2 Chronicles 34:30

2 Chronicles 34:30 says, And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord.  Josiah and all the people from the most powerful to the least powerful, including priests and Levites went to the house of the Lord and read the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found there.  It would seem that the priests and Levites would have been reading it as the religious leaders, but Matthew Henry says that Josiah may have read it to show that it affected him as well.  I do know that when we gather to worship God that we need to be reading and proclaiming the truth of the Bible and that it should affect us all, from the highest to the lowest.  Verse thirty-one adds, And the king stood in his place, 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 his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.  Josiah stood as the king of Judah and made a covenant with God to always follow His teachings found in the Book of the Covenant with all His heart and soul.  This is what we should do when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  We should make that same covenant to follow God's teachings as recorded in the Bible, even though we are not saved by the old covenant of the Law but by the new covenant of grace.  They kept the law looking forward to the new covenant and we keep the law because we are still to be obedient to God's law, even though it does not save us, nor did it save them.  All people for all time are saved by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for all the sins of all the people.   Verse thirty-two continues, And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.  Josiah had all those present to at least say they would do the same, but He could not force them to do so.  We may get people to proclaim that they have put their faith in Jesus Christ, but we cannot force them to, nor can we guarantee that they have.  We can only present the gospel to them, and then it is up to them whether they truly accept God's gift of salvation or not, but it is not up to us to decide if they did or not.  That is God's decision alone.  Verse thirty-three concludes, And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. And all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.  It seems from this verse that the people of Judah were sincere in following God for as long as Josiah lived, but they may have just been going through the motions of serving God without really putting their faith in Him, because if they had, I believe it would have said that they all followed God's Law for the rest of their lives and not just during the reign of Josiah.  We may proclaim ourselves to be a Christian nation in America, but if our actions are not in accordance with God's Law, then we are making a false claim.  Still, all we can do as Christians is to make sure that we are obedient to the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

2 Chronicles 34:22

2 Chronicles 34:22 says, And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they spake to her to that effect.  Hilkiah and all those he had appointed went to Huldah the prophetess to inquire of her.  Matthew Henry doesn't say anything about her, only that they enquired of the Lord.  We are not told much about Huldah, but she was evidently a real prophetess of God, so we should not be surprised if God works through both men and women today to spread His word.  Verse twenty-three adds, And she answered them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell ye the man that sent you to me,  Huldah did tell them that what she told them she gave by a revelation from God.  Whoever we are as Christians, what we speak as the truth needs to come from God.  Like Huldah, we don't need to give our opinions but God's word.  Verse twenty-four continues, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:  What Huldah said was not good news.  She said God said He was going to bring all the curses written in the book on the people of Judah.  I don't think we should try to scare people into accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, but we do need to tell them the truth about what will happen to them if they don't, and it will be much worse than anything that can happen in this world.  It is an everlasting punishment separated from God.  Verse twenty-five concludes, 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 poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.  Huldah pronounced God's judgment on Judah because of their sin, not as an arbitrary act on His part.  God is not out to get us, but He loved us enough to send His only begotten Son to die in our place.  If God's judgment comes on us, it will be because we chose to reject Jesus Christ and continue in sinning against Him.  Verse twenty-six states, And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the Lord, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard;  Huldah had a different message for Josiah.  Even if the whole world is in rebellion against God, what matters is our relationship to Him.  We cannot be judged for the sins of others, nor can they be judged for ours.  Likewise, no one can be saved because of our relationship with God nor can we be saved by theirs.  All we as Christians can do is witness to others about Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for their sins.  Our salvation is personal and depends on whether we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord or not.  Verse twenty-seven adds, Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord.  Josiah was told that since he repented and humbled himself before God, that God had heard him when he prayed to Him.  We need to humble ourselves before God, starting by accepting His gift of salvation, and if we do, He will always hear our prayers.  Verse twenty-eight continues, Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.  Josiah was told that because he had humbled himself before God that he would not see the judgment coming on the people, but that it would occur after his death.  As Christians, we will never see the final judgment that comes on those who have rejected Jesus Christ, and we can rest assured that it will never happen to us, not because of our own goodness, but because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.  Verse twenty-nine concludes, Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.  After receiving this message from God, Josiah gathered all the elders of Jerusalem and Judah.  After we receive and accept the gospel, we need to share it with everyone we meet, under the power and leadership of the Holy Spirit, whether we are in a position of power in the world or not.  

