Day 112. 2 Kings 21-23

We continue the flip-flop of rulers, one good one followed by a corrupt one. Hezekiah dies and is followed by his son Manasseh, who undoes all the reforms of his father, adding innovations of his own. He puts back the altars of Baal Hezekiah had destroyed and erects a sacred pole, like Ahab of Israel had done (21:3) . He places altars to the astral deities—what our text calls the "host of heaven"—the sun, moon, and stars--in the very precincts of the Jerusalem temple (21:4). The anger of the LORD is kindled by all of this, and he tells his servants the prophets that now he is determined upon destroying Jerusalem utterly—"I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down," he says (21:13). Ammon, who succeeds Manasseh, is no better. But his short reign—only two years—is cut mercifully short by assassins, and he, in turn, is succeeded by his son, an eight-year-old boy, Josiah. Josiah is given unqualified praise by the compiler of the Books of Kings as one who does "right in the sight of the LORD, and [walks] in all the ways of his father David" (22:2).  The king sets about repairing the temple, and in the course of the renovation, a "book of the law" is found (22:8). No one is exactly sure what it is, but it is probably a version of the Book of Deuteronomy. In any case, the condemnations of idolatry found in the book make such a deep impression on the godly Josiah that he sends a delegation to the prophetess Huldah to discover what to do. The prophetess does not return an encouraging response--just as the book says,  the LORD intends to bring "disaster" upon Jerusalem and its inhabitants because they have abandoned the LORD and made offerings to other gods (22:16-17).   But because Josiah himself is penitent and has humbled himself, he will be gathered to his grave in peace (22:20) before these things take place. Josiah then convenes a covenant renewal ceremony in which "all the people" take part (23:1-3), and then, in order to fulfill his part of covenant, he undertakes a thorough-going religious reform, destroying all the vestiges of paganism, not only in his own country, but in the northern territory as well. He purifies the Jerusalem temple and deposes idolatrous priests. He destroys the sanctuary of Moleck, where human sacrifice had heretofore been performed (23:10). We get quite an interesting catalogue of the various objects of worship he destroys, including, the horses and chariots of the sun (23:11)—part of the astral worship initiated by Manasseh. Besides the "high places" outside Jerusalem, Josiah demolishes the chapels that Solomon had built in the city to accommodate his pagan wives (23:13). Then he ventures into the northern territories—the former kingdom of Israel—to tear down the cultic center at Bethel that Jeroboam I had erected. He then defiles it by covering with the bones of the dead (23:15-16), though he piously spares the graves of the prophets who predicted the reform now taking place (23:17-19).  Then Josiah slaughters the priests who had served in the high places and burned their bodies on their own altars. Under Josiah, we are told, the Passover is again celebrated in the sanctuary in Jerusalem in accordance with the instructions found in Deuteronomy. This had not been done since the days of the Judges (23:21-22). But in spite of these reforms, this time the LORD does not change his mind about the sentence he has passed upon Jerusalem "because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him (23:26-27). It will be destroyed. And good king Josiah, in spite of being promised a peaceful end, dies in battle. All this time the Assyrian empire has been crumbling in the east. Now in a desperate bid to counter the rising power of Babylon, Pharaoh Neco, comes to the defense of Egypt's Assyrian enemies. But as Neco's army passes through Judean territory, Josiah attacks him at Megiddo --we don't know exactly why. It is an heroic action, but a fatal one. Josiah is killed in the battle, and he is succeeded by his son Jehoahaz. But the pharaoh Neco imprisons Jehoahaz and imposes tribute on Judah. He sets another of Josiah's sons, Eliakim, on the throne, changing his name Jehoiakim. Judah is now a vassal state of Egypt, and Jehoiakim is a puppet king. We are left with a notice that he does "what is evil in the sight of the LORD, just as all his ancestors had done" (23:37). But now mercifully the tragedy has only a few more years to play itself out.