2 Kings 23:1-37
1 And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
2 And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.
3 And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.
5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
6 And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.
7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangingsa for the grove.
8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.
9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.
10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.
11 And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain,b which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
12 And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king beat down, and brake them downc from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
13 And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mountd of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.
14 And he brake in pieces the images,e and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.
15 Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove.
16 And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
17 Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel.
18 And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone,f with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.
19 And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.
20 And he slewg all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.
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,h 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 provocationsi 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.
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?
29 In his days Pharaohnechoh 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 Jehoahazj 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 Pharaohnechoh 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 Pharaohnechoh 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; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaohnechoh.
36 Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.
37 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.
The Last Kings of *Israel and *Judah
Book of 2 Kings
Philip Smith
Chapter 23
The *covenant with the *Lord
v1 The king called together all the leaders of *Judah and Jerusalem. v2 He went to the *Lord’s *temple with the priests and the *prophets. All the people in *Judah and Jerusalem also came. Both the rich people and the poor people came. In front of them all, the king read the entire book that contained the *covenant. That was the book that the chief priest had found in the *Lord’s *temple. v3 The king stood by the royal column and he made a *covenant with the *Lord. He promised to serve the *Lord. He promised to obey all the *Lord’s commands, rules, and laws. He promised to obey them with all his heart and *soul. He promised to obey the orders that the *covenant in the book contained. All the people promised to do that as well.
King Josiah read to the people the book that contained the law. They all promised God that they would obey his laws.
v4 The king gave orders to the chief priest Hilkiah and his assistant priests. And there were guards on duty at the entrance. The king gave orders to them also. The king told all those men to remove certain objects from the *Lord’s *temple. Those were all the objects that people used in order to *worship *Baal, Asherah (a female god) and the stars. The king burned them near the Kidron valley outside Jerusalem. And he took the ashes to Bethel. v5 He removed the priests that burned *incense to false gods. Previous kings of *Judah had appointed them to burn *incense on the *altars that were on the hills in *Judah. That included the *altars near Jerusalem. Those were the priests that burned *incense to give honour to *Baal. They also burned *incense to the sun, the moon, the *planets and the stars. v6 He took the image of the female god Asherah out of the *Lord’s *temple. He took it to the Kidron valley outside Jerusalem. He burned it there. And he turned its ashes into dust. He scattered that dust over the public ground where people buried dead people. v7 He destroyed the places in the *Lord’s *temple where the male prostitutes (people that give their bodies for sex) lived. [Also in those places, women made clothes for the *worship of Asherah.]
v8 He brought all the priests from the towns in *Judah. He destroyed the places where people *worshipped on the hills. He destroyed them from Geba to Beersheba. The priests had burned *incense in those places. He broke down the places where people *worshipped at the gates. He did so at the gate that Joshua, the city’s ruler, had built. That is on the left side of the city’s main gate. v9 However, the priests from those places did not serve at the *Lord’s *altar (in the *temple) in Jerusalem. But those priests ate the bread without yeast (a substance that makes bread rise) with the other priests.
In verses 4-9, the writer uses the word ‘he’ many times. It is not clear from the Hebrew (the original language of this book) whom ‘he’ means there. Maybe it means King Josiah or maybe it means Hilkiah the priest. Or perhaps the king ordered someone else to do those things.
People used various objects to *worship the false god called *Baal. And they were even *worshipping *Baal in the *Lord’s *temple. King Josiah ordered Hilkiah, the other priests and the guards to remove those things. He (the king or maybe Hilkiah) burned them in the Kidron valley and he took the ashes to Bethel. At Bethel, people first *worshipped the *bull’s image that the former king, Jeroboam, had made out of gold. But those ashes would make that place *unclean. So nobody could use it for *worship again. And the priests at the places where people *worshipped on the high hills could not continue to do their work. He removed those priests, who had burned *incense to *Baal, the sun, the moon and the stars.
In the *temple, there had been an image of the female god called Asherah. Josiah burned that image. He scattered its ashes over people’s graves. That act showed that the image of Asherah was *unclean. Nobody could *worship it. There were men who gave their bodies for sex to *worship *Baal. This was a very wicked thing to do. So it was very terrible that these men lived at the *Lord’s *temple. But Josiah would not allow this to continue. He destroyed those men’s homes. He also destroyed the places where women made clothes. People used those clothes when they *worshipped Asherah.
