2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
There are times when we think events are random until we are reminded that they are not always so. One such example is the arrival of Judah’s King Josiah on the scene. 1K 13: 2, “Following the Lord’s command, the prophet denounced the altar: ‘O altar, altar, this is what the Lord says: A child, whose name will be Josiah, will be born to the family of David. He will slaughter on you the priests serving at the pagan altars who offer sacrifices on you and he will burn human bones on you.’ ” This amazing prophecy was uttered by a prophet from Judah, who at the Lord’s command, had gone up to Bethel where King Jeroboam stood at the altar to offer a sacrifice. Jeroboam was king of Israel (the northern kingdom) from 932-910 BC, a matter of 22 years. Josiah was king of Judah from 640-609 BC (about 300 years later), a period of 31 years. This can serve as a reminder to us of God’s omniscience, His ability to know everything including the attitudes of our hearts. MT 10: 29-30 [and LK 12: 2-7] shed light on this concept. “For only a penny you can buy two sparrows, yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father’s consent. As for you, even the hairs of your head have been counted.”
As I have said before, the way we know which human kings were considered acceptable to God and which were not in the books of Kings and Chronicles depended on their attitude toward the practice of idolatry and what they were willing to do to stop it. King Jeroboam of Israel was evil and encouraged it. 2 K 21: 16, 18-20 tell us that Judah’s King Mannasseh and his son, King Amon, were both evil and encouraged the practice of paganism, worshipping idols. Amon ruled for only two years after his father’s death. 2 K 21: 23-24, “Amon’s officials plotted against him and assassinated him in the palace. The people of Judah killed Amon’s assassins and made his son Josiah king.” Josiah was only eight years old at the time, and he ruled Judah for 31 years. 2 K 22:2, “Josiah did what was pleasing to the Lord, he followed the example of his ancestor King David, strictly obeying all the laws of God.” In 2 K 22: 3-20 and 2 CH 34: 8-28, which I hope you will read, we find the account of a very pivotal occurrence, the discovery of the Book of the Law. In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, this king sent his court secretary, Shaphan, to the High Priest, Hilkiah, with an order to get a report from the priests on duty at the door to the temple on how much money they collected from the people. They were to use this money to pay workers to repair the temple. These men in charge of the work were honest, so the king said there was no need for them to account for the money they have to spend to do their work. At the time that Shaphan delivered this message, the High Priest Hilkiah told him that he had found the Book of the Law, which had been missing during the time the temple was not being used. Shaphan took and read the Book; then, he took it back to the king and read it aloud to him.
2 K 22:11 and 2 CH 34: 19 tell us something very significant about the heart-attitude that King Josiah had. “When the king heard the Book being read, he tore his clothes in dismay.” That is because, he realized the degree of sinfulness of which the Jews were guilty. He issued an order to Hilkiah, Shaphan, and several other court officials to consult a prophetess named Huldah about what had happened. Huldah sent back the following message from the Lord in 2 K 22: 17 and 2 CH 34: 24-28: “I am going to punish Jerusalem and all its people with the curses written in the Book that was read to the king. They have rejected Me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and so have stirred up My anger by all they have done. My anger will not die down. As for the king himself, this is what I, the Lord of Israel, say; ‘You listened to what is written in the Book, and you repented and humbled yourself before Me, tearing your clothes and weeping, when you heard how I threatened to punish Jerusalem and its people. I have heard your prayer, and the punishment which I am going to bring on Jerusalem will not come until after your death. I will let you live in peace.’ The men returned to King Josiah with this message.” You might wonder why this is important to us. The reason is clearly that when we trust and obey God, He demonstrates compassion. It is significant that even though Josiah’s father and grandfather were idolators, Josiah himself made the decision not to be. That wasn’t lost on God. It took courage and faith on Josiah’s part to re-establish the temple as the center for worship and to destroy the many pagan altars that had been erected in Judah during the previous reigns. No doubt there was opposition from people who had grown up worshipping idols that he had to endure as well.
Our own problems are not likely to be the worship of pagan idols, but we all are tempted to erect other kinds of idols in our lives. Maybe it’s gluttony, drugs, alcohol, thirst for power unearned, impatience, anger, thinking of ourselves as victims, materialism, gossip, sexual perversion, egotism, lack of compassion, laziness, or a million other dark forces to which we might be exposed. The bottom line is that it is quite easy to sin and much harder to take the steps God asks us to take to turn away from that sin. Naturally, there are times when we are sinning and don’t even realize it. That is why our loving Abba asks us to evaluate our lives against the ideal He gave us in the Son and from the Scriptures. Of course that means we need to take the time to study the Scriptures and go to Him in humble prayer. In this kind of submission there is real spiritual strength-the kind of strength which arouses God’s compassion. We see that in God’s response to Josiah’s grieving when he read the Book of Law above, and we saw that in His response to Daniel’s intercessory prayer for the Jewish people later in Jewish history while the Judeans were in Babylonian captivity [DN 9: 1-23]. What God asks us to do in examining our lives and making the adjustments necessary to conform to God’s principles isn’t always easy or conveniently timed, but it is always right and in our best interests eternally. Trusting God and obeying him is always a part of it.
PRAYER: O Lord, the reign of King Josiah is another example You have given us to help us appreciate the necessity of our learning to trust and obey You. Through the experiences he had, You reveal Your insistence on righteousness, the situations which engender Your wrath, and Your willingness to have compassion on those who trust and obey You. It is Your will that we should examine our lives without guilt and make whatever changes are necessary to more closely conform to the example set for us by Your Son, Jesus Christ. You know that isn’t easy for us to do, but You make it known to us how necessary it is by showing us what brings Your wrath. Because You sacrificed Christ on the cross for us, You have saved us and given us the opportunity to choose not to sin that we didn’t have before. The love You show us and the guidance You give us through Your word and prayer are alone reasons for us to approach You today to humbly offer You our praise, love, adoration, worship, loyalty, trust, and obedience. To You belongs all the glory! In Christ’s name, amen.
There is so much in the Scriptures about King Josiah, that I feel I must talk more about him and the example he set for us in tomorrow’s message. As you read about him, it is hard to miss the love our Abba showers on us every day. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn