Category Archives: Josiah

Jeremiah and Baruch

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I am telling on myself in the writing of Jeremiah and Baruch.  I wanted to paint the picture that Baruch son of Mahseiah was “family” to Jeremiah but not through parents or DNA. Baruch worked with Jeremiah for over eighteen of Jeremiah’s forty years of ministry. They went through some hard times together.  My problem is simple, they did share DNA through Abraham and possibly Levi.  The majority of the people in Jerusalem at that time belonged to the tribe of Judah, Benjamin, or Levi/Aaron.  

The Wiki article listed below has some interesting legends and facts about Baruch.  I do find it creditable that Baruch and Ezra were responsible for Kings and Chronicles.  I will try and point out information that is in the Book of Jeremiah.

Baruch and Jeremiah worked together for at least eighteen years.  Jeremiah 36: 4 – 32, 45: 1+2 are the first “time” they are mentioned together.  This is part of Jeremiah’s story where he has been told by God to write down the words he has been given.  The timestamp for these verses is the fourth year of Jehoiakim.  45: 1+2 is really out of sequence because it is the promise from God that Baruch will be kept safe.  It is put with the time when he and Jeremiah are being taken to Egypt against their will.  Baruch also has the Lord “read his mail” about wanting “great things for himself”.  The hard part of this story is Baruch faithfully reads the scroll of Jeremiah to the people, Temple officials, and then to a hostile Jehoiakim. And watch it burn at the hands of Jehoiakim.

Jeremiah 51:59 does not mention Baruch but his brother (or cousin) Seraiah son of Mahseiah.  Seraiah was given a scroll to take to the exiles in Babylon. This took place in the fourth year of Zedekiah.  Seraiah is a name used at least eighteen times for various people in several books of the Bible.  It is the name of priests, learned men, and court officials.  Reusing a name in a family was not uncommon at this time, and this is why I tried to make Baruch a close relative of Jeremiah.  Mahseiah is used only in the Book of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 32:12 tells of Jeremiah buying a field and Baruch being given the deeds to the property and instruction on how to treat them.

Jeremiah 43: 3+6 are the last two times (chronology) Baruch is mentioned.  He is accused of swaying Jeremiah about going to Egypt.  According to legend he left Egypt alive and did other works for God. 

Notes – the fast in Jeremiah 36 must have been called because of Nebuchadnezzar.  The usual fasting times are in Zechariah 8:16, there is no mention of a ninth month fast.  Zechariah 7 may reference this time period as the fourth day and the ninth month is an unusual time to be asking about fasting.  

Homework – 1. Find Jeremiah’s other friends and allies (yes, he had some in his later years).  

2. Find all of the other priest and what they did in the Book of Jeremiah.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baruch_ben_Neriah

Josiah’s Generation, His Legacy, and The Day

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Josiah’s actions of cleansing the Land and the Temple, his Passover celebration, the legacy of prophetic ministries from his reign, and their relationship to “The Day” talked about by earlier prophets are acts of major significance.  This “breath of fresh air” in the family of David was God’s attempt to let Judah repent and put off the cleansing of the Land that had to come.

His importance was announced many years before his arrival in 1 Kings 13:2. This was a time of spiritual darkness when Jeroboam had divided Israel and was replacing Jehovah with man-made images.  An unnamed prophet came out of Judah, and prophesied the birth of Josiah and the destruction of Jeroboam’s altar; this story is finished in 2 Kings 23: 15 – 17.

Josiah’s shining light comes between two really dark chapters in the history of God’s people.  Manasseh and Amon took evil and ignoring God to the lowest point for Judah.  Then Josiah’s sons and grandsons ignored the reforms he made, inviting destruction of the Day for Jerusalem.  Jeremiah endured this abuse and had Burach chronicle it, Ezekiel and Daniel were also witnesses of this unfaithfulness of Judah and Israel, only they were in Babylon.

Imagine the voices trying to speak into his life at eight years old when he became king.  At sixteen he personally starts seeking God.  The amazing thing about this is that he had no scripture to refer to, I wonder if he knew of the prophecy during Jeroboam’s reign.  At twenty he started purging the Land, some areas were not in Judah.  After cleansing the Land, he turns to the Temple and orders it cleaned and restored; then the Law is given to him, and he realizes how far from God they have been.  This in turn forces him to find Huldah that leads him to celebrate Passover.