Josiah destroyed the places where people *worshipped on the hills, all the way from Geba to Beersheba. Geba was in the north and Beersheba was in the south. He brought back to Jerusalem all the priests that had been at the high places. He did not allow them to serve at the *altar in Jerusalem. But he allowed them to live with the priests in Jerusalem. And he allowed them to have a share of those priests’ food.
v10 He (probably King Josiah) destroyed Topheth, the place where people *worshipped in the valley called Ben Hinnom. So nobody would be able to use it to *sacrifice a son or daughter to Molech. v11 He removed the horses. The kings of *Judah had used them to *worship the sun. He also burned the *chariots that people used in that *worship. People kept the horses near the entrance to the *Lord’s *temple. The horses were in the area near the room of Nathan-Melech, an important official. v12 Josiah pulled down the *altars at the palace too. *Judah’s kings had built them on the roof above King Ahaz’s room. He also pulled down the *altars in the two yards at the *Lord’s *temple. King Manasseh had built those. King Josiah removed them from there and he broke them in pieces. He threw the pieces into the Kidron valley. v13 The king also destroyed the places where people *worshipped near Jerusalem. Those places were east from Jerusalem. They were on the south side of a certain hill. It was called the hill of wicked behaviour. *Israel’s king Solomon had built those *altars for people to *worship false gods. Those were gods that should cause disgust. They included Astarte. Astarte was the female god that the people in Sidon *worshipped. And they included Chemosh. Chemosh was the god that the people in Moab *worshipped. Those gods also included Molech. Molech was the god that the people in Ammon *worshipped. v14 Josiah broke the holy stones and he cut down the images of the female god Asherah. Then he covered the area with human bones.
v15 Josiah even destroyed the *altar at Bethel. He destroyed the place where people *worshipped there. Nebat’s son Jeroboam, who caused *Israel to *sin, had made that place and its *altar. Josiah burned the place where people *worshipped. He turned its ashes into dust. He also burned the image of the female god Asherah. v16 Then Josiah looked round. And he saw the graves on the side of the hill. He removed the bones from them. He burned them on the *altar to make it *unclean. The *prophet had declared the message from God that this would happen. So his *prophecy became true.
v17 Then the king asked, ‘Whose grave is this?’
The people from the city replied, ‘It is the grave of the *prophet who came from *Judah. He *prophesied against the *altar at Bethel. He said that you would do these things here.’
v18 ‘Leave it alone,’ said Josiah. ‘Do not move his bones.’ So nobody moved his bones. And nobody moved the bones of the *prophet that came from Samaria.
v19 In Samaria too, Josiah removed the places where people *worshipped on the hills. *Israel’s kings had built those places in the towns in Samaria. They had made the *Lord angry because of that. Josiah did to those places what he had done in Bethel. v20 He killed on the *altars all the priests that led *worship on the high hills. He burned human bones on every *altar. Then he went back to Jerusalem.
In verses 10-11, we are not sure exactly who ‘he’ was. Maybe the king did those things himself or maybe he ordered someone to do them.
In this passage, King Josiah continued to destroy the *altars of false religions. He began in *Judah, where of course he ruled (verses 10-14). But then he went north of the border into the country which was previously called *Israel (verses 15-20). This was after Assyria had destroyed *Israel. So Assyria probably ruled Bethel and Samaria. But Josiah still went there to destroy the *altars of these religions.
Topheth means the place where people burn something. It was in the valley called Ben Hinnom. That valley is near Jerusalem. King Josiah made Topheth *unclean. Then people could not burn their children there as a *sacrifice to Molech. Molech was the god that the people in Ammon *worshipped. In order to *worship him, people burned their children in the fire. Afterwards, Ben Hinnom became a place to bury dead people (Jeremiah 7:32).
In Jerusalem city, Josiah removed horses from the entrance to the *temple. They pulled *chariots in processions to give honour to the sun. Josiah burned the *chariots. People had kept those near Nathan-Melech’s room. At the palace, Josiah burned down *altars that *Judah’s kings had put on the roof. He also destroyed the *altars in the open yards at the *temple. Manasseh had put them there. But Josiah broke them in pieces. Then he threw the pieces into the valley called Kidron. So nobody would ever use those *altars again.
