Because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the LORD…. Surely, therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place. (2 Kings 22:19, 20)

The young king Josiah led a significant revival in the latter days of Kingdom of Judah. He had the zeal to repair and restore the temple, and as they did that work they discovered the forgotten book of the law – God’s word through Moses and other early books of the Old Testament.

When Josiah heard the message of those books he was immediately convicted of sin. It was plain how far they had gone from God’s path, and he tore his clothes and mourned as if someone dear to him had died. To his credit, Josiah didn’t stop at a feeling of sorrow, but went on to see what God’s word would say to him. They sought the prophetess Huldah, and she told him judgment was indeed coming on Judah for all their great sins against God and the covenant Israel made with Him.

That was bad news; yet there was good news in the midst of it. God made some comforting promises to Josiah, because his heart was tender. Josiah’s heart was tender in two ways. First, it was tender to the word of God and was able to receive the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit. Second, it was tender to the message of judgment from Huldah described in the previous verses.

Here was God’s comfort to Josiah: you shall be gathered to your grave in peace. It is true that Josiah later died in battle (2 Kings 23:28-30), there are at least three ways that this was true.

– Josiah died before the greater spiritual disaster and exile came to Judah.
– Josiah was gathered to the spirits of his fathers, who were in peace.
– Josiah died in God’s favor, even though it was by the hand of an enemy.

God’s comfort was added to Josiah when He said, your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place. This was God’s mercy to Josiah. His own godliness and tender heart could not stop the eventual judgment of God, but it could delay it. Inevitable judgment is sometimes delayed because of the tender hearts of the people of God.

I suppose someone could say, “What comfort was all this? Josiah died anyway, and judgment still came upon the Kingdom of Judah.” That objection forgets that it is our common destiny to die – no one can escape that. Yet, God may show mercy and kindness in both the timing and circumstances of our passing.

Josiah shows us that our humble repentance is never for nothing. God always finds a way to draw near to those who draw near to Him, and to bless those who seek Him.

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 22

Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes. (2 Kings 22:11)

Young King Josiah came to throne when the leaders and people of Judah were spiritually compromised and corrupt. As he took an interest in God’s temple, they found the Book of the Law – what we would call many of the books of the Old Testament – in the temple.

When they read God’s word to the king, it did a spiritual work in King Josiah. It was not merely the transmission of information; the hearing of God’s word impacted Josiah with spiritual power.

When Josiah heard it, he tore his clothes. This was a traditional expression of horror and astonishment. In the strongest possible way, Josiah showed his grief on his own account and on account of the nation. This was an expression of deep conviction of sin, and a good thing.

Revival and spiritual awakening are marked by such expressions of the conviction of sin. Dr. J. Edwin Orr, in The Second Evangelical Awakening in Britain, recounted some examples from the great movement that impacted Britain and the world in 1859-1861.

In the town of Coleraine, Northern Ireland, a schoolboy was under so much conviction of sin that he couldn’t continue on in class. From the ministry of another boy in the class, he found peace and returned to the classroom immediately to tell the teacher: “I am so happy: I have the Lord Jesus in my heart!” His testimony had a striking effect on the class, the teacher peeked out the window and saw boys kneeling in prayer all around the schoolyard. The teacher was so convicted that he asked the first converted boy to minister to him. Finally, the whole school was in such a state that pastors came and ministered to the students, teachers, and parents, and people received ministry at the school until 11:00 that night.

A high-ranking army officer described the conviction of sin in his Scottish town: “Those of you who are at ease have little idea of how terrifying a sight it is when the Holy Spirit is pleased to open a man’s eyes to see the real state of his heart… Men who were thought to be, and who thought themselves to be good, religious people… have been led to search into the foundation upon which they were resting, and have found all rotten, that they were self-satisfied, resting on their own goodness, and not upon Christ. Many turned from open sin to lives of holiness, some weeping for joy for sins forgiven.”

This conviction of sin is the special work of the Holy Spirit, even as Jesus said in John 16:8: “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin.”

The conviction of sin never feels good, but it leads to something good: forgiveness of sin and getting the life right with Jesus Christ. Don’t despise the conviction of sin.

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 22

Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh— all that he did, and the sin that he committed— are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? So Manasseh rested with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. Then his son Amon reigned in his place. (2 Kings 21:17-18)

Clearly, Manasseh was one of the worst rulers over the kingdom of Judah. In the verses in front of us, it mentions all that he did, and the sin that he committed. These great sins were the terrible legacy of Manasseh, who was the son of one of the better kings of Judah (Hezekiah).

Yet, there is an interesting clue to the rest of Manasseh’s story in the words, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 2 Chronicles 33:11-19 describes a remarkable repentance on the part of this sinful king.

Because Manasseh and the people of Judah would not listen to the warnings of God, the LORD allowed the Babylonians to bind the king and take him as a captive to Babylon. That is where the story takes an unexpected turn.

In Babylon, when he was in affliction, he implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers (2 Chronicles 33:12) and God answered his prayer and restored him to the throne. In a way he had never before known, Manasseh came to know the Lord.

Manasseh went on to prove that his repentance was genuine by taking away the idols and the foreign gods from Jerusalem, and he commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel (2 Chronicles 33:16).

