Kings 24:1-20 - Taken into Captivity

2 Kings 24:1-20

Judah Overrun by Enemies

1 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 And the LORD sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites, and bands of the people of Ammon; He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD which He had spoken by His servants the prophets. 3 Surely at the commandment of the LORD this came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also because of the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had 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 rested with his fathers. Then Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.

7 And the king of Egypt did not come out of his land anymore, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the River Euphrates.

The Reign and Captivity of Jehoiachin (2 Chronicles 36:9, 10)

8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9 And he did 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, as his servants were besieging it. 12 Then Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his princes, and his officers went out to the king of Babylon; and the king of Babylon, in the eighth year of his reign, took him prisoner.

The Captivity of Jerusalem

13 And he carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house, and he cut in pieces all the articles of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said. 14 Also he carried into captivity all Jerusalem: all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land. 15 And he carried Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. The king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officers, and the mighty of the land he carried into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 All the valiant men, seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths, one thousand, all who were strong and fit for war, these the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.

Zedekiah Reigns in Judah (2 Chronicles 36:11–14; Jer. 52:1–3)

17 Then the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 He also did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20 For because of the anger of the LORD this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, that He finally cast them out from His presence. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

At the command of the LORD, the people of God were taken into captivity out of their nation into a foreign land due to their heinous sins.  The inward (Romans 7:23) journey into captivity is the bondage of sin within that turns away from God to pursue idolatry and immorality as Israel and Judah had done long before we who now face the same captivity from birth as slaves of sin.  Judah followed the evil examples of their leaders such as Manasseh mentioned prominently here (2 Kings 21:2, 4-5, 6) who had erected idols in God’s house (a warning of present day statues in some assemblies), killed innocent people (as in the early days of the modern reformation under corrupt Roman church rule), and seduced the citizens to worship other gods (2 Kings 21:9) in direct rejection and disobedience to the very first foundational commandment.  He had brought (2 Kings 21:14) the wrath of God down on the people who followed this and other evil leaders who brought accountability to them all in the attacks of their enemies that culminated in this removal of the remnant of His inheritance from the promised land to be carried away into Babylon.  The lack of repentance and continual rejection of the LORD will also exclude those who reject the gospel at the last day in the same way, except the bondage of sin that carries them there will be permanent and eternal in their captivity.  There can be no return (Hebrews 9:27-28, ) in that final judgment for those who follow evil of their own account under evil leaders or good if they imitate the wrong ones and turn their backs on the Lord and (2 Thessalonians 1:8, 1 Peter 4:17) His gospel of reconciling forgiveness and grace.  He who leads others into captivity will himself be led into captivity as it is written (Revelation 13:10) for all who lead and deceitfully teach (James 3:1, 2 Peter 2:1, 4, 18, 19) others to rebellion and disobedience to the gospel.  Judah was taken physically captive and their temple was dismantled and taken away in pagan hands to Babylon for evil without regard for the Lord through repentance; how many people throughout history have since turned true worship into idolatry and murdered innocents who proclaimed reconciliation and holiness to the Lord in the name of the Holy Church while ignoring the scriptures and will of God by substituting another Mediator and praying to the dead instead of the Living God alone?  We who know Him approach the throne of grace and not any man to forgive our sins that we may worship in spirit and truth to enter into eternity out of the captivity (2 Timothy 2:25-26) and bondage of sin we have been freed from. 

2 Kings 23:28-37 - Regression of Sin Against the Lord

2 Kings 23:28-37

Josiah Dies in Battle (2 Chronicles 35:20—36:1)

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 Necho king of Egypt went to the aid of the king of Assyria, to the River Euphrates; and King Josiah went against him. And Pharaoh Necho killed him at Megiddo when he confronted him. 30 Then his servants moved his body in a chariot from Megiddo, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, anointed him, and made him king in his father’s place.

The Reign and Captivity of Jehoahaz (2 Chronicles 36:1–4)

31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 Now Pharaoh Necho put him in prison at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 Then Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Pharaoh took Jehoahaz and went to Egypt, and he died there.

Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah (2 Chronicles 36:5–8)

35 So Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give money according to the command of Pharaoh; he exacted the silver and gold from the people of the land, from every one according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Necho. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

Here the old pattern of sin comes creeping back in among the rulers of God’s people in Judah.  After many who did evil and led the nation astray and away from following the LORD, there was a bright spot of hope in Josiah who reformed and restored true worship during his reign.  Though he did well in his reforms, the people still had a history of being led into idolatry and its accompanying immorality, and the fate of the nation had already been marked out by the LORD for accountability in judgment by His wrath on their continuing sin, just as the whole world even now faces judgment day (Acts 17:31, Hebrews 9:27-28, 2 Peter 2:9, 1 John 4:17-18) for their inherited and ongoing sins.  Only the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ can deliver the few on that narrow road to Him through repentance and faith from the wrath (Romans 5:9, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, Revelation 11:18) to come.  After Josiah the reformer died, Jehoahaz his son took the reins and led the people once again into sin and kindled the burning wrath of God against him and them all.  He only lasted three months until imprisoned and was replaced by another son of Josiah named Jehoiakim, who also pursued evil instead of the word and will of the LORD as his father Josiah had done so well like a bright break in the clouds of an approaching storm of judgment.  This Jehoiakim repeated the same evil of the majority of his forefathers on this downward spiral trending towards the time of accountability for rejecting God and His words.  On top of that, he also heavily taxed the people to appease the Pharaoh of Egypt who had put him on the throne after his brother’s death.  This repeated pattern of corruption of the soul in the leaders of Judah followed that of the kings of the northern kingdom of Israel, a pattern that would ultimately bring destruction on them all except a faithful remnant as we see today in the remnant of all nations in Christ (Romans 11:5, 25, 30-31, 32, 9:6-7, 8, 25, 26) to be delivered from the wrath to come on all our sin since Adam.  The whole world around us is following this same pattern of regression into sin against the Lord as they reject Him and His gospel of hope and grace.  We who are now in the remnant of the nations in Christ are His heralds of that message (Romans 10:14, 16-17) that calls all who have been given ears to hear to turn from the sin reigning over them (Galatians 4:4, Romans 5:20-21) to Him who reigns over the just and unjust for deliverance from the consequences of sin to come.  Who reigns over you and who do you follow?  May we not regress into following sin against Him as the rules of Judah and Israel did, but progress into willing obedience to the gospel containing the (John 6:68, Acts 5:20) words of life. 

2 Kings 23:1-27 - Reformation of True Worship

2 Kings 23:1-27

Josiah Restores True Worship (2 Chronicles 34:29—35:19)

1 Now the king sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him. 2 The king went up to the house of the LORD with all the men of Judah, and with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great. 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.

3 Then the king stood by a pillar 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 this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant. 4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 Then he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. 6 And he brought out the wooden image from the house of the LORD, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and ground it to ashes, and threw its ashes on the graves of the common people. 7 Then he tore down the ritual booths of the perverted persons that were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the wooden image. 8 And he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; also he broke down the high places at the gates which were at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were to the left of the city gate. 9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brethren.

10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech. 11 Then he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-Melech, the officer who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 The altars that were on the roof, 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, the king broke down and pulverized there, and threw their dust into the Brook Kidron. 13 Then the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the people of Ammon. 14 And he broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images, 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 sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and crushed it to powder, and burned the wooden image. 16 As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs that were there on the mountain. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar, and defiled it according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. 17 Then he said, “What gravestone is this that I see?”

So the men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.”

18 And he said, “Let him alone; let no one move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.

19 Now Josiah also took away all the shrines of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger; and he did to them according to all the deeds he had done in Bethel. 20 He executed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned men’s bones on them; and he returned to Jerusalem.

21 Then the king commanded all the people, saying, “Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 Such a Passover surely had never been held since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was held before the LORD in Jerusalem. 24 Moreover Josiah put away those who consulted mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, 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 Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.

Impending Judgment on Judah

26 Nevertheless the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, with which His anger was aroused against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. 27 And the LORD said, “I will also remove Judah from 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.’”