2 Chronicles 34:14

 2 Chronicles 23:14 says, And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses.  When they were bringing out the money from the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Law that had been given to Moses.  I wonder how they had missed this for so long, but sometimes we as Christians seem to fail to follow God's law.  Also, it does not say the law of Moses, but the law of God given to Moses, which is what it actually was.  We must stand on God's law and not on what someone may say that it states.  Verse fifteen adds, And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.  Hilkiah stated to Shaphan the scribe that he had found the book of the law and gave it to him.  We may have many Bibles today, but we need to discover what it really says instead of just forming our own opinions or listening to those of others.  Verse sixteen continues, And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it.  Shaphan took the book of the Law to the king.  As priests and scribes, it was the responsibility of Hilkiah and Shaphan to present the law to all the people, but the king would have been a good one to start with.  As a part of the priesthood of the believers, it is our responsibility to present the gospel to everyone, but if we can reach those in power, it would be a good place to start.  Verse sixteen states, And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen.  Shaphan started by telling the king that they had delivered the money for the repair of the temple to the workmen.  That was what the king had commissioned them to do.  We need to do what we have been charged with doing in being responsible for how we use our tithes and offerings, but that is not the main thing we need to do.  The main thing we need to do is proclaim the gospel to the lost.  Verse seventeen adds, Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.  After telling the king that they had delivered the money to the workmen, he then added that Hilkiah had found the book of the Law.  To me, this would have been more important news, just as having and following the Bible today is more important than anything else we may do with the resources God has blessed us with.  Verse nineteen continues, And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.  When Josiah heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes, because he knew he needed to follow what it said.  When we discover God's law, starting with the gospel, we need to repent and ask God's forgiveness if we realize there are things we haven't been doing in accordance with His law, even if we have been doing good things before.  Verse twenty says, And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king's, saying,  Verse twenty-one adds, Go, enquire of the Lord for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book.  Josiah then commissioned some of the priests and scribes to present the word of the law to those who were left of the people of Israel and Judah.  He further stated that their fathers had not kept the word of the Law, resulting in them having the wrath of God poured out on them.  Of course, some of the leaders who had gone before had followed the book of the Law and some hadn't, but overall, more hadn't than had.  No matter what may have happened in the past, we must present the gospel to everyone today and we must live by the word of God ourselves.    

