2 Kings 23 (Part 2) Bible Study (Josiah & the Passover/Jehoahaz/Jehoiakim) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Let's come to our Bibles now in second Kings chapter 23. And as we turn there, I wanna testify that the Lord encouraged my heart earlier this week in a very unique way that made me even more excited to prepare for the very passage that we will be looking at. And before I even began examining this text, I stumbled upon a headline of a major secular news article that was titled the following. Archaeologists discovered the fingerprint of a biblical figure from 2,600 years ago. That's something you're gonna click on.

And so I did, and here was the summary of that report dated 08/04/2025. Archaeologists found a clay seal with the signature of an individual whose name is found in the scriptures. And the type of seal it was, and the writing on it more specifically, showed that it dated during the first temple period again, twenty twenty six hundred years ago. And the most exciting part about that discovery was that Xerxes believe that the name that was on that seal was the son of Asahayu, one of King Josiah's top officials. Where does the name Asahayu appear in the study of second Kings?

Well, I told you to turn to second Kings 23, but look at chapter 22 verse 12 very briefly. We looked at this not too long ago. In second Kings twenty two twelve, and the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahiam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant saying. It's that last name. Underline that, Asaiah the king's servant.

Isn't that amazing? I encourage you after the service to look up that article if you're interested in more details in the technical aspects of this amazing uncovering. Outset of this study because when I read it earlier this week on Monday morning, it served as a providential nudge. A wonderful reminder of the authenticity of the scriptures and the reliability of what you and I love with all of our hearts. Now I'm always encouraged to see people come here on Friday nights, but I am not certain of the different levels of faith that are represented here.

And whatever the strength of your faith may be, know this. What we've been devoted to week after week on Friday evenings is not is not us building our convictions or learning lessons from myths or allegorical stories. No. We have been immersing ourselves in God's truth that he has given us and has protected and preserved throughout the ages and has never failed to be confirmed and uncovered and realized in undeniable ways. And I praise the Lord for his ability to provide timely encouragement for our efforts in studying God's word, especially in this book as we near its completion.

That's right. We're almost finished this book. And that will be especially more real to us because we plan to finalize chapter 23 today. And while there is much that occurs in the rest of this chapter, there are three main events that are worth highlighting this evening. And these events also provide a wonderful way of organizing our observations and our reflections, and they are easily identifiable because they all start with the letter p.

The Passover, the passing, and the progeny. We'll be looking together at the Passover that King Josiah charges the people of God to celebrate. Moreover, we will look at the passing of King Josiah, the report of his death. And finally, we will consider the progeny, the descendants of Josiah. And unfortunately, how disappointing they are.

Shall we begin? We're looking at second Kings 23 verse 21 and we will read down to verse 23. And the king commanded all the people, keep the Passover to the Lord your God as it is written in this book of the covenant, For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judge Israel or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah, but in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem. Oh, let's pray. Lord, we ask that you would help us, guide us, illumine our hearts, enlighten our eyes that we may behold the depth of your wisdom.

Jesus, who he is, what he has to offer us, what it means to follow him. Lord, we wanna know all that you have to say in this passage and we we rely on your help to discover it for ourselves. We give you thanks again for the eternal word of God that is in our hands. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Well, yet again, we're being reminded that King Josiah's efforts to reform the land, the country, the nation has reached a new level in the eighteenth year of his reign. It was the word of God that was the driving force for King Josiah to cleanse the land of all its spiritual filth. And as effective and widespread as his efforts were, we learn here that it didn't cross 19 verses where Good. You've been here. Second been here.

Second Chronicles 35. And while we will not look at every detail, we will look at key things that made this moment, this feast so distinguishable. And through it, we will learn the kind of worship that truly pleases the Lord. So turn with me to second Chronicles 35 verse one. The spirit expounds on this in 19 verses, but we'll start here at the beginning.

In second Chronicles 35 verse one, we read, Josiah kept a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month. So in this introduction alone, there are at least two things on worth underscoring. Number one, notice that Josiah kept the Passover to the Lord. To the Lord. This reinforces what we heard the past two weeks.

The motive of Josiah's obedience to God. It was for God and for God alone. Everything that this man did was stimulated by his sincere ambition to bring pleasure to God, to honor God, to exalt the Lord. And this is even shown in the the following two verses of this chapter. Look more specifically at verse three.

We read here that he commands the Levites to do what? To return the ark to its rightful place. To bring it back into the most holy place. Now, why is he doing that? Before he does anything, before he places any Levite at any station, before he slaughters any animal, he wants to make sure that the ark is rightly positioned.