Josiah was used to bring about this great reformation, a reform of true worship that pleases the LORD God, just as the reformers would do again around 1500 AD when truth was placed in view over muddied teachings and idolatrous rituals.  In Josiah’s time, he had first gathered everyone together in the house of God.  This included the elders, priests, prophets, and all the people, both small and great in all positions of life.  Then he did what we all need to keep on track, he read the scriptures out loud to them all and then first made a covenant promise himself to keep God’s word as written over any errors they previously followed or had ignored.  He committed himself to keep and follow the whole counsel of God with all his heart and all his soul and reject spurious and erroneous rituals.  He removed idols and immorality from the assembly building that nobody could look to satisfy their own desires or be devoted to any other objects of worship but God and His instructions for life and godliness alone.  He corrupted the corruptions and destroyed the objects of worship like present day statues in some churches even now that detract from true worship to God alone through the Mediator of His only Son (Hebrews 9:15, 1 Timothy 2:5) and no other substituted or inserted in between.  Preaching and teaching the whole unadulterated counsel of God reformed worship back on track as we must continue to do today, for our corrupt hearts drift towards idols of our own reason and ritual if we are not constantly attentive to hearing and following the scriptures as written and not reinterpreted by any religious authority placed over the Lord (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 1 Thessalonians 2:13) and His word.  We are likewise to follow the instructions of His word to include the sacraments/ordinance of baptism and communion as foundational ways to worship in spirit and truth together, not adding superfluous ones from man’s own words and traditions, as those can quickly become traditions not intended by God according to the scriptures.  The challenge to us is to imitate Josiah in turning constantly to the LORD with all our heart, soul, and might, according to all the scriptures summarized in the greatest commandments (Matthew 22:37-38, 39-40) that sum up the Ten Commandments (Matthew 4:17, 5:19) that form the foundation of our true worship, being mindful not to add to the teachings (Matthew 15:9, Colossians 2:18, 20, 21-22) of God in His word as it has been written.  Like Josiah, we should remember that we need to read and hear God’s word to avoid error of added requirements of man that we may continue to worship in spirit and truth as well-pleasing children (Jeremiah 42:6, 2 Corinthians 5:9-10, Hebrews 13:21) fulfilling the summation of the foundational commandments (1 John 3:22, 23) given in the scriptures for our edification and correction (Hebrews 10:24-25) as we meet together and remind one another of these things for ongoing reformation of our true worship.

2 Kings 22:1-20 - Repentance from our Inheritance

2 Kings 22:1-20 

Josiah Reigns in Judah (2 Chronicles 34:1, 2)

1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law (2 Chronicles 34:8–28)

3 Now it came to pass, in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the scribe, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the house of the LORD, saying: 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money which has been brought into the house of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people. 5 And let them deliver it into the hand of those doing the work, who are the overseers in the house of the LORD; let them give it to those who are in the house of the LORD doing the work, to repair the damages of the house— 6 to carpenters and builders and masons—and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house. 7 However there need be no accounting made with them of the money delivered into their hand, because they deal faithfully.”

8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9 So Shaphan the scribe went to the king, bringing the king word, saying, “Your servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of those who do the work, who oversee the house of the LORD.” 10 Then Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

11 Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the LORD for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke with her. 15 Then she said to them, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me, 16 “Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants—all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read— 17 because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath shall be aroused against this place and shall not be quenched.’“‘ 18 But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, in this manner you shall speak to him, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel: “Concerning the words which you have heard— 19 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the LORD. 20 “Surely, therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place.”’” So they brought back word to the king.

After a string of evil kings, we find Josiah on the scene doing what is right in the sight of God in Judah.  He is described as one who imitated his forefather king David who also walked a straight line with God, not turning away to the left or right from adherence to the words and will of the LORD.  When the king sent Hilkiah to count the money in the treasury to restore the house of the LORD, they found the old dusty and unused book of the Law, the scriptures of God’s word and will for worship and pleasing God.  When they found the Book of the Law and read how they had strayed from Him under bad leadership over the years, repentance quickly followed because “our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book.”  Hearing of the impending judgment on the people for forsaking the living God and replacing Him with lifeless idols, he repented in the face of the wrath of God and was promised forgiveness by God’s word prophetically delivered to him with the assurance he would die in peace before the judgment fell on the nation for their rebellion of idolatry and immorality.  We find how repentance and faith played out in the life of a heart softened to sin and found deliverance from God’s wrath on his sin of unintended disobedience inherited from his forefathers.  We likewise inherited our sin nature from Adam (Romans 5:12, 14, 15, 18) and are born under the wrath of God on our inherited and ongoing sin against Him (Romans 3:23, 6:23) and find forgiveness in Christ when we confess this and accept His mercy when His word convicts us and He gives us hope of safety from the judgment due us all from Adam to now in Christ.  Repentance from our inheritance brings God’s forgiveness of Grace to deliverance from our wages of sin due to be paid as we have earned it. 

2 Kings 21:1-26 - Turning to Evil From True Worship

2 Kings 21:1-26

Manasseh Reigns in Judah (2 Chronicles 33:1–20)

1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. 7 He even set a carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the LORD had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; 8 and I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers—only if they are careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they paid no attention, and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.

