King Josiah, now having the Law of Moses again, gives instructions to have the first proper passover feast since the time of Samuel. He helps out at the temple constantly to make sure everything is done right and going smoothly and it seems to come off pretty well. There is basically no cultural tradition left surrounding passover since it has been so long since anyone followed the rules, but just going by what's written in the Law, they seem to do okay. The text doesn't mention anything about God being especially pleased by the event, but at least He wasn't angered by anything there.
13 years later, according to the timelines given, the king of Egypt went up to attack someone around Babylon. He had no qualm with Israel, but Josiah wanted to attack him for some reason. The Pharaoh, Neco, told Josiah that not only did he not want to fight him, but God had told him that they weren't supposed to fight. This is another interesting case of God talking to someone outside the covenant, adding king Neco to the list with Balaam and Melchizedek. Josiah didn't listen and attacked him anyway so he was killed.
Recall that God said He was going to destroy Judah after Josiah died, so we can expect something terrible to happen soon.
Jehoahaz was king for three months before the king of Egypt came and removed him from his throne. He placed Jehoahaz's brother Eliakim on the throne in stead and took Jehoahaz back to Egypt with him. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came down 11 years later and took away Eliakim, who had his name changed to Jehoiakim when he became king, by the way. Nebuchadnezzar chained Johoiakim up in Babylon and looted the temple. Johoiakim was an evil king.
Just in case you'r not already confused by all these complicated names, the next king after Johoiakim was Johoiachin. He was another evil king, but he only ruled for three months anyway before Nebuchadnezzar brought him to Babylon and placed his uncle, Zedekiah, on the throne of Judah. Guess what? Zedekiah was also an evil king. He not only rebelled against God though, but Nebuchadnezzar too. He refused to look to God for help with the problems with Babylon and under his rule the priests and the people all fell back into their old customs and ignored the Law.
God sent prophets all over the place to try to turn people around, but they kept doing evil things and worshiping other Gods. Finally, God sent Nebuchadnezzar to destroy Jerusalem and Judah all together. The Babylonians burned down the temple and looted the city. Everyone who wasn't killed was taken away to Babylon to serve Nebuchadnezzar and his sons. This lasted for 70 years until Cyrus, the king of Persia, became more powerful than Babylon and took over. God got him to send all the Judans back home.
13 years later, according to the timelines given, the king of Egypt went up to attack someone around Babylon. He had no qualm with Israel, but Josiah wanted to attack him for some reason. The Pharaoh, Neco, told Josiah that not only did he not want to fight him, but God had told him that they weren't supposed to fight. This is another interesting case of God talking to someone outside the covenant, adding king Neco to the list with Balaam and Melchizedek. Josiah didn't listen and attacked him anyway so he was killed.
Recall that God said He was going to destroy Judah after Josiah died, so we can expect something terrible to happen soon.
Jehoahaz was king for three months before the king of Egypt came and removed him from his throne. He placed Jehoahaz's brother Eliakim on the throne in stead and took Jehoahaz back to Egypt with him. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came down 11 years later and took away Eliakim, who had his name changed to Jehoiakim when he became king, by the way. Nebuchadnezzar chained Johoiakim up in Babylon and looted the temple. Johoiakim was an evil king.
Just in case you'r not already confused by all these complicated names, the next king after Johoiakim was Johoiachin. He was another evil king, but he only ruled for three months anyway before Nebuchadnezzar brought him to Babylon and placed his uncle, Zedekiah, on the throne of Judah. Guess what? Zedekiah was also an evil king. He not only rebelled against God though, but Nebuchadnezzar too. He refused to look to God for help with the problems with Babylon and under his rule the priests and the people all fell back into their old customs and ignored the Law.
God sent prophets all over the place to try to turn people around, but they kept doing evil things and worshiping other Gods. Finally, God sent Nebuchadnezzar to destroy Jerusalem and Judah all together. The Babylonians burned down the temple and looted the city. Everyone who wasn't killed was taken away to Babylon to serve Nebuchadnezzar and his sons. This lasted for 70 years until Cyrus, the king of Persia, became more powerful than Babylon and took over. God got him to send all the Judans back home.
To know truth read Shreemad Bhagwat Geeta ji first
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip! I'm pretty invested in the Bible already though so I think I'm going to finish this up before I take on any other big reading projects.
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