◄ 2 Kings 22:4 ►
"Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him count the money that has been brought into the house of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people.
Study Bible
Go up to Hilkiah the high priest
Hilkiah was the high priest during the reign of King Josiah, a time of significant religious reform in Judah. The high priest held a crucial role in maintaining the spiritual integrity of the nation, serving as a mediator between God and the people. This command to "go up" indicates the importance of the task and the respect for the high priest's authority. Hilkiah's role in discovering the Book of the Law later in this chapter highlights his significance in the religious revival under Josiah.

and have him count the money
The counting of money suggests a need for accountability and transparency in the handling of temple funds. This practice was essential to ensure that the resources were used appropriately for the maintenance and repair of the temple. It reflects a broader biblical principle of stewardship and integrity in financial matters, as seen in other scriptures like 2 Corinthians 8:20-21, which emphasizes honorable conduct in financial dealings.

that has been brought into the house of the LORD
The "house of the LORD" refers to Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, the central place of worship for the Israelites. At this time, the temple had fallen into disrepair due to neglect and idolatrous practices by previous kings. The collection of money for its restoration signifies a return to proper worship and reverence for God. The temple's significance as a dwelling place for God's presence is echoed in passages like 1 Kings 8:10-11, where the glory of the LORD fills the temple.

which the doorkeepers have collected from the people
Doorkeepers, or gatekeepers, were responsible for maintaining order and security at the temple entrances. Their role in collecting money indicates a structured system for receiving offerings from the people. This system ensured that contributions were gathered systematically and fairly. The involvement of the people in contributing to the temple's upkeep reflects a communal responsibility for worship and the maintenance of sacred spaces, similar to the collective efforts seen in the construction of the tabernacle in Exodus 35:20-29.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Hilkiah the High Priest
Hilkiah was the high priest during the reign of King Josiah. He played a crucial role in the religious reforms of the time, including the discovery of the Book of the Law in the temple.

2. The House of the LORD
This refers to the temple in Jerusalem, which was the central place of worship for the Israelites. It was a place where offerings were brought and where the presence of God was believed to dwell.

3. The Doorkeepers
These were the temple guards responsible for maintaining order and security at the temple. They also collected offerings from the people, which were used for temple maintenance and other religious activities.

4. King Josiah
Although not directly mentioned in this verse, King Josiah was the ruler of Judah at the time. He was known for his commitment to restoring the worship of Yahweh and purging idolatry from the land.

5. The Money Collected
This refers to the offerings and contributions made by the people of Israel for the upkeep of the temple. It was a common practice for the community to support the temple financially.
Teaching Points
Stewardship and Accountability
The collection and management of funds for the temple highlight the importance of stewardship and accountability in handling resources dedicated to God's work.

The Role of Leadership in Spiritual Renewal
Hilkiah's involvement underscores the critical role of spiritual leaders in guiding and implementing religious reforms and ensuring the proper use of resources.

Community Participation in Worship
The contributions from the people reflect the communal responsibility in supporting the worship and maintenance of God's house, encouraging believers today to actively participate in their faith communities.

Revival and Rediscovery of God's Word
The context of this verse, leading to the discovery of the Book of the Law, illustrates how God can use practical actions, like temple repairs, to bring about spiritual revival and a renewed focus on His Word.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the role of Hilkiah the high priest in 2 Kings 22:4 inspire us to support and pray for our spiritual leaders today?

2. In what ways can we practice good stewardship and accountability with the resources God has entrusted to us, both personally and within our church communities?

3. How does the communal aspect of giving in 2 Kings 22:4 challenge us to contribute to the needs of our local church and community?

4. What lessons can we learn from King Josiah's reforms about the importance of returning to God's Word and seeking spiritual renewal in our lives?

5. How can the principles of stewardship and community participation in 2 Kings 22:4 be applied to modern-day church projects and missions?
Connections to Other Scriptures
2 Chronicles 34
This chapter provides a parallel account of King Josiah's reforms and the discovery of the Book of the Law, offering additional context to the events in 2 Kings 22.

Exodus 30:11-16
This passage describes the census tax, which was a form of offering collected for the maintenance of the tabernacle, similar to the funds mentioned in 2 Kings 22:4.

