Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 279
2K
| 23:25-36
SAMUEL–KINGS
267
idols, and every other kind of detestable practice, both in Jerusalem and
throughout the land of Judah. He did this in obedience to the laws written
in the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had found in the Lord’s Temple. Never
before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the Lord with all
his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of M
oses. And there
has never been a king like him since.
Even so, the Lord was very angry with Judah because of all the wicked
things Manasseh had done to provoke him. For the Lord said, “I will also
banish Judah from my presence just as I have banished Israel. And I will
reject my chosen city of Jerusalem and the Temple where my name was
to be honored.”
The rest of the events in Josiah’s reign and all his deeds are recorded in The
Book of the History of the Kings of Judah.
While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, went to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah and his army marched
out to fight him, but King Neco killed him when they met at Megiddo. Jo
siah’s officers took his body back in a chario t from Megiddo to Jerusalem
and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the land anointed
Josiah’s son Jehoah az and made him the next king.
Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned
in Jerusalem three months. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jer
emiah from Libnah. He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as his
ancestors had done.
Pharaoh Neco put Jehoahaz in prison at Riblah in the land of Hamath to
prevent him from ruling in Jerusalem. He also demanded that Judah pay
7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold as tribute.
Pharaoh Neco then installed Eliakim, another of Josiah’s sons, to reign in
place of his father, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiak im. Jehoah az
was taken to Egypt as a prisoner, where he died.
In order to get the silver and gold demanded as tribute by Pharaoh Neco,
Jehoiakim collected a tax from the people of Judah, requiring them to pay
in proportion to their wealth.
Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he
reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother was Zebidah, the daughter