About the Author of the Blogsite, Not the Author of the Bible::

About the Author of the Blogsite, Not the Author of the Bible: I was uncertain of how to accomplish this, mindful of Revelation 22:18-19, which says that nobody is to add to, or to take away from what was written in the Bible. After lots of prayerful contemplation, the Lord had it on my heart that I’m not to change the meaning of what is written in the Bible. He has also shown ways to add to people’s understating of that meaning, without altering the meaning, by putting that info within [brackets]. This is primarily accomplished with the KJV Bible and lots of prayers, but at times, BibleGateway.com, Biblehub.com, NIV Bible, Webster Dictionary, and other internet resources, as needed. Debra Seiling

About Understanding the Bible:

Understanding the Bible: After reading Isaiah 28:10 many times over the years and not totally understanding it, it recently became apparent to me that the Lord God has this passage as the means for understanding the Bible. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little. Isaiah 28:10 KJV. Being prayerful about this passage, and looking up 'precept' in the Webster's Dictionary, it gave this passage a whole new meaning, once 'commandment' is substituted for 'precept'. Within brackets are additional words the Lord had on my heart to aid in understanding the meaning. For commandment must be [built up] upon commandment; commandment upon commandment; line upon line, line upon line; [developing understanding] here a little, and there a little.

The Table Format:

The Table Format: I was overwhelmed with how to explain the process for determining if someone had leprosy in Leviticus 13, which seemed very complicated. After praying, "Lord, if this is difficult for me to understand after reading it many times, how can this be explained to others?" The thought the Lord God had on my heart was for me to put it into a vertical chart to visually see the process. This made it much easier for me to follow the progression. After doing so, I prayed, "Lord, how can this be conveyed to readers, so that they can understand this process?" The thought the Lord God had on my heart was to put it within the lines of a table. Being a stiff-necked, stubborn person, as it's often called in the Bible, I prayed, asking the Lord God if He's sure that's really what He wanted me to do? I reluctantly put Leviticus 13 into a table format. When I read this difficult leprosy process within a table format, it suddenly became easier for me to understand. That's because it builds line upon line, as explained in the Understanding the Bible section. Shortly after that, the Lord God had it on my heart, to put all of The Books of the Bible in Smaller Chunks within a table format, to aid in understanding, line upon line.

10/17/2023

2 Kings 23:1-37 King Josiah Reads the Book of the Covenant to His People

 

King Josiah Reads the Book of the Covenant to His People

2 Kings 23:1-37                             2 Kings [in Smaller Chunks]

And king [Josiah] sent & they gathered all the elders of Judah & Jerusalem. And king [Josiah] went up into the [Lord's] house [with] all the men: [who inhabited] Judah & Jerusalem, the priests, prophets & all the people, both [powerless and powerful.] 

And [Josiah] read the Words of the Book of the Covenant [to them,] which was found in the [Lord's] house. And king [Josiah] stood by a pillar & made a covenant [contract] before the Lord, to [follow] the Lord & to keep His commandments, His testimonies & His [mandate] with all their heart and all their soul. 

And to [keep & do] the words of this covenant that were written in this book. All the people stood [in agreement with] the covenant [contract.] 

And king [Josiah] commanded Hilkiah, the high priest, & the priests of the 2nd order & door keepers to bring out of the temple of the Lord, all the [items] made for Baal & for the grove & for all the [constellations] of heaven. 

And [Josiah] burned them [outside of] Jerusalem in the Fields of Kidron & carried the ashes to BethEl. And [Josiah struck] down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah [appointed] to burn incense in high places in the cities of Judah & in the places [around] Jerusalem. 

And also, [struck down those who] burned incense to Baal & to the sun, to the moon, to the planets & all the [constellations] of heaven. 

And [Josiah had] the grove [taken away] from the [Lord's] house & brought [outside] Jerusalem, to the Brook Kidron & burned it [there] & stamped it to small powder & [threw] the powder [of it] upon the graves of the [Israelites.]

And [Josiah broke] down the houses of the sodomites, [near] the [Lord's] house, where the women wove hangings for the grove. And [Josiah] brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah & defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense [all the way] from Geba to Beer Sheba.

[Josiah broke] down the high places on the left [side of] the [entrance] of the Gate of Joshua, [who was] the governor of the city. [However,] the priests of the high places [weren’t allowed to come] up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat the unleavened bread among their brethren. 

And [Josiah] defiled Topheth, [that was] in the Valley of [Ben] Hinnom, [so] that no man [could] make his son or daughter pass through the fire to Molech.

And [Josiah] took away the horses that the kings of Judah had [dedicated] to the sun, at the [entrance] of the [Lord's] house, by the [room] of Nathan Melech, the [officer] in the suburbs & burned the chariots [dedicated] to the sun, with fire. 

The king [had them] beat down & break [down] the altars on top of [Ahaz'] upper [room,] which the kings of Judah had made & the altars [that] Manasseh had made in the 2 [courtyards] of the [Lord's] house, from [there] & cast [their ashes] into the Brook Kidron.

And the king [had these defiled,] the high places that were [in front of] Jerusalem, on the right [side] of the Mount of Corruption, [a.k.a. Hill of Corruption,] which Solomon, [Israel’s] king had [built] for Ashtoreth, the abomination of the Zidonian’s.

