旧约 - 列王记下(2 Kings)第23章

And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
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.
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.
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.
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, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
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 down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount 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.
And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.
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.
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.
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.
And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.
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.
And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.
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.
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;
But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.
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.
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.
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.
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.
And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.
列王纪下第廿三章   第 23 章 

  王下 23:1-2> 23:1-2 关于圣殿的重要性及其中日常运作的详情、敬拜和礼仪等,请参看列王纪上 5 章至 8 章,历代志下 2 至 7 章。 

  王下 23:4-8> 什么样的顺服行动才和痛悔的心相称? 

  23:4-8 约西亚一看到犹大人宗教生活的败坏就加以纠正。单单说什么是对的并不足够,我们必须用行动作回应来表明信心。这正是雅各在他的书信之中所强调的,“没有行为的信心是死的”(雅 2:20 )。这是指在家庭、学校、工作岗位和教会之中,都要表现出与不信者有明显差异的行为。单单讲顺服神并不足够。 

  王下 23:6> 耶和华的殿里竟有偶像,怎么回事? 

  23:6 可憎的亚舍拉柱像是恶王玛拿西立在耶和华殿中的( 21:7 )。居民常将她看作海上女神,又是巴力的妻子。她是迦南人的主要女神,敬拜她的人以性与战争为夸耀,并且有娈童,就是男妓,供敬拜之人行污秽的事。 

  王下 23:11> 23:11 这些马是供游行之用,表示尊敬太阳。 

  王下 23:13> 橄榄山在以色列的历史中有何特别之处? 

  23:13 这节经文称橄榄山为邪僻山,因为古人喜欢在那山上建筑异教的庙宇。所罗门建造了一座异教的庙宇,其他君王也在那里建造拜偶像之处。但敬畏神的君王,像希西家与约西亚等人,则将这些异教敬拜中心拆毁。在新约时代,主耶稣常坐在橄榄山上教导门徒单单要事奉独一的神(参太 24:3 )。(关于亚斯她录、基抹与摩洛的详情,请参王上 11:5-8 的注释。) 

  王下 23:16-18> 23:16-18 这段经文所提到的预言,记载在列王纪上 13 章 20 至 32 节。 

  王下 23:21-23> 神要人守节的目的是什么?怎样在今日也守神的吩咐呢? 

  23:21-23 约西亚从约书之中看到神吩咐人民守逾越节,就下令全国要完全照律法书的规定守这节期。这个节日,是以色列人一年一度的假日,以纪念全族蒙神拯救、脱离在埃及受奴役的日子(参出 12 );但是他们已经多年没有守这节期了,其结果是,“自从士师治理以色列人和以色列王、犹大王的时候,直到如今,实在没有守过这样的逾越节。”人有普遍的错误观念,以为神反对人庆祝节期,不要人享受欢喜快活。实际上,神赐下丰盛的生命(参约 10:10 ),凡爱祂的人皆充满喜乐,有数说不尽的恩典。 

  王下 23:25> 约西亚尽心、尽性、尽力归向神,我──在,哪些方面仍需努力? 

  23:25 以色列人纪念约西亚,因他是犹大国最顺服神的君王。他的顺服方式是:( 1 )认识罪的可怕;( 2 )清除了带罪的习俗;( 3 )消除犯罪的肇因。这些对付罪的方式,在现代也是有效的。我们不但要除去罪行,也要除去罪的源头──就是一切可能带来试探的情势、关系、工作、行为和生活方式。 

  王下 23:25> 要像两位王那样依靠、顺服神,太难?不太难? 

  23:25 约西亚与希西家( 18:5 )都因为敬畏神而受称赞。圣经说希西家对神有最大的倚靠(表明信心),约西亚则极力遵行神的律法(表明顺服)。我们可以效法他们的榜样,信靠神并有顺服祂的行为。 

  约西亚 

  王下 23:29> 约西亚壮志未酬身先死…… 

  23:29 埃及王法老尼哥取道犹大,前往救援被攻的亚述(“攻击”依原文亦可译为“帮助”)。他们二国联盟,要与巴比伦争战,因巴比伦有成为超级强国的趋势,将来会成为他们的威胁。约西亚想到这联军与巴比伦争战以后可能再攻击他,所以想阻止埃及军队经他国境前往亚述。不幸,他本人被杀,军队被打败,犹大国变成埃及的附庸(公元前 609 年)。历代志下 35 章 20 至 25 节有更详细的记载。 

  王下 23:31-34> 皮之不存,毛将焉附?国既破,王又如何…… 

  23:31-34 犹大人立约西亚的一个儿子约哈斯接续王位。但埃及王法老尼哥不满意,把约哈斯带到埃及,他也死在那里。尼哥又立约西亚的另一个儿子以利亚敬作犹大王,为他改名为约雅敬,约雅敬差不多也是傀儡君王。埃及在公元前 605 年被巴比伦打败,于是犹大又变成巴比伦的附庸( 24:1 )。 

  王下 23:36-37> 昏君的下场可以让世人明白── 

  23:36-37 约西亚顺服神,但儿子约雅敬则是个昏君。他杀死先知乌利亚(参耶 26:20-23 ),他不诚实、贪婪、欺压人民(参耶 22:13-19 )、背叛巴比伦转向埃及效忠,这些都是严重的错误。巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒粉碎了他的叛变,把他带到巴比伦(参代下 36:6 ),后来容许他回耶路撒冷,最后死在那里,死因不详。 

  王下 23:37> 两个儿子与约西亚成为鲜明对比,身为父母的有何感受? 

  23:37 许多贤明君王的儿女并不能自然而然地信靠神。也许由于父辈忽略了这件事,或全身心投入于政治军事上的事务,或由于君王多委派别人教自己的儿女,不亲自在信仰上进行教导。无怪乎许多儿女长大后,违背了父辈信仰的正道。父母的信心坚强,并不保证儿女会承受他们的信仰。所以父母必须亲自教导他们信靠神,不可叫别人去代劳。你必须把你所讲之道付诸实行、解释并教导儿女。──《灵修版圣经注释》