DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR WEDNESDAY AUGUST 5:
WORD OF WISDOM
Surviving and living your life successfully requires courage. The goals and
dreams you're seeking require courage and risk taking. Learn from the
turtle, it only makes progress when it sticks out its neck.
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DAILY DEVOTION
When God is Silent
"For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to
grow..."
(James 1:3, NLT)
Sometimes when we're being tested by discouragement, it seems God is silent.
We pray and don't hear anything. We read the Scripture and still come away
feeling as though God is a million miles away. It's easy to think something
must be wrong. But remember, this is a test. You have to pass the test of
being faithful where you are. Keep stretching, praying, and believing. The
next step is coming-an increase step, a favor step, a healing step, a
breakthrough step.
When God is silent, don't assume He's left you or is mad at you. He is right
there with you during the test. His silence is a sign that He has great
confidence in you and He has prepared you, and now He is watching to see if
you have learned. He knows you will come through the test victoriously or He
would not have permitted you to be tested. Keep being your best with what
you have.
A Prayer for Today
Father, thank You for the good plan You have for my life. Even when I don't
understand things, I choose to put my hope and trust in You. Help me to live
in Your joy and pass the discouragement test when You seem to be silent. In
Jesus' Name, Amen.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
2 Kings 22-23 & 2 Chronicles 34-35
2 Kings 22-23 New King James Version (NKJV)
Josiah Reigns in Judah
22 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one
years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of
Bozkath. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in
all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or
to the left.
Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law
3 Now it came to pass, in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, that the king
sent Shaphan the scribe, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the
house of the Lord, saying: 4 "Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may
count the money which has been brought into the house of the Lord, which the
doorkeepers have gathered from the people. 5 And let them deliver it into
the hand of those doing the work, who are the overseers in the house of the
Lord; let them give it to those who are in the house of the Lord doing the
work, to repair the damages of the house- 6 to carpenters and builders and
masons-and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house. 7 However there
need be no accounting made with them of the money delivered into their hand,
because they deal faithfully."
8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the
Book of the Law in the house of the Lord." And Hilkiah gave the book to
Shaphan, and he read it. 9 So Shaphan the scribe went to the king, bringing
the king word, saying, "Your servants have [a]gathered the money that was
found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of those who do the
work, who oversee the house of the Lord." 10 Then Shaphan the scribe showed
the king, saying, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read
it before the king.
11 Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law,
that he tore his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest,
Ahikam the son of Shaphan, [b]Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the
scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, 13 "Go, inquire of the
Lord for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this
book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is aroused
against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to
do according to all that is written concerning us."
14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah
the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas,
keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And
they spoke with her. 15 Then she said to them, "Thus says the Lord God of
Israel, 'Tell the man who sent you to Me, 16 "Thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I
will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants-all the words of
the book which the king of Judah has read- 17 because they have forsaken Me
and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with
all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath shall be aroused against
this place and shall not be quenched.' " ' 18 But as for the king of Judah,
who sent you to inquire of the Lord, in this manner you shall speak to him,
'Thus says the Lord God of Israel: "Concerning the words which you have
heard- 19 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the
Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its
inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore
your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you," says the Lord. 20
"Surely, therefore, I will [c]gather you to your fathers, and you shall
[d]be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the
calamity which I will bring on this place." ' " So they brought back word to
the king.
Josiah Restores True Worship
23 Now the king sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to
him. 2 The king went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah,
and with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem-the priests and the prophets
and all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all
the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of
the Lord.
3 Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to
follow the Lord and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His
statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this
covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for
the covenant. 4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests
of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the
Lord all the articles that were made for Baal, for [e]Asherah, and for all
[f]the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of
Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 Then he removed the idolatrous
priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high
places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and
those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the
[g]constellations, and to all the host of heaven. 6 And he brought out the
wooden[h] image from the house of the Lord, to the Brook Kidron outside
Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and ground it to ashes, and threw
its ashes on the graves of the common people. 7 Then he tore down the ritual
[i]booths of the [j]perverted persons that were in the house of the Lord,
where the women wove hangings for the wooden image. 8 And he brought all the
priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the
priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; also he broke down the
high places at the gates which were at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua
the governor of the city, which were to the left of the city gate. 9
Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of
the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brethren.
10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the [k]Son of Hinnom,
that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to
Molech. 11 Then he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had
[l]dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the
chamber of Nathan-Melech, the officer who was in the court; and he burned
the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 The altars that were on the roof, 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, the king
broke down and pulverized there, and threw their dust into the Brook Kidron.
13 Then the king defiled the [m]high places that were east of Jerusalem,
which were on the [n]south of [o]the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon king
of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for
Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of
the people of Ammon. 14 And he broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut
down the wooden images, and filled their places with the bones of men.
15 Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the [p]high place which
Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar
and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and crushed
it to powder, and burned the wooden image. 16 As Josiah turned, he saw the
tombs that were there on the mountain. And he sent and took the bones out of
the tombs and burned them on the altar, and defiled it according to the word
of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. 17
Then he said, "What gravestone is this that I see?"
So the men of the city told him, "It is the tomb of the man of God who came
from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar
of Bethel."
