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King Josiah, Whom God Heals
King Josiah, the son of Amon and Jedidah, succeeded his father B.C. 641, in the
eighty years of his age, and reigned 31 years.
His history is contained in and the first twelve chapters of Jeremiah throw much
light upon the general character of the Jews in his day.
He began in the eighth year of his reign to seek the Lord;
and in his twelfth year, and for six years afterward, in a personal progress
throughout all the land of Judah and Israel,
he destroyed everywhere high places, groves, images and all
outward signs and relics of idolatry.
The temple was restored
under a special commission; and in the course of
the repairs Hilkiah the priest found that book of the law of
the Lord which quickened so remarkably the ardent zeal of the
king.
He was aided by Jeremiah the prophet in spreading through his
kingdom the knowledge and worship of God.
The great day of Josiah's life was the
day of the Passover in the eighteenth year of his reign.
After this his endeavors to abolish every trace of idolatry and superstition
were still carried on; but the time drew near which had been indicated by Huldah.
When Pharaoh-necho went from Egypt to Carchemish to carry on his
war along the seacoast. Necho reluctantly paused and gave him
battle in the valley of Esdraelon.
Josiah was mortally wounded, and died before he could reach
Jerusalem. He was buried with extraordinary honors.
The son of Zephaniah, at whose house took place the solemn and
symbolical crowning of Joshua the high priest. (B.C. about
1520.)
1 Kings 13:1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of
Judah by the word of the LORD unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam stood
by the altar to burn incense.
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Deuteronomy 33:1 And this is the
blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed
the children of Israel before his death.
2 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.
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Child = son
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Josiah by name = Cyrus is the only other so
foretold (177 years before). Josiah knew and
Cyrus knew
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2 Chronicles 36:22 Now in the first year
of Cyrus king of Persia, that
the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of
Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred
up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he
made a proclamation throughout all his
kingdom, and put it also in writing,
saying,
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23 Thus saith Cyrus king of
Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the
LORD God of heaven given me; and he
hath charged me to build him an house in
Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is
there among you of all his people? The LORD his
God be with him, and let him go up.
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Offer (in sacrifice) = slay, or slaughter.
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Shall be = This was fulfilled in 2 Kings 23:16
(360 years later).
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2 Kings 23:16 And as Josiah
turned himself, he spied the sepulchres
that were there in the mount, and sent,
and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and
burned them upon the altar, and polluted
it, according to the word of the LORD which the
man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these
words. 17 Then he
said, What title is that that I see? And the men
of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the
man of God, which came from Judah, and
proclaimed these things that thou hast done
against the altar of Beth-el.
18 And he said, Let him alone; let no man move
his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the
bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.
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Isaiah 44:26 That confirmeth the word of
his servant, and performeth the counsel of his
messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt
be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye
shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed
places thereof:
2 Kings 22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his
mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.
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Josiah's did that which was right in the sight
of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David
his father
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Eight years = Manasseh began at twelve, bred
under godly Hezekiah. Josiah began at eight,
bred by ungodly Amon.
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2 Kings 16:2 Twenty years old was
Ahaz when he began to reign, and
reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and
did not that
which was right in the sight of the LORD his
God, like David his father.
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2 Chronicles 17:3 And the LORD was with
Jehoshaphat, because he
walked in the first ways of his father David,
and sought not unto Baalim;
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2 Chronicles 29:1 Hezekiah began
to reign when he was five and twenty years old,
and he reigned nine and twenty years in
Jerusalem. And his mother's name was
Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
3 He in the first year of his reign,
in the first month, opened the doors of the
house of the LORD, and repaired them.
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He is called Abijah in Chronicles, Abijam in
Kings. He began to reign B.C. 959, and reigned
three years. He endeavored to recover
the kingdom of the Ten Tribes, and made
war on Jeroboam.
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Abijah = My Father is God
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He was successful in battle, and took several of
the cities of Israel. We are told that he walked
in all the sins of Rehoboam.
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2 Chronicles 12:16 And Rehoboam slept
with his fathers, and was buried in the city of
David: and Abijah his son reigned in his stead.
