Join us as we delve into the concluding chapters of 2 Chronicles, reflecting on the reign of King Josiah, a monarch who restored the Passover and sought the Lord with all his heart. In these chapters, we witness Josiah’s dedication to God’s word and his impact on Judah, only to see his tragic end and the subsequent downfall of the kingdom. Through the chronicler’s eyes, we explore the cycles of faithfulness and rebellion in Israel’s history, contemplating the consequences and revelations within these ancient texts.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
SPEAKER 02 :
Today we conclude our journey through 1 and 2 Chronicles. We’re on chapter 35 and 36 of 2 Chronicles, the last two chapters of this great book. And we’ll listen to Senator Kevin Grantham, our guest reader, President of the Colorado Senate, read chapter 35, and we’ll hear Faith Comes Right Hearing’s conclusion of chapter 36. 2 Chronicles 35
SPEAKER 05 :
Josiah kept a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem. And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month. He appointed the priests to their offices and encouraged them in the service of the house of the Lord. And he said to the Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the Lord, Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. You need not carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel. Prepare yourselves according to your father’s houses by your divisions, as prescribed in the writing of David king of Israel and the document of Solomon his son. And stand in the holy place according to the groupings of the father’s houses of your brothers, the lay people, and according to the division of the Levites by father’s household. and slaughter the Passover lamb and consecrate yourselves, and prepare for your brothers to do according to the word of the Lord by Moses. Then Josiah contributed to the lay people as Passover offerings for all who were present, lambs and young goats from the flock to the number of thirty thousand and three thousand bulls. These were from the king’s possessions. and his officials contributed willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the chief officers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings 2,600 Passover lambs and 300 bulls. Conaniah also, and Shemaiah, and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah, and Jael, and Josabath, the chiefs of the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover offerings five thousand lambs, and young goats, and five hundred bulls. When the service had been prepared for, the priests stood in their place and the Levites in their divisions according to the king’s command. And they slaughtered the Passover lamb and the priests threw the blood that they received from them while the Levites flayed the sacrifices. And they set aside the burnt offerings that they might distribute them according to the groupings of the father’s houses of the lay people to offer to the Lord as it is written in the book of Moses. And so they did with the bulls. And they roasted the Passover lamb with fire according to the rule. And they boiled the holy offerings in pots, in cauldrons, and in pans, and carried them quickly to all the laypeople. And afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were offering the burnt offerings and the fat parts until night. So the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron. The singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their place according to the command of David. And Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun, the king’s seer, and the gatekeepers were at each gate. They did not need to depart from their service, for their brothers, the Levites, prepared for them. So all the service of the Lord was prepared that day to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord. according to the command of King Josiah. And the people of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time and the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days. No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as was kept by Josiah. and the priests and the Levites and all Judah and Israel who were present and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah, this Passover was kept. And God has commanded me to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me, lest he destroy you. Nevertheless, Josiah did not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Necho from the mouth of God, but came to fight in the plain of Megiddo. And the archers shot King Josiah. And the king said to his servants, Take me away, for I am badly wounded. So his servants took him out of the chariot, and carried him in his second chariot, and brought him to Jerusalem. And he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. Jeremiah also uttered a lament for Josiah. And all the singing men and singing women have spoken of Josiah and their laments to this day. They made these a rule in Israel. Behold, they are written in the laments. Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his good deeds according to what is written in the law of the Lord and his acts, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
SPEAKER 03 :
The people of the land took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father’s place in Jerusalem. Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. Then the king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But Necho took Jehoahaz his brother and carried him to Egypt. Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar also carried part of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon, and put them in his palace in Babylon. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and the abominations that he did, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiakim his son reigned in his place. Jehoiakim was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. In the spring of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon with the precious vessels of the house of the Lord, and made his brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem. Zedekiah was 21 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord. He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord, the God of Israel. All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the Lord that he had made holy in Jerusalem. The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy. Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand, and all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. And they burned the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious vessels. He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate, it kept Sabbath to fulfill seventy years. Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing,
SPEAKER 04 :
Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up.
SPEAKER 02 :
We’ll take a look at my Bible reading journals as we close out 2 Chronicles. Back in 1983, when I was 28 years old, I wrote, Josiah has all Israel celebrate Passover. First time since Samuel. Praise God for men who find God’s book and obey in public. Josiah dies at the end of the chapter. On to 2 Chronicles 36. Ignoring God, Judah fails until they are invaded. The temple is burned, the walls are destroyed, and they are carried off into captivity. Even then, the Lord holds on. In the final verse, he works through King Cyrus to move toward restoring Jerusalem again. Praise God for mercy and unfailing love. In 1997, at 42 years old, I read 2 Chronicles 34 through 36 on the same day, and I wrote, Josiah was eight when he became king. Usually for such a young king, there was a priest or a prophet named. Not for Josiah, but he did what was right in the sight of the Lord. At 16, he sought the Lord. When he was 20, he purged Israel of high places, idol worship, etc. At 26, he finds the book of the law, the word of God, reads it, and obeys. His heart was tender to the word. Josiah celebrated Passover, and Judah was blessed. Praise God for his word and those who obey and restore. And in 2009, at 54 years old, I read 2 Chronicles 34 and 36 again on the same day, and I wrote Josiah. While he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father, David. He acted, purged Judah and Jerusalem of the high places and the idols and the false priests. He ordered the repair of the temple. While repairing the temple, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law. God’s word was read to Josiah, who then gathered all the people together To hear the word of the Lord, he decided to obey and led the people in obedience to God’s word. They worshipped God, celebrated Passover, and Judah was blessed. After Josiah, evil kings reigned again. God warns his people. But they would not listen. Finally, there was no remedy. The temple is burned down, Jerusalem is destroyed, and the people were carried off to Babylon. What a sad ending to Chronicles. The theme of 2 Chronicles was revival. It read like a revival handbook with stories of revival under Asa, Hezekiah, and Josiah. Remember the historical context of the book of Chronicles is after the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple, which we just read about. That victory by Babylon ended the Davidic monarchy. Israel, the northern tribes, and Judah, the southern tribes. Jerusalem is repopulated and repaired by Nehemiah and the temple is rebuilt and functioning again. But questions remain like God’s purpose for Israel and the ancient promise to David about his continuing kingdom. Those questions were in mind when the chronicler wrote to commend a positive prescription for the spiritual and social renewal of Jerusalem. In these two books of Chronicles, the writer presents a view of Israel’s past drawing mainly from the books of Samuel and Kings and recasts and supplements those books, showing how the nation’s unfaithfulness to God led it to disaster, but also pointed out how its faithful kings and people experienced God’s blessings. Throughout 1 and 2 Chronicles, we saw examples of those who did right in the sight of the Lord and those who did evil in the sight of the Lord and the consequences of their choices. As we conclude, now it’s up to us. Do we seek to do right in the sight of the Lord? Are we caught up in doing evil in the sight of the Lord? Throughout these two books, we saw the consequences of those decisions. Maybe we’re experiencing the consequences of our choices as well. Hopefully you’ve seen over and over in these two books that every time people chose to do what was right in the sight of the Lord, they were blessed, they prospered, and people enjoyed the presence of God. That promise is still available to us today. My prayer for all AddBible listeners is that we make that choice to do that which is pleasing in the sight of God. Father, thank you for including 1 and 2 Chronicles in the Bible. Thank you for the lessons we have learned, the examples that we have seen. Holy Spirit, lead, guide, and direct our steps. May we be found seeking the Lord with all our heart, with all our spirit, with all our mind, with all our soul. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