Malachi 3:10
This verse speaks about bringing tithes into the storehouse, emphasizing the importance of supporting the house of God, which connects to the collection of money in the temple.
Sermons
Josiah: the Temple Again RepairedJ. Orr 2 Kings 22:1-7
A Monarch of Rare Virtue, and a God of Retributive JusticeDavid Thomas, D. D.2 Kings 22:1-20
A Monarch of Rare Virtue, and a God of Retributive JusticeD. Thomas 2 Kings 22:1-20
Josiah and the Book of the LawMonday Club Sermons2 Kings 22:1-20
Josiah's ReformationAlex. Whyte, D. D.2 Kings 22:1-20
People
Achbor, Adaiah, Ahikam, Asahiah, Asaiah, Azaliah, David, Harhas, Hilkiah, Huldah, Jedidah, Josiah, Meshullam, Micaiah, Michaiah, Shallum, Shaphan, Tikvah
Places
Bozkath, Jerusalem, Second Quarter
Topics
Amount, Chief, Collected, Complete, Count, Door, Doorkeepers, Gathered, Got, Hilkiah, Hilki'ah, Hilkijah, Keepers, Money, Priest, Ready, Reckon, Silver, Sum, Temple, Threshold
Dictionary of Bible Themes
2 Kings 22:4

     7377   high priest, OT

2 Kings 22:3-6

     5212   arts and crafts

2 Kings 22:3-7

     4366   stones
     5508   ruins

2 Kings 22:4-6

     5415   money, uses of
     7402   offerings

2 Kings 22:4-7

     5414   money, stewardship
     8251   faithfulness, to God

Library
The Rediscovered Law and Its Effects
'And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord: and Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the Lord. 10. And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Josiah, a Pattern for the Ignorant.
"Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before Me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place."--2 Kings …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

A Traveler's Note-Book
A tourist who roams for a brief while through some great country like England or Russia may jot down a few of the impressions which come home to him, making no pretense at completeness or symmetry of description. So, one who has journeyed like a hasty traveler over some passages in that vast tract of years which we describe as the classic and Christian civilizations, notes down in the following pages a few of the salient features that have impressed him. He has already prefaced this with a sort …
George S. Merriam—The Chief End of Man

Whether Determinate Things are Required for a Sacrament?
Objection 1: It seems that determinate things are not required for a sacrament. For sensible things are required in sacraments for the purpose of signification, as stated above [4343](A[4]). But nothing hinders the same thing being signified by divers sensible things: thus in Holy Scripture God is signified metaphorically, sometimes by a stone (2 Kings 22:2; Zech. 3:9; 1 Cor. 10:4; Apoc. 4:3); sometimes by a lion (Is. 31:4; Apoc. 5:5); sometimes by the sun (Is. 60:19,20; Mal. 4:2), or by something …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

The Instrumentality of the Wicked Employed by God, While He Continues Free from Every Taint.
1. The carnal mind the source of the objections which are raised against the Providence of God. A primary objection, making a distinction between the permission and the will of God, refuted. Angels and men, good and bad, do nought but what has been decreed by God. This proved by examples. 2. All hidden movements directed to their end by the unseen but righteous instigation of God. Examples, with answers to objections. 3. These objections originate in a spirit of pride and blasphemy. Objection, that …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

The Medes and the Second Chaldaean Empire
THE FALL OF NINEVEH AND THE RISE OF THE CHALDAEAN AND MEDIAN EMPIRES--THE XXVIth EGYPTIAN DYNASTY: CYAXARES, ALYATTES, AND NEBUCHADREZZAR. The legendary history of the kings of Media and the first contact of the Medes with the Assyrians: the alleged Iranian migrations of the Avesta--Media-proper, its fauna and flora; Phraortes and the beginning of the Median empire--Persia proper and the Persians; conquest of Persia by the Medes--The last monuments of Assur-bani-pal: the library of Kouyunjik--Phraortes …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 8

The First Blast of the Trumpet
The English Scholar's Library etc. No. 2. The First Blast of the Trumpet &c. 1558. The English Scholar's Library of Old and Modern Works. No. 2. The First Blast of the Trumpet &c. 1558. Edited by EDWARD ARBER, F.S.A., etc., LECTURER IN ENGLISH LITERATURE, ETC., UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON. SOUTHGATE, LONDON, N. 15 August 1878. No. 2. (All rights reserved.) CONTENTS. Bibliography vii-viii Introduction …
John Knox—The First Blast of the Trumpet

Why Should we not Believe These to be Angelic Operations through Dispensation of The...
16. Why should we not believe these to be angelic operations through dispensation of the providence of God, Who maketh good use of both good things and evil, according to the unsearchable depth of His judgments? whether thereby the minds of mortals be instructed, or whether deceived; whether consoled, or whether terrified: according as unto each one there is to be either a showing of mercy, or a taking of vengeance, by Him to Whom, not without a meaning, the Church doth sing "of mercy and of judgment." …
St. Augustine—On Care to Be Had for the Dead.

The Credibility of Scripture Sufficiently Proved in So Far as Natural Reason Admits.
1. Secondary helps to establish the credibility of Scripture. I. The arrangement of the sacred volume. II. Its dignity. III. Its truth. IV. Its simplicity. V. Its efficacy. 2. The majesty conspicuous in the writings of the Prophets. 3. Special proofs from the Old Testament. I. The antiquity of the Books of Moses. 4. This antiquity contrasted with the dreams of the Egyptians. II. The majesty of the Books of Moses. 5. The miracles and prophecies of Moses. A profane objection refuted. 6. Another profane …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Authorship of the Pentateuch.
The term Pentateuch is composed of the two Greek words, pente, five, and teuchos, which in later Alexandrine usage signified book. It denotes, therefore, the collection of five books; or, the five books of the law considered as a whole. 1. In our inquiries respecting the authorship of the Pentateuch, we begin with the undisputed fact that it existed in its present form in the days of Christ and his apostles, and had so existed from the time of Ezra. When the translators of the Greek version, …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

Synagogues: their Origin, Structure and Outward Arrangements
It was a beautiful saying of Rabbi Jochanan (Jer. Ber. v. 1), that he who prays in his house surrounds and fortifies it, so to speak, with a wall of iron. Nevertheless, it seems immediately contradicted by what follows. For it is explained that this only holds good where a man is alone, but that where there is a community prayer should be offered in the synagogue. We can readily understand how, after the destruction of the Temple, and the cessation of its symbolical worship, the excessive value attached …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

The Greater Prophets.
1. We have already seen (Chap. 15, Nos. 11 and 12) that from Moses to Samuel the appearances of prophets were infrequent; that with Samuel and the prophetical school established by him there began a new era, in which the prophets were recognized as a distinct order of men in the Theocracy; and that the age of written prophecy did not begin till about the reign of Uzziah, some three centuries after Samuel. The Jewish division of the latter prophets--prophets in the more restricted sense of the …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

Of the Power of Making Laws. The Cruelty of the Pope and his Adherents, in this Respect, in Tyrannically Oppressing and Destroying Souls.
1. The power of the Church in enacting laws. This made a source of human traditions. Impiety of these traditions. 2. Many of the Papistical traditions not only difficult, but impossible to be observed. 3. That the question may be more conveniently explained, nature of conscience must be defined. 4. Definition of conscience explained. Examples in illustration of the definition. 5. Paul's doctrine of submission to magistrates for conscience sake, gives no countenance to the Popish doctrine of the obligation …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Of the Effects of those Prerogatives.
From these prerogatives there will arise to the elect in heaven, five notable effects:-- 1. They shall know God with a perfect knowledge (1 Cor. i. 10), so far as creatures can possibly comprehend the Creator. For there we shall see the Word, the Creator; and in the Word, all creatures that by the Word were created; so that we shall not need to learn (of the things which were made) the knowledge of him by whom all things were made. The most excellent creatures in this life, are but as a dark veil …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Meditations for one that is Like to Die.
If thy sickness be like to increase unto death, then meditate on three things:--First, How graciously God dealeth with thee. Secondly, From what evils death will free thee. Thirdly, What good death will bring unto thee. The first sort of Meditations are, to consider God's favourable dealing with thee. 1. Meditate that God uses this chastisement of thy body but as a medicine to cure thy soul, by drawing thee, who art sick in sin, to come by repentance unto Christ, thy physician, to have thy soul healed …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Kings
The book[1] of Kings is strikingly unlike any modern historical narrative. Its comparative brevity, its curious perspective, and-with some brilliant exceptions--its relative monotony, are obvious to the most cursory perusal, and to understand these things is, in large measure, to understand the book. It covers a period of no less than four centuries. Beginning with the death of David and the accession of Solomon (1 Kings i., ii.) it traverses his reign with considerable fulness (1 Kings iii.-xi.), …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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