2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Yesterday, I began writing about the King of Judah, Josiah, who reigned from 638-609 BC and trusted God enough to obey him, even after his father and grandfather had not. We saw the attitude of faithfulness and reverence that Josiah had when he responded by grieving for the Jewish people due to their sinfulness, after hearing the Book of Law read to him once it was rediscovered in the Temple. God knew that all of this and more would take place, and, through an unnamed prophet from Judah, He conveyed a the message of these remarkable events about 300 years before they happened [see 1 K 13: 2]. I find it quite interesting that this prophesy was delivered in the northern kingdom of Israel to the evil King Jeroboam, who was a known idol-worshipper. It is one thing for us to know that there is sin in our lives, but it is another to do something about it. That is why James in JAS 2: 17 tells us, “So it is with faith: if it is alone and includes no actions, then it is dead.”
Once King Josiah heard the Book of the Law read to him and grieved, he called all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem to the Temple and read it to them. The story of this and the events that followed is found in 2 K 23: 1-20 and 2 CH 34: 29-33, which I hope you will read. By looking at some of the details of the actions Josiah and the people he ordered took, we can begin to appreciate why God detests this pagan worship so much. 2 K 23: 3, “He [Josiah] stood by the royal column and made a covenant with the Lord to obey Him, to keep His laws and commands with all his heart and soul, and to put into practice the demands attached to the covenant, as written in the Book. And all the people promised to keep the covenant.” Afterward the High Priest Hilkiah, assistant priests, and guards on duty were ordered to remove all the objects used in the worship of Baal, of the goddess Asherah, and of the stars . These were taken to a place outside the city near Kidron Valley and burned. The ashes produced were then taken to Bethel. Priests who had offered these sacrifices to pagan gods were removed from office by the king. The ashes from the symbol of Asherah that had been in the Temple were strewn over the public burial ground. Living quarters in the Temple occupied by temple prostitutes were destroyed. The king tore down altars dedicated to the goat demons near the gate built by Joshua, the city governor, which was to the left of the main gate as one enters the city. It is bad enough to practice idolatry, the sin God hates the most, but to do so in His own house is the quintessential insult!
Sadly, this is a sin that was repeated too. Ezekiel, a prophet whose ministry extends from 592-560 BC writes about being shown in a vision the nature of what had been going on in the Temple in Jerusalem just prior to the Babylonian captivity itself. Remember that Ezekiel was a captive at the Chabar river settlement in Babylonia at the time he had this vision. EZK 8: 7-12, “He [the Lord] took me [Ezekiel] to the entrance of the outer courtyard and showed me a hold in the wall. He said, ‘Mortal man, break through the wall here.’ I broke through it and found a door. He told me, ‘Go in and look at the evil, disgusting things they are doing there.’ So I went in and look. The walls were covered with drawings of snakes and other unclean animals, and of the other things which the Israelites were worshipping. Seventy Israelite leaders were there, including Jaazaniah son of Shaphan [King Josiah’s secretary]. Each one was holding an incense burner, and smoke was rising from the incense. God asked me, ‘Mortal man, do you see what the Israelite leaders are doing in secret? They are all worshipping in a room full of images. Their excuse is: ‘The Lord does not see us! He has abandoned the country.’ “ What is most remarkable is that it is not until EZK 10: 4 that we read, “The dazzling light of the Lord’s presence rose up from the creatures [cherubim atop the mercy seat of the Covenant Box] and moved to the entrance of the Temple. Then the cloud filled the Temple and the courtyard was blazing with the light.” This was the departure of the Lord’s presence from the Temple.
But, let’s go back to about 620 BC when King Josiah acted in carrying out the reform of religious practices in an effort (sadly in vain) to stamp out idolatry in Jerusalem and Judah. We should do this to see what actually led to God’s decision many years later to leave the Temple and punish His people by allowing the Babylonians to overtake them and hold them captive for 70 years. 2 K 23: 10-11, “King Josiah also desecrated Topheth, the pagan place of worship in Hinnom Valley, so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter as a burnt offering to the god Milcom. He also removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the worship of the sun, and he burned the chariots used in this worship. (These were kept in the Temple courtyard, near the gate and not far from the living quarters of Nathan Melech, a high official.)” Toward the end of his life, King Solomon had turned to idol worship. We know that because of his sins, God made the decision to punish King David’s descendants, but not for all time [ 1 K 11: 39]. 2 K 23: 13 sheds light on that. “Josiah desecrated the altars that King Solomon had built east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of Olives, for the worhsip of disgusting idols-Astarte the goddess of Sidon, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of Ammon.” Josiah also tore down the place of worship that had been set up in Bethel, which had been built by King Jeroboam , who led Israel into sin [2 K 23: 15].
The prophecy [see 1 K 13: 2] offered by the unnamed prophet from Judah to King Jeroboam about Josiah about 300 years before the latter’s birth also made reference to the fact that Josiah would burn human bones on the altar that had been used to offer sacrifices to pagan gods. During these reforms made by Josiah about 620 BC, he did exactly that [2 K 23: 16-18]. In this way that altar was desecrated, and the prophecy was carried out. It is interesting to note that while we don’t have the name of that prophet, Josiah and the people of his time did have it and recognized it. That is why, this prophet’s bones were not burned on this altar when his tomb was found. The same decision to leave the tomb alone was carried out for that of another of God’s prophets who had come from Samaria (the capital of the former northern kingdom of Israel). This story is too interesting and rich not to complete. So, bear with me, Dear Ones, I will conclude it in tomorrow’s message.
PRAYER: O Lord, because so much time has gone by since the events of Josiah’s and Ezekiel’s time transpired, we have not spent much time learning exactly what incurred Your wrath and led to Your decision to vacate the Temple in Jerusalem. There is nothing more important to us than Your presence in our lives. That is why it is so worthwhile to look at some of the details of what was done to constitute such an insult to You as they were. We must not only understand what is so wrong about them, but from this we must extract the lesson they provide for what we must do or not do in our own lives today. Lord, before we can truly expunge sin, we must understand the extraordinary capability that mankind has to sin. That is why such abominations as the idol worship of ancient Israel and her neighbors and the cruelty of the Holocaust must be studied. You gave us Your Son on the cross, so that we might be saved and choose not to sin. Let us learn from the mistakes of the past to trust and obey You now. That is our heartfelt prayer. You deserve our adoration, praise, humility, worship, trust, and obedience-nothing less. We beseech You to hear that prayer and know that we are dedicated to pleasing You with our progress in making You the Lord of our lives. In Christ’s name, amen.
Our Lord is a Lord of righteousness and compassion. His grace is extended to us in so many ways that they can’t be counted. We never deserved the love He gives us, but we can count on Him to love us forever. My wish is that you will feel the warmth of that love every day of your lives. Peter extends that same wish to you too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn