Great is the Wrath of the LORD that is Kindled Against Us

Day 110 – A Year in the Bible – 2 Kings 22-25

______

2 KINGS 22 – JOSIAH

Josiah Did that Which was Right in the Sight of the LORD
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. 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. – 2 Kings‬ ‭22‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭

When Josiah Heard the Words of the Book of the Law He Rent His Clothes
And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king’s, saying, Go ye, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us. – 2 Kings 22:10-13

Thine Eyes Shall Not See All the Evil Which I Will Bring
So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college;) and they communed with her. And she said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read: 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 kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched. But to the king of Judah which sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard; because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again. – 2 Kings 22:14-20

_______

2 KINGS 23 – JOSIAH MADE A COVENANT BEFORE THE LORD

To Walk After the LORD
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. – 2 Kings 23:3

There was No King Like Him
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. – 2 Kings 23:25

So far this year, we have read about several evil kings—some so corrupt that they were known to sacrifice children. Today we read about King Josiah. Hilkiah, a priest, found a scroll in the temple that recorded the covenant between God and the children of Israel. When Josiah was made aware of how they had strayed, he turned to the LORD with all of his heart, sound, and might…and cleansed the land of idolatry.

Oh, how I want it to be said of me that I turned to the LORD with all of my heart, and with all of my soul, and with all my might! Please help me, Lord, because I know I can’t do anything apart from YOU living through me. I ask this in the Name above ALL names…JESUS!

______

2 KINGS 24 – ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF THE LORD

The LORD Sent Them Against Judah to Destroy It
In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets. Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; and also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon. – 2 Kings‬ ‭24‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭

Jerusalem Besieged
At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. – 2 Kings 24:10

Through the Anger of it LORD
For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. – 2 Kings‬ ‭24‬:‭20‬ ‭

______

2 KINGS 25 – THE FALL OF JERUSALEM

They Slew the Sons of Zedekiah Before His Eyes and Then Put Out His Eyes
And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king’s garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain. And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him. So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him. And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon. – 2 Kings‬ ‭25‬:‭3-‭7‬ ‭

Most People Carried Away but the Poor were Left to Work the Fields
And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about. Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carry away. But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen. – 2 Kings‬ ‭25‬:‭10‬-‭12‬ ‭

Jehoiachin King of Judah Given Favor and Lifetime Allowance
And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison; and he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon; and changed his prison garments: and he did eat bread continually before him all the days of his life. And his allowance was a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life. – 2 Kings 25:27-30