Meet God in Scripture

Meet God in 2 Kings 23:4

“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 …”

2 Kings 23:4 (KJV)

Six ways to encounter God here

A passage is not only to be understood; it is to be lived with. Choose how you want to meet God in 2 Kings 23:4, and Living Bread opens it right there.

Read itSit with the words themselves in The Word.Study itContext, cross-references, and questions in Bible Study.Be still in itLet it quiet you in the Sanctuary.Pray itTurn it into a prayer of your own.Hide it in your heartMemorize it, word by word.Encounter it togetherGather a few people to walk through it.

The passage in its setting

Meeting God in a verse begins with hearing it where it lives, in the flow of 2 Kings 23. Read it slowly, and let the focal verse settle into its own context.

2 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.

3 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.

4 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.

5 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.

6 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.

The web of Scripture around it

Where this passage echoes across the Bible, from the cross-reference graph, 14 connected Scriptures. Each one is a door to meet God there too.

  • 2 Kings 21:7And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all…
  • 2 Kings 21:3For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of …
  • 2 Chronicles 33:3For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
  • 2 Kings 25:18And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:
  • 1 Kings 18:40And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.
  • Hosea 4:15Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.
  • 1 Chronicles 24:4And there were more chief men found of the sons of Eleazar than of the sons of Ithamar; and thus were they divided. Among the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen chief men of the house of the…
  • 1 Kings 18:26And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any tha…
  • 1 Kings 18:19Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table.
  • 2 Samuel 15:23And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderne…
  • Matthew 27:1When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:
  • Matthew 26:3Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,
  • 2 Kings 22:4Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people:
  • Judges 2:13And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.

More to meet God in 2 Kings

2 Kings 22:192 Kings 11:122 Kings 20:32 Kings 15:292 Kings 23:32 Kings 22:132 Kings 20:52 Kings 17:132 Kings 4:12 Kings 19:152 Kings 2:232 Kings 13:232 Kings 5:132 Kings 17:15

How it points to Christ

Every Scripture ultimately leads to Jesus. See how the whole Bible points to Him in Christ in all Scripture, then meet Him for yourself.