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2 Kings Chapter 23 (ESV)
1 Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. 2 And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. 3 And the king stood by the 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 his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.
4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations and all the host of the heavens. 6 And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people. 7 And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.
REFLECTION:
- Spend time to read through this chapter to witness the great revival led by Josiah.
- Josiah’s zeal was so great that he did not wait for the completion of the temple renovation before he assembled the people and personally read some parts of the Mosaic Law to them. He then rededicated himself to God, and the people renewed their commitment to the covenant as a nation (v.3). Afterwards, he set out to rid Judah of all those practices against which God’s word spoke.
- Josiah’s 31-year reign over Judah did not change the direction of his nation. But Josiah’s consistent efforts to serve the Lord won him the divine accolade. God does not require us to be successful. He does, however, call us to be totally committed.
- The monthly communion is an occasion when I come to renew my commitment with God. How do I do that? Paul urges us: “to offer [our] bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is [our] true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of [our] mind. Then [I] will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”(Rm 12:1-2)
PRAYER:
Use Rm 12:1-2 as a prayer of re-commitment to God for today and the rest of this week.
HYMN:
“Living for Jesus” – www.youtube.com/watch?v=12Tww_FPthc
