King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Monday, August 04, 2025
Chapters: II Chronicles 33-35
Message: II Chronicles: Judah Turns on God
Hello My Friend,
Recently there is this debate going around among those who are supposed to be saved, born again Christians, many believe that if a saved person is not performing “good works” then they are not saved. This ought not to be a debate in the first place, but then again it really has been going on since Christ ascended up to heaven. If they bothered to read the Scriptures, even the Old Testament confirms that while good works do confirm our faith and keep us faithful they are not what save us.
[Psalms 40:4-8 Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. 5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. 6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. 7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, 8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.]
As we return to the reading of II Chronicles we learn how it is possible for one who was once thought of as a reprobate can be saved from hell. First of all, II Chronicles, also gives the account of Manasseh not only turning his back on God and worshiping other gods, he built back up the altars and groves that his father had taken down, he took it a step further and had altars built in the temple as well.
[2 Chronicles 33:1-5 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem: 2 But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. 4 Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.]
Talk about your boldness, who in their right mind would even think about worshiping false gods in the very temple built for the Almighty God alone? And by the way, what were the priests and Levites doing? They were the ones who were supposed to be guiding the people in the right direction. Believe it or not, this is still going on today, and I am not talking about actual buildings, I am talking about saved, born again Christians who defile their bodies, which is the temple of God, [2 Corinthians 6:16-18 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.]
While salvation has nothing to do with ones works we do well not to provoke God by destroying the very temple that God put His name on forever. It is just incredible how in such a few short years an entire nation can turn from one that worships God to one that worships the devil. Manasseh, did not just provoke God by building these altars in the temple, he practiced witchcraft, astrology, and even sacrificed some of his own children.
[2 Chronicles 33:6-9 And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. 7 And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: 8 Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses. 9 So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.]
Think about it, it is one thing for someone to worship false gods, it is another thing for them to bring other people into it and in this case an entire nation. This is why Joshua said, [Joshua 24:14-15 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. 15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.]
Seriously! If they went through such great lengths to reach a god that is not real to begin with then you know there had to be some crazy things going on. Of course, God, was sending all kinds of warning signs for them to repent and for a while none of them would listen, that was until Manasseh was captured.
[2 Chronicles 33:11-13,15-16 Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. 12 And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, 13 And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God. 15 And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. 16 And he repaired the altar of the LORD, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.]
Do you see how it is not about ones good that brings salvation, but salvation does bring good works, [Titus 3:5-8 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.]
No one ends up in hell because God wanted them there, in fact, He does not want one soul in hell, there is one of three reasons why someone ends up in hell. One; they are truly a reprobate, [Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;]. Two; they are ignorant to the truth, [Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:] Three; they are fearful, [Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.]
Now, after Manasseh died, his Amon reigned and he was fully aware of what Manasseh went through and his conversion, but he brought the nation right back where it was, but unlike his father who repented, he never did, in fact, he got worse.
[2 Chronicles 33:21-25 Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned two years in Jerusalem. 22 But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them; 23 And humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more. 24 And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house. 25 But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.]
Humility goes a long way with God, after we are saved we could mess up a thousand times a day, but as long as we are humble and seek forgiveness He will forgive us, and the chastening will not be so severe, but if we are not then we will suffer, [Luke 18:13-14 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.]
With the power of Christ in us, we can turn any nation around, but it takes one person to get the ball rolling. When Amon was assassinated and his son Josiah was handed over the reins he was only eight years old, but was not going to end up like his father, [2 Chronicles 34:1-3 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years. 2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left. 3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.]
At the age of sixteen, Josiah, did more to turn the nation of Israel back to God since David was king. First, he got his own heart right, by the time he was twenty he began purging the entire land of Israel from the abominations that caused Israel to sin against God. At the age of twenty-seven, eighteen years later after his reign began, he had the temple repaired once again.
[2 Chronicles 34:4-5,8 And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them. 5 And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. 8 Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God.]
So, here is this young man, only twenty years old, repairing the temple, removing the images, groves, and idols from the entire country of Israel. At this point, none of them, even the priests, had no knowledge of the Law, but their hearts were willing and when the time was right, God would reveal the Law to them. Now, think about this, before Josiah became king, the nation went fifty-seven years without the Law in their possession, add that to the eighteen years that Josiah reigned and that would be seventy-five years. That is two generations that went without the Word of God, so, you could imagine what they thought when the Levites were cleaning up the temple and they found it.
[2 Chronicles 34:12-15,18 And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and other of the Levites, all that could skill of instruments of musick. 13 Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters. 14 And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses. 15 And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. 18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.]
