We have reached the second-to-last week of our processing of 2 Kings!
When we started 1 Kings all those weeks ago, we focused on the theme of hope amidst failure. That book started with a rough transition of power from David to Solomon, but then Solomon rose as a wise, powerful, respected, revered, admired, and celebrated king. By 1 Kings 8, both the temple and Solomon’s palace were built. And by chapter 10, Solomon and the temple and Jerusalem and the nation were all revered by the world around them. A picture was painted for us of affluence and success on the grandest of scales. They’d made it!
Then we turn the page and see other gods being worshiped. Solomon dies before the end of chapter 11, and the trajectory is set for the kingdom to be divided. What happened? Isn’t this supposed to be about hope?
As the book continues and we see the spiral of king after king failing, it becomes clear that hope isn’t because of a great king or incredible wealth. It’s not about being impressive or having things all go perfectly. No, hope is in and through God, even amidst failure.
We’ve seen over and over in 2 Kings how the spiral away from God has continued. There have been some positive moments, but the trajectory away from God is persistent.
In 2 Kings we have been focusing on the question, How will I persist? And in 2 Kings, we repeatedly see a persistence in trajectory away from God. By the time we get to chapters 21-23, where we are today, it’s pretty clear that the Jerusalem of this timeframe was something that Solomon would not have recognized. What happened?
The temple had fallen into disrepair. (2 Kings 22:3–7)
The Book of the Law had been lost. (2 Kings 22:8–13)
The covenant with the LORD had been neglected. (2 Kings 23:1–3)
Articles made for Baal, Asherah, and the starry hosts were in the temple. (2 Kings 23:4)
Idolatrous priests were serving. (2 Kings 23:5)
An Asherah pole was inside the temple. (2 Kings 23:6)
Male shrine prostitutes had rooms in the temple. (2 Kings 23:7)
Women were weaving for Asherah in the temple. (2 Kings 23:7)
There was a high place at the entrance of the city gate. (2 Kings 23:8)
Child sacrifice was being practiced. (2 Kings 23:10)
Horses dedicated to the sun were at the temple entrance. (2 Kings 23:11)
There were also chariots dedicated to the sun in the temple. (2 Kings 23:11)
Passover had not been properly observed. (2 Kings 23:21–23)
So what happened here?
It wasn’t a singular moment, a singular person, or a singular situation. It had been 300 years of spiral. Collectively, people made choices time and time again about how they were going to persist, and they had a consistent orientation toward other things and away from God.
Next week, as we end the book, we’ll see the temple destroyed, the people taken into exile, and the kingship seemingly finished. It feels so final—Judah is done for; Israel is gone. But that’s not true. It feels like it’s all over, but it isn’t.
Even with all the destruction, even with the exile, even with the nation and culture and systems and foundations all gone—it isn’t over. The call to persist in focusing trajectory toward God still remains.
Today in 2 Kings 22-23, the Torah was rediscovered. This is the first five books of the Bible that contain God’s law and teachings, originally given to Israel through Moses. Imagine—God’s nation had been operating without God’s key guiding text for a long time! And also, for the first time in generations, the people celebrated Passover, remembering how God rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.
This rediscovering comes toward the end of this 300 year spiral. The spiral had led them to look for solutions wherever and to depend on things that were not God. And this rediscovery doesn’t fix everything or give the nation a ‘happily ever after.’ What we will see, though, is the power of rediscovery, of valuing God’s truth that we wander away from, and how it is foundational in being able to persist in and through what is to come.
What do we need to focus on or rediscover? What do we need to be drawn back to? What do we need to discover? What important things do we need to not lose focus on?
Getting our focus right doesn’t mean we won’t ever face adversity, but it can lay a foundation to help us navigate adversity.
There are many things that our culture might look to in order to find stability, purpose, and/or hope. Our list could include money, career success, relationships, freedom, comfort, status and recognition, health and appearance, knowledge and intelligence, possessions, experiences and adventure, popularity and approval, family and children, and influence or power.
For each of the items in our list, how reliable do you think our culture believes each of these things is at providing stability, purpose, and hope?
How devastating would it feel to our culture to have each of these things fail or be taken away?
How does people’s risk aversion influence what they build their stability, purpose, and hope upon?
Think about moments where things fail—where the thing a person is relying on has been shaken. Those are heavy moments. Let’s talk about this:
What helps someone remain oriented toward God when something foundational in life has been shaken?
In John 14, Jesus puts some unshakable foundations out there. He tells His disciples these things: We have a future with God. God works through His people. The Holy Spirit is at work.
Let me give you a little context. Jesus and His disciples are celebrating the Passover, a holiday remembering how God rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. This is their last passover together, just before Jesus’ arrest, persecution, murder, and resurrection. In the midst of the Passover celebration, Jesus washes the disciples’ feet, giving them an example of serving others. He also predicts that one of them will betray Him (Judas) and tells Peter that he will deny evening knowing Jesus three times before morning. In the midst of all the emotions that the disciples had to be feeling, Jesus tells them this:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” (John 14:1-4)
Jesus comforts His disciples by telling them not to be afraid. He reminds them that He is going to prepare a place for them with God and promises that He will return and bring them to be with Him. Jesus is not promising that nothing painful will happen. He is promising that what happens will not separate them from His presence, His purposes, or their future with God.
Jesus continues to comfort His disciples:
“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” (John 14:12-17)
I’m sure the disciples were feeling the weight of uncertainty and of impending change. Their world was about to flip upside down, and they were overwhelmed and anxious. And Jesus comforts them, reminding His followers that their hope is secure because He is preparing a place for them, guiding them through the Holy Spirit, and giving them His peace.
