1. Josiah¡Çs death and the devastation of Judah
Today is the last session of the trimestrial series of the Books of Kings and the reading passage is 2 Kings 23 of which theme is the death of Josiah. However we had already reflected on the subject so we concentrate today rather on chapter 25 to make a summery of the series.

2 Kings 25 is the last chapter of the Books and it tells how the history moved forward after Josiah¡Çs death. Josiah, the king of Judah, was killed in 609 BC in the middle of a battle against Egypt and his nation was made one of Egyptian satellite nations. Then ; - The people of Judah chose Josiah’s son Jehoahaz and poured olive oil on him to make him king in his father’s place.(2 Kings 23:30) (³¤­…)

1. Josiah¡Çs Reformation and failure
We kept reading the Books of Kings. Last Sunday we learned that Josiah the king of Judah repented after reading ¡Æthe Book of the Agreement¡Ç which was found in the Temple. He understood that, if the people of Judah would still do wrong against God, the country must perish. Therefore he launched the religious reformation. However that attempt collapsed and Judah was destroyed after the death of Josiah. Today we will see more details of Josiah¡Çs movements in order to grasp the notion of the Providence which intervenes into the History. As I mentioned before, what we believe and worship determines our life and the future of the nation. (³¤­…)

1. Finding Deuteronomy and Josiah¡Çs repentance
We keep reading the Book of Kings and previously learned about the reigns of kings of Judah since Manasseh. And we wondered if all humans, like those kings, cannot live out of the stream of fate. Manasseh, the king of Judah, accepted Assyrian religious rites. For that reason, he and considered to be evil. However, when we look back the history, we see that his alternative was inevitable to maintain the country in peace. Facing the expansion of the superpower Assyria, a small and weak nation like Judah had no choice to survive but becoming a satellite state of Assyria. (³¤­…)

1. Kings under vicissitudes of the history
We keep reading the second Kings and today¡Çs given passage is the chapter 22. The portion tells about the last religious reformation in Judah by Josiah. During the reign of Hezekiah, Judah had hardly avoided the Assyrian invasion and maintained the independence. But in the time of Manasseh, a son of Hezekiah, Assyrian military power gat stronger and Judah was made one of its satellite-nations. As a result, Manasseh must introduce again Assyrian religious rites which had been abolished by his father. ; - Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king,… . He did the hateful things the other nations had done—the nations that the Lord had forced out of the land ahead of the Israelites. Manasseh’s father, Hezekiah, had destroyed the places where gods were worshiped, but Manasseh rebuilt them. He built altars for Baal, and he made an Asherah idol as Ahab king of Israel had done. (2 Kings 21:1-4 ) (³¤­…)

1. Hezekiah¡Çs recovery from a deadly illness
We keep reading the Books of Kings and learned about the crisis of Judah the last Sunday. When Judah was menaced by the attack of the powerful Assyrian army, God protected it with a miraculous intervention. God responded to the prayer of Hezakiah, a very faithful king, by taking action. And we understood that God would listen to our prayers. We will reflect further on the faith of Hezakiah by reading 2 kings 20:1-6,12-19. The portion tells about a mortal illness of Hezekiah and his recovery thanks to God¡Çs mercy. Thus the king could protect Judah against Assyrian domination. Today we read the episode then meditate on how to prepare ourselves for the death in future. (³¤­…)