People had also *worshipped on the high hills that were east from Jerusalem. King Josiah made those places *unclean also. Solomon (an early king) had built *altars there to give honour to the false gods called Astarte, Chemosh and Molech. He had done that to please his wives (1 Kings 11:5-8). Josiah broke the holy stones and he destroyed the images of Asherah. He scattered human bones over the places so that people would not *worship there again.
Then Josiah left the country that he ruled. He went north into the country that had formerly belonged to *Israel. The army from Assyria had forced most of *Israel’s inhabitants to leave their homes. So most of the people who were now living in *Israel were foreigners. Josiah was very bold when he destroyed *altars outside his own country. He knew that those *altars had been the cause of great *sin in *Judah as well as *Israel. He did everything possible to end those wicked religions.
At Bethel, Josiah destroyed the *altar that another previous king, Nebat’s son Jeroboam, had made. Josiah burned the place where people *worshipped there. He turned it into dust. He also burned the image of Asherah.
Then Josiah saw the graves where people had buried some priests. Those priests had *worshipped *idols. Josiah removed the bones from the graves and he burned them on the *altar. So the *prophet’s message became true (1 Kings 13:1-2).
People still remembered the story about that *prophet. It was 300 years since that *prophet came to Bethel. Another *prophet had given him an impressive grave near the *altar that he opposed. And that other *prophet’s grave was next to it (1 Kings 13:31). When Josiah saw those graves, he asked about them. And the local inhabitants told him the astonishing story in 1 Kings chapter 13. It would have surprised Josiah to hear about this. Long before Josiah’s birth, God had declared what Josiah would do. And God even mentioned Josiah by name in that ancient *prophecy (1 Kings 13:2).
Of course, when Josiah heard about the *prophecy, he did not destroy the graves of either *prophet. He respected these holy men who, so long before, had spoken God’s message.
Then Josiah destroyed all the places where people *worshipped in Samaria’s towns. Those were the ones that the kings of *Israel had built. Josiah killed all the priests that used those *altars for *worship. Those priests belonged to wicked religions. If Josiah had allowed them to live, they would re-establish their religions. And then the people would continue to follow those religions, which had caused so much trouble.
Long afterwards, Paul explained how such religions cause wicked behaviour. First, people refuse to *worship the real God. Then they start to *worship the images of things that God created. Then people begin to care only about themselves, their emotions and their desires. So, people prefer to carry on behaviour that is very wicked. Their wicked desires control them. And in the end, they love to do every wicked thing (Romans 1:21-31). The religion in *Judah and *Israel had become this most wicked sort of religion. Josiah had to act in a powerful manner to stop it.
But although Josiah killed the priests in verse 20, he did not kill the ones in verse 9. That is because the priests in verse 9 *worshipped the real God. They did not *worship at the correct place, however. They *worshipped on the hills, instead of at the *temple in Jerusalem. Josiah did not allow them to continue to *worship on the hills. But they were from Levi’s *tribe, like the priests in the *temple. And Josiah allowed them to eat the sacred food with the other priests.
v21 Then Josiah ordered all the people: ‘*Celebrate the *Passover in order to give honour to the *Lord, your God. Follow the instructions in this book that contains the *covenant.’
v22 There had been no similar *Passover since the time when the judges led the nation. No kings of *Judah or *Israel had *celebrated a *Passover like it. v23 The people *celebrated the *Passover to give honour to the *Lord in Jerusalem. That was in the 18th year of Josiah’s rule.
Many centuries earlier, when Moses was the *Jews’ leader, they were slaves in Egypt. But God freed them by his great power. The *Passover was a special *festival in which they *celebrated those events. The *Jews cooked a lamb (young sheep) over a fire, without water. Then they ate the meat from it and they ate plants with a bitter taste. They also ate bread without yeast. (Yeast is a substance that makes bread rise.)
The way in which Josiah *celebrated the *Passover was a special one. Very many people came to Jerusalem and they *celebrated the *Passover together. They obeyed the laws of the *festival completely. (Look at Deuteronomy 16:1-8.)
