2 Kings 21:1-23:30, Show courage and maturity by depending on God and not others for who you are

Year	Event	Reference
640–609 b. c.	Josiah was king of Judah.	2 Kin. 22:1—23:30
628/627 b. c.	Josiah’s reform began with the removal of high places and all vestiges of foreign cults.	2 Chr. 34:1–7
627/626 b. c.	Jeremiah was called by God to prophetic office.	Jer. 1:1, 2
626 b. c.	Nabopolassar, gaining independence from Assyria, founded the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
622 b. c.	Josiah repaired the temple; the Book of the Law was found.	2 Kin. 23:1–25; 2 Chr. 34:8–35:19
612 b. c.	Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, fell to the Media-Babylonian coalition.
609–605 b. c.	Egypt ruled Palestine and Syria.
609 b. c.	Josiah was killed by the Egyptian army at the Battle of Megiddo.	2 Kin. 23:29; 2 Chr. 35:20–25



2 Kings 21:1-9 (NIV) Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother's name was Hephzibah. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. 4 He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, "In Jerusalem I will put my Name." 5 In both courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. 6 He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, provoking him to anger.


7 He took the carved Asherah pole he had made and put it in the temple, of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, "In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever. 8 I will not again make the feet of the Israelites wander from the land I gave their forefathers, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them and will keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them." 9 But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.


• What do you notice of the contrast between Manasseh and his father Hezekiah?
• Everything Hezekiah destroyed, Manasseh restored
• "He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed" -- He specifically reversed course -- it makes your wonder why?
• "He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists." -- It was not because he wasn't spiritual
• Why does Manasseh switch directions so completely from his father, Hezekiah, the greatest of the kings of Judah?
• People make choices, sometimes against their very upbringing
• Hezekiah's decisions were very unpopular (destruction of the bronze snake) and the people's heart was not in it
• 2 Kings 21:9 suggests this
• Manasseh was essentially giving the people what they wanted
• His 55 year reign (might be the longest of all kings) doesn't suggest much opposition
• Manasseh represents the people wishes, whereas Hezekiah acted in accordance with what he felt was right
• Maybe Hezekiah's failure was in not getting the people on board
• Hezekiah implemented good ideas but he did not train or teach the people
• APPLICATION: Most people make two mistakes in regard to relationships
• They don't show they moral courage to stand up for what is right.  It is too important to please others than to please God.  Manasseh's lack of courage will destroy millions of people
• They can't live without being in a relationship.  God is not enough.  They are depressed, lonely, bored, if they are not in a relationship or hanging with friends.  It also shows a weak understanding of God.  Why even bother to walk with God?


2 Kings 21:10-16 (NIV) The Lord said through his servants the prophets: 11 "Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols. 12 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 13 I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and hand them over to their enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their foes, 15 because they have done evil in my eyes and have provoked me to anger from the day their forefathers came out of Egypt until this day."


16 Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end — besides the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, so that they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.


• Two things result from Manasseh:
• Final judgment to completely destroy Judah and Jerusalem -- the only question is "when?"
• Whatever Manasseh's original motivations (i.e., people-pleasing or unbelief), sin has an effect on him as well -- Manasseh becomes a very evil person (tradition has it that he sawed Isaiah in half)
• Because of Manasseh's lack of moral courage his spiritual obedience disappears.  He leads Israel to become more evil than the nations before Israel
• You can't play "Christianity" or play "God."  Either you give God control or the world control.  You cannot serve two masters
• Manasseh will suffer and will repent of his sins after he is captured and taken to Babylon.  He does remove the idols and ultimately changes his practices, but he can't remove the consequences of his sins
• He and the people will live with those consequences
• Be careful of the consequences of a two-faced life


2 Kings 21:19-24 (NIV) Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. His mother's name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz; she was from Jotbah. 20 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. 21 He walked in all the ways of his father; he worshiped the idols his father had worshiped, and bowed down to them. 22 He forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord.


23 Amon's officials conspired against him and assassinated the king in his palace. 24 Then the people of the land killed all who had plotted against King Amon, and they made Josiah his son king in his place.


• Amon returns to the practices of his father's early reign
• He is assassinated by his own officials
• His officials are executed for their actions
• BOTTOM LINE: Not clear why he was assassinated.  The plotters are all executed either for the crime, lifting the hand against the king, or possibly the people like Amon, not clear.  Maybe they did not like Manasseh's turn back to God


2 Kings 22:1-2, 8, 11-13 (NIV)  Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother's name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.
… 8 Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord." He gave it to Shaphan, who read it.
 … 11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. 12 He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king's attendant: 13 "Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord's anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us."


• It really is hard to imagine a book becoming lost, but given the two reigns over the last 57 years and the lack of printing press technology, it is not so difficult
• A scroll was a priceless commodity that existed in only a small number of copies.  People could spend years copying a scroll, and then destroying it if there was so much as one error in it
• How does Josiah respond to the word and why?
• He humbles himself
• He seeks God through a prophet (it is somewhat surprising that he did not go to Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Nahum, or Habakkuk, but goes to Huldah who lives in Jerusalem)


2 Kings 23:1-3 (NIV) Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 He went up to the temple of the Lord with the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets — all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord-to follow the Lord and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.


• Josiah does something that Hezekiah failed to do …
• Josiah reaches out the people
• Josiah involves the people in the rededication and renewal
• What is the first step in involving the people?
• The reading of the word
• God's word is powerful
• APPLICATION:
• You can have great ideas for what God wants to do, but if the heart of the body is not with you, you will not succeed.  You need strong Christian fellowship.  Few people can stand on their own
• God's word is powerful.  If you are not in the word you will have no power


2 Kings 23:4-16 (NIV) The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. 5 He did away with the pagan priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem — those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts. 6 He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people. 7 He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes, which were in the temple of the Lord and where women did weaving for Asherah.


8 Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the shrines at the gates — at the entrance to the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which is on the left of the city gate. 9 Although the priests of the high places did not serve at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.


10 He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech. 11 He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the room of an official named Nathan — Melech. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.


12 He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley. 13 The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption — the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the people of Ammon. 14 Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.


15 Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin — even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. 16 Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.


• I read all this, because it gives an idea of the degree to which the people had turned from God.  In fact, there is more in the verses which follow
• Notice two key events
• Destruction of high places that Solomon had set up (also have a lot of history)
• The destruction of one of the high places that Jeroboam had built (finally, also probably almost iconic at this point)
• 2 Kings 23:26-27 make one last very strong point -- too late
2 Kings 23:26-27 (NIV) Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to provoke him to anger. 27 So the Lord said, "I will remove Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, 'There shall my Name be.'"
• APPLICATION: repentance takes away sins but not the consequence of sins