A STORY OF TWO KINGS

READING: 2 Chronicles 34:1-18

I. JOSIAH
A. In the eighth year of his reign.
1. 16 years old.
a. Eccl 12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come
not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

2. 2 Chron 34:3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the
God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high
places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.

B. He ordered the temple repaired.

1. 2 Chron 34:14 And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD,
Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses.

C. Josiah learned that they were not fully following the Law.
1. 2 Chron 34:18-21
18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it
before the king.
19 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.
20 And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and
Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king's, saying,
21 Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of
the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have
not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book.

2. Deut 6:1-3 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD
your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: That
thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command
thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase
mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and
honey.

D. He ordered changes to be made.

1. 2 Chron 34:29-33 2 Chron 34:29-33
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.
 a. Josh 24:14-16 [In the tradition of Joshua.] Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in
sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood,
and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you
this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side
of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we
will serve the LORD. And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the
LORD, to serve other gods;

b. Josh 24:31 And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders
that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for
Israel.

II. JEHOIAKIM
A. The word of God was delivered to him, also.
1. Jer 36:21 So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe's
chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside
the king.

2. 2 Kings 23:36-37 Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned
eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

B. He had a different reaction.

1. Jer 36:22-23 Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the
hearth burning before him. And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it
with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the
fire that was on the hearth.

a. Deut 4:1-2 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I
teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your
fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish
ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

III. ONLY ONE GENERATION APART!

A. Jehoiakim was the son of Josiah.
1. Jer 36:1-7
1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto
Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and
against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this
day.
3 It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return
every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.
4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words
of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.
5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the LORD:
6 Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the LORD in the
ears of the people in the LORD's house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all
Judah that come out of their cities.
7 It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, and will return every one from his evil way:
for great is the anger and the fury that the LORD hath pronounced against this people.

B. We must teach our children and others.

1. Deut 6:6-9
6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house,
and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

2. 1 Sam 2:12 Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.

3. 2 Tim 1:5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in
thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

4. 2 Tim 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same
commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

Invitation: Hear, Believe, Repent, Confess Christ as the Son of God, Be Immersed for the remission of
sins, and then grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, remaining faithful until death.

If you are a Christian and have sinned publicly, then you are invited to remove your
separation from God by public repentance so that prayers can be offered with you and for you.