Then came the *festival of bread without yeast (a substance that makes bread rise). That started immediately on the next day after the *Passover. It lasted for seven days. During all that time, the people ate bread without yeast. It reminded them that they had to leave Egypt quickly. They had to leave so quickly that their bread had no time to rise.
Paul explained the meaning of these *festivals in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8. ‘God has offered Christ as a *sacrifice for us. So Christ is like the lamb (young sheep) for our *Passover. Let us *celebrate the *festival.’ Paul was explaining that Christians should always behave in a holy way. Even as *Jews should not use yeast during the *Passover, Christians should not carry on any wicked behaviour. (Yeast is the substance that makes bread rise. But Paul used it as a word picture for *sin). Christians should please God at all times, not just during the *Passover. So Christians should give their entire lives to God.
v24 Josiah removed the people that practised magic. He also removed the people who tried to contact dead people. He removed the images of gods that people kept in their homes. Josiah also removed the *idols in *Judah and Jerusalem. And he removed all the other things there that caused disgust. He did that to obey the law in the book. Hilkiah the priest had found that book in the *Lord’s *temple. v25 No other king before Josiah served the *Lord as he did. Nor did any other king after him. He served the *Lord with all his heart, *soul and strength. Josiah obeyed all the law that God gave to Moses.
v26 But the *Lord did not stop his fierce anger towards the people in *Judah. God was so angry because Manasseh had done very many evil things. v27 So the *Lord said this: ‘I will do to *Judah as I did to *Israel. I will force the people to leave *Judah, even as I forced the people to leave *Israel. I will refuse to accept Jerusalem, the city that I chose. I will also refuse to accept the *temple, although I said about it: “I will be present there.” ’
v28 You can read about the other events during Josiah’s rule. And you can read about all the other things that he did. They are in the book that contains the history of *Judah’s kings.
v29 While Josiah was king, Pharaoh [Egypt’s king] Neco went to the Euphrates river. He did so to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah went to fight against Neco. Neco killed him in a battle at Megiddo. v30 Josiah’s servants brought his body in a *chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem. They buried him in his own grave. Then the people in *Judah chose Jehoahaz, son of Josiah. They *anointed Jehoahaz. They made him king after his father.
There were some people in *Judah who tried to contact dead people. And there were some people who used magic. God’s law does not allow those practices (Deuteronomy 18:10-11), so Josiah opposed them. He would not allow those people to continue to live in *Judah. Josiah also removed *idols that people kept in their homes. He tried to obey completely the laws in the book that Hilkiah had found. No king before Josiah obeyed the *Lord completely as he did. Nor did anyone that became king after him. Josiah served the *Lord with all his heart, mind and strength. But God was still angry. He only postponed his punishment because of what Josiah had done.
Soon after Josiah’s death, the people would start to do the same *sins again. God intended to take the people in *Judah and Jerusalem away from their country. He would do it as a punishment. He had already done that with *Israel.
Jeremiah started his work as a *prophet during Josiah’s rule. Like Huldah (2 Kings 22:15-17), Jeremiah always insisted that God’s punishment against *Judah would definitely happen. Jeremiah would be pleased to see the good laws that Josiah made in *Judah (Jeremiah 22:15-16). But Jeremiah would know that those changes would only have a temporary effect. It was true that Josiah served God with all his heart, *soul and strength. But it seems that the inhabitants of *Judah did not have the same, sincere attitudes (Jeremiah 3:10). Soon after Josiah’s death, they would start their wicked behaviour again. By means of Jeremiah, God says this: ‘Find one honest person, who speaks the truth. If there is even one such person, I will forgive the people in the city.’ (Jeremiah 5:1). Even the best laws cannot change people’s attitudes. Even the best king cannot change the secret desires of people’s hearts.
The story about Josiah ends with his death. He died in battle. He was afraid that perhaps an army from Egypt might attack *Judah. So Josiah went to fight against the king of Egypt. But the king of Egypt urged Josiah not to fight. Egypt’s king said that God had told him to warn Josiah about that. But Josiah would not listen to the message that God gave to Egypt’s king (2 Chronicles 35:20-22). So Josiah started a battle. And in that battle, Josiah died. A *disaster would happen in *Judah. But Josiah did not see it, because he had already died.
