And he went up to the house of the LORD with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets--all the people small and great--and in their hearing he read all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD. And he went up to the house of the LORDThis phrase refers to King Josiah, who ascended to the temple in Jerusalem, the central place of worship for the Israelites. The "house of the LORD" signifies the temple built by Solomon, which was the dwelling place of God's presence among His people. This act of going up to the temple underscores the importance of worship and reverence for God, as well as the centrality of the temple in Israelite religious life. with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem
This indicates the inclusivity of the gathering, involving not just the leaders but the entire community of Judah and Jerusalem. It highlights the communal aspect of worship and covenant renewal, emphasizing that the covenant with God was not just for the king or the priests but for all the people. This gathering reflects the unity and collective responsibility of the nation in their relationship with God. as well as the priests and the prophets
The inclusion of priests and prophets signifies the involvement of religious leaders who played crucial roles in guiding the spiritual life of the nation. Priests were responsible for temple rituals and sacrifices, while prophets were God's messengers, often calling the people back to faithfulness. Their presence underscores the importance of spiritual leadership in the renewal of the covenant. all the people small and great
This phrase emphasizes the universal nature of the covenant renewal, including individuals from all social and economic backgrounds. It reflects the biblical principle that all people, regardless of status, are equal before God and are called to participate in His covenant. This inclusivity is a recurring theme in Scripture, where God’s promises and commands are for all His people. and in their hearing he read all the words of the Book of the Covenant
The public reading of the Book of the Covenant signifies a return to the foundational laws and commandments given by God. This act of reading aloud ensured that everyone, regardless of literacy, could hear and understand God's requirements. It echoes the practice of public scripture reading seen in other parts of the Bible, such as Nehemiah 8, where Ezra reads the Law to the people. that had been found in the house of the LORD
The discovery of the Book of the Covenant in the temple suggests a period of neglect and apostasy, where the law had been forgotten or ignored. This rediscovery is pivotal, marking a revival and reformation under King Josiah. It serves as a reminder of the importance of God's Word and the need for continual engagement with Scripture to maintain faithfulness. Persons / Places / Events 1. JosiahThe king of Judah who initiated religious reforms and led the people back to the worship of Yahweh. 2. House of the LORDThe temple in Jerusalem, the central place of worship for the Israelites. 3. People of Judah and JerusalemThe inhabitants of the southern kingdom of Judah, including the capital city, Jerusalem. 4. Priests and ProphetsReligious leaders responsible for guiding the spiritual life of the people. 5. Book of the CovenantThe rediscovered scroll, likely a part of Deuteronomy, which contained God's laws and commandments. Teaching Points The Importance of God's WordJosiah's reading of the Book of the Covenant highlights the centrality of Scripture in guiding the life and faith of God's people. We should prioritize regular engagement with the Bible in our personal and communal lives. Leadership in Spiritual RenewalJosiah's leadership demonstrates the impact a committed leader can have on spiritual revival. Leaders today should model a commitment to God's word and encourage others to follow suit. Community InvolvementThe inclusion of all people, from the least to the greatest, underscores the communal nature of faith. Spiritual growth and renewal are not just individual pursuits but involve the entire community. Rediscovery and ReformationThe rediscovery of the Book of the Covenant led to significant reforms. This teaches us the value of returning to foundational truths and allowing them to transform our lives and communities. Obedience to God's CommandsThe reading of the law was not just for knowledge but for obedience. We are called to not only hear God's word but to live it out in our daily lives. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Josiah's response to the Book of the Covenant challenge us to prioritize Scripture in our own lives? 2. In what ways can we, like Josiah, lead others towards a deeper commitment to God's word? 3. How does the communal aspect of this event in 2 Kings 23:2 inform our understanding of the church's role in spiritual growth? 4. What parallels can we draw between Josiah's reforms and the spiritual reformation needed in our own communities today? 5. How can we ensure that our engagement with Scripture leads to practical obedience and transformation in our lives? Connections to Other Scriptures Deuteronomy 31:10-13This passage describes the command to read the law to all Israel every seven years, emphasizing the importance of hearing and understanding God's word. Nehemiah 8:1-8Similar to Josiah's actions, Ezra reads the Law to the people, leading to a revival and renewed commitment to God's commandments. 2 Chronicles 34:29-31A parallel account of Josiah's reforms, providing additional details about the covenant renewal. People Ahaz, Ammonites, Ashtoreth, Ben, Chemosh, Eliakim, Hamutal, Hilkiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jeremiah, Jeroboam, Joshua, Josiah, Manasseh, Melech, Milcom, Moabites, Molech, Nathan, Nathanmelech, Nebat, Pedaiah, Pharaoh, Pharaohnechoh, Sidonians, Sodomites, Solomon, Zebudah, ZidoniansPlaces Assyria, Beersheba, Bethel, Egypt, Euphrates River, Geba, Hamath, Jerusalem, Kidron, Libnah, Megiddo, Moab, Riblah, Rumah, Samaria, Topheth, Valley of HinnomTopics Book, Covenant, Ears, Greatest, Hearing, Inhabitants, Jerusalem, Judah, Law, Least, Present, Priests, Prophets, Readeth, Reading, TempleDictionary of Bible Themes 2 Kings 23:2 1611 Scripture, inspiration and authority
5175 reading
5393 literacy 2 Kings 23:1-3 4963 past, the
8225 devotion 2 Kings 23:1-4 8151 revival, corporate 2 Kings 23:1-7 6735 repentance, examples 2 Kings 23:1-20 7241 Jerusalem, significance 2 Kings 23:1-24 8466 reformation 2 Kings 23:1-25 5345 influence
7245 Judah, kingdom of 2 Kings 23:2-3 1630 Book of the Covenant Library Reformation Lessons
Eversley. 1861. 2 Kings xxiii. 3, 4, 25, 26. "And the king stood by a pillar, 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 their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other SermonsWhether the Old Law was Suitably Given at the Time of Moses?
Objection 1: It would seem that the Old Law was not suitably given at the time of Moses. Because the Old Law disposed man for the salvation which was to come through Christ, as stated above ([2068]AA[2],3). But man needed this salutary remedy immediately after he had sinned. Therefore the Law should have been given immediately after sin. Objection 2: Further, the Old Law was given for the sanctification of those from whom Christ was to be born. Now the promise concerning the "seed, which is Christ" …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Whether Christ Should have Been Born in Bethlehem?
Objection 1: It would seem that Christ should not have been born in Bethlehem. For it is written (Is. 2:3): "The law shall come forth from Sion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem." But Christ is truly the Word of God. Therefore He should have come into the world at Jerusalem. Objection 2: Further, it is said (Mat. 2:23) that it is written of Christ that "He shall be called a Nazarene"; which is taken from Is. 11:1: "A flower shall rise up out of his root"; for "Nazareth" is interpreted "a flower." …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Whether Prophets Always Know the Things which they Prophesy?
Objection 1: It would seem that the prophets always know the things which they prophesy. For, as Augustine says (Gen. ad lit. xii, 9), "those to whom signs were shown in spirit by means of the likenesses of bodily things, had not the gift of prophecy, unless the mind was brought into action, so that those signs were also understood by them." Now what is understood cannot be unknown. Therefore the prophet is not ignorant of what he prophesies. Objection 2: Further, the light of prophecy surpasses …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Whether the Prophecy which is Accompanied by Intellective and Imaginative vision is More Excellent than that which is Accompanied by Intellective vision Alone?
Objection 1: It would seem that the prophecy which has intellective and imaginative vision is more excellent than that which is accompanied by intellective vision alone. For Augustine says (Gen. ad lit. xii, 9): "He is less a prophet, who sees in spirit nothing but the signs representative of things, by means of the images of things corporeal: he is more a prophet, who is merely endowed with the understanding of these signs; but most of all is he a prophet, who excels in both ways," and this refers …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica The Fall of Solomon
'For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. 7. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture 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 Entering the Covenant: with all the Heart
"And they entered into the covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart, and all their soul."--2 CHRON. xv. 12 (see xxxiv. 31, and 2 Kings xxiii. 3). "The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul."--DEUT. xxx. 6. "And I will give them an heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God: for they shall turn to Me with their whole heart."--JER. xxiv. 7 (see xxix. 13). …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants How Shall one Make Use of Christ as the Life, when Wrestling with an Angry God Because of Sin?
That we may give some satisfaction to this question, we shall, 1. Shew what are the ingredients in this case, or what useth to concur in this distemper. 2. Shew some reasons why the Lord is pleased to dispense thus with his people. 3. Shew how Christ is life to the soul in this case. 4. Shew the believer's duty for a recovery; and, 5. Add a word or two of caution. As to the first, There may be those parts of, or ingredients in this distemper: 1. God presenting their sins unto their view, so as …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life The Sins of Communities Noted and Punished.
"Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation." This is predicated of the judgments of God on those who had shed the blood of his saints. The Savior declares that all the righteous blood which had been shed on the earth from that of Abel down to the gospel day, should come on that generation! But is not this unreasonable and contrary to the Scriptures? "Far be wickedness from God and iniquity from the Almighty. For the work of man shall be render unto him, and cause every …
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects The Whole Heart
LET me give the principal passages in which the words "the whole heart," "all the heart," are used. A careful study of them will show how wholehearted love and service is what God has always asked, because He can, in the very nature of things, ask nothing less. The prayerful and believing acceptance of the words will waken the assurance that such wholehearted love and service is exactly the blessing the New Covenant was meant to make possible. That assurance will prepare us for turning to the Omnipotence …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants 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 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 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 Links 2 Kings 23:2 NIV2 Kings 23:2 NLT2 Kings 23:2 ESV2 Kings 23:2 NASB2 Kings 23:2 KJV
2 Kings 23:2 Commentaries
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