The state of the American church concerns me deeply. It concerns me more than the outcome of an election, or even necessarily the condition of our country. Both of these cause me distress, but the departure of the church from the truth of Scripture, I believe, has a bearing on the condition of our country and the outcomes of elections. We need to repent and return to God Himself and His truth, if we, the church, are to make the impact intended by our Lord. Josiah the king is a great story of rediscovering God’s word and a proper response to it.
The account of Josiah is found in 2 Kings and chapter 22. I will not try to quote a lot of verses from that chapter, but it would do you well to go and read those 20 verses on your own…go ahead, I’ll wait. Oh. You’re back! We find in this story the opening line is a most intriguing one… “Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign.” Most eight-year-olds I know are doing other things like finding a stick to play with or throw; looking for a tree to climb; or sadly, have their faces glued to a device. Nevertheless, Josiah was only eight years old when he was crowned king of Judah.
In year eighteen of his reign, he determined to make repairs to the temple of God. He summons Shaphan the secretary and sends him to Hilkiah the priest with instructions to count the donations that had come into the house of the Lord and go give them to the workmen who were making the repairs on the temple. Upon Shaphan’s arrival, before anything else is discussed, Hilkiah tells Shaphan (with seeming urgency and excitement), “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” It doesn’t take much deduction to realize this book had been missing and probably for a long time. Most believe it had been “missing” at least since when Manasseh was king of Judah. This would put it in the range of 60 years. I put the word “missing” in quotations because although it was missing to them, it had been there all the time. Somewhere along the way, the value of God’s word had been reduced or diminished altogether to such a point that nobody even noticed the Book of the Law was missing.
As Shaphan reported the results of his mission, he added “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” What was just “a book” to Shaphan (he was not as learned in the law as the priest, Hilkiah), was the finding of all times. When he began to read some of the book to Josiah, the king immediately recognized the words as the very words and instructions of God. The Bible says he began to tear his clothes, partly out of grief and partly out of horror, at the omission of God’s statutes in the nation of Judah.
The King immediately sent a team of 5 men to inquire of the Lord on behalf of him, and for the people, and for all of Judah. He was inquiring concerning the words of this book that had been found. Somehow, at the grand old age of 26, he realized that God’s wrath was stirred up against the nation, because the fathers who had come before him and them, had not obeyed the words of this missing, but now found book. They had failed to do according to all that was written concerning God’s people. The prophetess Huldah declared judgement upon Judah, but proclaimed Josiah would be spared (the way he would be spared is that he would be gathered to his grave in peace).
The king called a meeting of the people and the Scripture tells us that, “…he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD.” I find it interesting that he was the one doing the reading, and not the priest or some other minister of the temple. I think he was making a statement that they had been derelict as it pertains to the words of God for so long, that he was not taking any chances making sure the people heard the unadulterated words of the Book of the Law. It is also noteworthy that he referred to the found book as the “Book of the Covenant,” illuminating the very relationship between God and His people as one based on covenant. So, therefore, he proceeded to make a fresh covenant with God
“…to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.”
As a result of the covenant commitment Josiah made to the Lord God, he began reforms to align the nation of Judah with the decrees of God found in the newly found word of God. That sounds like such a novel idea – discovering truth in the Scriptures and adjusting our lives accordingly. King Josiah began to remove any impure vessels from the arena of worship that had been made for Baal and Asherah worship. He not only removed them but commanded that they be burned outside Jerusalem. He continued to remove all the illicit forms of worship, including removing the mediums and necromancers (those who practice witchcraft and spiritists).
It was not only about removing that which was evil or tainted, but restoring worship that was God-ordained and authorized. He commanded the observance of Passover when he proclaimed, “Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” This was such an observance, with every detail of worship followed by the king, the next verse says,
“For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah.”
Most scholars believe this was not to mean there had been no Passover observances, but rather there had been “no such” Passover since the days of the Judges. One commentator says the meaning of the writer was simply that “since the time of the judges there had never been such a celebration of the Passover, in such strict accordance, that is, with the prescriptions of a sacred book as that which now took place.” 2 Kings 23:25 says
“Never before had there been a king like Josiah, … And there has never been a king like him since.” NLT
What might be the response of the American church to all this? Peter wrote in his first letter that the time has come for judgment to begin in the house of God. The question this story begs to be asked is have we, the church, misplaced the word of God in the life of the church? Not so much that the words of God had been lost, but maybe they have been misplaced in terms of priority and important. Too often, the truth of the Scripture has been replaced by human reasoning and what makes sense to us. The brother or our Lord, James, wrote this in his letter.
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
In departure from the veracity and application of the word of God in the church, we have sometimes created a human-worshipping God, instead of the other way around. We have done so by adjusting God’s word to fit our own desires or inclinations. We have attempted to reshape God into our own image or the image we might imagine. The fact is that when God’s word ceases to be our standard of living, other things can make their way in that are ungodly, evil, and will ultimately bring destruction into our lives. John Olley, a research associate at Vose Seminary in Western Australia, wrote this.
“Commitment to Yahweh is to be expressed not only in places and forms of corporate worship, but also in the decision-making of everyday life. Seeking advice or some control over the future through mediums and spiritists or household gods is prevented by their removal.”
So, therefore, we give ourselves to aligning our lives with God’s decrees to the exclusion of whatever pre-conceived ideas we might have developed. This is where life can be found. As we embrace God’s word as the words of life, we resist viewing the Scriptures as rules and regulations. This was never the intent. There is life in obedience to God and the best way to be obedient to the Lord is to see what He said and make the adjustment accordingly. The Psalmist wrote in 119:59 –
“I thought about my ways and turned my steps back to Your decrees.”
At the same time, instead of viewing the Bible as a rulebook, we endeavor to see God’s heart and desire for humankind. We understand that every direction and instruction He gives us – every boundary He has established in our living – are all borne out of His love for us and our well-being. Some of us remember a TV show from the 50’s entitled “Father Knows Best.” This is what we must remember when we are confronted with the life adjusting word of God.
Set before each of us are blessings and curses. You can find much of this in Deuteronomy 28, where we find 68 verses in the chapter. The first 14 of those verses identify the blessing of obedience. The following 54 verses list the consequences of our being disobedient to God’s instruction. These blessings and curses are not so much based on perfection, but on a posture of hearing and a heart to comply. That chapter actually tells us that the blessing of God will overtake us…if we obey the voice of the Lord our God. God promises His blessing in every geographical, economical, and political sphere possible in these verses. He promises good things and benefits to our lives. The Lord will bring you plenty of goods. The list goes on with the blessings promised, I would encourage you to go and read the chapter.
Verse 14 encourages us to not turn to the right nor to the left. Verse 16 promises:
Deuteronomy 30:16 – “For I am commanding you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and multiply, and the LORD your God may bless you in the land you are entering to possess.”
So, has the word of God been misplaced or misapplied in your life? Do you rely on what makes sense to you and attempt to adjust God to that? Are you more interested in being obedient to the One who made you than you are in achieving your personal happiness? I can tell you, the only true, satisfying happiness any of us will ever find is when we realize He is our Creator, and as our Creator He is the only one who knows how we best function in this life. There is joy to be had and peace to be lived when we submit to our Lord God and do things His way. There will be pain and heartache when we argue with our Creator.
Isaiah 45:9 – “What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’”
Let us join with the Psalmist when we pray,
“Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn Your commandments.”
Let’s honor our covenant to embrace God’s words and “turn our steps toward His decrees.” Then, all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you.