This is a wonderful example of the principle, train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6). Manasseh was raised by a godly father, yet he lived in defiance of his father’s faith for most of his life. Nevertheless, at the end of his days he truly repented and served God. In this way, we can say that it was very true that Manasseh rested with his fathers.

Yet, his repentance was too late to change the nation. It seems that the people were hardened in their ways, and as a whole they did not follow Manasseh’s example of repentance. As far the effect on the people was concerned, the evil Manasseh did had more of an impact than his late-in-life repentance.

What was worse, Manasseh’s repentance was too late to change the destiny of the kingdom. Years later, when Jerusalem finally fell to the Babylonians, 2 Kings 24:34 puts the blame on Manasseh and his sins.

It’s wonderful when people are moved to repentance late in life. Yet, the longer we live in disobedience, the more consequences for sin we are likely to face. It’s another reason to repent sooner rather than later.

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 21

Special Note: During this season of the Coronavirus, I’m doing a special daily devotional on YouTube. Click here for today’s video devotional.

So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “Will there not be peace and truth at least in my days?” Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah— all his might, and how he made a pool and a tunnel and brought water into the city— are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? So Hezekiah rested with his fathers. Then Manasseh his son reigned in his place. (2 Kings 20:19-21)

Through the prophet Isaiah, God warned King Hezekiah that judgment was coming upon his descendants. Hezekiah had a strange reaction, saying the word of the LORD which you have spoken is good. This was a sad state of heart in the king of Judah. God announced coming judgment, and all he could respond with was relief that it would not happen in his lifetime.

Manasseh also raised up altars for Baal, and made a wooden image (2 Kings 21:3). Instead of imitating his godly father, Manasseh imitated one of the very worst kings of Israel: Ahab. He set up the same kind of state-sponsored idolatry.

Even worse, Manasseh worshiped all the host of heaven and served them (2 Kings 21:5). He brought in new forms of idolatry. He also corrupted the true worship of God at the temple when he built altars in the house of the LORD (2 Kings 21:5). It is horrible to even think of it, but Manasseh also sacrificed his own son to the Canaanite god Molech, who was worshipped with the burning of children (2 Kings 21:6).

Manasseh directly invited Satanic influence when he also practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums (2 Kings 21:6). Manasseh made the temple into an idolatrous brothel, dedicated to the goddess Asherah (2 Kings 21:7).

When all these terrible things happened, where were the people of God? 2 Kings 21:9 tells the terrible truth: they paid no attention, and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil. This described the basic attitude of the people of Judah during the 55-year reign of Manasseh. They paid no attention to the generous promises of God, promising protection to His obedient people. In addition, they were willingly seduced by Manasseh’s wickedness and were attracted to do more evil.

Manasseh was indeed a wicked king, but perhaps the greater sin was on the part of the people who accepted this seduction willingly. 2 Chronicles 33:10 says, And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen. God spoke to both the people and the leader, but they rejected His word.

The culture changed from something generally God-honoring to something that glorified idolatry and immorality. In general, we can say this happened because the people wanted it to happen. They didn’t care about the direction of their culture.

May God help you to be salt and light wherever He has placed you. With the love and grace of Jesus Christ, we need to preserve like salt does, and shine like light does. Let it never be said of us, “they paid no attention.”

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 21

Special Note: During this season of the Coronavirus, I’m doing a special daily devotional on YouTube. Click here for today’s video devotional.

At that time Berodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. And Hezekiah was attentive to them, and showed them all the house of his treasures— the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armory— all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them. (2 Kings 20:12-13)

God was so good to King Hezekiah that he gave him 15 years more of life. But it was up to Hezekiah if those years would be lived out in wisdom, and to the glory of God. This was a challenge that Hezekiah did not meet very well.

After his recovery, the king of Babylon sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. Apparently, this was a gesture of kindness from the king of Babylon, showing concern to Hezekiah as fellow royalty.

Hezekiah was pleased with these gifts. We can imagine that this was flattering for King Hezekiah. After all, Judah was a lowly nation with little power, and Babylon was a junior superpower. To receive attention and recognition from the king of Babylon must have really made Hezekiah feel he was important.

So, Hezekiah showed them the house of his treasures. Hezekiah probably wanted to please these envoys from Babylon and wanted to show them that they should be impressed. So, he did everything he could to impress them, and showed them the very best riches of the royal household – and he showed them everything (There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them).

As the coming rebuke from Isaiah will demonstrate, this was nothing but proud foolishness on Hezekiah’s part. He was in the dangerous place of wanting to please and impress men, especially ungodly men.

Hezekiah faced – and failed under – a temptation common to many, especially those in ministry: the temptation of success. Many men who stand strong against the temptations of failure and weakness fail under the temptations of success and strength.

We might say success led Hezekiah to sin in at least five ways:

– Pride, in that he was proud of the honors the Babylonians brought.
– Ingratitude, in that he took honor to himself that really belonged to God.
– Abusing the gifts given to him, where he took the gifts and favors to his own honor and gratification of his lusts (2 Chronicles 32:25-26).
– Carnal confidence, in that he trusted in the coalition he had made with the king of Babylon.
– Missing opportunity, in that he had a great opportunity to testify to the Babylonian envoys about the greatness of God and the LORD’s blessing on Judah. Instead, he glorified himself.

As God gives you success, be grateful – but also be careful. Watch out for the trap of success.

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Kings 20