18 And he said, "Let him alone; let no one move his bones." So they let his
bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.
19 Now Josiah also took away all the [q]shrines of the [r]high places that
were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke
[s]the Lord to anger; and he did to them according to all the deeds he had
done in Bethel. 20 He executed all the priests of the [t]high places who
were there, on the altars, and burned men's bones on them; and he returned
to Jerusalem.
21 Then the king commanded all the people, saying, "Keep the Passover to the
Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant." 22 Such a
Passover surely had never been held since the days of the judges who judged
Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah.
23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was held before
the Lord in Jerusalem. 24 Moreover Josiah put away those who consulted
mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, all the abominations
that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, 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 Now before him there was no king like
him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with
all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any
arise like him.
Impending Judgment on Judah
26 Nevertheless the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great
wrath, with which His anger was aroused against Judah, because of all the
provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. 27 And the Lord said, "I
will also remove Judah from 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.' "
Josiah Dies in Battle
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
Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went [u]to the aid of the king of Assyria, to
the River Euphrates; and King Josiah went against him. And Pharaoh Necho
killed him at Megiddo when he confronted him. 30 Then his servants moved his
body in a chariot from Megiddo, brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in
his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah,
anointed him, and made him king in his father's place.
The Reign and Captivity of Jehoahaz
31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned
three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of
Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according
to all that his fathers had done. 33 Now Pharaoh Necho put him in prison at
Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he
imposed on the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and a talent
of gold. 34 Then Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place
of his father Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Pharaoh took
Jehoahaz and went to Egypt, and [v]he died there.
Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah
35 So Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land
to give money according to the command of Pharaoh; he exacted the silver and
gold from the people of the land, from every one according to his
assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Necho. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years
old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His
mother's name was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37 And he did
evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.
Footnotes:
2 Kings 22:9 Lit. poured out
2 Kings 22:12 Abdon the son of Micah, 2 Chr. 34:20
2 Kings 22:20 Cause you to join your ancestors in death
2 Kings 22:20 Die a natural death
2 Kings 23:4 A Canaanite goddess
2 Kings 23:4 The gods of the Assyrians
2 Kings 23:5 Of the Zodiac
2 Kings 23:6 Heb. Asherah, a Canaanite goddess
2 Kings 23:7 Lit. houses
2 Kings 23:7 Heb. qedeshim, those practicing sodomy and prostitution in
religious rituals
2 Kings 23:10 Kt. Sons
2 Kings 23:11 given
2 Kings 23:13 Places for pagan worship
2 Kings 23:13 Lit. right of
2 Kings 23:13 The Mount of Olives
2 Kings 23:15 A place for pagan worship
2 Kings 23:19 Lit. houses
2 Kings 23:19 Places for pagan worship
2 Kings 23:19 So with LXX, Syr., Vg.; MT, Tg. omit the Lord
2 Kings 23:20 Places for pagan worship
2 Kings 23:29 Or to attack, Heb. al can mean together with or against
2 Kings 23:34 Jehoahaz
2 Chronicles 34-35 New King James Version (NKJV)
Josiah Reigns in Judah
34 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one
years in Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord,
and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the
right hand or to the left.
3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to
seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge
Judah and Jerusalem of the [a]high places, the wooden images, the carved
images, and the molded images. 4 They broke down the altars of the Baals in
his presence, and the incense altars which were above them he cut down; and
the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images he broke in
pieces, and made dust of them and scattered it on the graves of those who
had sacrificed to them. 5 He also burned the bones of the priests on their
altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. 6 And so he did in the cities of
Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali and all around, with
[b]axes. 7 When he had broken down the altars and the wooden images, had
beaten the carved images into powder, and cut down all the incense altars
throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.
Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law
8 In the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the
[c]temple, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of the
city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the
Lord his God. 9 When they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered
the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites who kept
the doors had gathered from the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, from all the
remnant of Israel, from all Judah and Benjamin, and which they had brought
back to Jerusalem. 10 Then they put it in the hand of the foremen who had
the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they gave it to the workmen who
worked in the house of the Lord, to repair and restore the house. 11 They
gave it to the craftsmen and builders to buy hewn stone and timber for
beams, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed. 12
And the men did the work faithfully. Their overseers were Jahath and Obadiah
the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons
of the Kohathites, to supervise. Others of the Levites, all of whom were
skillful with instruments of music, 13 were over the burden bearers and were
overseers of all who did work in any kind of service. And some of the
Levites were scribes, officers, and gatekeepers.
14 Now when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of
the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord given by
Moses. 15 Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have
found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord." And Hilkiah gave the
book to Shaphan. 16 So Shaphan carried the book to the king, bringing the
king word, saying, "All that was committed to your servants they are doing.
17 And they have [d]gathered the money that was found in the house of the
Lord, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen."
18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, "Hilkiah the priest has
given me a book." And Shaphan read it before the king.
19 Thus it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law, that he tore
his clothes. 20 Then the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan,
[e]Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the
king, saying, 21 "Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for those who are left
in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found; for
great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us, because our fathers
have not kept the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is written
in this book."
