In Second Kings, chapter twenty-five, verse seven, Zedekiah, the youngest son of Josiah, reigned for eleven years. He departed from the faith of his righteous father and often persecuted the prophet Jeremiah. Zedekiah could have avoided the tragedies that overtook him if he had listened to Jeremiah. The Chaldeans slew the children of Zedekiah that …
In Second Kings, chapter twenty-four, verse twenty, Zedekiah rebelled because false prophets had declared a positive message that God would destroy Babylon and not Judah. Jeremiah’s message, although unpopular, proclaimed the opposite: that God would bring His rebellious people under the rule of Babylon. However, between both sermons, Jeremiah’s message is the one that came …
In Second Kings, chapter twenty-four, verse three, the fall of Judah was God’s judgment upon the obstinate and unrepentant people who followed the terrible sins of Manasseh. Apostasy has reached its limit. The priests and prophets uttered lies as in Jeremiah five, verse thirty-one, and chapter six, stanza thirteen accordingly. The meaning is not for …
In Second Kings, chapter twenty-four, verse two, Nebuchadnezzar, the captivity of the southern kingdom by Babylon received prediction one hundred and fifty years before it occurred, as in Isaiah six, eleven through twelve. Nebuchadnezzar is the son of Nabopolassar, the founder of the Chaldee monarchy. This invasion came in the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s and …
In Second Kings, chapter twenty-three, verse twenty-six, despite the moral leadership of Josiah and his spiritual revival and reforms, Judah had declined so far as a nation that deep and lasting national change was no longer possible. Judgment against Judah only postponed the people and the priests who were evil at heart. However, after the …
In Second Kings, chapter twenty-three, verse twenty-five, Josiah is described as the most faithful and dedicated of all the kings who had reigned over God’s people, including David himself. In terms of personal commitment and faithfulness to God’s Word, Josiah was the greatest, as in chapter eighteen, verse five, Deuteronomy six, verse five, and Jeremiah …
In Second Kings, chapter twenty-three, verse four, Josiah’s reforms follow the scriptural principle that repentance for specific sins is essential to true revival. The reformation naturally began with the purging of the temple, so the renewal under Jehoiada, as in Second Kings eleven, verse eighteen, and that of Manasseh in Second Chronicles thirty-three, verse fifteen, …
In Second Kings, chapter twenty-two, verse nineteen, Josiah pleased God because he humbled himself before the Lord. The humbling oneself before God is a primary condition for renewal and receiving God’s grace. It involves believing that God’s judgments towards us are right and just by what we deserve: knowing that we, without His grace, are …
In Second Kings, chapter twenty-two, Josiah desired to know whether the sins of Judah had reached such a point that divine judgment was inevitable. Through the prophets Huldah, God said that His people would someday fall into the hands of their enemies, as in verses fourteen through seventeen. Josiah recognized what Judah had done, and …
In Second Kings, chapter twenty-two, verse eight, the “book of the law” found by Hilkiah had been “given by Moses,” as in Second Chronicles, thirty-four, verse fourteen. It was most likely a copy of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, as in Deuteronomy thirty-one, stanzas nine through twelve, and twenty-four to twenty-six. …
