Josiah Series

INTRODUCTION

• In the sporting world, a dark horse is used for teams, and athletes would unexpectedly outperform expectations.

• Some people feel that they are too young or too old, or they let their past get in the way of doing something significant with their life for Jesus.

• I hope that our Dark Horses series can be an encouragement to us to help us see that God can and will use any of us for His glory.

• Big Idea of the Series: God uses all kinds of people to accomplish His purposes.

• Each of us has different gifts, strengths, and weaknesses, and if we surrender our lives to God, we will see Him do amazing things with flawed people like us.

• In this second week of our 6-week series, we will examine the second of six lesser-known individuals in the Bible, looking at what we can learn from these "dark horses."

• Today's dark horse is King Josiah.

• The historical context of 2 Chronicles 34 can be understood by examining the broader historical background of the Kingdom of Judah during the time of King Josiah.

• King Josiah ruled the Kingdom of Judah from approximately 640 to 609 BC.

• He ascended to the throne at the age of eight after the assassination of his father, King Amon.

• At this time, the Kingdom of Judah was experiencing significant political and religious turmoil.

• The preceding kings of Judah, particularly Josiah's Grandfather Manasseh (the worst King of the Southern Kingdom of Judah) and Amon, Josiah's father, had led the nation into idolatry and the worship of foreign gods.

• They introduced various practices contrary to the religious laws and traditions of the Israelites, including the worship of Baal, Asherah, and other Canaanite deities.

• The religious corruption had permeated the society, and the Temple in Jerusalem had fallen into disrepair.

• This is the world Josiah inherited.

• From our message today, we will see how God can use someone, despite their heritage or youth, to accomplish great things!

• Josiah gives us a great example of what God can do through our lives and why we should not look down on someone's youth or background when it comes to serving the Lord.

Big Idea: God's Word is powerful when we apply it to our lives, and God can use anyone—even youth—to display the strength of His Word.

• We will not read the entire 34th chapter today, so I encourage you to do so when you get home.

• Let's begin in verses 1-3.

2 Chronicles 34:1–3 (NET 2nd ed.)

1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem.

2 He did what the LORD approved and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps; he did not deviate to the right or the left.

3 In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his ancestor David. In his twelfth year he began ridding Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, Asherah poles, idols, and images.

SERMON

I. Moving Forward, not backward.

• From the first three verses, let's examine the concept of moving forward, not backward.

• The first three verses set the stage for the life of Josiah and his pursuit of God.

• The nation of Israel was a mess.

• As I conveyed to you in the introduction.

• When the kingdom was divided after the death of King Solomon around 931 BC, the Northern Kingdom of Israel had 19 kings until they were conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BC.

• All 19 kings were evil.

• The Southern Kingdom of Judah, which our text covers, had 19 Kings and lasted until 586 BC when the Babylonians ended their kingdom.

• In the Southern Kingdom, you had a mix of good and evil kings.

• The evil kings would lead the people into idol worship, child sacrifices, and all kinds of pagan debauchery.

• As the time of Josiah approached, he would come in on the heels of two of the worst kings in Southern kingdom history.

• Imagine your eight-year-old becoming King of the country and stepping into that mess.

• I wonder what Josiah's expectations were.

• Would people think he would be a chip off the old block, or the apple does not fall far from the tree?

• Based on age and heritage, on the outside, it would not appear that Josiah would bring much hope of change.

• I am sure that for the segment of society that enjoyed all the state-sponsored sin, that would be okay.

• If God were looking for someone to get the nation back on track, an eight-year-old with a horrible family legacy would hardly seem to be the right person for the job.