Ethan: Welcome To Immerse: The Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day 200 and 40
josiah was eight years old when he became King, and he
reigned in Jerusalem 31 years.
His mother was Judiah, the daughter of Adah from Boscov.
He did what was pleasing in the Lord's sight and followed the
example of his ancestor David.
He did not turn away from doing what was right.
In the 18th year of his reign, king Josiah sent Shefa son
of Asiah and grandson of Ms.
Shula, the court secretary to the temple of the Lord.
He told him Go to Aliah, the high priest and have him count the money the
gatekeepers have collected from the people at the Lord's temple and trusts this, this
money to the men assigned to supervise the restoration of the Lord's temple.
Then they can use it to pay workers to repair the temple.
They will need to hire carpenters, builders, and masons also have them
buy the timber and the finished stone needed to repair the temple, but don't
require the construction supervisors to keep account of the money they receive
for they are honest and trustworthy.
Men.
Hel chia, the high priest said to Shahan the court secretary, I have found the
book of the law in the Lord's temple.
Then Aliah gave the scroll to Shahan and he read it.
Shahan went to the king and reported your officials have turned over.
The money collected at the temple of the Lord to the workers
and supervisors at the temple.
Shahan also told the King Haaa, the priest has given me a scroll.
So Shahan read it to the king.
When the king heard what was written in the book of the law,
he tore his clothes in despair.
Then he gave these orders to hel chia the priest.
Hiem son of Shahan, AK Bor, son of McKay, and Shahan, the court secretary
and Isaiah the King's personal advisor.
Go to the temple and speak to the Lord for me and for the people and for all.
Judah inquire about the words written in this scroll that has been found
for the Lord's great anger is burning against us because our ancestors have
not obeyed the words in this scroll.
We have not been doing everything it says we must do.
So Kyah the priest, a haiku, AK bor, Shahan, and Isaiah went to
the new quarter of Jerusalem to consult with the prophet Halda.
She was the wife of Shalom, son of Tikva, son of Haha, the
keeper of the temple wardrobe.
She said to them, the Lord, the God of Israel has spoken.
Go back and tell the man who sent you, this is what the Lord says.
I'm going to bring disaster on this city and its people.
All the words written in the scroll that the King of Judah has read
will come true for my people have abandoned me and offered sacrifices to
pagan gods, and I am very angry with them for everything they have done.
My anger will burn against this place and it will not be quenched.
But go to the King of Judah who sent you to seek the Lord and tell him.
This is what the Lord the God of Israel says concerning the message.
You have just heard you were sorry and humbled yourself before the Lord when
you heard what I said against this city and its people that this land
would be cursed and become desolate.
You tore your clothing in despair and wept before me in repentance, and I
have indeed heard you says the Lord.
So I will not send the promised disaster until after you have
died and been buried in peace.
You will not see the disaster I'm going to bring on this city.
So they took her message back to the king.
Then the king summoned all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, and the king
went up to the temple of the Lord with all the people of Judah and
Jerusalem, along with the priests and the prophets, all the people
from the least to the greatest there.
The king read to them the entire book of the covenant that had
been found in the Lord's temple.
The king took his place of authority beside the pillar and renewed the
covenant in the Lord's presence.
He pledged to obey the Lord by keeping all his commands, laws, and
decrees with all his heart and soul.
In this way, he confirmed all the terms of the covenant that were written
in the scroll, and all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.
Then the king instructed Aliah, the high priest and the priests of the
second rank and the temple gatekeepers to remove from the Lord's temple.
All the articles that were used to worship Baal as Shira and all the powers
of the heavens, the king had all these things burned outside Jerusalem on
the terraces of the Kidron Valley, and he carried the ashes away to Bethel.
He did away with the idolatrous priests who had been appointed by
the previous kings of Judah for they had offered sacrifices at the
pagan shrines throughout Judah and even in the vicinity of Jerusalem.
They had also offered sacrifices to bail and to the sun, the
moon, the constellations, and to all the powers of the heavens.
The king removed the Ashra pole from the Lord's temple and took
it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley where he burned it.
Then he ground the ashes of the pole to dust and threw the dust
over the graves of the people.
He also tore down the living quarters of the male and female shrine
prostitutes that were inside the temple of the Lord, where the women
wove coverings for the as pole.
Josiah brought to Jerusalem, all the priests who were
living in other towns of Judah.