And [also] for Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites & Milcom, the abomination of the children [people] of Ammon. And [Josiah broke] in pieces the images & cut down the groves & filled their places with the bones of men.

[Additionally, Josiah] broke down both] the altar that was at BethEl & the high place which Jeroboam, [Nebat's] son, who made Israel to sin. [Josiah broke] down both that altar & the high place. [1 Kings 12:28-30 [Upon which] king [Jeroboam] took counsel & made calves of gold & said to [the Israelites,] It’s too much for you to go up to Jerusalem [to sacrifice.] 

[See,] your gods, O Israel, [that] brought you up out of the land of Egypt. and [Jeroboam put] one in BethEl & the other he put in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even to Dan.]

And [Josah had] them burned & stamped [them] to [fine] powder & burned the grove. And as Josiah turned, he spied the [tombs] that were there [on the mountain] & took the bones & burned [the bones from them] upon the altar & [defiled] it, according to the Word of the Lord, proclaimed [by] the man of God.

Then, [Josiah] said, [Whose gravestone is this] that I see? The men of the city told [Josiah,] It's the [tomb] of the man of God, [who] came from Judah & proclaimed these things you [have] done against the altar of BethEl. 

And [Josiah] said, Let him alone. [Don't] let [any] man move his bones. So, they [left] the bones of the prophet, [who] came out of Samaria, alone. Josiah, also took away all the houses of the high places in [Samaria's] cities, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord [God] to anger. 

Josiah took [them] away & did to them [like] all the [actions] he had done in BethEl & [Josiah killed] all the priests of the high places that were there & burned [the] men's bones upon the altars & [Josiah] returned to Jerusalem. 

And king [Josiah] commanded all the people, saying, Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, [like] it is written in the Book of the Covenant. Surely, there wasn't a Passover [held like this one since] the days of the judges [who] judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor the kings of Judah. 

But in the 18th year king [Josiah ruled,] this Passover was [held] to the Lord in Jerusalem. [Additionally, Josiah removed the: mediums,] wizards, images, idols & all abominations that were [seen] in the land of Judah & Jerusalem. 

[Josiah took them away, so] he might perform the Words of the Law [that] was written in the book that Hilkiah, the priest, found in the [Lord's] house. There [wasn't any] king before or after [Josiah, who] turned to the Lord [God] with all his heart, all his soul & all his might, according to all the Law of Moses. Neither [did] any like him [arise] after [Josiah.]

[Still,] the Lord [didn't] turn from the fierceness of  His great [anger that grew] against Judah, because of all [that king] Manasseh [had done to] provoke Him.           [2 Kings 21:3-7 For [Manasseh] again built up the high places [that] Hezekiah, his father, had destroyed. 

And he [put] up altars for Baal & made a grove, [like] Ahab, [Israel’s] king, did. And he built altars in the [Lord’s] house, of which the Lord said, In Jerusalem, I will put My Name. And he built altars for all the [stars & constellations] of heaven in the 2 [courtyards] of the [Lord’s] house.

And he made his son pass through the fire & observed times, used enchantments & dealt with familiar spirits. He [did] much wickedness in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger. 

And [Manasseh put a carved] image [from] the grove that he had made, in the house, of which the Lord said to David & Solomon, his son, In this house & in Jerusalem, [that] I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My Name forever.]

The Lord said, I will also remove Judah out of My sight [like] I removed Israel & will [reject] Jerusalem, this city [that] I have chosen & the [Lord's] house, that I said, My Name shall be there. 

Now, [aren't] the rest of the acts of Josiah & all he did written in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? In [Josiah's] days, Pharaoh Nechoh [a.k.a. Necho & Neko, Egypt's] king, went up against [Assyria’s] king, to the Euphrates River. 

And [prior to his death,] king Josiah went against him [in battle & was killed at Megiddo, [by Pharaoh Nechoh, when Josiah confronted him.] And [Josiah's] servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo, [a.k.a. Megiddon] & brought him to Jerusalem & buried [Josiah] in his own [tomb.]

And the people of the land took [Josiah's] son, Jehoahaz, anointed him & made him king in his father's [place.] Jehoahaz, [Josiah’s] son, [who] was 23 years old when he began to [rule] & he [ruled] 3 months in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, [Jeremiah's] daughter, [from] Libnah.

And [Jehoahaz] did [what] was evil in the sight of the Lord [God,] according to all his [forefathers] had done. And Pharaoh Nechoh put [Jehoahaz] into [prison] at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, [so] he [didn't continue to rule] in Jerusalem & [he imposed a levy] on Judah of 100 talents of silver & 1 talent of gold. 

And Pharaoh Nechoh made Eliakim, [Josiah's] son, king in the [place] of Josiah, his father & [changed Eliakim's] name to Jehoiakim & took Jehoahaz away to Egypt, [where.

And Jehoiakim [paid] the silver & gold [required by the] Pharaoh. He [accomplished this by taxing every person of the land to pay the silver & gold according to their assessment] to give it to Pharaoh Nechoh.

Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he began to [rule] & he [ruled] 11 years in Jerusalem. HIs mother's name was Zebudah, [Pedaiah's] daughter, [from] Rumah. [Jehoiakim] did [what] was evil in the sight of the Lord [God] according to all his [forefathers] had done.