Saturday

8-June

2 Kings 21-23; Ps 73; 1 Corinthians 1

2 Kings 21-23; Ps 73; 1 Corinthians 1

2 Kings 21: Who was Hezekiah’s son and what evil things did he do?

2 Kings 22: How did Josiah react to the words in the Book of the Law?

2 Kings 23: What did Josiah remove from the temple of the Lord? What prophesy was fulfilled by the bones in the tombs on the mountain? Who had prophesied this? Who was buried next to this prophet?

1 Corinthians 1: What seems to be the reason that Paul wrote this letter? In what are we to boast?

Journal Prompt: What things divide in your church? How can you heed Paul’s command to “be united in the same mind and the same judgment”?

Answers:

2 Kings 21:  Hezehiah’s son was Mannaseh and he rebuilt the high places, built altars to Baal, made an Asherah pole, he built altars in the Temple, he burned his own son as an offering, he used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers and he led the people of Israel astray.

2 Kings 22:  When Josiah heard the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes and then he asked the priest to seek God on his behalf.

2 Kings 23:  Josiah made a covenant to follow God’s law, he removed from the Temple all the vessels used to serve Baal, the Asherah, houses of the male cult prostitutes. Then he proceeded to destroy all the high places where people worshiped other gods including the temple at Bethel. This is the remarkable fulfillment of a prophecy made hundreds of years earlier. The words of this anonymous prophet are recorded in 1 Kings 13:1-2: Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you. Josiah was careful to honor the gravestone of this anonymous prophet.

1 Corinthians 1:  It seems the Christians in Corinth were forming cults – and they were giving glory to certain church leaders.  They were bringing honor to the leader rather than to Christ.  We are not to boast in one leader over another, we are to boast only in the Lord.