and Benjamin, and which they had brought back to Jerusalem. Then they put it in the hand of the foremen who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they gave it to the workmen who worked in the house of the Lord, to repair and restore the house. They gave it to the craftsmen and builders to buy hewn stone and timber for beams, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed. And the men did the work faithfully. Their overseers were Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to supervise. Others of the Levites, all of whom were skillful with instruments of music, were over the burden bearers and were overseers of all who did work in any kind of service. And some of the Levites were scribes, officers, and gatekeepers.”
While cleaning the temple, Hilkiah, the high priest, found the Book of the Law. At one time the scroll was kept beside the ark of covenant.
2 Chronicles 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.”
Deuteronomy 31:24-26 NKJV
“So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying:
“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”
During the reign of one of the kings that did not follow God the scroll must have been removed or misplaced.
Hilkiah gave it to Staphan the scribe. Staphan went to the king to give a report concerning the work that was being done in the temple. He took the scroll with him and showed it to the king, then he read it to King Josiah.
While listening to Staphan read, Josiah heard a portion of Scripture that was a warning from God. God had said that He would punish the Israelite by sending great trouble on them if they did not do all that was written in the Law.
2 Chronicles 34:15-18 NKJV
“Then Hilkiah answered and 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. So Shaphan carried the book to the king, bringing the king word, saying, “All that was committed to your servants they are doing. And they have gathered the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen.” Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.”
Josiah was grieved at what he heard because he knew Judah had disobeyed God. He was very sad and he wept before God. He tore his clothes as a sign of mourning unto God and the people.
2 Chronicles 34:19 NKJV
“Thus it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes.”
2 Chronicles 34:27 NKJV
“because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the Lord.”
Josiah loved his people and did not want to see them go through such punishment. Josiah wanted his people to turn to God so they would be spared the punishment for their sin and disobedience.
God had said, in the scroll, that great “calamity, trouble, would come on the country and the people. Josiah instructed Hilkiah, Ahikam, Abdon, Shaphan, and Asaiah to go and inquire of the Lord concerning their situation. They went to talk a prophetess named Huldah that lived in Jerusalem.
Huldah told them that the Lord was going to bring calamity and curses on Judah and its people because they had forsaken Him. They had turned away from God and turned to false idols and false gods.
2 Chronicles 34:20-25 NKJV
“Then the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for those who are left in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is written in this book.” So Hilkiah and those the king had appointed went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter). And they spoke to her to that effect. Then she answered them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah,
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 will be poured out on this place, and not be quenched.’”
Huldah also told them that the Lord would not bring the calamity and curses on Judah and Israel during the lifetime of Josiah because he had truly been sorry for their sin.
2 Chronicles 34:26-28 NKJV
“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—because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the Lord. “Surely 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 and its inhabitants.”’” So they brought back word to the king.”
Josiah wanted the people to hear what God had instructed so he gathered all the people together for a public reading of the Book of the Law.
2 Chronicles 34:29-30 NKJV
‘Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. The king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the Levites, and all the people, great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the Lord.”
Josiah promised, made a covenant, to follow the Lord and he led his people to make the same promise. Josiah said that he would keep God’s commandments, testimonies, statutes with all his heart and soul. He also said that he would do, perform, what was written in the Book of the Law.
Josiah set out to do what he had promised by removing all the abominations from the country. The people followed God as long as Josiah lived.
2 Chronicles 34:31-33 NKJV
‘Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. And he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin take a stand. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. Thus Josiah removed all the abominations from all the country that belonged to the children of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel diligently serve the Lord their God. All his days they did not depart from following the Lord God of their fathers.”
Josiah wanted his people to follow God, and he was not afraid to take a stand. He set an example for all Judah. His leadership encouraged the people to follow God, too.
Review
1. Josiah was ________________ years old when his father, King Amon, died, and he became king.
2. Describe Josiah’s father, Amon.
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3. The people around Josiah continued to worship idols and do ________ in the sight of the Lord.
4. Josiah …
* was a leader who took a __________ for God.
* began to seek _________ when he was 16 years old.
* chose to follow after ________ __________ at around the age of 20 years old.
* began to ______________ or ______________ the wooden, carved, molded images in his kingdom.
* wanted the people to worship ________.
* sent some men to _____________ the temple.
5. Who was Josiah’s Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather?
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6. While cleaning the temple, what did Hilkiah find?
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7. The scroll read to King Josiah. What portion of the scroll stood out the most to Josiah?
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8. Why was Josiah grieved?
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9.. Josiah wanted his people to turn to God so they would be spared the ______________________ for their sin and disobedience.
10. Josiah promised, made a __________________, to follow the Lord and he led his people to make the same promise.
11.The people followed God as long as ______________ lived.
12. Josiah set an _______________ for all Judah.
13. Josiah’s leadership ___________________ the people to follow God, too.
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