2 Chronicles 34:26-33

Song: Choose Someone

Prayer: Choose Someone

Scripture: Choose Someone

Give Scripture: 2 Chronicles 34:26-33

2 Chronicles 34:26–33 KJV 1900

26 And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard; 27 Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord. 28 Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again. 29 Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30 And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord. 31 And the king stood in his place, 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 with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book. 32 And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. 33 And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. And all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.

Give A Review

So, Josiah has assumed the throne, doing so at the age of 8. He spent his early reign doing very little, compared to the early reigns of some of the others. However, after 8 years he sought God for himself and 4 years after that (at age 20) he begins the process of cleansing all the land of Israel from the stench of false worship. He goes throughout the land destroying everything that was left by his fathers and he seeks to purify the land in accordance with God’s will.

Once he has purified all the lands of Israel (even those beyond his physical borders) he returns to Jerusalem intent on restoring the Temple which had fallen into physical disrepair. He commissions to the priests to open the savings account and begin paying specialists in their respective fields to repair the various aspects of the temple. He called for the Masons and the Carpenters. I imagine he called the metal workers and all manner of people to begin the work.

So the priests begin to oversee this process and in the midst of it, they uncover the book of the law which was hidden among the money. They read the book and upon realizing what it is, they bring it to the King and it is read to him as well. He rents his clothing and wails at the revelation of the Law (which was up until that point unknown to him in its written format).

We left off last week with him sending off the Priests to speak with the Prophetess Huldah concerning the King’s request. The woman of God let them that God was not pleased with what he had seen during the time of the Kings and she made God’s wrath abundantly clear. And that is how we left it.

Three Key Takeaways

Do we have structure in the House of God that we can trust one another to fulfill an assignment?

Does your relationship with God exist beyond the four walls of the Church?

What have we invited on ourselves by virtue of our unwillingness to follow and obey the will of God?

Allow for Questions?

Write some of the questions down if possible.

Scripture Study

2 Chronicles 34:26–27 KJV 1900

26 And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard; 27 Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord.

God showed a kindness to Josiah because of his faithfulness and dedication to the heart and Word of God.

I know I have said this before but with all the giants of the Gospel departing from us (seemingly at the same time)… are we entering into a season of wrath from God.

2 Chronicles 34:28 KJV 1900

28 Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.

Seeing what the prophet has spoken to the King I want us to remember that this prophesy was not conditional.

She did not say if the King lives right the rest of his days and if the people turn from their wickedness but the word came with a surety that it will come to pass.

It was too late to undo the word of God BUT God preserved the King.

2 Chronicles 34:29–30 KJV 1900

29 Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30 And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord.

The King got HIS WORD, that he would not see the evil but he still gathered together the leaders of the Kingdom and the tribes that they might again here the Law and get it into their spirit.

Are you holding out on what God told you or gave you so you can stay ahead or are you sharing what God gave you for the edification of the entire Kingdom.

The King already knew it was too late for the people of Israel to be saved, but he understood that even if God destroyed them he was still worthy of being followed and heard.

Think about a time you went to whip or punish your children

Just because they were being punished, both you knew and they knew, that was not an excuse to act any kind of way because even if you whipped them you were still momma or daddy.

What level of respect do we then owe God to ensure we are in line with his Word and his way?

2 Chronicles 34:31 KJV 1900

31 And the king stood in his place, 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 with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.

And so, in accordance with his heart, Josiah stood and made a vow to follow God.

Despite having a word of his preservation, he kept the Word of God.

Despite knowing the state of Israel/ or Judah, he kept the Word of god.

Also we must recognize that not only had he made a commitment to walk with God but he now committed to the full length and breadth of his written WORD.

Have you become so familiar with God that you believe you do not even owe him your commitment.

2 Chronicles 34:32 KJV 1900

32 And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

I want to read it also from the Message Bible…

2 Chronicles 34:32 The Message

32 Then he made everyone in Jerusalem and Ben-jamin commit themselves. And they did it. They committed themselves to the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.

We have to remember that Jerusalem and Benjamin are combined in the Kingdom of Judah because the tribe of Benjamin is absorbed within the physical borders of the tribe of Judah.

And so he forced, under his authority as King, the people of HIS kingdom to commit to God.

But a commitment is not just in thought or deed, but this kind of commit also occurs on the inside, within your spirit.

Yet, the scripture tells that they actually did that which the King commanded, so they formed a relationship with God and committed to him.

2 Chronicles 34:33 KJV 1900

33 And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. And all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.

Then, using his enforcement power as leader of the Judean military and forces, he went into all the land of Israel (including the lands of the Northern Kingdom which were technically outside his domain) and took away everything that stood against the knowledge of God.

He tore down strongholds and destroyed yolks throughout the land.

And only after doing this, he went to everyone in Israel and made them to serve God.

Keeping in mind, more than just the Israelites were in Israel and all the Israelites were not in the land of their fathers.

In this sense, all of Israel was not united in serving God but all present were in service to God (something that had not happened since the reign of Solomon.

Provide Key Takeaways

When God gives a word, for good or ill, his word is binding and cannot be changed by any action of man.

You cannot talk God out of blessing somebody and nobody can talk God out of cursing you if that is his choice.

We cannot allow ourselves to look at the life of Hezekiah as an indicator of our ability to change God’s mind because ultimately if it is not in the will of God your request does not matter.

It is our job to share that which God gives unto us, this includes everything from prophetic words to the gifts given us by the spirit.

You cannot be selfish with what is not yours and anything God gives you represents something that is not yours.

God’s word should be heeded even if he does not heed yours.

You praising God should not be conditional upon what he does for you but is instead due to him because of his sovereign rule over the universe.

Allow for Final Questions?

Write some of the questions down if possible.

Roll Call & Prayer Requests

Prayer: Do yourself unless otherwise led