Men's Ministry
Please read II Kings 23:1-3
1. In the previous chapter, Huldah the prophetess foretold of judgement on Judah but also said that it would not happen during Josiah’s lifetime since he humbled himself before God and was penitent. As we come to this chapter, the first thing Josiah does is to require all the elders to come to Jerusalem. Why do you think he did this? Since Huldah said everything would be hunky-dory until Josiah’s death, why didn't he just sit back and relax?
2. Once all the elders arrived, Josiah went up to the Temple. It says that all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priest and prophets, and all the people went with him. That would have been an awful lot of people. How could all of them possibly fit in the Temple? And if it does not literally mean all the people, what does it mean?
3. Josiah read the Book of the Covenant (probably Deuteronomy) to the people. Do you think this would be unusual for a king to do? After all, doesn't he have other responsibilities?
4. There was a pillar in the Temple called “The King’s Pillar” and Josiah the king stood there while he read the forgotten law to the people. After reading it, he made a covenant to the Lord. What was the covenant? What was the people’s response?
5. What is Josiah’s example to us? Should we expect a wholesale revival like what happened here? Why or why not?
3. Josiah read the Book of the Covenant (probably Deuteronomy) to the people. Do you think this would be unusual for a king to do? After all, doesn't he have other responsibilities?
4. There was a pillar in the Temple called “The King’s Pillar” and Josiah the king stood there while he read the forgotten law to the people. After reading it, he made a covenant to the Lord. What was the covenant? What was the people’s response?
5. What is Josiah’s example to us? Should we expect a wholesale revival like what happened here? Why or why not?
Please read II Kings 23:4-14
6. What's the first thing Josiah did after making this contract with God? After repenting in II Chronicles 33:12-13, Manasseh “took away the foreign gods and the idols from the house of the Lord.” Why did Josiah have to remove what appears to be the same things that Manasseh already got rid of two years prior?
7. One of the things that Josiah did during his reforms was to burn the idols outside Jerusalem in the Kidron Valley. He then brought the ashes to Bethel. Bethel wasn't even in Judah, so why would he do this? Hint: What was started in Bethel by Jeroboam 300 years earlier?
8. What is going on in verse 5 and why was it necessary to do it? Did Josiah have the right to depose priests?
9. Any idea why Josiah would have taken the ashes of the burned Asherah pole and sprinkled them on the graves of the common people? That would be a strange act if it happened today. Hint: to touch a dead body in that culture was to make one unclean.
8. What is going on in verse 5 and why was it necessary to do it? Did Josiah have the right to depose priests?
9. Any idea why Josiah would have taken the ashes of the burned Asherah pole and sprinkled them on the graves of the common people? That would be a strange act if it happened today. Hint: to touch a dead body in that culture was to make one unclean.
10. In verse 11, Josiah removed horses and burned the chariots. Why? Couldn't these have been used in defense of the city? After all, there were threats from Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon at this time.
Please read II Kings 23:15-20
11. In verse 16, Josiah noticed some tombs and had bones removed from them and burned on the altar that Jeroboam had set up 300 years earlier and which had been predicted in I Kings 13:1-2. What was the purpose of burning bones on the altar?
12. Josiah is king of Judah. In verse 19, Josiah takes his reforms to the cities of Samaria. Where is Samaria? What is unusual about what Josiah is doing?
13. Verse 20 says that Josiah “sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars.” Is this human sacrifice in the name of God, who prohibited human sacrifice? Suggestion: The above quote is from the ESV. Check out what other versions say.
13. Verse 20 says that Josiah “sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars.” Is this human sacrifice in the name of God, who prohibited human sacrifice? Suggestion: The above quote is from the ESV. Check out what other versions say.
Please read II Kings 23:21-27
14. In verses 21 through 23, Josiah commanded that the Passover be celebrated. Verse 22 indicates that the last time this happened was back in the days of the judges, 700 years before. II Chronicles 35:18 says that there wasn't a Passover like it since the days of Samuel the prophet. How likely do you think it is that Christians could forget Communion like the Jews forgot Passover?
15. Josiah did so many good things for Judah. Verse 25 says that there was no king like him before and no king after. That being the case, how do you explain the Lord’s burning anger in verses 26 and 27?
Please read II Kings 23:28-30
16. Josiah went out to battle the King Neco of Egypt. II Chronicles 35:20-25 tells us that Neco was on his way to Carchemish by the Euphrates and wasn't interested in Judah. He told Josiah to turn aside, but he didn't. Instead, he disguised himself and went into battle. Neco claimed he was following the command of God. Was he? Why did Josiah disguise himself?