Jehoahaz’s rule as king of *Judah
v31 Jehoahaz was 23 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 3 months. His mother was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah. She was from Libnah. v32 Jehoahaz *sinned against the *Lord, as his *ancestors had done. v33 Pharaoh (Egypt’s king) Neco put him in chains at Riblah. That was in the region called Hamath. So then Jehoahaz did not rule in Jerusalem. Neco made the people in *Judah pay a tax. The tax was three and a half tons of silver and 75 pounds (about 34 kilos) of gold. v34 Pharaoh Neco made Josiah’s son Eliakim king after his father Josiah. Neco changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. Neco took Jehoahaz to Egypt and Jehoahaz died there. v35 Jehoiakim gave to Pharaoh Neco the silver and gold that he demanded. Jehoiakim taxed the people in proportion to their wealth. So he took the silver and gold from them.
The people chose Jehoahaz, Josiah’s youngest son, as king. (Jehoahaz’s grandfather was not Jeremiah the *prophet. Jeremiah the *prophet was from Anathoth. He was not from Libnah. And he was not married – Jeremiah 16:2.) The people thought that Jehoahaz would oppose the king of Egypt. His older brother would not do that. But the Pharaoh (Egypt’s king) Neco *captured Jehoahaz. Neco demanded that the people in *Judah should pay large amounts of tax. Jehoahaz died in Egypt. Ezekiel wrote a sad song about him (Ezekiel 19:1-4)
Then Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim king of *Judah. Eliakim was Josiah’s older son. Pharaoh Neco changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. Perhaps Neco did that to show that he had power over *Judah’s king. So Jehoiakim had to make the people pay those large amounts of tax. He ruled for 11 years and he *sinned against the *Lord.
Jehoiakim’s rule as king of *Judah
v36 Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. His mother’s name was Zebidah, daughter of Pedaiah. She was from Rumah. v37 Jehoiakim *sinned against the *Lord, as his *ancestors had done.
Jehoiakim was among the worst kings of *Judah. Jeremiah 22:13-14 seems to describe a large, expensive palace that he built. But he dealt with his builders as if they were slaves. He forced them to work without pay. He also killed the *prophet Uriah, who had *prophesied against him (Jeremiah 26:20-23).
Israel ~ the nation of people that are Jacob’s descendants; the country where those people belong; the northern part of their kingdom after it divided.
descendants ~ future members of a family or a nation; people who belong to the same family during later centuries.
kingdom ~ a country or nation that a king or queen rules.
Judah ~ one of the tribes in the nation called Israel; the southern part of that kingdom after it divided.
tribe ~ a group of people that share the same ancestors, language, and customs.
Israel ~ the nation of people that are Jacob’s descendants; the country where those people belong; the northern part of their kingdom after it divided.
kingdom ~ a country or nation that a king or queen rules.
ancestor ~ a previous member of a family, especially someone who was important during a past century.
descendants ~ future members of a family or a nation; people who belong to the same family during later centuries.
covenant ~ a special serious agreement between 2 people or groups; but especially the promises that God made to his people in Judah and Israel. In God’s main covenant, he promised to protect his people if they obeyed certain laws.
Judah ~ one of the tribes in the nation called Israel; the southern part of that kingdom after it divided.
Israel ~ the nation of people that are Jacob’s descendants; the country where those people belong; the northern part of their kingdom after it divided.
tribe ~ a group of people that share the same ancestors, language, and customs.
kingdom ~ a country or nation that a king or queen rules.
descendants ~ future members of a family or a nation; people who belong to the same family during later centuries.
ancestor ~ a previous member of a family, especially someone who was important during a past century.