2 Chronicles 34:8

2 Chronicles 34:8 says, Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God.  After eighteen years of being the king, Josiah sent people to repair the house of the Lord.  We might wonder why it took him so long, but he had been very young when he first started to rule, and was just now what we would call grown.  He had purged the temple of all the things that were corrupting it, and now he was going to repair the building itself.  Since our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, we need to purge ourselves of all things that are not in accordance with God's word, and we need to take care of ourselves physically so that we can do what God has called us to do to the best of our ability.  Verse nine adds, And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to Jerusalem.  The Levites had been gathering money from all the people of Judah, and those of Israel that were worshipping God, even if the nation as a whole didn't.  It seems that they not only collected money at the door of the temple, but they may have traveled around to these different parts of the nation to gather the money as well.  Then, they brought it back to the high priest.  As Christians, we all need to be involved in supporting the spreading of the gospel today, even if those around us oppose doing so.  Everything we are blessed with should be used for the glorification of our High Priest, Jesus Christ. Verse ten continues, And they put it in the hand of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of the Lord, and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the house of the Lord, to repair and amend the house:  When they had given the money to the high priest, he delivered it to the workmen who were actually going to do the work.  If we as a body of believers collectively gather money today, I believe that we should put it to work for advancing God's kingdom.  Verse eleven states, Even to the artificers and builders gave they it, to buy hewn stone, and timber for couplings, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.  Money was needed to but the things necessary to repair the temple, and the high priest trusted that those who were going to do the repairs would know what they needed and use the money wisely.  Sometimes, we may have to trust that those who are doing work on the church building know what they are doing and give them the resources they need to do so.  This doesn't mean that we don't still maintain an oversight on how the money or resources are used.  Verse twelve adds, And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and other of the Levites, all that could skill of instruments of musick.  As stated, there need to be accountability for how the money was used, and the Levites, particularly Jahath and Obadiah were the overseers of the work.  It also states that the people paid to do the work did it faithfully, and if we hire people to do work in the church today, we need to pray that they will do so faithfully.  Verse thirteen continues, Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters.  The Levites oversaw all the work that was being done.  I don't believe that they questioned everything that was done, but they were simply making sure that the money was used wisely.  We cannot observe firsthand everything that is being done to advance God's kingdom, but we can keep a general oversight of the work, especially if we are in charge of the resources of the church.   

2 Chronicles 34:1

 2 Chronicles 34:1 says, Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.  Josiah like a few other of the kings of Judah was very young when he began to rule, but he was the next in line of the descendants of David.  He ruled for a fairly long time.  It is more important that we be a follower of Christ if we are going to be involved in the work of the church than it is what our age might be.  Verse two adds, And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.  Unlike his actual father, Josiah followed the way of his ancestor David and did what was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in His ways.  We also need to walk in the ways of those faithful Christians who have gone before us, but more importantly we need to walk in the ways of Jesus Christ spiritually.  Verse three continues, For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.  It took him a while to begin to follow God and even longer to begin to remove the false gods and false places of worship from Judah and Jerusalem.  From the age of eight to sixteen, he was probably relying on others to advise him, and then he began to form his own conclusions about God, and then by the age of twenty, he began to act under God's guidance completely, I believe.  When we are a young Christian, we often follow the advice if older Christians, and hopefully they will lead us to live by the commandants of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we mature in our Christian life, but there comes a time when we should be mature enough to act with conviction about what God wants us to do.  Verse four states, And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.  Josiah had all the idols and altars and groves used in the worship of Baal destroyed completely.  It always seems strange how often the people of Israel and Judah reestablished the worship of false gods after they had been destroyed, but they did this from the time of their deliverance.  We need to be careful that we as followers of Christ don't allow some idol, which is anything that comes between God and us, to come into our lives once again.  Verse five adds, And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.  The bones of the false priests were burned on their own altars before they were destroyed, and he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.  We cannot cleanse the whole nation of its idolatry, but we can present the gospel to everyone, and if they accept God's gift of salvation, the nation will be cleansed. Verse six continues, And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about.  Josiah cleaned several cities in Israel as well.  The nation might have been divided physically in their leadership, but they were all a part of God's chosen people.  If we are following the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the way we live should lead all of our fellow Christians to want to do the same.  Verse seven concludes, And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.  After destroying all the idols and the places they were worshipped, Josiah returned to Jerusalem.  This would indicate that he was actively involved in doing this, and we as Christian need to be actively involved in keeping any false teachings out of the church today. 