10 And the LORD spoke by His servants the prophets, saying, 11 “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations (he has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols), 12 therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. 13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies, 15 because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.’”

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

17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh—all that he did, and the sin that he committed—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 18 So Manasseh rested with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. Then his son Amon reigned in his place.

Amon’s Reign and Death (2 Chronicles 33:21–25)

19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done. 21 So he walked in all the ways that his father had walked; and he served the idols that his father had served, and worshiped them. 22 He forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD.

23 Then the servants of Amon conspired against him, and killed the king in his own house. 24 But the people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon. Then the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.

25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 26 And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. Then Josiah his son reigned in his place.

These two kings of Judah continued the downward spiral from doing good to evil in God’s eyes as those of the northern kingdom of the other tribes of Israel based in Samaria had been doing.  King Manasseh reigned longer than Amon after him, reigning fifty-five years in Jerusalem versus two short years, yet they both caused the people to sin as they followed their leaders, worshipping and serving all the host of heaven instead of their LORD and Creator, Yahweh who was constantly forgiving their sins and delivering them from their adversaries.  They went so far away from the living God to run after dumb idols of man’s invented objects of worship made of wood and stone, pursuing soothsaying, witchcraft, and they even consulted spiritists and mediums as some today do as if God approved of divided and misdirected worship in astrology, tarot, fortune telling, and seances.  These are an abomination to God just as much now as in the past as we read here how evil and off these are to our Lord.  This leader Manasseh desecrated the place of worship by erecting an idol in the temple, much as some erect idols of misplaced worship in the temples of their bodies (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 2 Corinthians 6:16) even now.  They provoked the LORD with this idol worship and immorality that followed in their pagan rituals as the king led the people astray from true worship and killed many innocents to seduce the people into more evil than even the pagan nations around them!  Amon was no better, but God removed him from his position of evil influence after just two years.  He still perpetuated the evil acts of his predecessor by turning his back on God, and because of this he caused the people to continue in their rebellion against the LORD until his own servants killed him in his home.  Even these were killed for killing the evil king as they put his son Josiah in his place as king.  This ongoing legacy of evil of Judah following after Israel to the north, living contrary to the word and will of their LORD God, had a lasting effect on the nation of people called out of bondage to sin in Egypt into a promised land meant to drive out the pagan idolatry and immorality to serve and worship God alone as the first commandment demands even now to we who are called out of sin into Christ to be holy (1 Peter 1:15-16) as He is.  Not only are our individual bodies temples of His Holy Spirit, but we are corporately (1 Peter 2:4) being built into the place of worship as the church as priests (1 Peter 2:9) to serve Him and lead one another into righteous worship and living (Romans 12:1-2, 1 Corinthians 1:10) together in the kingdom of God in Christ, doing good in his sight.  May we then learn from these examples of unfaithfulness and divided worship to instead determine to continue to focus our loyalty of love in heart and body and soul (Mark 12:33) on serving our Lord alone and not the world (1 John 2:15-16, 17) around us.  Evil company corrupts good living habits (1 Corinthians 15:33-34), especially from leaders such as pastors, elders, and teachers of the gospel.  We who lead must therefore be more diligent to set the example in our own hearts and lives by our words of true doctrine and lovingly consistent obedience of sole worship of our Lord in spirit and truth, keeping untainted (2 Corinthians 7:1, 1 John 3:3, 1 Timothy 1:5, 6:14) by the pull of the world and conformity to its deceptive evil reasoning and practices.  May we turn from evil to true worship and not the other way around as Judah did after Israel.  We who do the will of God abide forever in the kingdom that has no end.  Amen. 

2 Kings 20:12-21 - Responsible Stewards do not Boast

2 Kings 20:12-21

The Babylonian Envoys (Isaiah 39:1–8)

12 At that time Berodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 And Hezekiah was attentive to them, and showed them all the house of his treasures—the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armory—all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

14 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?”

So Hezekiah said, “They came from a far country, from Babylon.”

15 And he said, “What have they seen in your house?”

So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.”

