Welcome

1. Adult II Couples Class Welcome discoverjoy.com

2. Have you known a friend or family member who experienced a “night and day” change, after they came to know Jesus Christ. Adult II Couples Class Question of the day discoverjoy.com

3. Prayer Requests -Tony: Cancer treatments -Cathy Laster: Cancer treatments -Abraham Garcia: Cancer treatments -The Savages -Country Haven Church -Rebecca Heup -Farrars Traveling

4. Church Stuff Class Events Church Events • Benevolence Fund • R.E.A.P. (R-Team) • Scripture Readers Needed • Monthly Fellowships • August?? • September?? • October?? • Dinner Out Friday (31 Aug) • 5th Sunday Breakfast (30 Sept) • Quarterly Service Project • Samaria Project? • Gideons (5 Aug) • May Wedding (11 Aug) • Widow’s Breakfast (18 Aug) • Deacon Chill-out (17 Aug) • E-Sunday (19 Aug)

5. Have you known a friend or family member who experienced a “night and day” change, after they came to know Jesus Christ. Adult II Couples Class Question of the day discoverjoy.com

6. Chronological Bible Discipleship Iva May and Dr. Stan May week thirty 2Kings/Jeremiah/Habakkuk/ 2Chronicles/Daniel

7. Review Creation: God reveals His goodness through creation and His mercy in response to sin. Patriarchs: God reveals His response to the faithful-ness of men (Job, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph). Exodus: God liberates Israel, and leads them to the Promised Land and shapes them into a nation holy to Himself. Conquest: Joshua, relying on God’s presence and power, leads Israel to possess and settle the Promised Land. Judges: Every man does what is right in his own eyes, and Israel falls into a cycle of disobedience, judgment, oppression and deliverance (the sin cycle). Kingdom: Israel asks for a king and God raises up a succes-sion of kings who rule over a united Israel, beginning with Saul and ending with Solomon.

8. Divided Kingdom Era • After the death of King Solomon, the nation of Israel divides into the North-ern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah) • Israel is ruled by a rapid succession of kings who completely neglect the Law and lead the people into idolatry for 200 years until they are carried into captivity by the Assyrians • Judah’s kings alternate between good and evil leader-ship, resulting in a slower devolution into idolatry and their eventual judgment by Babylon about 140 after Israel’s demise

9. Context • Israel’s history shows that their well-being rises and falls with their individual and national literacy of God’s Word • Judah experiences five periods of revival in 345 yr history • Asa – removes idols, restores temple altar • Jehoshaphat – removes idols, reinstates public reading of the Law • Joash – repairs temple, little in the way of reforms • Hezekiah – cleanses/repairs temple, reestablishes public worship and Passover celebration • Josiah – most comprehensive revival of all

10. Context • King Josiah takes the throne at eight years of age • At the age of 16 he sets his heart to seek the LORD • At age 20 he begins to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places and idols • At 26 he collects money for the priests to cleanse and repair the temple • They discover the Book of the Law which has been hidden there • Reading the Book of the Law produces faith and power resulting in two out-comes for the king and the people: • Conviction of sin • Renewal of righteousness

11. Overview • 2 Chronicles 34-35 records the effect that reading the Book of the Law had on King Josiah, the people of Judah and the fate of the nation before God.

12. Faith and obedience thrive in the hearts of the biblically literate; therefore it is critical that people have access to, and knowledge of God’s Word. Key Truth

13. THE Divided Kingdom Era 2 Chronicles 34 & 35 A King Experiences Revival The Power of God’s Word to Convict The Power of God’s Word to Restore Righteous Living

14. The Power of God’s Word to Convict 2 Chronicles 34:14-28

15. Power of God’s Word to Convict • Josiah Inherited a Nation Moving Away from God • Josiah’s father, Amon, had led Judah back into idol worship • He neglected God’s Word and refused to obey God (33:23) • Josiah began to Live for the LORD • Purged Judah of idols and the high places of worship (3-7) • Moved to reclaim and restore the temple from neglect (8-13)