Points of a Josiah Generation

  • Josiah sought God. This in itself is not a grand idea, but the term “of his father David” clarifies exactly Who he sought.  It was not the current version or idea of God, but the God that helped David through the trials and hardship he endured, the God that showed Himself faithful.
  • Josiah physically removed and destroyed things that were offensive to God and hindered the mindset of Judah. In 2 Chronicles 34, the list of things that he destroyed was impressive.  I am certain that there was crumbling and opposition to this work; they were probably expensive and many of the people had grown up with these altars, images, and the “religious” activities that were associated with them.  WARNING: He took care of what he was responsible for!  He did not go into Moab, Edom, or Ammon trying to clean them up, he took care of what God had given the people of Israel.
  • In 2 Chronicles 34: 8 he knows there is another level that he has to go to. He turns to the “church.”  Things inside his worship house had been neglected and were broken.  An important point here is Josiah empowered the people to do the repairs and many/most were worshipers (vs. 12).  Verse 9 tells where the funds came from, the descendants of Judah and Rachel are listed by name, but other Tribes/people also gave!  The named tribes are the chosen first-born (Judah) and the heirs of the “loved wife” (Joseph and Benjamin).  Jesus has the people and the resources to fuel the revival that will happen before the “Day” arrives.
  • All of this leads to the “Book” once again being allowed to direct the people of God. PROVEN prophets of the Lord once again are consulted and the Lord speaks through them.
  • Josiah’s Passover symbolizes the revival that many are expecting to occur, but it came after a considerable amount of effort and actions.

SPOILER ALERT – Once Josiah was gone things came undone very quickly!  The offspring of the revival ignored God and twenty-two and a half years later Jerusalem was in ruins and the Land was getting to rest!

Josiah’s Prophets

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The fruit of a righteous king was prophets and young people who stood for God at a time when not standing for Him would have been comfortable.  Female, male, young, old, with hateful countrymen, or with pagan kings these voices for God carried a common theme and spoke of things in the future.  They stayed true and spoke when it was not easy.

  • Huldah is the wife of the wardrobe keeper (Temple garments for the priest). That would make them both Levites.  She was sought out after Josiah was read the Law and he realized just how much his father and grandfather had sinned.  Her word in 2 Chronicles 34: 22 – 28 is good for Josiah, but God has no intention of letting up on Judah.  She tells of the destruction to come, the theme found in all of these prophets of God.
  • Jeremiah to me is special. He endured four evil kings, his own family doing him harm, the people rejecting his words from God, seeing the prophesies fulfilled, and finally to die in Egypt where he did not want to be.  As a young man, God gave him a huge task, to test His people (6: 27 – 30).  Parts of Jeremiah are out of order, but I would think that his work during Josiah’s reign is from chapter 1 to 9/10.
  • Zephaniah – Chapter 1:1 clearly states the time of his ministry; 3:18 may indicate that he was serving before and during the eighteenth year of Josiah (it refers to “sorrows for the feast”). He may have influenced both Jeremiah and Ezekiel, but the Lord definitely spoke the same words through him that He spoke through Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
  • Ezekiel is best known for the visions he received about the new Temple and the new Jerusalem. Chapter 1:1 gives his age and verse two timestamps him starting his ministry in Jehoiachin’s fifth year of exile.  His location is north of the city of Babylon by the Kebar River/Canal.
  • Daniel started his role of prophet in Babylon during the reign of Jehoiakim, but he would have been influenced by Josiah and the feast during the thirteen years the Passover was observed. Being a royal he may have also known Jeremiah and had that influence as well. It could be possible that he met Ezekiel, but it is doubtful. Daniel’s locations are south of the one for Ezekiel.  Babylon, Susa, Ulai Canal, and the Tigris River are some of the locations mentioned in the Book of Daniel; it is noteworthy that two of his visions came when he was beside a river.  This custom survived into Paul’s time as seen in Acts 16: 13 when he found Lydia in Philippi.
  • Uriah (Jeremiah 26: 20 – 23) Actually, he is mentioned with King Jehoiakim but let’s put the start of his ministry during the time of Josiah. (The reasoning here is time, Jehoiakim was king for eleven years, so he should have been older than that!) He prophesied against Jerusalem and was hunted down and killed by Jehoiakim. This passage does give a look at Jehoiakim and some of his poor conduct.
  • There are several false prophets listed in Jeremiah, but like Uriah, we don’t know when they started. They are mentioned in the time period of Zedekiah. Both Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zephaniah have sections about false prophets: Jeremiah 23: 33, Ezekiel 13, Zephaniah 3: 4.

