-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)
There is so much going on in our 2 Kings reading today that it’s unlikely that we’ll have the chance to adequately cover it all. Of particular note, there are some hidden gems, or “easter eggs” as the kids say, strewn about that you have to be looking for carefully or you’ll miss (*An Easter egg is a message, image, or feature hidden in various forms of media). These were some of my favorite bible books to read as a child just because there was so much excitement and adventure going on, but looking closely you’ll find that there are quite a few nuggets of wisdom, but you have to dig for them sometimes. Some are laying right on the surface, though.
The first part of 2Ki 23:1-25 is detailing some of the things Josiah did as king. Keeping in mind that he was only 8 years old when he took office (2Ki 22:1), I was wondering how old he was when he realized that his father Manasseh had led the nation astray and started working to correct it. The closest I could come in the book of 2 Kings to finding that answer is in 2Ki 23:23 where it says “But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to Yahweh in Jerusalem” (LSB), for the first time since the time of the judges (back in v22). So, is that in the 18th year of his life, or the 18th year of his reign? I found the answer over in 2 Chronicles 34&35, which states that in the 8th year of his reign he started to seek the Lord, and that in the 18th year of his reign (after significant reforms had already been made) they celebrated the Passover for the first time since the time of the judges. So, for you bible nerds out there, he became king at 8, was about 16 years old when he started seeking God, and was about 26 when he reinstated the Passover feast.
Oh, and in case you were wondering if grandpa Manasseh was really such a bad guy, the biblical writers remind us again and again whose fault it is in 2Ki 23:26 and also 24:3, squarely blaming all of the misfortunes about to befall them during this time on him. You know, in case you forgot, because apparently they did not: EVER. Keep in mind, this is an epic time in history; the Assyrian kingdom was in decline, Egypt was still a force to be reckoned with, and the Babylonian kingdom is on the ascension. Up until the time of the Babylonian exile, the ancient Jews had a real problem with idolatry (you’ll recall that’s #1 in the list of ‘thou shalt not’s). After the time of the Babylonian exile, you never hear about idolatry again in the land of Israel (at least on a national level). Think about that: just like when you got a spanking from your father as a child, God generally performs punitive actions to correct behavior. This time it absolutely worked, check it out if you don’t believe me: the Israelites never again returned to idolatry once they returned from Babylon (at least on a national level).
Here’s one “Easter egg” I found when doing a deep dive into this reading: I’d always assumed that the “idolatrous priests” (2Ki23:5) referred to, you know: priests who worshipped false idols or pagan deities. Reading closely in v5,6,8, and 9 however we can see that some of these were kohanim, Aaronite priests of God, particularly in v9 where it states “…but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers.” (LSB). We can infer from these passages that even if you’re the right guy, serving the right God, if you’re doing it in the wrong way or in the wrong place: you might be idolatrous. I’ve got a note in my bible that reads: “priests of God, but serving in the wrong place?”. Just a little food for thought, something to consider.
Do you like finding “Easter eggs” as much as I do? Well, lucky day, here’s another one: read carefully 2Ki 23:15-18, about the grave of the “man of God”. This is a great story, but to get the full scope of it, after you read the above verses, you’ll need to flip backwards over to 1 Ki 13. We sadly never get to know the name of the man of God, we do however get to learn a valuable life lesson: listen to God if He’s talking, and absolutely ignore men if they are saying something different.
A quick summary of the story is as follows: God sends a man, a prophet, to deliver a message to the king, which he does. This prophet is commanded to “eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way which you came”. Then another prophet chases after him and says “uh, so God told me you’re supposed to come eat with me”, and he does. Then the prophet who invited the first one to eat then says “why have you rebelled against God?” and tells the guy he’s going to die, which he does shortly after he leaves (by a lion).
Then, to add insult to injury, when the second prophet realizes that the “man of God” has been killed (and while accepting absolutely no personal responsibility in this series of events as possibly overstepping by telling the first prophet that God had told him he should eat), he has him buried and mourns him saying “alas, my brother!”. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, this second prophet then tells his kids “When I die, bury me with that guy, because he was a prophet.” (paraphrased and summarised, but accurate, go and read it: 1 Ki 13)!? As a result, when all the other graves are defiled later on, the second prophet who misled and (indirectly?) caused the “man of God” to be killed was also left undisturbed when Josiah left the grave alone in 2 Ki 23:18. Ironic, isn’t it? The moral of that story is: ignore men, listen to God.
Now remember as we continue on, Manasseh was a really bad guy. So bad that even when Josiah did what was right in God’s eyes, God’s promise to Josiah was not that he would relent from His (righteous) wrath on the nation, but that Josiah would die before it happened so that he “would not see all the evil which I will bring on this place” (LSB, 2 Ki 22:20). This happens in 2Ki 23:29, when Pharaoh Neco (AKA Necho II, @610-595 BC) puts him to death at Megiddo. Does the name of that place sound familiar? It should, in Rev 16:16 the “final battle” prophesied is to take place in what is translated as “Armegeddon”, which is literally “Har Megiddo”, or the “hill” of Megiddo (an ancient city). Same place (insert dramatic sound effect here).
In 2 Ki 24, we see the beginning of the rise of Nebuchadnezzar and the ascension of the kingdom of Babylon. Later on in this chapter (v10) Judah goes into exile, and then in chapter 25 we see the fall of the last stronghold in Judah, Jerusalem. It is notably at this point that the temple is burned, Solomon’s temple, one of the grandest architectural structures of the time. The people had begun to think of themselves as untouchable, since they had the temple in their midst, even though idolatry was running rampant (See Jer 7:4 for the popular view of “the temple” at this time). This effectively ended the “First Temple” period, considered to be the “golden age” of Jewish prosperity and centralized worship.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- Can you think of a time in your life when it felt like God was punishing you? Upon reflection and with the passing of time, were you able to see the lesson that was being taught? (I sure did.)
- Has there ever been a time in your life when even if you were trying to do the right thing, you realized you were in the wrong place? Reflect on this quietly for a few moments, I can think of at least 3 personally (and I wasn’t even always trying to do the right thing). How could you have had a better outcome?
- Why are we inclined to listen to men over God, sometimes?
PRAYER
Father God, please place me in the right spot. Purify my heart, and give me strength so that when I am there, I can do your will. Please let my ears hear Your whispering over the shouting of men, and guide my feet onto the path that leads directly to Your kingdom. Thank you most of all for sending Jesus to teach us and to be a role model. In his name we pray, Amen.
Seek Grow Love 