Negatives and Positives

by Ben

I read 2 Kings 23-25 (finishing out that book).

King Josiah obeys God's law (once it is found) and destroys all of the idols, shrines, and altars built to other gods in Judah. (He was only eight when he became king, yet he was more able to see the spiritual sickness in the land than his father or his grandfather) It is interesting what we see children doing throughout the Bible. Josiah's reaction to the finding of the Book of God's Law is something to note (from chapter 22). After hearing what was written in the book, "he tore his clothes in dispair." He knew that the people of Israel had not been following anything that was written in the book.

So, Josiah destroys all of the idols, shrines, and altars. Everything is hunky-dory-dory with the children of the Lord, right? If you think so, then you haven't been paying any attention to what we've read so far! Let me do a quick summary of the last few books of the Bible that we've read:

God, through either a prophet or a king, tries to make repairs to the relationship to his people, the Israelites. That person dies or is otherwise unable to watch over the people of Israel and they go back to sinning against God. (Repeat)

Well, you guessed it: Josiah dies and his two sons go right back to sinning (although, the Bible doesn't specify whether this was through idolatry or not). Well, in the mean time, the Babylonians are growing in power and end up destroying Jerusalem and capturing all of the people of Judah. BUT...

...a later king of Babylon is kind to the captured king of Judah. This king's name is Evil-merodach. Not a name that you would expect kindness from!

I guess I'm just frustrated by the almost predictable turning away from God. It makes me fear for my offspring. Will they follow God? Will they struggle with the same sins I do?

::Unrelated:: Chapter 25 marks a defining moment in the way the history is recorded. Up until now, if a king took power, the beginning of his reign was marked by when in another king's reign he began. Say King Matt took the throne of QHPC in the third year of King Ben's reign. Now, the Bible is actually using dates. Mind you, without translators doing the work for me, I'd never know that Chapter 25:1, which in the original text reads, "on the tenth day of the tenth month" actually means "on January 15, 588 B.C." However, this is a major turning point for the reader as now we can place when this happened within our own calendar. Prior to this point in reading, I had no clue when certain things happened or when certain people lived. WOOT for translators providing years!