Why? Because that ark is a symbol of God's earthly throne. And in Josiah's mind, he did not see it valuable or profitable to worship in the temple if God is not seated where he's supposed to be seated. If God is not exalted, if he's not the center, why move forward with this feast? And so his priority at this moment was bring the ark and position it where God designated it to be.

And everything would orbit around that. And this is yet another call to remembrance about our worship. Is it motivated for God? Is it to the Lord? Is it for his smile?

Is it for his pleasure? That's the essence of worship. But more than that, we see something else in verse one. And that is how the feast was performed at its designated time. Did you notice how we're told that it was celebrated on the fourteenth day of the first month?

When I first read this, I thought, why mention it? Why mention it when God had already said that this is when it was supposed to be celebrated? It seems unnecessary. It seems redundant. Unless that many of the Passovers before this were not celebrated when God said it should be celebrated.

That's precisely why it's being brought up. And the overarching lesson is that Josiah was extremely mindful of the details of God's word. There is not one thing he was relaxed on. There was not one thing he wanted to miss. Anything that God had prescribed and mentioned, God wanted Josiah wanted to honor and observe with all of his heart, even in the timing of the feast.

And this is something that he longed to do. And you see it throughout these verses. I mean, if you actually take the time to look at second Chronicles 35, you just you find how meticulous and surgical Josiah was. And we see it in one strong example. Just scroll down.

Again, we don't have the time to look at everything. Look at verse 13, what the Holy Spirit says. After much organization happened, we read here, and they roasted the Passover lamb with fire according to the rule. And they boiled the holy offerings in pots and cauldrons and in pans and carried them quickly to all the lay people. I'm gonna pause here and open it up for answers to this question.

What stands out to you from this one verse? There should be things that stand out. We are students of the Hebrew scriptures. What stands out to you about this commentary? Somebody said something.

Generosity. Okay. The generosity, that's one thing that we will consider at a moment. According to the rule, absolutely. That's emphasized over and over again.

Anything else? What did they do to the lamb? They roasted it. Why is that important? Because when God had given his original decree about the Passover, after slaughtering the lamb, in Exodus twelve eight, they were instructed to roast the lamb.

Why? Because again, all of the Passover points to Christ. And people tend to just limit the understanding of the Passover to Christ being our Passover lamb in his sacrificial death and his atoning work. Yes. But when the lamb was roasted, that's a picture of Christ enduring the fury of God's wrath.

And so they didn't skip this part. They didn't just slaughter the lamb and apply his blood. No. They even went to the point of roasting it. We see something else in this one verse.

What else? This one's a little bit more difficult to pinpoint, but it's equally important. Look at it again. There's no rush. Very, very good.

Did you hear it? Look at the last part, and carry them quickly to all the laypeople. Why is that important? Anybody have an idea? Well, because in Exodus 12 verse 11, listen to these words.

In this manner, you shall eat it with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. Even the speed of the feast was honored by Josiah and his officials. They were to eat in haste. What's that a picture of?

Well, it's a picture of many things. One of my favorite applications of this truth is that it speaks about the readiness and the willingness of the one who has tasted of Christ to flee out of Egypt. To escape slavery and bondage. To run into the wilderness to worship the Lord in haste. Today is the day of salvation.

That's the picture. So you see, every single ingredient and instruction points to an element of the gospel. And Josiah honored every part he could. The roasting of the lamb, eating it in haste. And when I meditated on Josiah's zeal and discipline, not to deviate in the slightest from God's word.

I was reminded of Jesus' words and what he expects of us as worshipers, as obedient servants to him. This verse was opened to me many, many years ago, and I praise God for it because it transformed the way I view God's word and the way I apply it to my life. This is worth turning to in Matthew five. And look at verse 19. I pray that it makes an impact on your heart and even a greater impact than what it's done for me.

Matthew five nineteen, Jesus says, therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Isn't that powerful? Whoever relaxes What does it mean to relax? I'm like, ah, it's not a big deal.

Don't take it too seriously. Don't get too caught up in the minutiae of God's word, of his commands, of his instructions. Whoever relaxes one of these commandments, the least of these commandments, what did Jesus say? They'll be called least in the kingdom. I don't know about you.

I don't wanna be called least in the kingdom. You can call me the least in this world all you want, but when it comes to the eternal kingdom of the son of David, if there's a way to be commended by God beyond this, I'm pursuing it. And one of the qualifications of knowing excellence in the eyes of God is by looking at every detail in his word and saying this is God's word. I'm not gonna relax one element of it. But whoever does them notice the emphasis here.