2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and
walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside
to the right hand or to the left.
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Josiah did that which was right in the sight of
the Lord, he was the first king to do this
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Turned not aside = Josiah is the only king of
whom this is said about
2 Kings 23:1 And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of
Judah and of Jerusalem.
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Josiah causes the book to be read in a solemn
assembly.
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Josiah = whom God heals
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2 Kings 22:2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and
walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside
to the right hand or to the left.
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Josiah did that which was right in the sight of
the Lord, he was the first king to do this
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Turned not aside = Josiah is the only king of
whom this is said about
2 And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and
all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets,
and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the
words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.
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Prophets = "Levites"
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In their ears = The king did not keep it to
himself = God's word is for all.
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2 Chronicles 34:30 And the king went up into the
house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests,
and the Levites, and all the people, great and
small: and he read in their ears all the words
of the book of the covenant that was found in
the house of the LORD.
3 And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk
after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his
statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this
covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the
covenant.
4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second
order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord
all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host
of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and
carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.
5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained
to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places
round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and
to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
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Hosea 10:5 The inhabitants of Samaria
shall fear because of the calves of Beth-aven:
for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and
the priests thereof that rejoiced on it,
for the glory thereof, because it is departed
from it.
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Planets or, twelve signs, or
constellations.
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The twelve signs the zodiac; which is
the most probable meaning of the word mazzaloth, from the
Arabic manzeel, a caravanserai, house, or
dwelling, as being the apparent dwellings of the sun in his
annual course; and the Targumists and Rabbins often employ the
words tereysar mazzalaya, to denote the signs of the
zodiac.
6 And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem,
unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small
to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the
people.
7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the
Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the
high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and
brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate
of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate
of the city.
9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the
Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their
brethren.
10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom,
that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to
Molech.
11 And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at
the entering in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan–melech the
chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with
fire.
12 And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the
kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two
courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down, and brake them down
from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
13 And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand
of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for
Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of
the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the
king defile.
14 And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their
places with the bones of men.
15 Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the
son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high
place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder,
and burned the grove.
16 And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the
mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon
the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord which the man of
God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
17 Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told
him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and
proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel.
18 And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones
alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.
19 And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of
Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah
took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in
Bethel.
20 And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the
altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.
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.
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.
24 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.
26 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?
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.
31 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.
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Jehoiakim did that which was evil in the sight
of the Lord
2 Chronicles 34:1 Josiah was eight years old when he
began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and
thirty years.
2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the
Lord, and walked in the ways of David his
father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to
the left.
3 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.
4 And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and
the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the
groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake
in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves
of them that had sacrificed unto them.
5 And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their
altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.
6 And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim,
and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about.
7 And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had
beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols
throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to
Jerusalem.
8 Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when
he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son
of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the
son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the
Lord his God.
9 And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered
the money that was brought into the house of God, which
the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of
Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel,
and of all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to
Jerusalem.
10 And they put it in the hand of the workmen that had the
oversight of the house of the Lord, and they gave it to the
workmen that wrought in the house of the Lord, to repair and
amend the house:
11 Even to the artificers and builders gave they it, to buy hewn
stone, and timber for couplings, and to floor the houses which
the kings of Judah had destroyed.
12 And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of
them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari;
and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to
set it forward; and other of the Levites, all that could skill
of instruments of musick.
13 Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were
overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service:
and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and
porters.
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.
15 And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe,
I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.
And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.
16 And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the
king word back again, saying, All that was committed to
thy servants, they do it.
17 And they have gathered together the money that was found in
the house of the Lord, and have delivered it into the hand of
the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen.
18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the
priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the
king.
19 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the
law, that he rent his clothes.
20 And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan,
and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a
servant of the king's, saying,
21 Go, enquire of the Lord for me, and for them that are
left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of
the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the
Lord that is poured out upon us, because our
fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that
is written in this book.
22 And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to
Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath,
the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in
Jerusalem in the college:) and they spake to her to that effect.
