Scripture Daily

Context No. 2107 of 4322 · 2 Kings

Context · Reflection

2 Kings 23:15-20: in context

15Moreover the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and beat it to dust, and burned the Asherah. 16As Josiah turned himself, he spied the tombs that were there in 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 LORD’s word which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. 17Then he said, “What monument is that which I see?” The men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done against the altar of Bethel.” 18He said, “Let him be! Let no one move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria. 19All 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. 20He killed all the priests of the high places that were there, on the altars, and burned men’s bones on them; and he returned to Jerusalem.

In the sweep of Josiah's reforms, he comes to the altar at Bethel, the center of idolatry set up centuries before by Jeroboam, and destroys it. And as he does, the account notes that this fulfilled a word spoken long before: according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed. Generations earlier, an unnamed prophet had stood before that very altar and foretold that a king named Josiah would one day defile it. Now, centuries later, Josiah does exactly that, by name, fulfilling to the letter a prophecy spoken long before his birth.

What stands out here is the precision and certainty of God's word across the long stretch of time. The prophecy against the Bethel altar had been spoken generations earlier, naming Josiah before he was born, foretelling exactly what he would do. Many years passed; kings came and went; the altar stood. And then, in God's time, the word came exactly to pass: Josiah, the very king named, defiled the very altar, fulfilling the prophecy in precise detail. The long delay did not weaken the word; it came true, to the letter, when its time arrived. This testifies to the reliability of God's word. What God speaks comes to pass, however long the fulfillment tarries. The word spoken generations before was not forgotten or emptied by the passing of time; it stood, certain, until it was fulfilled precisely. God's word does not fail; it does not return empty; it accomplishes what he sends it to do, in his time, however long that time may be. My word, God says through Isaiah, will not return to me void, but will accomplish what I please. This gives us confidence in all that God has spoken. His promises, though they may tarry, will be fulfilled; his warnings, though long delayed, will come to pass; his word stands certain across the generations. What looks like delay is not failure; the word waits for its appointed time and then comes exactly true, as the prophecy against Bethel waited centuries and then was fulfilled by Josiah, named before his birth. Heaven and earth will pass away, Jesus says, but my words will not pass away. This steadies us in trusting God's word, especially his promises that have not yet come to pass. The long delay of a promise does not mean it has failed; God's word is certain, and it will be fulfilled in his time, precisely, as surely as the word against Bethel was fulfilled by Josiah generations later. We can rest our confidence not on the speed of fulfillment but on the certainty of the God whose word does not return empty, but accomplishes exactly what he has spoken, however long its appointed time is in coming.

Do I doubt God's word, especially his promises that have long tarried without fulfillment, as though the delay meant they might fail, and can the prophecy against the Bethel altar, spoken generations before and fulfilled precisely by Josiah, named before his birth, assure me that God's word does not return empty but comes exactly to pass in his time, so that I rest my confidence on the certainty of the God whose word never fails, however long its appointed time is in coming?

Sources