Bible Commentaries
2 Kings 23

Verses 1-3

The Covenant

Neither the message of judgment concerning Jerusalem nor the reassuring message concerning himself leads to passivity with Josiah. As far as the message of judgment is concerned, he could have thought that it does not make sense to work anyway. As for the reassuring message, he could have been satisfied and thought that he will see it out. But no, both messages bring him to action.

He lets the elders of Judah and Jerusalem come to him. He wants to wake them up from their false rest and put them back into action. The upcoming judgment makes him extra zealous. He is working hard to implement the necessary reforms. He does not say that it makes no sense because everything will be destroyed anyway. The certainty that we will not come into judgment will not make us passive, but all the more zealous to reach people with the gospel. It will also increase our commitment to the Lord and His church.

When the elders are with him, he goes with them to the house of the LORD, the temple, the place where the book of the law was found. Not only the elders go with him, but the “all the people, both small and great”. It has become a general matter. Before this whole company Josiah reads “all the words of the book of the covenant”. He wants the people to hear the words by which he himself was so seized.

Nothing is more important to us than passing on God’s Word (cf. 1 Timothy 4:12-1 Chronicles :). It is important that we do so as people who have been addressed by it themselves and also live by it. Otherwise the Word will not come across – although God is sovereign to let it do its work in heart and conscience of one or another.

When Josiah has read the book of the covenant, he makes a covenant between the people and the LORD. Although the revival is not deep, as the book of Jeremiah shows, Josiah makes this covenant. Perhaps many have joined this covenant because at that time they were very impressed by the Word, without the conscience having been touched. But although the mass may not really have been touched inward, it is often the case that there are a few in the mass with whom it is the case.

That is how we speak to all people, although perhaps only a few really listen. The Lord Jesus speaks of this situation in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-1 Samuel :; Matthew 13:18-Isaiah :). Every soul that we can still gain for God from the apostate whole makes every effort a valuable thing and worthwhile.

Verses 4-14

The Cleansing

In 2 Kings 23:4-Proverbs : the cleansing is described in detail. Josiah starts and continues to do away with everything that is not good. And what a lot that is! There is an abundance of wickedness in Judah and Jerusalem, that is, in the area where one should be most familiar with God. Josiah is reigning for 18 years now and has set a good example to the people. Yet the depth and extent of the dunghill of the idolatry is enormous.

Josiah is not discouraged by the enormous amount of uncleanness to be cleared up. Every idolatry is to the LORD’s gross dishonor and must be eradicated. The work is not going fast. A lot of cleansing is required and thorough cleansing is required. Thorough cleansing is often difficult. A revival is not possible without cleansing. Cleansing is not just about the visible things. The visible things arise from the inner. Above all, it is about an inner cleansing, a cleansing of the heart.

We need a renewal of our thinking. Cleansing our thinking means above all that we examine how we think. Our children go to school and their thinking is shaped by the thinking of the world. The world does determine how they see everything. Parents are also influenced, especially by the mass media. It is through this channel that the opinion of the world is forced upon them. We can only keep ourselves clean of it if we do not take it in. If we sometimes take things from the world to us, let us then make up our mind not to take things to us that defile us. Daniel is an example in this (Daniel 1:8-Nehemiah :). This is possible if we have a heart in which the Word of God dwells richly (cf. Colossians 3:16).

The first task Josiah gives is to discard everything that has to do with Baal and has been brought into the temple (2 Kings 23:4). First of all, we must consider what things of the world are permitted in the temple of today, that is, the church and our body, our thinking. Josiah gives this order to “Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the doorkeepers”. Cleansing is primarily a priestly activity. If uncleanness has entered our lives, it is above all at the expense of our service to God. He will no longer receive from our hearts and lives what He is entitled to and desires.

Josiah lets burn the objects sacrificed to the idols. This happens in Jerusalem, the city of God. The remains of these objects are brought to Bethel, a place in the ten tribes realm. This means that he brings the ashes to an unclean place.

The three idols mentioned here, Baal, Asherah and all the host of heaven, are seen as a picture of prosperity. That makes today’s application easy. After all, we live in a time of idolization of prosperity. We can sometimes check ourselves to see if we really only give God the honor in all things, or if we are committed to get as much of the cake of prosperity as possible.

He also deposed the idolaters “whom the kings of Judah had appointed” (2 Kings 23:5). With the kings of Judah will undoubtedly be meant Manasseh and Amon. The idol priests sacrifice on the high places in Judah and around Jerusalem. They will have thought in their folly to sacrifice incense to the LORD. There are also direct idol priests, who bring incense to the Baal and other idols. Josiah also removes them.

