The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 188: The Book of the Law (2023)

Episode Date: July 7, 2023

Fr. Mike introduces us to the Book of Proverbs, while reflecting on the lack of devotion Israel has shown towards God and the Book of the Law. Much like God gave the Book of the Law to Israel, he's given the Bible to us to continue following him faithfully. Today's readings are 2 Kings 22, 2 Chronicles 33, and Proverbs 7. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 188. We're reading 2 Kings chapter 22, 2 Chronicles chapter 33. And we are reading now, not from Psalms, but from the book of Proverbs, one of the wisdom books,

Proverbs chapter 7, the entire chapter of chapter 7. The Bible translation that I am reading from is the Revised Standard Version, the Second Catholic Edition. And I am using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. You can also subscribe if you'd like to subscribe, but it is day 100 and 88. No more comments. We're reading 2 Kings 2.2, right? Fun to say. We're also reading 2 Chronicles 33, and we are praying, kind of, more getting some wisdom from Proverbs chapter 7. The second book of Kings, chapter 22. Josiah reigns over Judah. Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidiah,

the daughter of Adiah of Bozkath. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. Hilkiah finds the book of the law. In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah, son of Meshulam, the secretary, to the house of the Lord, saying, Go up to Hilkiah, the high priest, that he may reckon the amount of the money which has been brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people, and let it be given into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord, and let them give it to the workmen who are at the house of the Lord, repairing the house, that is, to the carpenters

and to the builders and to the masons, as well as for buying timber and quarried stone to repair the house. But no accounting shall be asked from them for the money which is delivered into their hands, for they deal honestly. And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, 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. And Shaphan the secretary came to the king and reported to the king,

your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord. Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, Hilkiah the priest has given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. Josiah hears the law and is penitent. And when the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahicham the son of Shaphan, and Echbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and 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 kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book to do according to all that is written concerning us. So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Akbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shalom, the son of Tikva, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. Now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter, and they talked with her. And she said to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, Tell the man who sent you to me. Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place and upon its inhabitants all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read, because they have forsaken me and have burned incense to other gods,

that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands. Therefore, my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. But as to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, regarding the words which you have heard, because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place, and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, says the Lord. Therefore, behold, 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 evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought back word to the king.

The second book of Chronicles chapter 33, Manasseh's evil reign over Judah. Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 55 years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the sons of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places which his father Hezekiah had broken down, and erected altars to the Baals, and made Asherahs, and worshipped all the hosts of heaven, and served them. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be forever. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be forever. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the

two courts of the house of the Lord. And he burned his sons as an offering in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and practiced soothsaying, and augury, and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. And the image of the idol which he had made, he set in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, in this house and in Jerusalem,

which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. And I will no more remove the foot of Israel from the land which I appointed to your fathers. If only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the ordinances given through Moses. Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they did more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel.

Manasseh restored after repentance. The Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they gave no heed. Therefore the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks and bound him with fetters of bronze and brought him to Babylon. And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God received his entreaty and heard his supplication and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God. Afterwards, he built an outer wall for the city of David west of Gihon in the valley and for the entrance into the fish gate and carried it round Oph, and raised it to a very great height.

He also put commanders of the army in all the fortified cities in Judah. And he took away the foreign gods, and the idol from the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside of the city. He also restored the altar of the Lord, and offered upon it sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving. of the Lord and offered upon it sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving. And he commanded Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the Lord their God. Death of Manasseh. Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and his prayer to his God and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, behold, they are in the chronicles of the kings of Israel. And his prayer, and how God received his entreaty,

and all his sin, and his faithlessness, and the sites on which he built high places, and set up the ashram and the images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the chronicles of the seers. So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his house. And Amon his son buried him in his house. And Amon his son reigned in his stead. Amon's Reign and Death Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem.

He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done. Amon sacrificed to all the images that Manasseh his father had made and served them. And he did not humble himself before the Lord as Manasseh his father had humbled himself. But this Amon incurred guilt more and more. And his servants conspired against him and killed him in his house. But the people of the land slew all those who had conspired against King Amon. And the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead. The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 7. False Attractions of Adultery. My son, keep my words, and treasure up my commandments with you. Keep my commandments, and live. Keep my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers.

Write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, you are my sister, and call insight your intimate friend to preserve you from the loose woman and from the adventurous with her smooth words. For at the window of my house, I have looked out through my lattice, and I have seen among the simple,

I have perceived among the youths, a young man without sense, passing along the street near the corner, taking the road to her house, in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness. And behold, a woman meets him, dressed as a harlot, wily of heart. She is loud and wayward. Her feet do not stay at home. Now in the street, now in the market, and at every corner she lies in wait. She seizes him and kisses him, and with impudent face she says to him, I had to offer sacrifices, and today I have paid my vows. So now I have come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, and I have found you. I have decked my couch with coverings,

colored spreads of Egyptian linen. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love till morning. Let us delight ourselves with love, for my husband is not at home. He has gone on a long journey. He took a bag of money with him. At full moon he will come home. With much seductive speech she persuades him. With her smooth talk she compels him.

All at once he follows her as an ox goes to the slaughter or as a stag is caught fast till an arrow pierces its entrails as a bird rushes into a snare he does not know that it will cost him his life and now oh sons listen to me and be attentive to the words of my mouth. Let not your heart turn aside to her ways. Do not stray into her paths. For many a victim has she laid low. Yes, all her slain are a mighty host. Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death. Father in heaven, we thank you. We give you praise. Thank you for being such a good dad to us, for loving us in our weakness,

for loving us when we don't love, not only when we don't love you back, when we don't love each other, when we don't love the people that you've placed in our lives. Lord God, you still are love and you still have made us for love and you still call us to love.

