WalterandDebbie
Sabbath Overseer
Thursday 6-23-22 5th. Day Of The Weekly Cycle, Sivan 23, 5782 96th. Spring Day
Read: 2 Kings 23:3–7 | Bible in a Year: Esther 9–10; Acts 7:1–21
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The king . . . renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands. 2 Kings 23:3
The ornate ceremonial bow and quiver had hung on the wall of our home in Michigan for years. I’d inherited them from my father, who acquired the souvenirs while we were serving as missionaries in Ghana.
Then one day a Ghanaian friend visited us. When he saw the bow, he got a strange look on his face. Pointing to a small object tied to it he said, “That is a fetish—a magic charm. I know it has no power, but I would not keep it in my house.” Quickly we cut the charm from the bow and discarded it. We didn’t want anything in our home intended for the worship of something other than God.
Josiah, king in Jerusalem, grew up with little knowledge of God’s expectations for His people. When the high priest rediscovered the Book of the Law in the long-neglected temple (2 Kings 22:8), Josiah wanted to hear it. As soon as he learned what God had said about idolatry, he ordered sweeping changes to bring Judah into compliance with God’s
law—changes far more drastic than merely cutting a charm from a bow (see 2 Kings 23:3–7).
Believers today have more than King Josiah did—much, much more. We have the entire Bible to instruct us. We have each other. And we have the vital filling of the Holy Spirit, who brings things to light, large and small, that we might otherwise overlook.
Can you describe a time when a believer wisely pointed out a change you needed to make? What things in your life might be offensive to God?
Heavenly Father, by the work of the Holy Spirit, help me steer clear of anything that’s offensive to You.
Learn about leadership from the kings of Israel.
The covenant-renewal activities of King Josiah in 2 Kings 23:3–7 included house cleaning—the “[removal] from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah” (v. 4). Baal (a word that means “owner, lord”) was the most prominent deity among the gods of the Canaanites. It was believed that Baal (the god of life and fertility) controlled the rainfall and crop production.
Asherah was the female companion of Baal. Depending on the context, sometimes the word Asherah (translated “grove” or “groves” in the kjv) can refer to the deity itself (2 Kings 21:7) or to the cult objects associated with her worship (1 Kings 14:23). Anything that usurps God’s rule in our lives is an idol and must be eliminated.
By Tim Gustafson|June 23rd, 2022
Idolatry 2 Kings 23:3-7
3 And the king stood by a pillar, 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 their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.
5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
6 And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.
7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
Love, Walter and Debbie
Drastic Measures
Read: 2 Kings 23:3–7 | Bible in a Year: Esther 9–10; Acts 7:1–21
Download MP3
Subscribe to iTunes
The king . . . renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands. 2 Kings 23:3
The ornate ceremonial bow and quiver had hung on the wall of our home in Michigan for years. I’d inherited them from my father, who acquired the souvenirs while we were serving as missionaries in Ghana.
Then one day a Ghanaian friend visited us. When he saw the bow, he got a strange look on his face. Pointing to a small object tied to it he said, “That is a fetish—a magic charm. I know it has no power, but I would not keep it in my house.” Quickly we cut the charm from the bow and discarded it. We didn’t want anything in our home intended for the worship of something other than God.
Josiah, king in Jerusalem, grew up with little knowledge of God’s expectations for His people. When the high priest rediscovered the Book of the Law in the long-neglected temple (2 Kings 22:8), Josiah wanted to hear it. As soon as he learned what God had said about idolatry, he ordered sweeping changes to bring Judah into compliance with God’s
law—changes far more drastic than merely cutting a charm from a bow (see 2 Kings 23:3–7).
Believers today have more than King Josiah did—much, much more. We have the entire Bible to instruct us. We have each other. And we have the vital filling of the Holy Spirit, who brings things to light, large and small, that we might otherwise overlook.
Can you describe a time when a believer wisely pointed out a change you needed to make? What things in your life might be offensive to God?
Heavenly Father, by the work of the Holy Spirit, help me steer clear of anything that’s offensive to You.
Learn about leadership from the kings of Israel.
INSIGHT
The covenant-renewal activities of King Josiah in 2 Kings 23:3–7 included house cleaning—the “[removal] from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah” (v. 4). Baal (a word that means “owner, lord”) was the most prominent deity among the gods of the Canaanites. It was believed that Baal (the god of life and fertility) controlled the rainfall and crop production.
Asherah was the female companion of Baal. Depending on the context, sometimes the word Asherah (translated “grove” or “groves” in the kjv) can refer to the deity itself (2 Kings 21:7) or to the cult objects associated with her worship (1 Kings 14:23). Anything that usurps God’s rule in our lives is an idol and must be eliminated.
By Tim Gustafson|June 23rd, 2022
Idolatry 2 Kings 23:3-7
3 And the king stood by a pillar, 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 their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.
5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
6 And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.
7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
Love, Walter and Debbie
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