Lord ~ the name of God. We use this word to translate two different words in the original language. One word means ‘He is always God.’ The other word means ‘master’.
temple ~ the building that King Solomon built in Jerusalem, and the area that surrounded it. It was the most important place for the worship of the real God. We also use the word ‘temple’ to mean the house of a false god.
worship ~ to praise God (or a false god); to give honour to God (or a false god) by sacrifice, prayer, song or action.
sacrifice ~ something valuable that someone offers to God (or to a false god); to offer something valuable to God (or to a false god).
prophet ~ a person that gives a prophecy.
prophecy ~ a message from God (or from a false god) that someone speaks; what someone says will happen in the future.
soul ~ the part of a person that continues to exist after death; a person’s spirit; also a person’s mind, emotions and desires.
spirit ~ part of a person, the part that can contact God and that continues to exist after death. The word ‘spirit’ can also mean an angel that may come from either God or the devil. ‘God’s Spirit’ is the Holy Spirit. (The Holy Spirit is God, even as God the Father and Jesus are God. But there are not three Gods; there is only one God.)
angel ~ God’s servant who takes messages from God to people on the earth. Angels live with God in heaven.
worship ~ to praise God (or a false god); to give honour to God (or a false god) by sacrifice, prayer, song or action.
sacrifice ~ something valuable that someone offers to God (or to a false god); to offer something valuable to God (or to a false god).
Baal ~ a false god.
incense ~ a substance that gives a pleasant smell when people burn it. Some people use it to show honour to God (or to a false god).
altar ~ a table where people offer gifts or sacrifices to God, or to a false god.
sacrifice ~ something valuable that someone offers to God (or to a false god); to offer something valuable to God (or to a false god).
planet ~ a large object in outer space which travels round the sun. We see it as a wandering star, which appears in the morning or evening.
bull ~ the male animal that mates with a cow.
unclean ~ not acceptable to God (or to a false god); when someone has spoiled something so that it is not acceptable to God (or to a false god).
sacrifice ~ something valuable that someone offers to God (or to a false god); to offer something valuable to God (or to a false god).
chariot ~ a kind of vehicle that soldiers used when they fought. Horses pulled it.
sin ~ an action that is wrong or wicked, which is against God’s moral law; something that is against a law in a religion.
prophecy ~ a message from God (or from a false god) that someone speaks; what someone says will happen in the future.
prophesy ~ to declare a prophecy.
prophecy ~ a message from God (or from a false god) that someone speaks; what someone says will happen in the future.
idol ~ the image of a god to whom people give honour.
tribe ~ a group of people that share the same ancestors, language, and customs.
ancestor ~ a previous member of a family, especially someone who was important during a past century.
celebrate ~ to do something special in order to remember an event or a person. Usually, there is a happy party in order to give honour to that event or person.
Passover ~ an annual festival when people remember how the Israelites escaped from Egypt.
festival ~ a special occasion when many people remember a person or an event; when many people celebrate someone or something together.
Israelites ~ people that belonged to the nation called Israel.
celebrate ~ to do something special in order to remember an event or a person. Usually, there is a happy party in order to give honour to that event or person.
Israel ~ the nation of people that are Jacob’s descendants; the country where those people belong; the northern part of their kingdom after it divided.
descendants ~ future members of a family or a nation; people who belong to the same family during later centuries.
kingdom ~ a country or nation that a king or queen rules.
celebrate ~ to do something special in order to remember an event or a person. Usually, there is a happy party in order to give honour to that event or person.
Jew ~ a person that belongs to the nation called Israel (especially the southern part called Judah). Or a person who follows that nation’s religion.
Israel ~ the nation of people that are Jacob’s descendants; the country where those people belong; the northern part of their kingdom after it divided.
Judah ~ one of the tribes in the nation called Israel; the southern part of that kingdom after it divided.
descendants ~ future members of a family or a nation; people who belong to the same family during later centuries.
kingdom ~ a country or nation that a king or queen rules.
tribe ~ a group of people that share the same ancestors, language, and customs.
ancestor ~ a previous member of a family, especially someone who was important during a past century.
festival ~ a special occasion when many people remember a person or an event; when many people celebrate someone or something together.
celebrate ~ to do something special in order to remember an event or a person. Usually, there is a happy party in order to give honour to that event or person.
anoint ~ to pour oil over a person. This shows that God has chosen that person for a special purpose.
disaster ~ an event that makes people suffer very greatly. It may cause great damage and death.
ancestor ~ a previous member of a family, especially someone who was important during a past century.
capture ~ to seize (arrest) someone and to keep that person as a prisoner; to take something by force and to keep it under your control.