Even when we have wandered away from you, Lord, you continue to made us for love and you still call us to love. Even when we have wandered away from you, Lord, you continue to call us back to you. Reveal your heart to us. Continue to reveal your word to us this day and every day. Continue to allow us to hear your voice and to not just hear your voice, but to truly listen to the depths of your heart. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Also, Proverbs chapter 7, we're back at Proverbs. So we left the Psalms for just a little bit. When I say just a little bit, what I really mean is for the next, I don't know, 100 days or so, but over a while. But as you journey through Proverbs, a number of things, the author of Proverbs will often use imagery.

And the imagery is here of the adulteress or of the harlot, right? And yes, so there's the imagery of even the imagery of sexual sin. Now, while that is real, obviously, it's a real sin, that can also be an imagery for all other sins. So it's just kind of the most obvious, right? Where it comes to certain types of sins, we don't necessarily all know what it is to be tempted to gamble or to be tempted towards anger. We don't necessarily all know what it is to be tempted towards vengeance or towards gossip, all these kinds of things. But I think it's pretty common to the human race to know what it is to be tempted towards

sexual sin. And so while, yes, they are specifically talking about that particular kind of sin here in Proverbs 7, it's also a metaphor for all sin that is seductive, like all sin that calls to our heart. In particular, in the Bible, adultery is often the image for idolatry. That sense, we went to Hosea, that was the same kind of idea, right? Is that here's Hosea with his wife, Gomer, who was unfaithful to him. And that was an image of the people of Israel being unfaithful to the love of God. And so again, when we read through these things, yes, we can definitely see the foolishness and the allure, the attraction of

certain kinds of sins that are pulled out here in Proverbs. But we also can see them as an example of how all sins just draw our heart away from what we know is true. And you could even see that it says here that the young man, here's the author of Proverbs looking out through his window and he sees, I can see it. I can see it going down right now. Here is this young man and he's out in the street and there she is. I've seen this happen night after night after night. And he's going into the darkness when no one else can see him. He's doing this. And this is what we all do when it comes to sin is there's so many sins that we would avoid if people were around, but it's the anonymity of the sin that often gets us into trouble. And that's one of the reasons why accountability can be so, so incredible.

And it's so incredibly important. If much of our lives are spent hidden, if most of our lives, even these dark parts of our lives, the broken parts of our lives are spent hidden from others, then we can't help but also in some ways hide them from ourselves. And so our call, right, is not to anonymity. Our call is to accountability. And that's just one of the ways that we can walk in the light and not in the darkness. Well, a couple of quick notes about 2 Kings and about 2 Chronicles. First, 2 Chronicles tells us a little bit of information about Manasseh that at some point, Rebbe Hezekiah was a great king. Well, until the last 15 years of his life, he didn't use those years in the best possible ways, but he did have a son who was not a great king, who again, tore down the true altars in the temple,

who set up his own altars in the temple and then his own high places around Judah. And yet at some point he had some kind of repentance when he was brought off to Babylon that he became basically, they say, a vassal of Assyria, of that army, the kingdom of Babylon. But in that he was humbled, in that he came back to the Lord and Babylon. But in that, he was humbled. In that, he came back to

the Lord and the Lord heard his prayer, which is remarkable. Again, here is a horrible Manasseh who led so many people into sin. And yet when he repented, when he repented, the Lord heard his prayer. And this is such, such good news for us because we went from Hezekiah, this great king, to Manasseh, this evil king, who also had an opportunity to repent. And when he cried to the Lord, the Lord heard his voice. And that is so, so, so important for us. Josiah, here's the last little note. Josiah, you know, remember, made king when he was eight years old. And in his 18th year, what happened? Hilkiah found the book of the law in the temple. They must have lost it, which is

remarkable and remarkably irresponsible because not only should the entire people have known the book of the law, but it was, remember going back to Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy 17, it tells us that each king was to have a personal copy of the law and he was to read it every single day. And also Deuteronomy 31 tells us that the entire law was to be read to an assembly of the nations once every seven years at the Feast of Tabernacles to keep the law before the people. Like this is one of those things where this was supposed to have been going on every single day. Josiah and every king before him was supposed to have been reading the law every single day. The people should have heard the law regularly and they lost it.

They lost it. They had this incredible gift. Remember, the book of the law is their whole story. The book of the law is the reminder of the covenant. The book of the law is the reminder of who God is and they lost it. And I think it's worth reflecting on today. How many times has God given so much of himself? He's revealed so much of himself.

And we just put it to the side and we just lost it. I mean, it's part of the reason why we're here on day 188. So many of you, I know there are many of you, this is not your first rodeo. This isn't your first trip through the Bible. But many of us, this is. And we just get to be like Josiah today and get to say, oh my goodness, Lord, this has been at my fingertips my entire life maybe. And now here you are. And now I'm finally listening. I'm finally getting it. I'm finally being faithful to you. And that's what a grace. How much God loves you. Honestly, how much God loves you that you are right now. You are Josiah.

You are Josiah. Having found the book of the word of the Lord. Oh, my goodness. Having found the word of God, and here you are on day 188, saying today, like you've been saying for 187 days before this, God, thank you for your word. I lost it. I didn't know I had it. I didn't know how to read it. I didn't know how to listen to it.

But here you are, faithful. Ah, and again, if you're a son or daughter of God, you're a king or a queen. So faithful King Josiah and faithful Queen you. So gosh, what a gift. Well, I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. Let's pray for each other because we don't want to ever, ever again lose the book of the law. We don't want to allow our pride to turn us away from the Lord. We just want to be close to him, not to walk in the dark, but to live in the light. Again, please pray for me. I'm praying for you. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless. you