16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD: 17 ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the LORD. 18 ‘And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

19 So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “Will there not be peace and truth at least in my days?”

Death of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 32:32, 33)

20 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah—all his might, and how he made a pool and a tunnel and brought water into the city—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 21 So Hezekiah rested with his fathers. Then Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

This unwise boasting of king Hezekiah led to disastrous consequences later as Isaiah pronounced to him.  The king had received the emissaries from Babylon who heard he had been sick into death but recovered as we know by the grace of God also announced by Isaiah the prophet.  Hezekiah boasted in all he had instead of being guarded against an old adversary with new spots, showing them everything, including the treasures and armory, revealing what he had of value and of military strength in this reconnaissance mission of Babylonian spies.  When Isaiah asked him what he had shown them and heard it with his own ears, he relayed God’s words to him as the the consequences of this boasting as if it was his own and not the LORD’s.  There would come a day when everything Hezekiah and his forefathers had built up and collected would be taken away to Babylon and his descendants would become eunuchs to serve the king there (2 Kings 24:12).  Hezekiah could only acknowledge that the word of the LORD was good after asking if he himself would have peace and truth until he died.  This response seems like he was just out for himself and did not care of those coming after him, but it may have been that he was sorry for his rash actions of boasting and still wanted truth with the peace he desired in his life that had been extended by fifteen years after humbling himself and repenting (2 Kings 20:3, 5) earlier.  We see then that boasting in what we have has consequences because all we have is His and we are to be responsible stewards of these things (1 Corinthians 4:7, 2 Corinthians 4:1) lest they be taken away from our stewardship for the Lord and our own enjoyment.  Responsible stewards do not boast as if they own what is put in their charge to protect and use to honor and worship the Lord with.  They do not give it away to adversaries but use wisdom (Matthew 10:16) while doing what is right.  He who boasts, let it be in the Lord God (Jeremiah 9:23, 24, 1 Corinthians 1:30-31, 2 Corinthians 10:17) and His provision. 

2 Kings 20:1-11 - Turning Back the Clock on Death

2 Kings 20:1-11

Hezekiah’s Life Extended (2 Chronicles 32:24–26; Is. 38:1–8)

1 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.’”

2 Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD, saying, 3 “Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

4 And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 5 “Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD. 6 And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake, and for the sake of My servant David.”’”

7 Then Isaiah said, “Take a lump of figs.” So they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What is the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD the third day?”

9 Then Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing which He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?”

10 And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees; no, but let the shadow go backward ten degrees.”

11 So Isaiah the prophet cried out to the LORD, and He brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.

This account shows how king Hezekiah faced imminent death in a terminal illness, yet cried out to God for grace to live when the message from Him confirmed the approaching time.  His heartfelt prayer reminded the LORD how he set his life in the direction of truth and loyal devotion, and how he always tried to do what was good and right in the sight of God.  The messenger Isaiah who had brought the news confirming his imminent demise was sent back to Hezekiah before even leaving the area to give a better prognosis from the LORD who had heard the dying man’s prayerful pleas with abundance of tears from his sorrow of soul.  God told him to enter into the house of the LORD in three days time and he would receive an added fifteen years on his life.  He and the city of Jerusalem would also be delivered from the enemy’s siege as God Himself would defend them as promised to king David (1 Kings 11:13) long before until the Seed from him came among us (John 1:14) to deliver His people permanently and eternally.  He was instructed to cover his boil with a fig compress and he recovered from the terminal sickness and granted the extension to his life as promised through the prophet Isaiah.  He still asked for a sign to be certain that these things would come to fruition on the third day and Isaiah conveyed the message from the LORD that He would either move the sundial for or backward as Hezekiah asked for.  The choice he made was for time to go backwards on the dial as it appeared harder to do than skipping ahead in time, but it also demonstrated that his own life would seem to reverse for that extra fifteen years promised him.  This showed the king that the healing was real in a way that also demonstrated that there is nothing too hard for God (Jeremiah 32:17, 33:3, Matthew 19:26) to do for His own as He controls all of creation, just as the miracles of His Son on earth would further show us all whom He is and all He is omnipotently capable of doing on our behalf for His plans of grace and providence to give life just as on the third day when He rose from death to life (John 5:24, 28, Acts 10:40, 43, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4) as a promise proven for we the people of the Lord.  This is then a picture of our own reprieve from death and certain judgment with an absolute hope of life as if the clock was turned back before the sin of disobedience was committed in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9, 16-17) and the tree of eternal life was once again set before us (Revelation 2:7, 22:2, 14) to eat from as it was never originally denied to our ancestors.  This is all possible by the work and person of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, through repentance and faith that trusts in Him alone for life as He said and is written for us to rely on.

