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His sons. 28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

Josiah keepeth the passover. His death. 21 And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.

22 Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;

23 But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem.

24 Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.

25 And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.

26 Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.

27 And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.

29 In his days Pharaoh-nechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.

30 And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's stead.

31 Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

33 And Pharaoh-nechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.

34 And Pharaoh-nechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there.

35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh;

reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.

but he taxed the land to give the
money according to the com-
mandment of Pharaoh: he ex-
acted the silver and the gold of
the people of the land, of every
one according to his taxation, to
give it unto Pharaoh-nechoh.
36 Jehoiakim was twenty and
five years old when he began to had done.
LECTURE 634.

37 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers

The atonement made for us by Christ our Passover. When Josiah had cleared the land of the abominations of idolatry, his next care was to reestablish in all its purity the true worship of Jehovah. How must he have, rejoiced to find express directions for every ordinance in the book of the covenant of the Lord! How signally was that passover, which he then celebrated, superior to all others that ever had been kept since Judah and Israel were divided: seeing that now all the Israelites in the land appeared before the Lord together; at once convinced of sin, and penitent, at once believing and obedient! Hezekiah was said to be unequalled by any king of Judah before or after him, for the trust which he put in the Lord. See Ch. 18. 5. Josiah is here said to be unequalled, for the zeal with which he turned to the Lord "according to all the law of Moses." And yet for all this, the anger of the Lord was not turned away. He still purposed to remove Judah out of his sight; and to cast off Jerusalem, the city which He had chosen, and the temple, of which He had said, "My name shall be there." Josiah was spared the agony of witnessing these threatened horrors; and, as far as they were concerned, he came to his grave in peace. Yet he died of a wound received in battle, and in a battle which he appears to have engaged in needlessly. And it is here recorded of his sons Jehoahaz, and Jehoiakim, that each of them, as he succeeded to the throne, "did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done." The righteous conduct of Josiah availed only to himself. It is to another King of Judah, that both he and we must look, for that only meritorious obedience unto death, which can atone for sin. He, of whom the kings of Judah were fathers according to the flesh, He who so far took on Him our nature as to die upon the cross, He who was at once truly man and truly God, He was able to turn away the fierceness of that wrath, which must otherwise have consumed all mankind. To Him then let us turn with all our hearts, to do according to all the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." 1 Cor. 5. 7.

Nebuchadnezzar besiegeth Jerusalem, and taketh it.

1 In his day Nebuchadnezzar evil in the sight of the LORD, king of Babylon came up, and according to all that his father Jehoiakim became his servant had done. three years then he turned and rebelled against him.

2 And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets.

3 Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did;

4 And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon.

5 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.

7 And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt.

8

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother's name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.

9 And he did that which was

10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.

12 And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.

13 And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said.

14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.

15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.

16 And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. 17 And the king of Babylon

made Mattaniah his father's bro- 19 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

ther king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah. 18 Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

20 For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

LECTURE 635.

Of God's giving up the wicked to a reprobate mind. After the ruin of Nineveh, which took place not long before this time, the Assyrian empire fell into the hands of the king of Babylon, the city of the Chaldees. This was the power which it pleased God to make use of, in chastising those idolatries and cruelties, for which Judah was now doomed to be led into captivity. "In the eighth year" of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, he besieged Jerusalem, and took it. And he carried away into captivity king Jehoiachin, son and successor of Jehoiakim, and his mother and wives and officers, and all the chief men of rank, wealth, valour, or skill; besides spoiling "all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house." And having left none "save the poorest sort of the people of the land," he set up Mattaniah, the brother of Jehoiakim, and son of Josiah, to be king, changing his name to Zedekiah. And as if to shew to what a height of infatuation this miserable race of princes and people had now come, even Zedekiah, with such awful calamities fresh acted before his eyes, and with the words of so many prophets as lived about this time sounding in his ears, "did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord according to all that Jehoiakim had done." He rebelled against his earthly master the king of Babylon, as well as against his Master which was in heaven. And this is said to have come to pass, in Jerusalem and Judah, "through the anger of the Lord," and "until he had cast them out from his presence;" words which shew us, that the infatuation of the king and people, in thus rebelling against the king of Babylon, was inflicted on them by the Lord in judgment for their sins. A fearful doctrine; but one abundantly confirmed by other passages of sacred history; and one which may be often useful to make the wicked tremble, and sometimes helpful to move them to repent. Perhaps they are not yet past the hour of repentance, not yet given over to a reprobate mind. Oh let them then turn to day, whilst it is called to day, let them turn to God with confession, and amendment, lest He speedily shut them out from all access to his grace for ever!

Jerusalem is again taken and spoiled; and the temple burnt. Jerusalem:

1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about.

2 And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.

3 And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the

land.

4 And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king's garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain.

5 And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho and all his army were scattered from him.

6 So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him.

7 And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.

8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto

9 And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire.

10 And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about.

11 Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carry away.

12 But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.

13 And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon.

14 And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.

15 And the firepans, and the bowls, and such things as were of gold, in gold, and of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away.

16 The two pillars, one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD; the brass of all these vessels was without weight.

17 The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the chapiter upon it was brass: and the height of the chapiter three

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