Notice the priority. Whoever does them and teaches them. There are a lot of people who wanna teach but not do. Whoever does them first and then teaches them will be called great. What is greatness in the eyes of Jesus?

Those who look at every part of his word and say, God by your grace and strength, help me honor the least of these commandments. Josiah was such a man. And I'm sure you can see how we can linger here for a while, but for the sake of time, let's consider one more trademark of this Passover. And somebody already alluded to it. And it is the radical willingness and sacrifice it took to carry it out.

Second Chronicles 35, look at verse seven very quickly. Then Josiah contributed to the laypeople as Passover offerings for all who were present, lambs and young goats from the flock to the number of 30,003 bulls. These were from the king's possessions. This is remarkable. So Josiah doesn't just instruct the people to honor this feast.

He helps them honor it. This is impressive generosity on the king's part. And though the amount of the donation is impressive, it's the reason why he is charitable that's more moving. It could be that many of these people couldn't afford to give at the Passover. And so Josiah saw this need, and because of that, he did what he could from a personal level to help people encounter God.

He didn't just enjoy this feast for himself, he sought to do what he could do to draw people to the Lord and allow the Lord to make himself known to the people. And here's what I took from this. What a change it would bring to our attitude in giving and our even even our experience in giving, if we viewed it in a similar way. I want to encourage you and I wanna encourage myself to view giving as a means to help people come into contact with Christ, to experience the Lord. I mean, is there any other way of knowing greater thrill in our giving than that mission, than that purpose?

Here is Josiah reaching into his own possessions, his own resources and doing what he can to ensure that as many people as possible can taste the lamb, can see their need for a savior. And praise God, even in this day and age, there are many ministries that are working very hard to do just that. And one of the ways that we can advance such a purpose is by doing what Josiah did. Sacrificing, investing, thinking critically and eternally. How is it that I can help move forward the things of God?

And what I love about Josiah is that his passionate priority was contagious. Look at verse eight right after. And his officials contributed willingly to the people. Do you see that? As soon as Josiah stepped out with his wholehearted commitment and radical worship, Radical generosity.

Others saw it and they said, we wanna do it. Sign us up. Is there any other need? You know, sometimes it just takes one person to step out and do something for the Lord, to move others. And perhaps in your own circles, you're looking around, you're wondering why aren't people doing more, praying more, loving more, serving more, evangelizing more.

Have you ever considered you stepping out? And seeing what would happen out of your obedience? It's exactly what this man does. His officials followed him and it just became this infectious spirit where there were this this amazing sense of inclusiveness and we find it here in verse 18. I won't read it, but if there's one more thing we can say about this unique Passover is how it united Judah and Israel in a manner that the nation had never experienced in a long, long time.

We see there that Israel, whoever was left after this year in exile, joined Judah to celebrate this Passover. No wonder it stood out. If you want more reasons, you have you have the permission to study it further and look into it, but we must move forward and look at the passing. Let's come back to second Kings 23, the passing of king Josiah. We read the first three verses of this section.

Let's read on in verse 24. More moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. Before him, there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might according to all the law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him. Still, the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off the city that I have chosen Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, my name shall be there.

So Josiah's wonderful efforts did not change God's indictment against Jerusalem and Judah. He knew this already. Ahold of the prophetess assured him that nothing would alter God's judgment and his wrath being poured out against his people. And we're being reminded of that. That as awesome as this Passover was, it did not change God's mind.

It was sealed. And this is the main part now of the second element of our study, verse 28. Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? In his days, Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the River Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him and Pharaoh Necho killed him at Megiddo as soon as he saw him.

And his servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Joaz, the son of Josiah, and anointed him and made him king in his father's place. Oh, how I had hoped that Josiah's story would have ended in that wonderful climax. Wouldn't it have been wouldn't it have been refreshing to just simply read that Josiah led the people in exuberant praise, faithful worship, and then he died. That's not what we find.

Instead, we find Josiah dying in a very questionable manner. There are a few questions you and I should have. The first one is, why are we being told that the pharaoh at the time was making his way to meet with the king of Assyria? Second, why did king Josiah feel the need to intervene and try to impede this Egyptian advancement? And lastly, why was he killed the moment that pharaoh saw him?

Where do you think we're gonna find our answers? You're right. So let's go there. In second Chronicles, we're told in far greater detail exactly why this happened. Chapter 35 verse 20.