This is exactly what the priests use to do with the kings, in fact, they were to stand before him daily and read the Law to them so they always kept it with them and was able to discern right from wrong. And this is exactly why we are to keep reading our Bible, it is not a once in a lifetime thing it is a daily thing, [Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.]
There is something very convicting about the Word of God, it will either bring one to repentance or rebellion. Well, as Shaphan was reading the Law to Josiah he discovered that they were in deep trouble. Josiah, may not have known what his fathers did before him to provoke God, but he knew what his own father did and that alone led him to seek someone who would know the Law better than they did. His men found a prophetess who confirmed the Law as well as God’s judgment placed on Judah.
[2 Chronicles 34:20-22 And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king’s, saying, 21 Go, enquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book. 22 And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they spake to her to that effect.]
Do you see how God will use anyone to reach the lost? There are millions of people who believe in God, but they do not know the correct way to get saved. This is where we who are saved come in, we teach them the proper way to get saved, [Acts 19:2-5 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. 3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. 4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.]
Remember, this is referring to spiritual baptism and not water, [Romans 6:3-4 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.] God’s judgments are just that, His judgments, and He will use everything to His advantage to either bring repentance to His people or punishment to those who are not. The prophetess confirms what Josiah feared.
[2 Chronicles 34:23-25 And she answered them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell ye the man that sent you to me, 24 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah: 25 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.]
Sometimes it does take some backsliding in order for us to return to God wholeheartedly. God, goes on to let Josiah know that while the judgment stood on Judah because of what they had done and were about to do that He would spare him from seeing it.
[2 Chronicles 34:26-28 And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the LORD, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard; 27 Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD. 28 Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.]
God, promised that Josiah, and anyone else living who stood by Him, would not face the judgment. God promises us the same peace to our graves as long as we are faithful to Him. And even if we are to be blessed to be raptured out of here before our grave, we would not have to see the evil either as we will be safe in the clouds while it all takes place, [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.]
It is a fact that while all saved born again Christians will face some affliction while they are here, they will be safe from the ultimate judgment of the entire earth and all whom have rebelled against God. Are we supposed to sit back and do nothing after hearing that we will not be apart of Judgment Day? No, we have work to do. It is our responsibility to let others know of what is to come and that is exactly what Josiah did.
[2 Chronicles 34:31-33 And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book. 32 And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. 33 And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. And all his days they departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.]
We are but one king, queen, president, prime minister, governor, or mayor away from God sending judgment upon our cities, states, and eventually nations. Thankfully, there are still a few of God’s faithful around to keep the torch burning until the day comes when the door is shut and they are out of here, [Luke 13:25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:]
Once Josiah and all the people found out that judgment was about to come, a huge revival took place, not only in Israel, but nations around them as well. Josiah, purged them from everything that encouraged idol worship. He even gathered the remnants of Israel (those of the Northern Kingdom who had already been scattered or taken to Syria) for a true Passover.
[2 Chronicles 35:1-4 Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. 2 And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the LORD, 3 And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the LORD, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders: serve now the LORD your God, and his people Israel, 4 And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.]
The Ark of the Covenant had been removed from the temple and placed in one of the Levites homes when Amon reigned and was put back into its place. This time however the Ark would remain in its place forever. Of course, it was actually removed again when Babylon invaded Judah and everything from within the temple was taken over there to preserve it until they would return to rebuild the temple, [2 Chronicles 36:7 Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.] Nevertheless, this was the first proper Passover since Samuel was alive.
[2 Chronicles 35:6,16-18 So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses. 16 So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the LORD, according to the commandment of king Josiah. 17 And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days. 18 And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.]
Those who are faithfully serving God ought to be encouraging others who are saved to be doing the same thing, not tearing each other down. I swear, those who call themselves Christians are more judgmental than the world. Instead of fighting with each other, it is time that we fight for Jesus! Stand up for Him! We cannot stop the judgment, but the only way we can see lost souls turn their heart to Jesus is to give Him all of our heart first, [Romans 14:8,11-13 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. 11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. 12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. 13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for sending Your Son to save me from the judgment that is about to come, and for the great sacrifice that led to my permanent salvation. I believe and know that I must fully trust Your Son as my Saviour to do be saved. I also know that I can never do anything to merit salvation as it has already been bought and paid for by Jesus. Now. I can live the rest of my life the best I can in obedience to Your Word so that I can be a testimony of who my true Lord and Saviour is. Lord, Lead me and guide me, let the Holy Spirit work in me so that I am a faithful and true witness, give me the wisdom and discernment of Your Word so that I might be able to teach the Gospel in a way that all can understand and know Christ as well. While we cannot change Your mind to the coming judgment, we can be faithful witnesses to lead a few more to Christ before He returns. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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