Josiah
2 Chronicles 34
Listen up young people. Josiah became King of Israel when he was 8. Don’t ever think you’re too young to make a difference. He followed his father, Amon, who was a very wicked king and caused the whole nation to sin. That’s what corrupt leadership will do. It will ruin the whole nation.
Pr 29:2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. (AV)
There were many evil kings of Israel, but there were also some good ones like Josiah to turn things around. There is always hope. God can raise up a man, or a boy or girl. Josiah started when he was 8.
He didn’t follow the example of his father before him, who was corrupt and evil, but he followed the example of his ancestor, King David. Josiah chose the path he would follow.
You are not destined to be exactly like anybody else. You choose who and what you will be. You cannot blame your parents or teachers or anyone else. You must choose.
And you must choose when you are young.
3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.
4 And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that [were] on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust [of them], and strowed [it] upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.
5 And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.
And [so did he] in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about.
7 And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.
Josiah was 16 years old when he began to seek the Lord. He was saved at a young age. And he sought the Lord with all his heart. He didn’t just go to church. He certainly didn’t go because his parents made him go. Josiah had a heart for God, and even a 16 year old with a heart for God can make a difference.
In his 12 year being king, when he was 20 years old, he began to change things. He purged the nation of the places of evil worship and false gods. He broke the altars down; he cut down the groves – the statues of idols; he melted down the idols of metal and chopped and burned the ones of wood. He ground the stone ones into dust. He tore down the altars and burned the bones of the heathen, satanic priests upon their own altars.
More than 300 years earlier, a prophet had predicted this would happen. He even gave the name of Josiah – 300 years before he was born.
Hey, no matter how hopeless it may seem to get, God has a plan. He is still in control. He isn’t in any hurry, but He’s got things under control.
2Ch 34:8 Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God. (AV)
After Josiah ridded the land of the evil influence, he realized that wasn’t enough. He not only had to get rid of the evil, he had to restore the good. Don’t just go halfway. It’s not enough to come out of sin, You’ve got to enter into righteousness.
Josiah ordered the temple, the house of God, be repaired.
2Ch 34:14 And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD [given] by Moses. (AV)
The Treasure
Great offerings were taken to repair the house of God. Everybody pitched in. There was a lot of money there. But they found something else – something more valuable than money. They found a book.
It was the book of the law of God – the ancient Bible – the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the Bible – the writings of Moses.
Immediately they took it to the scribe, and he took it to show to the king.
2Ch 34:15 And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. (AV)
2Ch 34:16 And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do [it]. (AV)
Isn’t this amazing. Here is a people whose life was centered on God. Everything they did had religious significance. They were a ‘godly’ nation – but in name only. They didn’t have the Bible and they didn’t even know they didn’t have it.
When the priests discovered the Word of God lost in the remains of the old temple, they got excited. They took it to the scribe, who in turn, read it to the king.
2Ch 34:18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. (AV)
2Ch 34:19 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes. (AV)
When he heard it, it pricked his heart. Conviction fell on Him as the Holy Spirit of God put a revelation in his heart. He tore his clothes in mourning and repentance.
Isn’t it time we rediscovered the Word of God. It needs to be read publicly. It needs to be heard on every street corner – in every home – in every place of business.
It is the Word of God that makes the difference.
Ro 10:17 So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (AV)
Ga 3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? (AV)
Ps 107:20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered [them] from their destructions.
Heb 4:12 For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (AV)
I was saved, not when I kept hearing testimonies of how God had done so much for others, but when I began to read the Word of God and He reached out of the pages and got hold of my heart.
Faith is instilled in the hearts of man, not by our convincing arguments, but by the Word of God. The Word works.
Oh but we do have the Word, don’t we? But here is what we do with it –
Read "Thou shalt not covet" - I don’t like that one – tear it out.
"Love thy neighbor as thyself" - I don’t like that one – tear it out.
"Take up your cross…" I don’t like that one either – tear it out.
And what are we left with?
As Josiah heard the Word of God read, it gripped his heart. And he said, "Everybody’s got to hear this."
2Ch 34:29 Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.
2Ch 34:30 And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD. (AV)
2Ch 34:31 And the king stood in his place, 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 his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book. (AV)
The king – the leader of the nation – ordered everybody to come together, and he read the Bible to them.
Talk about national revival!
The king discovered the Bible, personally read it to all the people, and then led them in making a covenant to keep the Words of God’s law.
Now, was it the king that made the difference? No! It was the Word of God. The king was just an instrument of God – just a tool in the hands of God, used to bring revival to his people.
Josiah’s merit was that he was ready to listen and ready to obey when God sent his Word.
Young people, Josiah was 8 when he became king, 16 when he got saved (or began to seek the Lord), 20 when he started a national return to God, and 22 when he led the nation into revival.
Start now! Start early! Start young!
But hey, there’s room for us old-timers, too. God’s not finished with us yet. Moses was 40 when he received the call to the ministry, and 80 when he led the people out of Egypt.
Repentance
It all began when one man heard the Word and repented. Revival always starts with repentance. Are you ready to really HEAR the Word and let it prick your heart? Are you ready to face God, like Isaiah did and confess your sinfulness? Are you ready for revival?
Come, gather at the altar and lay your sin before God. Let his Word break your heart. Let it get inside and cleanse you.