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Chapter 23: The Renewal of the Covenant
About two years after Josiah began his religious reforms and one year after Jeremiah was called to his prophetic ministry, the Assyrian Empire began to fall apart. In 626 BC the seminomadic Scythians from the region of the central Eurasian steppes swept into the western provinces of the empire. The Scythians stormed across Syria and the Galilee, and their raids brought about a sudden and final end to the Assyrian hold on the lands west of the Euphrates River. That same year a Chaldean named Nabopolassar conquered Babylon and declared southern Mesopotamia no longer under Assyrian control. Within a year the Assyrians had lost control of both ends of their empire. This is why King Josiah was able to end his vassal status, to discontinue paying tribute to Assyria, and was able to institute his religious reforms in Samaria. Judah was able to have one final period of freedom from foreign control.
2 Kings 23:1-3 ~ The reading of the Law and renewal of the covenant
King Josiah made all those present in Jerusalem and the elders of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin listen to a reading of the Book of the Covenant and to renew the people's pledge of their alliance to Yahweh and His covenant with Israel (2 Chr 35:32a). The people completely embraced his reforms: The citizens of Jerusalem took action in keeping with the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors, while Josiah removed all the abominations throughout the territories belonging to the Israelites and required all inhabitants of Israel to serve Yahweh their god; throughout his lifetime they did not deviate from following Yahweh, God of their ancestors (2 Chr 34:32b-33).
The Book of the Covenant can be understood to be the same as the Book of the Law, or it might refer to a portion of the entire Law that Moses wrote down at the ratification of the Sinai Covenant (Ex 24:4) and read to the people that is called the "Book of the Covenant".
2 Kings 23:4-14 ~ Religious reform in Judah
Question: List Josiah's reforms. Were his actions according to the Law of the Covenant? See Ex 20:3-5; 34:13; Lev 18:21-22; 19:4; 20:2-5; 26:1, 30; Num 33:53; Dt 7:5; 12:3-9, 11-12; 13:2-19; 16:21-22; 17:2-5; Dt 23:18-19; 29:17-20/18-21.
Answer: Yes, everything he did was according to the Law.
- All the altars and cult objects relating to pagan gods that could be found were smashed and burned to ashes (Ex 20:3-5; 34:13; Lev 19:4; 26:1; Dt 7:5; 12:3).
- In obedience to the law he executed any Judeans/Israelites who had become pagan priests (Dt 5:7-8; 13:2, 6-12; 16:21-22; 17:2-5).
- He destroyed the place of male cult prostitution within the Temple precincts (Lev 18:22; Dt 23:18-19).
- He destroyed the ritual cemetery of children sacrificed in the Valley of Hinnom (Lev 18:21; 20:2-5).
- He destroyed the "high places" where illicit worship of Yahweh and pagan worship had taken place (Lev 26:30; Num 33:53; Dt 12:4-9, 11-12).
It is amazing to read that the shrines Solomon erected for his pagan wives still existed on the Mount of Olives, including those shrines to gods who accepted human sacrifice and promoted ritual male and female prostitution; these are the "abominations" listed in verse 13. To cover those places with burnt and smashed human bones, probably of the pagan worshippers who were buried near the shrines, would render those sites forever unclean.
Descendants of Aaron and the Levitical lesser ministers who had participated in illicit worship of Yahweh outside of the Temple where de-sanctified and not allowed to participate in liturgical worship at the Temple, but they were allowed to continue to receive their portion of support under the law (Num 18:25-32; Dt 18:3).
How could all these abuses and abominations still exist after Manasseh's reforms? Either his son Amon reinstituted them or Manasseh was not able to remove all of the abuses. Once sin is established and people have accepted the practice of certain sins as a norm, it is very hard to turn a generation raised in those sins away from them. Consider for example, the abomination of abortion or the glorification of the homosexual lifestyle and the impact of acceptance of these sins upon the present generation.
2 Kings 23:15-20 ~ Josiah's reform is extended into Samaria
The collapse of the Assyrian Empire allowed Josiah to invade the former Northern Kingdom of Israel then occupied by the ancestors of the five groups of pagan peoples who had been imported by the Assyrians into the region almost a century earlier in c. 722/20 BC. As far as Josiah and his people were concerned, this land still belonged to Yahweh and the covenant people.