The next action concerns the Asherah (2 Kings 23:6), which Manasseh placed in the house of the LORD (2 Kings 21:7). Here Josiah does a very thorough job. First he burns it and then ground [it] to dust. The place of action is the brook Kidron. Then he throws the dust on the graves, an unclean place. By throwing the dust over the graves he also expresses his contempt for this god. Perhaps when we think of “the graves of the common people” we have to think of a kind of mass grave, where people are buried together because they could not afford their own grave.

The horrific defilement knows no bounds. In 2 Kings 23:7 there is talk of dwellings made in the house of the LORD for prostituting men. The most disgusting sexual acts were performed in God’s house. The women also played their roll in this horrific scene. They weaved hangings for the Asherah, the goddess of lust. Instead of denouncing these atrocities, they have, as it were, covered up these horrific practices with their hangings.

Then Josiah lets all the priests in his entire area, from Geba in the north of Benjamin to Beersheba in the south of Judah, come to him (2 Kings 23:8). These priests are taken away from their defiled environment. He defiles the high places where those priests have brought incense. The high places of the gates are broken down. A precise specification of the location of these high places is given: “At the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which [were] on one’s left at the city gate.”

The priests called to Jerusalem by Josiah cannot offer there on the altar of the LORD (2 Kings 23:9). However, they may eat unleavened bread with their brothers. They are in a situation similar to that of priests who, due to a physical defect, cannot participate in the service, but are allowed to eat from the holy place (Leviticus 21:17; Leviticus 21:22-Isaiah :). Sometimes it is the case that someone who comes to conversion cannot do a certain service because of the life he has led. For example, a person who has two women, as occurs in certain countries, cannot be an elder after his conversion (1 Timothy 3:2).

He is always working. His work in 2 Kings 23:10 is the extermination of yet another unparalleled horror: the sacrifice of the own children to the Molech, the god of fire (cf. Jeremiah 32:35). This happened in Topheth, in the valley of the son of Hinnom, which because of these practices is called “the valley of Slaughter” by the LORD (Jeremiah 19:6). How terrible this place is, is clear from the fact that the name Hinnom is derived from the name ‘Gehenna’, which is ‘hell’.

Josiah defiles this place so that no one can let his son or daughter go through the fire anymore as a sacrifice for the Molech. In this verse there is a strong call to parents to think about the purpose of raising their children and what they should keep their children for.

The horses mentioned in 2 Kings 23:11 are dedicated to the sun by “the kings of Judah” – Manasseh and Amon. According to their idolatrous thoughts, these horses with their chariots must draw the sun along the sky. The horses are standing “at the entrance of the house of the LORD”. Thus they defy and insult the LORD in a gross way. We do not know who “Nathan-melech, the official” was. But the LORD knows him well. Was he a driver of the chariots of the sun?

To see the number of altars that Josiah cleans up, Jerusalem must have been full of idol altars. On every corner and every spot there was an altar. In 2 Kings 23:12 some altars are mentioned specifically. Josiah breaks down “the altars which [were] on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz”. These altars were also made by “the kings of Judah”. Also “altars which [were] on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz”, Josiah breaks down. The insults of the LORD by Manasseh have no end. He has done his utmost to transform the house of the LORD in all respects into an idol temple. Josiah takes away all the idols, turns them into dust and throws the dust into the brook Kidron.

It is shocking in this purification work, in which we encounter names like Ahaz and Manasseh, to suddenly come across the name of Solomon as someone who is also connected to the cult of idols (2 Kings 23:13). We know from 1 Kings 11 that Solomon has departed from the LORD by his many wives and the gods that these women have brought along. We even read that he built high places for those gods (1 Kings 11:7-Ruth :). All these idols are meaningfully referred to here as “abomination” by which the contrast between the idols of Solomon and God’s judgment of them is strongly emphasized.

In 2 Kings 23:14 we read that Josiah cut down the sacred pillars that functioned as objects of worship. King Hezekiah has done this before (2 Kings 18:4). The fact that two generations later this is done again by Josiah shows how persistent this idolatry is. Josiah fills the vacant space with human bones. He probably does so in order to defile this area and thereby to make people fear that they will not fall back into this idolatry again.

Verses 15-20

The Altar at Bethel

In these verses we are reminded of a history from 1 Kings 12-13. The name of Jeroboam is also mentioned here, with as so often before the addition of the negative characteristic “who made Israel sin”. In his audacity, Jeroboam had invented his own religion (two golden calves) and had erected his own altar (1 Kings 12:25-Micah :). God tells him by a prophet from Judah He will judge this.