The Chronological Bible puts Habakkuk during Josiah’s reign.  That is as good as any place but he could have been with Isaiah and Micah.

Josiah By His Numbers

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I like 2 Chronicles 34 + 35 for Josiah’s life story, 2 Kings 22 is the other reference about his life.  They are basically the same but they were written for different audiences.

I have done several posts about numbers, so I will refer to them.  The numbers do highlight the prophetic nature of Josiah’s life.

Josiah’s Children

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Josiah’s sons and grandsons (the last kings of Israel before the Exile) are integral parts of the story that lead to the judgment of Jerusalem.  They are mentioned in several books including 2 Kings, 1 + 2 Chronicles, Jeremiah, and time stamps put them in Daniel, Esther, and Ezekiel. There is an interesting 3 months/11 year cycle that is mentioned (twice) with these men concerning their times as rulers! (another study) Actually, to fully understand these men, you should read Jeremiah along with Kings and Chronicles.

Johanan – 1 Chronicles 3: 15 states he was Josiah’s firstborn.  He is not mentioned anywhere else and an active imagination could go a long way with thinking about him.  Did he die with his father in the battle with Neco?  Was he righteous and the people did not want him so they choose Jehoahaz?

Jehoahaz/Shallum – When Josiah died the people made Jehoahaz king; this makes me wonder why?  A guess would be that Josiah had not prepared for his death or a new king.  It never says that they sought God as who the next king should have been, so it makes you wonder how and why “the people” could do this.  At twenty-three he was not the oldest of the sons, in fact, he may have been the fourth oldest son.  Josiah was sixteen when he fathered Jehoahaz.

Jehoahaz ignored the righteous work his father had done and went back to the practices of Amon and Manasseh.  This may have included sacrificing children and the return to other gods.  He lasted three months when Pharaoh Neco came in and took him to Egypt where he died.

Jehoiakim –  Pharaoh was in charge of Israel, again!  In reality, Israel was once again “slaves” of Egypt.  Neco showed his power by removing the king of “the people” and putting in one of his choosing.  In another show of power, Neco changes the king’s name; Eliakim (God establishes) was changed to Jehoiakim (Yahweh lifts up or establishes).  This is also the name that is in 1 Chronicles 3: 15 that identifies him as the second-born son of Josiah (Jehoahaz is not even mentioned instead he is called Shallum). (Name changes are a big deal in the Bible.)

He ruled eleven years and then died; he was thirty-six when he died.  He had fathered Jehoiachin at eighteen.  In 2 Kings 24, it explains some of his deeds were still due to the acts of Manasseh, and the judgment that had been pronounced.  He did burn Jeremiah’s scroll that was dictated to Baruch.

Jehoiachin – His name means “Yahweh supports” and it shows.  His rule started when he was eighteen and it lasted three months.  He was taken to Babylon and stayed in prison until he was fifty-five years old.  The reason he is so important, he is the grandfather of Zerubbabel. Kings and Chronicles don’t give much about him, so read Jeremiah 22:24 – 30.  Then temper this with Haggai 2: 23.

A signet ring lost and then restored.  Jeremiah 23 then talks about The Branch and this theme is repeated in Zechariah 3:8 (which is in the time frame of Haggai).  Jeremiah 24 completes the Lord’s thoughts about him and the other exiles.  If you only read Jeremiah 22 it is easy to get the impression that God “hates” Jehoiachin; actually, God did him a favor by bringing them out of Jerusalem.  (A side note here is that Zedekiah was also in prison with Jehoiachin but it never mentions Zedekiah receiving favor and being freed. Also, the names in 1 Chronicles are the “changed” names!  It seems everyone bought into the changes.)

Zedekiah – As Josiah’s youngest child (1 Chronicles 3: 15) he would have been born when Josiah was eighteen and was not much older than his nephew, Jehoiachin.  Jeremiah tells Zedekiah’s story, he is mention frequently starting in the 21st chapter until the end of the book.  (be careful there are other Zedekiah’s mentioned) He is the embodiment of the spiritual attitude of Judah at that time; at times he is seeking God, sometimes protecting Jeremiah, and then ready to give him to up to be abused.

His reign as king mirrors his spiritual life.  He accepts Babylon, he rejects Babylon and tries to come under Egypt; he just makes bad decisions.  So, he lasted eleven years and came to a bad end.  He had to watch his family die, and then his eyes were blinded.