After all this, all what? The Passover. After all that was done, all that was accomplished, all that was celebrated. When Josiah had prepared the temple, Micho king of Egypt went to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates. And Josiah went out to meet him.

But he sent on voice to him saying, what have we to do with each other king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war. And God has commanded me to hurry, cease opposing God who is with me, lest he destroy you. Interesting. So we already have more light.

Egypt was moving forward because they were on the move for war. This is what's taking place. But war with whom? If you just had second kings and second chronicles, you would think that he's going to war with the Syria. But when you look at Jeremiah in chapter 46, we discovered that Egypt was actually preparing to go to war with guess, Babylon.

Which means that he was meeting with a Syria to make an alliance to come against the rising power of Babylon. That's what's happening here. So we answer that. But the following question is, why is Josiah including himself in this? This has nothing to do with Judah.

There is no mention here whatsoever, no hint that Egypt or Seer or Babylon have Judah on the radar. And yet, he he feels compelled to interject himself and to try to hinder Egypt. No explanation is given. Could it be though that Josiah is looking at these geopolitical shifts and remembering Hilda the prophetess and her word about the coming judgment against Judah, is seeing all of this as preparation for that prophecy to come to pass. And for whatever reason, at this point, he wants to try to prevent it from happening.

That's just speculation. It's just a thought to consider. Nothing is told. Nothing is explained plainly. But whatever the reason was, Josiah believed that stepping in in this way would somehow benefit the kingdom of Judah, when in reality, it would lead to his own demise.

There are a few important truths from this that we need to apply. The first thing is how we as believers need to be very careful involving ourselves in squabbles that do not directly involve us or God's kingdom. The strongest example of this today is how many believers are investing most of their time and energy in things like cultural political battles. At the expense of them growing and investing in what truly matters, the gospel, ministry, the Word of God. Now I'm not suggesting at all that we should avoid or be passive from engaging in various aspects and spheres of society when opportunities arise to promote righteousness or to denounce wickedness.

That's what I'm saying. I'm talking about those who identify more strongly, who are energized with greater thrill to a political party than the church. Or coming to a point where they think that they should involve themselves in pop cultural scandals discussed on podcast instead of knowing the promises of God and prophecies in scripture. There are many Christians like this. In fact, we can even add this dimension.

This is a wonderful example of being careful of not getting ourselves sucked into trivial theological debates. Debates that are fruitless, unchrist like, ego driven, unproductive. So many Christians are fighting the wrong battle. They're so preoccupied with things that don't truly matter. And Josiah is an example of that.

He steps outside of where he's supposed to be and into an arena that is going to be dangerous for him. And I'm afraid there are many Christians who are doing the same to the detriment of their own spiritual vitality and growth, even to the tarnishing of their own testimonies. Josiah shows us that even the most righteous and bible obsessed believers can get distracted and lose focus on what God tells us to keep our eyes on. The second thing to note is how we can lose our sensitivity to God's counsel. One of the most remarkable things about the verses we just read was that when Pharaoh learned that Josiah was on his way to actually fight against them, he warns him.

And how does he warn him? God told me I'm supposed to do this. Get out of the way. And Josiah, if you don't get out of the way, you're going to be destroyed. There's debate here.

Is, Pharaoh lying? Is Pharaoh saying that Yahweh is the one who spoke to him or is he claiming that one of his own deities gave him this commission? The answer is actually in verse 22. Look at the first part. More in the middle, nevertheless, Josiah did not turn away from him, but disguise himself in order to fight with him.

He did not listen to the words of Nico from the mouth of God. There's your answer. It was the real God, the true God, the only God that made this known to Pharaoh and Pharaoh is telling Josiah, God told me to do this. So it must have been in a dream or perhaps a prophetic word that he received We're not given the explanation of how Pharaoh knew that God was the one who gave him this revelation, but the commentary is clear. God did tell him and Josiah chose to ignore him.

And we can sympathize with Josiah. God told you, Pharaoh, a pagan king, to do this. However, there is something that Josiah could have done and should have done. The least that he could have done was take this very grave warning and bring it before the Lord. Was there a king who received more than one letter, more specifically a threat from a foreign king who claimed to speak on behalf of God?

Yes. Hezekiah. You remember that. Right? Where the Syrian king on more than one occasion tried to persuade him that God told them to surround Jerusalem and to ransack them.

But what did Hezekiah do with those threats? He didn't fold them in his pocket. He went to the temple of the Lord and laid it before the feet of God and said, Lord, what's this all about? What am I supposed to do with this? And God gave him a word.