2 Kings 23:15-Nehemiah : refer to this. In the announcement of that judgment the man of God from Judah mentions the name of Josiah as the performer of that judgment (1 Kings 13:1-Exodus :). The moment of fulfilment has now come. God does not let any of His words fall to the earth. Every word comes true, both in terms of blessing and judgment.

In 2 Kings 23:17-Job :, something else takes place which is related to the history which is recorded in 1 Kings 13. This time it concerns the bones of the old prophet. Josiah notices a monument and asks what it means. It is not clear why Josiah does not know this, but the people of the city know it. They tell him about what the man of God said and that Josiah did what the man of God announced.

It is nice that people remember this event in Bethel, but it is not nice to learn nothing from it. It is not so beautiful that Josiah apparently knows nothing about it, but it is beautiful that after the memory he acts as is said by the man of God. The bones of the old prophet also remain untouched.

In the same way as before in Bethel, Josiah “removed all the houses of the high places which [were] in the cities of Samaria” (2 Kings 23:19). These houses were made by the kings of Israel to provoke the LORD. The priests who have served on these high places are slaughtered by Josiah (2 Kings 23:20), something he has not done with the priests in Judah who have also sacrificed at high places (2 Kings 23:8).

Verses 21-23

Josiah Celebrates the Passover

The Passover is celebrated by order of king Josiah. The fact that the order to celebrate the Passover is given by a king is unique. The Passover is celebrated here during a revival. It has been celebrated more often (Exodus 12:3-1 Kings :; Numbers 9:5; Joshua 5:10; 2 Chronicles 30:1; 2 Chronicles 30:152 Chronicles 30:18-Proverbs :; 2 Chronicles 30:26), but also often not. The Passover represents the Lord’s Supper. We can deduce this from the fact that the Lord Jesus institutes the Supper during the celebration of the Passover (Luke 22:7-Ruth :; Luke 22:13-Proverbs :). The Lord’s Supper is often celebrated, but also for a longer time it was not. It has been there from the beginning.

Josiah celebrates the Passover because he has found it in Scripture and after he has cleansed the city and the land of the idols and their priests. Thus, the (local) church can only celebrate Lord’s Supper if the believers have discovered it in God’s Word and have removed from their lives what goes against God’s Word (1 Corinthians 5:7-Ruth :).

After the days of the judges we read only of a celebration of the Passover by Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 30:1). The Passover which Josiah celebrates also surpasses the Passover which Hezekiah celebrated, for it says: “Surely such a Passover had not been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah” (2 Kings 23:22). Here we see that the greater the decay, the greater the LORD’s appreciation is when His institution of the Passover is kept. To celebrate it, Josiah did not think of any new things to make it attractive, but ordered that it be kept “as it is written in this book of the covenant”. Josiah keeps it because it is in God’s Word and he keeps it as it is in God’s Word.

It is a unique Passover, because it is the best feast ever in the land, better than in the times of David and Solomon and Hezekiah. It is so great because it is held at the end of the realm of Judah, which is about to be deported.

We too live in an end time and even now it is possible to celebrate the Lord’s Supper in a way that it has not been celebrated for a long time. That can happen now. The question is whether we participate. God has a meal for the end time, His Supper, prepared according to His thoughts, to take part in it as He wills. All believers who come together with cleansed, willing hearts can participate. If this happens without being sectarian – Josiah speaks to “all the people” – we too may know that, however great the decay may be, the appreciation of the Lord Jesus is great when His institution of His Supper is held.

Verses 24-25

Last Acts and Testimony of Josiah

Josiah executes the words of the law to the last letter. The Word lives so powerfully in him because it is so fresh to him. He wants to obey it with all his strength and zeal. He can only be satisfied when everything that is an insult to God and disobedience to His Word has been removed. It seems that after the Passover he is even more impressed by God’s Word and God’s holiness, so he makes another tour through Judah and Jerusalem to see if there is anything else to clear up.

What may have escaped his attention will be seen and removed during this inspection round. These are the mediums and the spiritists who have kept themselves hidden as much as possible. They will have done their works of darkness as quietly as possible, but they will not escape the purification actions of Josiah, nor will the images they have used.

The testimony given of Josiah is very similar to that given of Hezekiah. It is also said of Hezekiah that before him and after him there is no one like him. How is that possible? The solution may be that they are both the best in different respects. Hezekiah has no equal when it comes to trust in God. Josiah has no equal when it comes to obedience to the Word of God, to which he has always acted. He has kept the Word of God and has not denied the Name of God.