2 Chronicles 33:19

2 Chronicles 33:19 says, His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sins, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers.  Manasseh also tore down all the false places of worship and the idols he had set up after he repented and asked God's forgiveness.  As Christians, we need to tear down anything that has come between God and us and repent of allowing it to happen to start with and He will restore us to a right relationship with Him spiritually.  Just as Manasseh never stopped being a part of the family of David even when he was rebelling against God, once we are reborn into the family of God, we will be a part of it forever, but we can lose God's blessings if we stray away from following His will for our lives.  Verse twenty adds, So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.  As with all earthly rulers, eventually Manasseh died and was buried, and then his son Amon became king.  Verse twenty-one continues, Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned two years in Jerusalem. Amon was twenty-two when he became king, and only ruled for two years. Verse twenty-two states, But he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them;  Amon did not continue in following God, but returned to following the idols that Manasseh had worshipped before his repentance, which was evil in the sight of God.  As followers of Christ, we need to pray that our children will follow us in worshipping and serving God and that our times of not serving Him will not be more important to them.  Verse twenty-three adds, And humbled not himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.  Instead of humbling himself before God as Manasseh his father had, he trespassed or sinned against God more and more.  Those who do not put their faith in Jesus Christ will tend to fall deeper into sin over time, I believe, allowing self-pride to rule them.  Verse twenty-four continues, And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house.  Amon was not killed by a foreign enemy but by his own servants, which is why his reign was so short.  I don't think we should kill anyone who is in a position of leadership who doesn't follow God, but we certainly should kill any evil actions that they would lead us to in our lives.  Verse twenty-five concludes, But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.  The rest of the people of Judah then killed those who had killed Amon and made Josiah their king.  Though Amon may have been wicked, those who killed him were not acting in accordance to God's will either, according to Matthew Henry. We cannot please God by doing anything outside of His will. 

2 Chronicles 33:11

2 Chronicles 32:11 says, Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.  We are told that God brought them the captains of the Assyrians and not that they defeated Manasseh by their own ability. I still believe it was more of God removing His protection from Manasseh because of his disobedience.  Matthew Henry points out that this is not mentioned in the Book of Kings, but maybe this is because Manasseh's captivity was overcome by his repentance which we will see in the next verse and was not based on the repentance of the nation as a whole.  I do know that whether anyone else who has strayed away from God repents or not, if we as individual Christians know that we have, we must repent and ask God's forgiveness, and He will restore us and set us free from the captivity of sin once more.  Verse twelve adds, And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,  When Manasseh was suffering affliction, he sought God and humbled himself greatly before God.  His disobedience to God had brought this affliction on him, but he recognized that only God could restore him.  We also need to realize that if we are suffering because of disobedience to God that only repentance as we humble ourselves before Him can restore us to spiritual health.  We also need to know that if we seek God, He can always be found.  Verse thirteen continues, And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.  God heard Manasseh's prayers, restored him, and then Manasseh knew that He was God.  He had been worshipping false gods, and they let him down.  When he humbled himself and begin to worship the one true God, he was restored.   God proved Himself to be God, and Manasseh believed.   We must live by faith and not by seeing some great miracle and need to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation, and if we do accept Him as our Savior and Lord, we will be restored to a right relationship with God.  Verse fourteen states, Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah.  Manasseh began to restore the walls of Jerusalem and set captains of war over them.  We do not have to erect physical barriers today but need to build up spiritual walls to protect us from the forces of evil.  Verse fifteen adds, And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.  More important than building the walls, he took all the strange gods, or idols, out of the house of God.  If we are to be successful spiritually as Christians, we need to remove all the false gods from our lives.  Verse sixteen continues, And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.  Manasseh then repaired the altar of God and sacrificed peace offerings on it.  If we have drifted away from God as followers of Christ, we need to repent and repair the relationship and offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to God once again.  Verse seventeen says,  Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the Lord their God only.  As stated earlier, though Manasseh repented and returned to God, the nation as a whole did not.  They were sacrificing to God alone, but not in accordance with His commandments.  He may have led them away from God, but they did not follow him in returning to God, which to me would indicate that they hadn't believed in God very much to start with.  We need to pray that we never lead anyone away from God, but if we do, all we can really do is return to Him ourselves and pray that those who were led astray will do so as well and we must do so in accordance with God's word.  I also believe that if we truly have put their faith in God that we will not easily be led astray and the Holy Spirit will convict us to return to God if we do, no matter what we may have done.  Verse eighteen adds, Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel.  We are told that the rest of the acts of Manasseh and his prayer are written in the book of the kings of Israel.