Kings 19:20-37 - Setting Down Roots and Bearing Fruit

2 Kings 19:20-37

The Word of the LORD Concerning Sennacherib (Isaiah 37:21–35)

20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard.’ 21 This is the word which the LORD has spoken concerning him:

‘The virgin, the daughter of Zion,
Has despised you, laughed you to scorn;
The daughter of Jerusalem
Has shaken her head behind your back!

22 ‘Whom have you reproached and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice,
And lifted up your eyes on high?
Against the Holy One of Israel.

23 By your messengers you have reproached the Lord,
And said: “By the multitude of my chariots
I have come up to the height of the mountains,
To the limits of Lebanon;
I will cut down its tall cedars
And its choice cypress trees;
I will enter the extremity of its borders,
To its fruitful forest.

24 I have dug and drunk strange water,
And with the soles of my feet I have dried up
All the brooks of defense.”

25 ‘Did you not hear long ago
How I made it,
From ancient times that I formed it?
Now I have brought it to pass,
That you should be
For crushing fortified cities into heaps of ruins.

26 Therefore their inhabitants had little power;
They were dismayed and confounded;
They were as the grass of the field
And the green herb,
As the grass on the housetops
And grain blighted before it is grown.

27 ‘But I know your dwelling place,
Your going out and your coming in,
And your rage against Me.

28 Because your rage against Me and your tumult
Have come up to My ears,
Therefore I will put My hook in your nose
And My bridle in your lips,
And I will turn you back
By the way which you came.

29 ‘This shall be a sign to you:
‘You shall eat this year such as grows of itself,
And in the second year what springs from the same;
Also in the third year sow and reap,
Plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.

30 And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah
Shall again take root downward,
And bear fruit upward.

31 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant,
And those who escape from Mount Zion.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.’

32 “Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria:
‘He shall not come into this city,
Nor shoot an arrow there,
Nor come before it with shield,
Nor build a siege mound against it.

33 By the way that he came,
By the same shall he return;
And he shall not come into this city,’
Says the LORD.

34 ‘For I will defend this city, to save it
For My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’”

Sennacherib’s Defeat and Death (Isaiah 37:36–38; 2 Chronicles 32:20–23)

35 And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the LORD went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. 37 Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the temple of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

The remnant was called to set down roots in the LORD and bear fruit of righteousness upward as to heaven to Him after He saved them and their city.  This is a picture of forgiveness and redemption of a remnant of God’s people, leading to protection and a reconciliation with the LORD whom they had left.  When Hezekiah prayed against Sennacherib king of Assyria, God heard and heeded the penitent humbled heart of the leader of the people gone astray and Sid say, “I have heard.”  He then prophetically expounded on His word to him, them, and us in this long passage.  He spoke of vengeance against the mocking blasphemy of the ungodly against the LORD and His chosen ones.  He exposed their bragging about their supposed strength as if it was greater than the Creator of all things, including each of them.  He reminded them that He heard their rage (Psalm 2:1-2) against their Maker and how He sovereignly would turn them back from their futile plans to take away His people and their lands as He laughed and mocked them (Psalm 2:4, 10-11) for such arrogance.  God then promised the remnant of His own people that He would cause them to take root downward, and bear fruit upward, a promise of establishing them (1 Peter 5:10) and settling them once more in Him that they might bear fruit (Romans 7:4, Philippians 1:11) for Him.  The zeal of the LORD would establish this remnant from out of His people, which ultimately is to come to complete fruition as the church of God (Romans 11:5) in Jesus Christ our Lord, both Jews and Gentiles by the faith (Romans 4:3, 13, 16-17, 22-25) and promise of Abraham.  This example of protection and promise is to God’s people called out to Himself whom He defends for the sake of the promise through king David and his Seed, who is the Messiah-Christ to fulfill the promise of faith in trusting the word of the gospel as preached to and through Abraham.  Just as the LORD then routed the enemy camp in the middle of the night and removed the adversary who blasphemed the LORD before, so will He judge our adversary (John 12:31, 16:11, Hebrews 2:14-15, Revelation 12:9) in the heavenly place and cast him into the lake of fire as consequence of his blasphemy and opposition to the Lord, His Anointed, and His people.  We therefore are to be setting down roots of righteousness by our conformity to Christ (Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 3:18) and bearing fruit (Romans 6:22, 7:4) upward to Him in our calling as a remnant of the nations to His glory, honor, and praise because of the victory in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57) we have inherited as His remnant called out (Romans 8:30, 1 Thessalonians 2:12, Jude 1:1, Revelation 17:14) of the world.