He also defiled the pagan shrines where they had offered sacrifices.
All the way from Giba to Beersheba, he destroyed the shrines at the
entrance to the gate of Joshua, the governor of Jerusalem.
This gate was located to the left of the city gate.
As one enters the city, the priests who had served at the pagan shrines were not
allowed to serve at the Lord's altar in Jerusalem, but they were allowed to eat
unleavened bread with the other priests.
Then the king defiled the altar of tophi.
In the Valley of Ben Ham, so no one could ever again use it to sacrifice
a son or daughter in the fire As an offering to Molech, he removed from
the entrance of the Lord's temple, the horse statues that the former kings
of Judah had dedicated to the son.
They were near the quarters of Nathan Melech, the eunuch,
an officer of the court.
The king also burned the chariots dedicated to the son.
Josiah tore down the altars that the kings of Judah had built on the palace
roof above the upper room of Ahaz.
The king destroyed the altars that Manasses had built in the two
courtyards of the Lord's temple.
He smashed them to bits and scattered the pieces in the Kidron Valley.
The king also desecrated the pagan shrines east of Jerusalem to the south of the
Mount of corruption, where King Solomon of Israel had built shrines for ash.
Tore the detestable goddess of the Ians and for mosh, the detestable
God of the Mo Moabites, and for Molech, the vile God of the Ammonites.
He smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the as poles.
Then he desecrated these places by scattering human bones over them.
The king also tore down the altar at Bethel, the pagan shrine that
Jar Boams son of Neba had made.
When he caused Israel to sin, he burned down the shrine and grounded to
dust, and he burned the ashera pole.
Then Josiah turned around and noticed several tombs in the side of the hill.
He ordered that the bones be brought out, and he burned them on the
altar at Bethel to desecrate it.
This happened just as the Lord had promised through the man of
God when Jar Boem stood beside the altar at the festival.
Then Josiah turned and looked up at the tomb of the man of God
who had predicted these things.
What is that monument over there?
Josiah asked, and the people of the town told him It is the tomb of the
man of God who came from Judah and predicted the very things that you
have just done to the alter at Bethel.
Josiah replied, leave it alone.
Don't disturb his bones.
So they did not burn his bones or those of the old prophet from Samaria.
Then Josiah demolished all the buildings at the Pagan shrines in the towns of
Samaria, just as he had done at Bethel.
They had been built by the various kings of Israel.
And had made the Lord very angry.
He executed the priests of the pagan shrines on their own altars,
and he burned human bones on the altars to desecrate them.
Finally, he returned to Jerusalem.
King Josiah then issued this order To all the people, you must celebrate
the Passover to the Lord your God, as required in this book of the Covenant.
There had not been a Passover celebration like that since the time when the judges
ruled in Israel, nor throughout all the years of the kings of Israel and Judah.
But in the 18th year of King Josiah's reign, this Passover was
celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.
Josiah also got rid of the mediums and psychics, the household gods,
the idols, and every other kind of detestable practice, both in Jerusalem
and throughout the land of Judah.
He did this in obedience to the laws written in the scroll that hel chia the
priest had found in the Lord's temple.
Never before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the Lord with
all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of Moses, and there
has never been a king like him since.
Even so the Lord was very angry with Judah because of all the wicked things
Manasses had done to provoke him.
For the Lord said, I will also banish Judah from my presence just as I have
banished Israel and I will reject my chosen city of Jerusalem and the
temple where my name was to be honored.
The rest of the events in Josiah's Reign in all his deeds are recorded in the book
of the history of the Kings of Judah.
While Josiah was King, Pharaoh, Niko, king of Egypt, went to the Euphrates
River to help the king of Assyria.
King Josiah and his army marched out to fight him, but King Niko
killed him when they met at Megiddo.
Josiah's officers took his body back in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem
and buried him in his own tomb.
Then the people of the land anointed Josiah's son Jehoahaz
and made him the next king.
Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king, and he reigned
in Jerusalem three months.
His mother was him Mutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Lyna.
He did what was evil in the Lord's sight just as his ancestors had done.
Pharaoh, Niko put Jehoahaz in prison at Rla in the land of Hamoth to
prevent him from ruling in Jerusalem.
He also demanded that Judah pay 7,500 pounds of silver and
75 pounds of gold as tribute.
This concludes today's Immer Reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.