22 So Hilkiah and those the king had appointed went to Huldah the
prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of [f]Tokhath, the son of [g]Hasrah,
keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And
they spoke to her to that effect.
23 Then she answered them, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel, 'Tell the man
who sent you to Me, 24 "Thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I will bring calamity
on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the
book which they have read before the king of Judah, 25 because they have
forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to
anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath will be poured
out on this place, and not be quenched.' " ' 26 But as for the king of
Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, in this manner you shall speak
to him, 'Thus says the Lord God of Israel: "Concerning the words which you
have heard- 27 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself
before God when you heard His words against this place and against its
inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes
and wept before Me, I also have heard you," says the Lord. 28 "Surely I will
gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in
peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on
this place and its inhabitants." ' " So they brought back word to the king.
Josiah Restores True Worship
29 Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30
The king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem-the priests and the Levites, and all the people,
great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of
the Covenant which had been found in the house of the Lord. 31 Then the king
stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord,
and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all
his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were
written in this book. 32 And he made all who were present in Jerusalem and
Benjamin take a stand. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the
covenant of God, the God of their fathers. 33 Thus Josiah removed all the
abominations from all the country that belonged to the children of Israel,
and made all who were present in Israel [h]diligently serve the Lord their
God. All his days they did not depart from following the Lord God of their
fathers.
Josiah Keeps the Passover
35 Now Josiah kept a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered
the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the first month. 2 And he set
the priests in their duties and encouraged them for the service of the house
of the Lord. 3 Then he said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were
holy to the Lord: "Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of
David, king of Israel, built. It shall no longer be a burden on your
shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel. 4 Prepare
yourselves according to your fathers' [i]houses, according to your
divisions, following the written instruction of David king of Israel and the
written instruction of Solomon his son. 5 And stand in the holy place
according to the divisions of the fathers' houses of your brethren the lay
people, and according to the division of the father's house of the Levites.
6 So slaughter the Passover offerings, consecrate yourselves, and prepare
them for your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord
by the hand of Moses."
7 Then Josiah gave the lay people lambs and young goats from the flock, all
for Passover offerings for all who were present, to the number of thirty
thousand, as well as three thousand cattle; these were from the king's
possessions. 8 And his leaders gave willingly to the people, to the priests,
and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, rulers of the house of
God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings two thousand six hundred
from the flock, and three hundred cattle. 9 Also Conaniah, his brothers
Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the
Levites, gave to the Levites for Passover offerings five thousand from the
flock and five hundred cattle.
10 So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their places, and
the Levites in their divisions, according to the king's command. 11 And they
slaughtered the Passover offerings; and the priests sprinkled the blood with
their hands, while the Levites skinned the animals. 12 Then they removed the
burnt offerings that they might give them to the divisions of the fathers'
houses of the lay people, to offer to the Lord, as it is written in the Book
of Moses. And so they did with the cattle. 13 Also they roasted the Passover
offerings with fire according to the ordinance; but the other holy offerings
they boiled in pots, in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them quickly
among all the lay people. 14 Then afterward they prepared portions for
themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were
busy in offering burnt offerings and fat until night; therefore the Levites
prepared portions for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron. 15
And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their places, according to the
command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer. Also the
gatekeepers were at each gate; they did not have to leave their position,
because their brethren the Levites prepared portions for them.
16 So all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day, to keep the
Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to
the command of King Josiah. 17 And the children of Israel who were present
kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven
days. 18 There had been no Passover kept in Israel like that since the days
of Samuel the prophet; and none of the kings of Israel had kept such a
Passover as Josiah kept, with the priests and the Levites, all Judah and
Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 19 In the
eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was kept.
Josiah Dies in Battle
20 After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt
came up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates; and Josiah went out
against him. 21 But he sent messengers to him, saying, "What have I to do
with you, king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against
the house with which I have war; for God commanded me to make haste. Refrain
from meddling with God, who is with me, lest He destroy you." 22
Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself
so that he might fight with him, and did not heed the words of Necho from
the mouth of God. So he came to fight in the Valley of Megiddo.
23 And the archers shot King Josiah; and the king said to his servants,
"Take me away, for I am severely wounded." 24 His servants therefore took
him out of that chariot and put him in the second chariot that he had, and
they brought him to Jerusalem. So he died, and was buried in one of the
tombs of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
25 Jeremiah also lamented for Josiah. And to this day all the singing men
and the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations. They made it a
custom in Israel; and indeed they are written in the Laments.
26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his goodness, according to what
was written in the Law of the Lord, 27 and his deeds from first to last,
indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
Footnotes:
2 Chronicles 34:3 Places for pagan worship
2 Chronicles 34:6 Lit. swords
2 Chronicles 34:8 Lit. house
2 Chronicles 34:17 Lit. poured out
2 Chronicles 34:20 Achbor the son of Michaiah, 2 Kin. 22:12
2 Chronicles 34:22 Tikvah, 2 Kin. 22:14
2 Chronicles 34:22 Harhas, 2 Kin. 22:14
2 Chronicles 34:33 Lit. serve to serve
2 Chronicles 35:4 households