23 And she answered them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
Tell ye the man that sent you to me,
24 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon
this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all
the curses that are written in the book which they have read
before the king of Judah:
25 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned
incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger
with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath
shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.
26 And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the
Lord, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of
Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard;
27 Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself
before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and
against the inhabitants thereof, and humblest thyself before me,
and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even
heard thee also, saith the Lord.
28 Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou
shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall
thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place,
and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king
word again.
29 Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of
Judah and Jerusalem.
30 And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the
men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests,
and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he
read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant
that was found in the house of the Lord.
31 And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before
the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his
commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all
his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the
covenant which are written in this book.
32 And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin
to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did
according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.
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.
2 Chronicles 35:1 Moreover Josiah kept a Passover unto
the Lord in Jerusalem: and they killed the Passover on
the fourteenth day of the first month.
2 And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them
to the service of the house of the Lord,
3 And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel,
which were holy unto the Lord, Put the holy ark
in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did
build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders:
serve now the Lord your God, and his people Israel,
4 And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after
your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel,
and according to the writing of Solomon his son.
5 And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the
families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and after
the division of the families of the Levites.
6 So kill the Passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare
your brethren, that they may do according to the word of
the Lord by the hand of Moses.
7 And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and
kids, all for the Passover offerings, for all that were
present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand
bullocks: these were of the king's substance.
8 And his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the
priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and
Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave unto the
priests for the Passover offerings two thousand and six hundred
small cattle, and three hundred oxen.
9 Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and
Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto
the Levites for Passover offerings five thousand small cattle,
and five hundred oxen.
10 So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their
place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king's
commandment.
11 And they killed the Passover, and the priests sprinkled the
blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed them.
12 And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give
according to the divisions of the families of the people, to
offer unto the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses. And
so did they with the oxen.
13 And they roasted the Passover with fire according to the
ordinance: but the other holy offerings sod they in pots, and in
caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the
people.
14 And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the
priests: because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in
offering of burnt offerings and the fat until night; therefore
the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the
sons of Aaron.
15 And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place,
according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and
Jeduthun the king's seer; and the porters waited at every gate;
they might not depart from their service; for their brethren the
Levites prepared for them.
16 So all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day, to
keep the Passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar
of the Lord, according to the commandment of king Josiah.
17 And the children of Israel that were present kept the
Passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven
days.
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.
19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of
Josiah was this Passover kept.
20 After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple,
Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish
by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.
21 But he sent ambassadors to him, saying,
What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah?
I come not against thee this day, but
against the house wherewith I have war: for God
commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling
with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.
22 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him,
but disguised himself, that he might fight with
him, and hearkened
not unto the words of Necho from the mouth
of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.
23 And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the
king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.
24 His servants therefore took him out of that chariot,
and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought
him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of
the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah
and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
25 And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all
the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their
lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel:
and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.
26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness,
according to that which was written in the law of the Lord,
27 And his deeds, first and last, behold, they are
written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
36 Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of
Josiah, and made him king in his father's stead in
Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 24:1 Joash was seven years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's
name also was Zibiah of Beer-sheba.
2 And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord
all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
3 And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and
daughters.
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For him = Joash = Was this because the line was
almost extinct, or from lack of faith?
4 And it came to pass after this, that Joash was minded to
repair the house of the Lord.
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2 Kings 12:4 And Jehoash said to the priests,
All the money of the dedicated things that is
brought into the house of the Lord, even the
money of every one that passeth the account, the
money that every man is set at, and all the
money that cometh into any man's heart to bring
into the house of the Lord,
5 Let the priests take it to them, every man of
his acquaintance: and let them repair the
breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach
shall be found.
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Verse 7 For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked
woman, had broken up the house of God; and also
all the dedicated things of the house of the
Lord did they bestow upon Baalim.
5 And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said
to them, Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all
Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year,
and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit the Levites hastened
it not.
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Israel which dwelt in Judah.
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Here was a nucleus of true worshippers
constantly increased
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In Ezra, those returning of Judah's captivity
are called "of Israel", and "all Israel"
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Judah was thus always representative of "all
Israel".
