{"id":35854,"date":"2025-05-14T22:00:48","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T05:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=35854"},"modified":"2025-05-14T22:26:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T05:26:29","slug":"2-kings-22_1-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2-kings-22_1-20\/","title":{"rendered":"Have a Soft and Responsive Heart toward God’s Word"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 Kings\u00a0 22:1-20\u00a0 \u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Kings 22:1-20.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.\u00a0 See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

2 Kings 22:1-20 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He did what was right in the eyes of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple of the\u00a0LORD. He said:
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the\u00a0LORD, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair the temple of the\u00a0LORD–
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0the carpenters, the builders and the masons. Also have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are acting faithfully.”
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the\u00a0LORD.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then 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\u00a0LORD\u00a0and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.”
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then 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.
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant:
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Go and inquire of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the\u00a0LORD’s anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to the prophetess Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the Second District.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0She said to them, “This is what the\u00a0LORD, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me,
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0‘This is what the\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book the king of Judah has read.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and provoked me to anger by all the idols their hands have made, my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.’
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the\u00a0LORD, ‘This is what the\u00a0LORD, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard:
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the\u00a0LORD\u00a0when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people, that they would become accursed and laid waste, and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the\u00a0LORD.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.'” So they took her answer back to the king.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a01-20:\u00a0 At just eight years old Josiah becomes king of Judah.\u00a0 At age 26, Josiah leads a campaign to repair the temple of the Lord.\u00a0 As the temple is being repaired, workers in the temple recover an old Book of the Law, which most likely contained the first five books of the Bible, also known as the Pentateuch.\u00a0 (Some scholars say that during the reign of Josiah’s father King Manasseh, Manasseh tried to destroy all copies of the Pentateuch, and this one copy may have been the only one left.)<\/p>\n

As Josiah reads this Book of the Law, his heart is moved.\u00a0 In an act of repentance and mourning, Josiah tears his robes and weeps.\u00a0 Josiah realizes that his nation is incurring the wrath of God because they and their ancestors have not lived in accordance with God’s commands found in this book.<\/p>\n

So Josiah inquires of the Lord by seeking the advice of Huldah, a prophetess.\u00a0 Huldah informs Josiah that, just as Josiah suspected, disaster is awaiting the people of Judah because they have turned to worship other gods and disobeyed God’s commands.\u00a0 Huldah also tells Josiah that because Josiah humbled himself in response to God’s Word, tearing his robes and weeping in God’s presence, his generation would not see the disaster that would come to the people of Judah in their lifetime.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0God honours those whose hearts are soft and responsive to God’s Word.<\/strong>\u00a0 Just as the hearing of God’s Word moved Josiah to action — tearing his clothes, weeping and seeking godly advice — may we have hearts that are soft and responsive to God’s Word.\u00a0 May nothing impact our hearts more than God’s Word, and may we long for nothing more than we long for God’s Word.<\/p>\n

Father, I pray that my heart would always be soft and responsive toward Your Word.\u00a0\u00a0May nothing impact my heart more than Your Word, and may I long for nothing more than I long for Your Word.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Kings 22:1-20.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.\u00a0 See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

2 Kings 22:1-20 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0He did what was right in the eyes of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple of the\u00a0LORD. He said:
\n4\u00a0\u00a0“Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the\u00a0LORD, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people.<\/p>\n

On verses\u00a01-20:\u00a0 At just eight years old Josiah becomes king of Judah.\u00a0 At age 26, Josiah leads a campaign to repair the temple of the Lord.\u00a0 As the temple is being repaired, workers in the temple recover an old Book of the Law, which most likely contained the first five books of the Bible, also known as the Pentateuch.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35856,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35854","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\/35854","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=35854"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35857,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35854\/revisions\/35857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}