{"id":3486,"date":"2019-06-11T20:00:30","date_gmt":"2019-06-12T03:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=3486"},"modified":"2019-06-11T23:54:29","modified_gmt":"2019-06-12T06:54:29","slug":"2kings_23_21-24_7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2kings_23_21-24_7\/","title":{"rendered":"God Is King Over All + Don\u2019t Just Love with Words but with Action"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 Kings 23:21-24:7 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"
\nHi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Kings 23:21-24:7.\u00a0 There are so many good lessons we can learn from this passage.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

2 Kings 23:21-23 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Not since the days of the judges who led Israel, nor throughout the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah, had any such Passover been observed.
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0in Jerusalem.
\n<\/em>
\nOn verses 21-23:\u00a0 In the Book of the Law, God had commanded His people to celebrate the Passover, an annual festival intended to commemorate how God had rescued His people.\u00a0 As part of ushering a revival (a spiritual awakening) in his land, Josiah leads the people of Judah in celebrating the Passover for the first time in approximately 500 years.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0When revival takes place in a person, group, or community, there is a renewed passion in the people to observe the ceremonies that God has instituted, also known as \u201cordinances\u201d.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0In the Christian church there are two ordinances that Jesus commanded us to observe: baptism and communion.\u00a0 Communion is our Passover meal where we remember how Jesus Christ the Lamb of God sacrificed His body and shed His blood so that we could be forgiven and God\u2019s wrath could \u201cpass over\u201d us.\u00a0 Praise God every time we get to celebrate baptism and communion as a church together.<\/p>\n

2 Kings 23:24-25 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the\u00a0LORD.
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0as he did–with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 24-25:\u00a0 Prior to Josiah, three other kings tried to remove idolatry from the land of Judah: Asa, Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah.\u00a0 But no one went to the lengths that Josiah did to take action and honour God by cleansing the land of idols.\u00a0 It\u2019s for this reason that the Bible honours Josiah, saying that \u201cneither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who\u00a0turned to the Lord\u00a0<\/em>as he did \u2013\u00a0with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength<\/em>\u201d (v25).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0To turn to God with all your heart, soul and strength is not just a matter of words or emotions, but a matter of action.<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s when you take real, practical steps to honour God with your life.\u00a0 Like Josiah, may we turn to the Lord with all our heart, soul, and strength.\u00a0 Is there a specific action you can take to turn to God today?\u00a0 As 1 John\u00a03:18\u00a0says, \u201cDear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with\u00a0actions<\/em>\u00a0and in truth.\u201d
\n
\n2 Kings 23:26-27 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Nevertheless, the\u00a0LORD\u00a0did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to provoke him to anger.
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said, “I will remove Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘There shall my Name be.'”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 26-27:\u00a0 Despite Josiah\u2019s best efforts to honour God, this wasn\u2019t enough to prevent God from eventually ousting Judah from His presence and removing them from their land just like He had promised in 2 Kings 22:16-20.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?
\n1.\u00a0<\/strong>God is sovereign.\u00a0 He will do what He wants to do and no one can stop Him.\u00a0<\/strong>
\n2.\u00a0<\/strong>God is faithful to His Word and does what He promises He will do.\u00a0<\/strong>
\n3.<\/strong>\u00a0Just as Josiah\u2019s best efforts were not enough to keep God from ousting Judah from His presence, \u00a0our best efforts are not enough to earn God\u2019s favour or to deserve God\u2019s presence<\/strong>.\u00a0 All of us deserve to be separated from God\u2019s presence because of our sin.\u00a0\u00a0It is not because of our best effort but because of God\u2019s mercy shown in Jesus Christ that we could be restored to God\u2019s presence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2 Kings 23:28-30 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As for the other events of Josiah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Neco faced him and killed him at Megiddo.
\n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Josiah’s servants brought his body in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 28-30:\u00a0 Josiah\u2019s life and even his death are full of lessons worth learning.\u00a0 We\u2019ll look more closely at lessons from Josiah\u2019s death when we look at 1 and 2 Chronicles.<\/p>\n

2 Kings\u00a023:34\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n34\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, and there he died.
\n<\/em>
\nOn 23:31-35 to 24:7:\u00a0 After Josiah\u2019s death, Egypt takes control of the land of Judah.\u00a0 Josiah\u2019s middle son Jehoahaz becomes king of Judah, but after only 3 months Egypt chooses to replace him with another son of Josiah\u2019s called Eliakim.\u00a0 As a further way to show his power over Judah, King Neco of Egypt changes Eliakim\u2019s name to Jehoiakim.\u00a0 While Jehoiakim reigns as Egypt\u2019s puppet ruler over Judah, other foreign nations invade and attack Judah until one empire greater than Egypt arrives on the scene and takes over all of Judah: Nebuchadnezzar of the Babylonians.\u00a0 The author of 2 Kings sees all of this as fulfillment of God\u2019s promise to oust the people of Judah from their land as punishment for King Manasseh\u2019s sins and how he led Judah into idolatry.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from all this?\u00a0 Judah is overpowered by Egypt.\u00a0 Egypt is overpowered by Babylon.\u00a0 But in the end, the One who is truly sovereign over all is the Lord Himself.\u00a0 Any power or authority a person, group or nation has is only because God in His sovereignty has allowed them at least for now to have such power or authority.\u00a0 So if you are in a position of power or authority, whether in your home, workplace, church or city,\u00a0always stay humble and remember that<\/strong>\u00a0it is because of the mercy of Almighty God that we have any power or authority at all<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You for every lesson we can learn from Your powerful Word.\u00a0 You are sovereign, faithful to Your promises, and full of justice and mercy.\u00a0 Like Josiah, may I turn to You with all my heart, soul, and strength today.\u00a0 \u00a0May I love You not just with my words but with my actions too.\u00a0 May I always stay humble, realizing that any power, influence or authority I have is a gift from You.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Kings 23:21-24:7.\u00a0 There are so many good lessons we can learn from this passage.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

2 Kings 23:21-23 (NIV)\u00a0
\n21\u00a0\u00a0The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”\u00a0
\n22\u00a0\u00a0Not since the days of the judges who led Israel, nor throughout the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah, had any such Passover been observed.\u00a0
\n23\u00a0\u00a0But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0in Jerusalem.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 21-23:\u00a0 In the Book of the Law, God had commanded His people to celebrate the Passover, an annual festival intended to commemorate how God had rescued His people.\u00a0 As part of ushering a revival (a spiritual awakening) in his land, Josiah leads the people of Judah in celebrating the Passover for the first time in approximately 500 years.
\n\u00a0
\nWhat can we learn from this?\u00a0When revival takes place in a person, group, or community, there is a renewed passion in the people to observe the ceremonies that God has instituted, also known as \u201cordinances\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0In the Christian church there are two ordinances that Jesus commanded us to observe: baptism and communion.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3487,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3486"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3615,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486\/revisions\/3615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}