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Hence Acts 4:27, "the People of Israel", and
Acts 2:14,22,36, "of Judah".
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The two words are used interchangeably, except
where otherwise stated.
6 And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him,
Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of
Judah and out of Jerusalem the collection, according to the
commandment of Moses the servant of the Lord, and of the
congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness?
7 For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the
house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of
the Lord did they bestow upon Baalim.
8 And at the king's commandment they made a chest, and set it
without at the gate of the house of the Lord.
9 And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to
bring in to the Lord the collection that Moses the servant of
God laid upon Israel in the wilderness.
10 And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought
in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end.
11 Now it came to pass, that at what time the chest was brought
unto the king's office by the hand of the Levites, and when they
saw that there was much money, the king's scribe and the high
priest's officer came and emptied the chest, and took it, and
carried it to his place again. Thus they did day by day, and
gathered money in abundance.
12 And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of
the service of the house of the Lord, and hired masons and
carpenters to repair the house of the Lord, and also such as
wrought iron and brass to mend the house of the Lord.
13 So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them,
and they set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it.
14 And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of the
money before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels
for the house of the Lord, even vessels to minister, and to
offer withal, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And
they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord
continually all the days of Jehoiada.
15 But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; an
hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.
16 And they buried him in the city of David among the kings,
because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward
his house.
17 Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah,
and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto
them.
18 And they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and
served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem
for this their trespass.
19 Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the
Lord; and they testified against them: but they would not give
ear.
20 And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada
the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them,
Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord,
that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he
hath also forsaken you.
-
Came upon = clothed
-
Zechariah the son of Jehoiada.
-
In Zech 1:1 and Matthew 23:35 a second name is
given, "son of Barachias".
-
Zech 1:1 In the eighth month, in the second year
of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto
Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo
the prophet, saying,
2 The Lord hath been sore displeased with your
fathers.
-
Matthew 23:35 That upon you may come all the
righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the
blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of
Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between
the temple and the altar.
-
Verse 11 Now it came to pass, that at what time
the chest was brought unto the king's office by
the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that
there was much money, the king's scribe and the
high priest's officer came and emptied the
chest, and took it, and carried it to his place
again. Thus they did day by day, and gathered
money in abundance.
-
It is quite needless to assume that there is any error, when so simple a
solution lies on the surface.
21 And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at
the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the
Lord.
-
Stoned him = One of nine persons stoned.
-
At the commandment of the king = One of eleven
rulers offended with God's servants.
22 Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which
Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when
he died, he said, The Lord look upon it, and require it.
-
He = Zechariah
-
And require it = The very words twice used
by the Lord Jesus
-
Luke 11:50 That the blood of all the prophets,
which was shed from the foundation of the world,
may be required of this generation;
51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of
Zacharias, which perished between the altar and
the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be
required of this generation.
-
Matthew 23:35 That upon you may come all the
righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the
blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of
Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between
the temple and the altar.
23 And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the host of
Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem,
and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the
people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of
Damascus.
24 For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men,
and the Lord delivered a very great host into their hand,
because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. So they
executed judgment against Joash.
25 And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in
great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the
blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his
bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but
they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.
26 And these are they that conspired against him; Zabad the son
of Shimeath an Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a
Moabitess.
27 Now concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdens
laid upon him, and the repairing of the house of God, behold,
they are written in the story of the book of the kings. And
Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.
• Exactly 2520 years from the exile
of Benjamin, Iceland became an independent nation.
•
The first tribe to be
conquered by the Assyrians was Manasseh,
in 745 B.C. Exactly 2520 years later America became a nation on July 4, 1776.
(Leviticus. 26: 28-46) God warned Israel that if they persisted in continually
breaking His Laws, not only would curses come upon them.
He would punish them for seven times, (a time being 360 years, seven times would
be 2520 years) and would banish them from the land of Palestine and scatter them
among the heathens (like lost sheep)
• Study the book:
Abrahamic Covenant,
(A study outline of the identity of God's people) By E. Raymond Capt
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