16. Power of God’s Word to Convict • While Cleansing the Temple, Hilkiah the Priest Finds the “Book of the Law” • Could have been the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) • May have found just the Book of Deuteronomy • The Book of Deuteronomy would have been a summation of the whole law written by Moses • Need for Bible literacy in family, community, royal household • Warnings about intermarriage with the Canaanites • Admonition to destroy all Canaanite altars, idols and images • Sundry instructions intended to protect community and promote a flourishing society • The blessings of obedience and the cursings of disobedience

17. Power of God’s Word to Convict • Josiah Responds to Hearing the Words of the Law • Tears his clothes (outward sign of grief and distress over some disaster or calamity) • Josiah immediately sees how close to God’s wrath both he and the nation of Judah stand • Understands how he has failed as a king • Grasps how far Judah has fallen as a nation • Takes personal ownership of the situation • Sends a delegation to inquire of the LORD (20-21)

18. Power of God’s Word to Convict • He Respects and Receives the Word of Huldah, the Prophetess (22-28) • He Gathers the Elders of Judah and Jerusalem • Reads the Book of the Covenant in their hearing • Publicly dedicates himself to “…walk after the LORD, and keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant written in this book.” (31) • Calls everyone in Judah to do the same (32)

19. Discussion In Josiah’s day, the rubbish in the Temple hid the book of the Law from the people. What keeps people from discovering God’s Word today? What are some practical steps we can take to maintain awareness and knowledge of God’s Word? How important to the spiritual welfare of the nation was it for the king of Judah to publicly commit to follow the LORD?

20. The Power of God’s Word to Restore Righteous Living 2 Chronicles 35:1-6, 16-19

21. Power of God’s word to Restore Righteous Living • Josiah Leads in Preparing for the Passover (1-6) • Follows the prescribed observance as commanded in Exodus 12 • Began by ensuring the priests were prepared to serve and lead the people in the Passover rituals • Josiah Leads all of Judah in Celebrating the Passover (16-19) • Josiah sought to make a memorable impression on the people after long neglecting the Passover • “There had not been celebrated such a Passover as Josiah did with the priests, the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” (18)

22. Discussion What might Josiah’s specific instructions to the priests for preparing to lead in the Passover indicate about the state of the priesthood at that time? What led to the failure of the priests fulfill-ing their responsibilities in teaching and giving day to day direction in the spiritual lives of the people? Did the people of Judah bear any responsi-bility for that failure?

23. Conclusions • Moral failure, idol worship, and community discord accompany the lack of Bible literacy

24. Conclusions

25. Conclusions • Moral failure, idol worship, and community discord accompany the lack of Bible literacy • There is a parallel between Bible literacy and the spiritual health of God’s people • The spiritual vitality of the community is a direct reflection of the Bible literacy and spiritual strength of its leaders • Just at the priests lived without purpose and power in Josiah’s day, so ministers and other leaders struggle today when the Bible is hidden in a place where it should have prominence

26. Bible TRIViA QUIZ The Books of 2 Kings & Jeremiah(1pts) • How did the people respond to Jeremiah’s first prophecy about the coming destruction of Jerusalem? • “When Jeremiah finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “ You must die!” (Jer 26:8) • What were the Recabites famous for NOT doing? • “But they said, “We will not drink wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall not drink wine, you or your sons, forever.” (Jeremiah 35:6) • “In his days _______________ king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him.” • “In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him.” (2 Kings 24:1)

27. BONUS ROUND Bonus Questions (2pts) • What was the name of the Pharaoh that killed Josiah at Meggido Egypt? • “In his days Pharaoh Necoking of Egypt went up... And King Josiah went to meet him, and when Pharaoh Necosaw him he killed him at Megiddo. (2 Kings 23:29) • What did King Jehoiakim do with the scroll on which Jeremiah dictated the prophecy of the LORD against Jerusalem? • “When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe’s knife and threw it into the fire that was in the firepot, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the firepot.” (Jeremiah 34:23)

28. Daniel 1 A Captive Kingdom Adult II Couples Class Next week….. discoverjoy.com