I strongly encourage you to read the whole passage, John 13-17, in which Jesus prepares His followers for a difficult season by reminding them that their hope is not found in their circumstances but in His presence, love, and promises. He encourages them to remain connected to Him, to trust the Holy Spirit, to receive His peace, and to know that God is with them even when life feels uncertain.
I’m going to ask you a big question about all of this that also leans on our recurring theme of How will I persist?
What is our role in experiencing the peace and comfort Jesus offers?
It’s time to go back to our text in 2 Kings. The spiral has continued through chapter 21, as Manasseh becomes king of Judah and leads the nation into extreme idolatry and evil. After Manasseh dies, his son Amon becomes king and follows the same evil path. Amon is eventually assassinated by his own officials, and his son Josiah becomes king.
Now, Josiah became king when he was just 8 years old! But he was a good king:
He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. (2 Kings 22:2)
Eighteen years into his reign, at age 26, he ordered the restoration of the temple. It had been stripped down, neglected, and used for the worship of other gods—just a shadow of what it had been. So Josiah ordered that the temple tax be used for its restoration, and during the process of the restoration, a book was discovered.
Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: “Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.” Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king. (2 Kings 22:8-10)
The Book of the Law (Torah) was a scroll containing God’s instructions given through Moses.
My first response to this is, What?? Somehow, in all the chaos and terrible leadership of the last 300 years, not only was the gold stripped from the temple, but the Torah itself had actually been lost and forgotten. How does that happen?
When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.” (2 Kings 22:11-13)
Now, this rediscovery didn’t fix everything. It didn’t even make things easy. Josiah’s humility was heard and honored by God, but generations of injustice and idolatry had produced consequences that one faithful response did not erase.
But repentance was still meaningful even though it did not cancel exile. Before the people were taken into exile, some foundations were restored. First, they heard the Word of God and responded to it:
“Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people—that they would become a curse and be laid waste—and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. Therefore I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.” (2 Kings 22:19-20)
Second, they committed themselves to the covenant with God.
He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant. (2 Kings 23:2-3)
And third, they celebrated the Passover, remembering God’s deliverance from Egypt.
The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed. But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem. (2 Kings 23:21-23)
These actions didn’t prevent the soon-coming exile. But can you imagine if these moments were missed? Josiah’s work didn’t solve the large issues, but it did provide something clear for people to carry while in exile. They had the Torah—they could know how to live as God’s people. They had the covenant—they could remember that displacement did not mean God had forgotten them. And they had the Passover—they could remember that captivity was not beyond God’s power to rescue.
What if this moment had been missed? What if the temple was destroyed, the kingdom was defeated, and the people were hauled off, and they didn’t remember the Word of God or the covenant or the way God had protected and delivered His people in the past?
I bring this to us now, today. My prayer is that this is a moment of miraculous recall. My prayer is that maybe you won’t say anything, but that you will hear what you need to hear My prayer is that maybe something that has been forgotten (or even never known by you) will be brought to the surface.
When life feels chaotic, what do you need to know, remember, or hear about or from God?
Earlier, we looked at John 14 and saw Jesus comforting His disciples and saying that He would prepare a place for them. Thomas responded with honesty:
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:5-7)
There’s incredible theology here that’s worth pondering, but right now I want to point out Thomas’s remarkable honesty. He looked Jesus in the eye and admitted his not-knowing, his doubt, his question, his fear. This was really vulnerable. And this is where discovery starts.
Discovery begins with admitting that something has been lost or is no longer clear. Josiah responds honestly when the Torah exposes what Judah had forgotten. Thomas responds honestly when he admits he does not know the way.
I am going to also give you a moment to be vulnerable to Jesus. In the storms of life, in the things coming at us, we may not know what we need, and that’s okay. It’s not about perfect understanding of a difficult season; it’s about relationship with the one who is the way through a difficult season.
Take a moment to meditate quietly on Jesus’ words.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6-7)
Jesus, I want to be honest about where I am with you. Help me know the way. Amen.
Let’s end with a final moment of dialogue. It was so vital that the people about to be taken into exile had this rediscovery of Torah, covenant, and Passover. These things were key to their survival, their faith, and their relationship with God as they were hauled away from Jerusalem.
What about you? Some of us need to recover something we once knew but lost. Others may need to encounter a truth about God for the first time.
What do you need to discover (or rediscover) about God or your relationship with Him in order to persist in pursuing Him in the next season of your life?
Take It Deeper Questions
Read Luke 15:11-24.
Think of a time you drifted from something you once believed or valued. What did that drift look like—was it sudden or slow?
Josiah rediscovered the Book of the Law after it had been lost and ignored for years. What “lost” truths might God be asking you to rediscover or take seriously again?
Why do you think Josiah’s response was immediate and urgent (tearing his robes, leading reform) rather than casual?
What’s the difference between admiring a return to God and actually acting on it, the way Josiah did?
How are you challenged, focused, encouraged, and/or confused by this text?
Bible Reading Plan
2 Kings 21 • Manasseh’s Rebellion
2 Kings 22 • The Book of the Law Found
2 Kings 23 • Josiah’s Reform
2 Chronicles 34 • Josiah Seeks the Lord
Psalm 119 • Delight in God’s Word
James 1 • Doers of the Word, Not Hearers Only
Luke 15 • The Lost Son
2 Kings 24 • Judgment Draws Near