Josiah does no such thing. Pharaoh says God told me to do this and it didn't matter to him. He didn't stop and think he didn't receive counsel. Instead, we realized that he disguises himself and goes ahead anyway. This seems so out of character for a man who was known for his tender heart and wisdom.

In fact, it's even more startling than you think. I want you to see something in verse 22 to verse 23 and tell me if it sounds familiar. Nevertheless, Josiah did not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Nico from the mouth of God, but came to fight in the Plain Of Megiddo. And the archers shot king Josiah, and the king said to his servants, take me away for I am badly wounded.

Does this sound familiar? Oh, I see a lot of heads nodding. What does it sound like? The way Ahab died. In first Kings 22, do you remember?

Ahab received the prophetic word that if he were to go to battle, he was going to what? You're gonna die. So what does he do? He disguises himself. And once he's on the field, what happened?

An arrow shot him. And once he was shot, what did he say? He made a request to the driver of the chariot, take me back home. This is so intentional. What's the lesson?

That a man for most of his life who imitated the love and devotion of king David died the death similar to wicked king Ahab. If it hasn't registered yet, hopefully, Josiah will convince us. It's not how you start. It's how you finish. And no matter how strong your start is, if you're not dependent on the Lord daily, even men of such caliber can end in unthinkable ways.

Have you ever heard of a minister or ministry crashing and burning and thought to yourself, how did that happen? Here's Josiah, one of the most renowned, praised individuals in all of redemptive history. And the Holy Spirit portrays his end and mirrors it to King Ahab. May God keep us. May you cling to the Lord.

May I cling to the Lord. This is amazing to witness. The artistry of the Bible is astounding. So we find here something about the passing. But there is one more thing I'd like to mention before we go to the final part of our study.

As we're still processing the passing of king Josiah, look at the intensity of the lament for this man in verse 25. Second Chronicles 35 verse 25, Jeremiah also uttered a lament for Josiah. Pause. That says something about Josiah for this prophet who denounced most of the nation throughout his ministry that when Josiah died, he lamented for him. Josiah was a truly godly man.

He had a lapse of faith. He did not finish in the most exemplary way, but that did not disqualify his walk with God. Jeremiah was broken. He grieved. Can you imagine the sight of Jeremiah, not just weeping over the sins of the people, but weeping over this man of God?

He was raised up in the thirteenth year of his reign. I wonder what kind of conversations they had. I wonder how they encouraged one another. This signals to me that Jeremiah surely knew Josiah and he understood that Josiah was a true man of God. And he lamented when he died.

But it wasn't just him. We go on. And all the singing men and singing women have spoken of Josiah in their laments to this day. They made these a rule in Israel, behold, they are written in the laments, a book that we don't have today. So the grief over Josiah, the words that were spilled over him, the accolades, the acknowledgements, they were recorded and kept.

That's how monumental this man was. That's the kind of impact he made in this kingdom. And here's the most remarkable thing. So great was this lament that Zechariah the prophet used it to reference a future brokenness that will come to the people of Israel. In Zechariah 12, we learn of a time, a time to come when Israel will look on him whom they have pierced and they will mourn after him as one mourns after an only child.

They will realize that Jesus Christ is their Messiah, that they did indeed reject him and pierce him and kill him. But in one moment, the nation as a whole will turn to him, repent and crown him as their messiah. And here's a reference that is made in Zechariah twelve eleven. On that day, the morning in Jerusalem will be as great as the morning of Hadad Ramon in the Plain Of Megiddo. So whatever's happening here in second Kings twenty three and second Chronicles 35 has an element of prophecy to it.

And it encourages us yet again to see Josiah as some type of a Christ. We've touched on this throughout our study in Josiah's life, and here's yet another one. What we find here is just as Josiah was killed after leading Israel in one of the greatest Passovers, The Lord Jesus was pierced after celebrating the fulfillment of the Passover. Is that right? However, Josiah is different in this way, inferior, far more inferior than Jesus.

He celebrates the Passover, then he's killed. Jesus celebrates the Passover, the fulfillment of the Passover, inaugurates the new covenant, he is killed. What's the difference? Josiah walks to his death because of disobedience and stubbornness. Jesus walks to his death because of selfless love and total submission to the will of God.

That's the difference. Let your heart enlargen tonight to see how these passages are perfumed with prophecy pointing to the substance, Jesus. This is the passing. Let's look at the final thing, and that's the progeny, which is another word for descendants. Let's come back to second Kings 23, and let's read from verse 31 down to verse 37.

