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May 5 - Morning
"Josiah desecrated Topheth, which was in the
Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to
sacrifice their son or daughter in the fire to Molek.
He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.
He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley.
The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon.
Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.
Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished.
He burned the high place and ground it to powder,
and burned the Asherah pole also.
Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it,
in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.
The king asked,
'What is that tombstone I see?'
The people of the city said,
'It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.'
'Leave it alone,' he said.
'Don’t let anyone disturb his bones.' "
- Second Kings 23:10-18 |
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| 622-612 BC, Josiah Purifies the Land of Judah and Israel |
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Josiah destroyed the many pagan worship centers in Jerusalem and through out Judah. The text mentions several gods and the location of their high places of worship. One was called Topheth.
When the people of Judah began to worship demons and offer their children in the fire, they did it in the Hinnom Valley. When Josiah became king, he went down into the Hinnom Valley where children had been sacrificed to demons, and he desecrated the altar/image (or, “the burner” called “Topheth”) that the wicked people used to burn their children as an offering to the god Molech. When God spoke through Isaiah of the coming judgment he also spoke of “the burner”:
“Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its fire pit has been made deep and wide, with an abundance of fire and wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.” - Isaiah 30:33
“The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it (Solomon’s Temple). They have built the high places of Topheth (“the burner”) in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire – something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind. So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.” - Jeremiah 7:31-33
When Josiah had finished restoring the worship of the Lord in Judah, he turned his attention north into Israel. As prophecy by a prophet from Judah in 930 BC had foretold to Jeroboam while the first king of Israel was presenting an offering on the altar to the golden calf in Bethel,
“Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’ ” – 1 Kings 13:2
Josiah smashed and burned the high place of worship set up in Bethel in 930 BC (300 to 308 years before). Then Josiah emptied the tombs near the altar that had the bones of the priests and burned them over the remains of the sanctuary to desecrate it and leave it unusable for any pagan ceremony. But, when the tomb of the prophet from Judah who had announced these events was located Josiah ordered that it not be disturbed (1 Kings 13)
| 622 BC |
- Jeremiah 11 and 12 are given.
These are followed by chapters 7, 8, 9, 10.
- Ezekiel is born.
- Josiah tries to purify the land.
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Jeremiah 11-12
Jeremiah 7-10
Ezekiel |
| 612 BC |
- Nineveh is destroyed according to Nahum’s prophecy in 663-654
- Babylon, under Nabopolassar, becomes a world power.
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Ninevah FallsNahum 1-3 fulfilled |
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“Two thousand years…the centuries themselves are measured from the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. At the end of this year, calendars in India and China, like those in Europe, America, and the Middle East, will register the dawn of the third millennium.” – Kenneth l. Woodward, in Newsweek, March 29, 1999
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"Are we still to remain open-minded when all reason says that there can be only one conclusion?"...Thus, being constantly in a state of absolute open-mindedness is the same as the error of being close minded! What about absolute truth? Isn't a commitment to openness an absolute? So, the open minded must be open to absolute truth! Today in education, society and religion the EMPTY MIND is often mis-identified as the OPEN MIND!!...the ignorant, open minded are easily swayed and conquered... seek truth then believe it and
commit to it! |
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Asar (Hb) – Bind (Eng) – asar means “ton bind,” “to imprison,” to tie,” “to gird” and “to harness.”
Asar is what was done to horses or donkeys to secure them. Oxen were asar or harnessed to carts. Men could be asar spiritually as in Psalms 146:7 or asar emotionally by a woman’s hair as in
Song of Solomon 7:5 or asar with bow strings like Delilah did to Samson. |
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Sidon, the Phonecian city, is often mentioned in the Old Testament: Genesis 9:18; 10:15, 19; Isaiah 23:2, 4, 12; 1 Kings 11:1, 33; Jeremiah 25:22; 27:3; 47:4; Ezekiel 27:8; 28:21; 32:30; Joel 3:4; Matthew 15:21; Luke 6:17. Sidon was a major sea port with a beautiful landscape. There are many ruins of this ancient city and some have been excavated. The black sarcophagus of Eshmunazar, king of the Sidonians from the time of Nehemiah and Ezra has been discovered with 990 words on its eight foot long lid. (Here) |
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I will stabalize my life by hearing the Word of God instead of opinions of men and
points of application. |
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"At the end of your life
you will groan,
when your flesh and
body are spent.
You will say,
'How I hated discipline!
How my heart spurned correction!' "
- Proverbs 5:11-12 |
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Parents |
Conviction |
Welfare |
Cuba |
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| Reps & Sets is a daily Bible devotional for Christians from Generation Word Bible Teaching used each morning and evening. |
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