Josiah Finds the Scroll Bible Background Josiah Was the One of the Last— and the Most Righteous— of the Kings of Judah

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Guide #2-12 Leader Guide 2 Kings 22:1-10 [14-20]; 23:1-3 November 29, 2015 Josiah Finds the Scroll Bible Background Josiah was the one of the last— and the most righteous— of the kings of Judah. Israel had been one nation united under Israel's greatest king, David and his son, Solomon. But the sins of David, Solomon, and especially Rehoboam led to a divided kingdom. The northern kingdom, made up of ten tribes, kept the name Israel; the southern kingdom, Judah, was made up of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Throughout the book of 2 Kings, the rulers of Israel and Judah are listed and assessed by how they ruled. A few kings were said to be as righteous as David— the model king and man after God’s own heart. However, most kings were deemed unrighteous and evil. Israel, the northern kingdom, had been defeated by the Assyrians in 722 BCE. God gave the Assyrians victory over Israel as punishment for Israel’s disobedience. Israel's fate was sealed. Would Judah learn from Israel's defeat?

By the time Josiah took the throne at age 8, Judah had strayed far from God’s law. Judah’s previous kings, Manasseh and Manasseh’s son Amon, “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 21:1-2). Manasseh directly disobeyed God's commandments. He kept idols in the Lord's temple and held festivals praising foreign gods. God's law explicitly forbid other gods and still Manasseh and Amon led the people of Judah astray.

Josiah was so righteous that the Scriptures refer to him metaphorically as David's son (2 Kings 22:2). When Josiah was 26, he reclaimed the temple for God. He appointed people to cleanse the temple of idols and foreign gods and instructed them to use the offerings given at the temple for its restoration. He stopped festivals and ceremonies meant to praise other gods. Hilkiah, the high priest, and Shaphan, the king's secretary, oversaw work on the temple.

While administering the restoration, Hilkiah and Shaphan found a scroll. The scroll turned out to be part of the Torah, God’s word! Manasseh and Amon had reigned a combined 57 years—perhaps the scroll had been lost for that long, or even longer.

Hilkiah and Shaphan realized how important the scroll was and took it to King Josiah. When Josiah read it, he also realized it was important. He cried and tore his clothes— traditional signs of mourning. Josiah mourned for his people and his ancestors because they had strayed so far from the law of God. He immediately asked the high priest to plead to God for Judah's generations of wrongdoing. To do this, Hilkiah and others went to a prophetess, a woman named Huldah. Huldah confirmed that God’s wrath for the wickedness of the people of Judah is coming, but since Josiah humbled himself when he heard the words of the scroll, he would be spared seeing the wrath to come. Jehoahaz and then Jehoiakim followed Josiah as king. Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim were unrighteous, effectively rolling back the true worship of God and work for justice that Josiah had implemented. Eventually, Judah suffered a similar fate as Israel, falling into the hands of the Babylonians under the reign of King Jehoiakim.

For Your Reflection ? Has there ever been a time in your life when you found something so exciting you simply had to share with others? What was it and what happened? Did you receive the reaction you expected? ? Josiah uses the scroll, a true treasure and artifact, to share the power and glory of God with the people of Israel. What physical objects could you use today to share the power and glory of God with the people in your hometown? ? God’s words were on the scroll Josiah found. God’s words are in our Bibles today. How do you feel when you are reading God’s word? ? Reflect on your group this week and ask yourself: How might the group experience God together?

November 29, 2015 Guide #2-12 Participant Guide 2 Kings 22:1-10 [14-20]; 23:1-3

Josiah Finds the Scroll

Into the Story Josiah was a righteous king and grandson of an evil, Bible Nuts and Bolts- disobedient king. What traditions or stories have Old and New Testament been passed down in your family? Have any bad Both the Old and New Testaments habits been passed down as well? Discuss. Have give witness to the love of God for you ever been judged based on the actions of a humankind. Since the early church, family member? some Christians have had the mistaken idea that the God of the Old Testament is a god of wrath, Learning the Story and that God in the New Almost 300 years have passed since the kingdom of all Testament, in the person of Jesus twelve tribes was divided. Sadly, even in the southern Christ, is loving. This view is kingdom of Judah where the descendants of David still sit on described as Marcionism. the throne in Jerusalem, most of the kings have abandoned God and God’s Torah. Marcion was a teacher in the early second century who believed that, Read 2 Kings 21:1-7, 19-20, 23-24 as preface. since the nature of the material Now read 2 Kings 22:1-7 world was evil, the creator of the Midrash is the Jewish term for “filling in the ? world described in Genesis must gaps” in the biblical story with your be evil. And, since the creator of imagination. Practice a little midrash today. the world was evil, this could not How do you think it might have come to be the same god that Jesus called pass that Josiah was so different from his “Father.” Using this line of father and grandfather? reasoning, Marcion rejected the

God of the Old Testament. The Read 2 Kings 22:8-13 and Deuteronomy 28:15, early church rejected this view. 20-24

The Old Testament is filled with We do not know exactly what part of the Torah the scroll stories of God’s love for and grace contained, but many scholars think it was at least part of toward humankind, from the the book of Deuteronomy. clothes made for Adam and Eve

(Genesis 3:21) to the Israelites’

? Picture yourself in Josiah’s place. What deliverance from Egypt (Exodus would you have done if you had heard this 3:7-8), from the care and intimacy reading from Deuteronomy? of the Psalms (Psalm 145:14-17) to the promise to care for the broken-

hearted (Isaiah 61:1).

Read 2 Kings 22:14-20. ? Huldah was an honored prophet in Jerusalem, an unusual situation for a woman at this time. Which women have spoken God’s word in your life? ? The king sought God’s word in his trouble, and the answer was harsh. When have you needed to speak hard words or give an unwelcome consequence out of love for the recipient?

Read 2 Kings 23:1-3 The rest of 2 Kings 23 details Josiah’s response, undoing the idolatry of his ancestors and following the words of the Torah scroll. ? How can you recommit to your faith and the way of life God wants from us this Advent season?

Living the Story: Prayer  This reading ushers in Advent. This Advent, challenge yourself and each other to commit to practicing the way of life God calls us to in the Torah, loving God and our neighbor. Part of this commitment is to recognize and confess when we have failed. In your small group, have one or more members read aloud the Ten Commandments from Deuteronomy 5:6-21, pausing for about one minute between commandments. During these pauses silently confess where you have broken the spirit of the commandments recently.  When the group is finished, turn to the person on your right and say: God loves and forgives you. Share God’s love with others! Each person can respond by saying: Amen! Thanks be to God!

Last Week/Next Week Last week, Isaiah portrayed God as a vineyard owner who got something very different than what he planted. Israel and Judah were God’s chosen people gone astray, a “choice vine” that betrayed its Maker. In Isaiah 11:1-5, God promised a new, righteous leader for the people, the coming Messiah. Next week, in Isaiah 40:1-11, we see God once again pursuing God’s special nation. Isaiah prophesies that Israel’s debt for its disobedience and betrayal has been paid. God will bring the nation comfort, reward, and a Savior.