Jehoaz was 23 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamotel, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, and he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord according to all that his fathers had done. And Pharaoh Necho put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem and laid on a land a tribute of a 100 talents of silver and a talent of gold. And Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Joaz away and he came to Egypt and died there.

And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land from everyone according to his assessment to give it to pharaoh Nico. Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother name was Zebedah, the daughter of Padiah of Rumah. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord according to all that his fathers had done.

An unthinkable and tragic reversal just took place in the broader narrative of God's story. This crucial transition of power in the kingdom of Judah is unlike anything that we've seen. Think about it this way. We just read how the king of Judah, including the northern part, all of Israel celebrate the Passover. What's the Passover about?

Recognizing and remembering their deliverance from bondage, from slavery, their original exodus. They commemorated that together. And once King Josiah dies and is replaced by his son, Pharaoh takes Josiah's successor and brings him back to Egypt. And then, he takes Josiah's other son, places him on the throne, gives him a new name and then taxes him and the people. What do you have here?

In essence, the people of Israel going back to their bondage, to their original slavery, to who they were before God brought them out and made them a people. This is massive. This is the big picture. This is the overarching theme of this section. They're going back and it's setting the stage for yet another massive turning point in God's grand story.

But here's how we view it on a personal level. Why did Pharaoh, after just three months of Josiah's son becoming king, in such a vicious way, arrest him, seize him, abduct him, and then supervise over the kingdom of Judah? I think the best answer is the context that we just covered. Josiah poked the wrong bear. Josiah ignored God's word, made a move against Pharaoh, and it could be that Pharaoh even after Josiah's death thought that Josiah's descendants would potentially be a future threat.

And so he acts early and he subdues them In this moment of transition and vulnerability. Here's what ran through my mind when I meditated on this earlier today. There are many here who aspire to be parents, many here who have become new parents. Wherever you are in that area of life, never forget Josiah's sobering example. A parent's willful disobedience, prayerless decisions, and hard headedness can even lead their children into bondage.

Josiah's foolishness didn't just affect him. It affected his sons. Pharaoh didn't just go after Josiah. He went after his children. And I think there's a very practical illustration here that you and I, especially the men of this house, have to understand that your devotion to God does not just impact you.

You can't do anything about that, by the way. It's inscribed in God's law. You're the head of the house. Your decisions or lack thereof. Your walk with the Lord or lack thereof can have generational effect.

Now you can hear that and that scare you or you can hear that and that excite you, and I hope it excites you. Because God has given us everything we need to be men of God. And that's what we find here, an unfortunate story of a man who was a remarkable king, but perhaps not the best dad. Well, there's much more that we can say here, but I'll just end it on this point. We're never gonna see a good king after Josiah.

There will be a handful of kings after this and it'll just be one big failure after another until the Lord brings Babylon to sweep up the place. And this will change our bible study in a major way moving forward. We're not there yet. A cliffhanger perhaps, a couple of chapters left, but I think that's enough for us to meditate on. Let's pray and thank the Lord.

Father, we've heard so much in a short amount of time. Thank you for these truths in the Passover, in the passing of this man, and even in the progeny of this king. Lord, what a great mistake it would be to hear these things and not use them to inspect our own hearts. Lord, we wanna finish well. We've heard it over and over again in our study of kings, and there's a reason why you repeat it.

Lord, help us not get involved in conflicts, battles, investments that you've not called us to. Lord, help us not lose our sensitivity to your counsel that when you speak, we would hear it, we would take heed, that we would have enough discernment to see your providential interruptions. Oh, lord, we can't wait for the day when Israel will crown your son, Jesus, as the Messiah. We pray for the nation of Israel. Help them, lord.

More importantly than anything else, we're not asking for political gain, military victories. We're not asking for any of that. We're asking for their eyes to be open to see the the gospel and how Christ is a fulfillment of what they are looking for. Lord, we ask finally that we would see the joy of walking with you and that we would feel the weightiness of what it means to be your servant, especially if we are leaders in any capacity. Lord, give us the grace, like Josiah in the beginning of this story, inspiring others to live for you.

But help us do it where it matters most, in the home and for it to flow from there. Lord, with all that was said, help us retain it. Help us remember it. Chain it around our hearts. We trust that you'll bring these things to remembrance.

And for that, we say thank you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. Why don't we stand and worship the Lord? Isn't his word wonderful?

Oh, this is God's word.