Bethel was an important site in the history of the covenant people. Bethel, a place name meaning "place/house of God," was an Ephraimite town about fourteen miles north of Jerusalem (Josh 16:1; 1 Chr 7:28). There was no Israelite presence at Jerusalem until David conquered the city in c. 1000 BC. The Israelite tradition associated with Bethel was far more ancient:
- Jacob had a vision there, declared it was the "gate of heaven," and named the place "beth-el," place/house of God. He consecrated it twice, setting up a memorial pillar and a sacrificial altar to commemorate the experience of God speaking to him there (Gen 28:10-22; 35:6-15).
- The desert Sanctuary was at Bethel for a time during the age of the Judges (Judg 20:26-27).
- The Judge Deborah lived near Bethel (Judg 4:5).
- The prophet Samuel judged the people there on a yearly rotation (1 Sam 7:16).
Unfortunately, the Northern Kingdom's first king, Jeroboam, probably chose Bethel to become the site of illicit worship of a golden calf because it had a longer historical tradition for the Israelites than Jerusalem. Jeroboam set up two major shrines: one at Bethel in central Israel and the other at Dan on the northern (1 Kng 12:29, 30, 32 twice, 33 twice; 13:1, 4, and 10). This former "place of grace" and "place of God" became a place of divine judgment when it was condemned by God's prophet in 1 Kings 13:1-5.
2 Kings 23:21-23 ~ The Passover Celebration
See the parallel passage in 2 Chronicles 35:1-19. The celebration of the feast of Passover and the week-long feast of Unleavened Bread was an occasion of great celebration for the people of Judah who had renewed their covenant with Yahweh.
While Josiah was busy with his religious reforms, the Empire of Assyria continued to disintegrate and a great struggle between the major powers of Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon began to take shape. Once a vassal of the Assyrians, the Egyptians were now recognized as independent allies of the Assyrians against the growing ambitions of the
2 Kings 23:28-30 ~ The end of Josiah's reign
28 The rest of the history of Josiah, his entire career, is this not recorded in the Book of the annals of the Kings of Judah? 29 In his times, Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt was advancing to meet the king of Assyria at the River Euphrates, and King Josiah went to intercept him; but Necho killed him at Megiddo in the first encounter. 30 His retainers carried his body from Megiddo by chariot; they brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. The people of the country then took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him, proclaiming him king in succession to his father.
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CHALLENGE: “Jesus purposelessly destroyed another man’s property by allowing demons to enter a herd of pigs, causing it to drown in the Sea of Galilee.”
DEFENSE: Jesus had reasons for this act; it was not a purposeless destruction of property. First, Jesus did not destroy the pigs. In freeing a man from demonic possession, he allowed the demons to enter a herd of pigs. These demons had caused self-destructive behavior in the possessed man (Mark 5:5), and they apparently began tormenting the pigs, which tried to flee and unintentionally stampeded downhill into the sea (Mark 5:13).
This may have been a foreseeable result, but foreseeing something is not the same as causing it. Jesus granted the demons’ request to enter the pigs, and the demons thwarted their own plan to live in the pigs by tormenting them so that they stampeded and died, revealing the self destructive nature of evil.
Second, foreseeable events that have negative consequences can be morally justified for an adequate reason. That was the case here, because the event taught multiple valuable lessons.
The owners of the pigs, and the people in the region where this occurred, were Gentiles.
Although the pigs’ owners suffered economic loss, they stood to gain vastly more in terms of spiritual wealth. The death of the pigs provided a vivid demonstration of Jesus’ spiritual authority and his role in God’s plan. By allowing the demons to go into the pigs, the exorcism was accompanied by a forceful and memorable demonstration of God’s power and of his compassion for the demoniac. The fact that the demons seized control of a herd of 2,000 pigs showed just what kind of spiritual oppression the man was suffering, and yet Jesus was able to free him.
This revealed the power and love of the true God to the Gentile natives. It showed them that the true God could free them from even the most powerful manifestations of evil. It also showed them that the God of the Jews loves and has compassion for Gentiles.
The spiritual value of these lessons—which could bring souls to God—greatly exceeded the economic value of the pigs. Had Jesus not granted the demons’ request, the lessons would not be underlined in the unforgettable way they are.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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