His true and profound conversion “to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might” (2 Kings 23:25; cf. Deuteronomy 6:5) has produced abundant works in keeping with repentance. This testimony of his conversion is also unique in Scripture. That no one like him rose up after him, becomes quickly clear in the kings who came after him. These kings have quickly brought God’s judgment over Judah and Jerusalem by deporting them to Babylon.

Verses 26-27

The Wrath of the LORD Must Come

Despite the revival which God has brought in His grace to His people, “the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath”. What has been for Josiah a profound work in his heart and conscience has been for the people only a superficial, temporary condition (Jeremiah 25:3-Judges :). They have not radically converted to God. The same we see in Christianity. If God were to give the greatest revival, this would not change the fact that the judgment of Christianity comes, as Judah stands here just before the deportation to Babylon. This has nothing to do with the failure of God's omnipotence, but with the incorrigibility of man.

God has to reject Jerusalem because of the provoking by Manasseh. What Manasseh has done to provoke God knows no limits. God owes it to His holiness to judge the people who, instead of calling to God, have joined Manasseh. We listen to the sorrow in the heart of the LORD in what He says in 2 Kings 23:27 about the removing of Judah and the rejection of Jerusalem.

Verses 28-30

Death of Josiah

At the end of his life Josiah also departed from the LORD. He has become stubborn. His authority becomes his trap. He is often a picture of the Lord Jesus, but he is not a perfect picture of Him. Josiah wants to be part of the great world politics and is crushed between the superpowers Egypt and Assyria. He interferes in a fight that does not concern him and dies.

His death is not honorable. His burial is not honorable either. His burial is done by his servants. They bring him, that is to say his body, to Jerusalem and bury him in his tomb. Josiah is succeeded by his son Jehoahaz who is anointed king by the people of the land.

Only Solomon and Jehoash are said to be anointed king to take their place on the throne immediately after that. In those cases, this was done to make meaningless any claim of others on the throne. That seems to be the case here too. Jehoahaz is not the eldest son of Josiah. The eldest son is Jojakim. Solomon’s and Jehoash’s anointing is justified, Jehoahaz’s anointing seems to have been preferred by the people because of his political position.

Verses 31-34

Jehoahaz King of Judah

From now on, until the end of the realm – that is, over a period of about twenty-two years – four kings are presented. In the time of these kings nothing happens that gives joy. The time of revivals like under Hezekiah and Josiah is over. None of the successors of Josiah is God-fearing.

The writer limits himself in his description of the kings will come to power, before Judah is taken away into exile. Through the book of Jeremiah, however, we learn a lot about the downfall of the realm. There we find encounters between some of the four kings with the prophet Jeremiah, about whom there is not a single word here.

Jehoahaz is a bad king. He reigns only briefly. But just like other bad kings who have reigned for a short time, in those three months he has proven what kind of king he is. Ezekiel compares him to a young lion (Ezekiel 19:1-Numbers :). After three months God’s judgment comes upon him through Pharaoh, who is still the mighty ruler on the world stage. Pharaoh imprisoned him at Riblah, a priest city. Thereby his kingship is over. Pharaoh Neco also imposes a fine on the land. God seems to be on the side of Pharaoh and to give up the kings of Judah. It does not mean that they are more wicked than Pharaoh, but that they are much more responsible.

Pharaoh also shows his power over Judah by making a brother of Jehoahaz, Eliakim, king. Another proof of the power of Pharaoh is that he changes the name Eljakim to Jehoiakim. He does not make him king in the place of Jehoahaz, but in the place of Josiah his father. It is as if the whole kingship of Jehoahaz did not exist. It is possible that Jehoahaz pursued an anti-Egyptian policy and thereby aroused the anger of Pharaoh. It says it so explicitly, that Pharaoh imprisoned Jehoahaz “that he might not reign in Jerusalem”.

Verses 35-37

Jehoiakim King of Judah

Jehoiakim may have been made king by Pharaoh, but he has to pay Pharaoh a high tribute. To be able to pay that tax he applies the same method as Menahem did (2 Kings 15:20). Only he does not limit himself, like Menahem, to the financially strong, but demands his contribution from every member of the population. It has been assumed that he extorted the population of the land out of revenge, because they had chosen his brother above him to be king (2 Kings 23:30).

The submission to Pharaoh does not make Jehoiakim a king who bows down under the judgment of God. During his eleven-year reign he does what is evil in the sight of the LORD. In this he follows his fathers, with whom Manasseh and Amon will be meant.

We see how Judah comes more and more into the power of other peoples, to eventually end up in the power of Babylon.