1Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. 2He did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight and followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn aside from doing what was right.
3During the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David. Then in the twelfth year, he began to purify Judah and Jerusalem, destroying all the pagan shrines, the Asherah poles, and the carved idols and cast images. 4He saw to it that the altars for the images of Baal and their incense altars were torn down. He also made sure that the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images were smashed and scattered over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5Then he burned the bones of the pagan priests on their own altars, and so he purified Judah and Jerusalem.
6He did the same thing in the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, even as far as Naphtali. 7He destroyed the pagan altars and the Asherah poles, and he crushed the idols into dust. He cut down the incense altars throughout the land of Israel and then returned to Jerusalem.
8In the eighteenth year of his reign, after he had purified the land and the Temple, Josiah appointed Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of Jerusalem, and Joah son of Joahaz, the royal historian, to repair the Temple of the LORD his God. 9They gave Hilkiah the high priest the money that had been collected by the Levites who served as gatekeepers at the Temple of God. The gifts were brought by people from Manasseh, Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, as well as from all Judah, Benjamin, and the people of Jerusalem. 10He entrusted the money to the men assigned to supervise the restoration of the LORD’s Temple. Then they paid the workers who did the repairs and renovation. 11Thus, they hired carpenters and masons and purchased cut stone for the walls and timber for the rafters and beams. They restored what earlier kings of Judah had allowed to fall into ruin.
12The workers served faithfully under the leadership of Jahath and Obadiah, Levites of the Merarite clan, and Zechariah and Meshullam, Levites of the Kohathite clan. Other Levites, all of whom were skilled musicians, 13were put in charge of the laborers of the various trades. Still others assisted as secretaries, officials, and gatekeepers.
Well Tuesday was Election Day and whether you like it or not George W. Bush will be our president for the next four years. If you are a news junkie like me you will no that for the second term in a row our country was divided by a real small margin. So chances are there are some in this room who were in favor of either candidate candidates. What all the news commentators seemed to find noteworthy was how civilized our country is when it comes to elections. When it was all over John Kerry called President bush and conceded the election. He admitted defeat and wished him well.
There were no military coups no assignation attempts, none of our states tried to leave the country. The citizens who did not vote for our president for the most part simply accept that he is the president and they will have their chance to change things in 4 years.
That’s not how things were in Israel a few thousand years ago. King Amon was not a good king he was not well liked by the people of his country so the murdered him and placed his son on the throne. The only problem was that his son Josiah was only 8 years old can you imagine an 8 year old king Josiah was king at just 8 years old.
Often the sinful patterns of the parents are duplicated in the following generations. Even those who do not want to be like their parents often turn out to be amazingly similar in their behavior and personality. We see that in the case of alcoholics child abusers and many of sinful situations. But it is possible for us to break out of this ongoing spiral of sinful habits through hard personal choices and by facing reality in our lives.
Josiah was a young King who chose to stand against a long sinful family history. This was particularly difficult because he was thrown into so much responsibility so young. And he had little knowledge to guide his decisions. His people had been in rebellion from God for so many generations that no one really knew how to follow God correctly. In fact the scriptures had actually been lost
At the age of 16 Josiah decides to follow God but he is not quite sure how but he does his best. He knows first of all that if he is going to serve the God of his ancestor David he needs to get rid of all the alters of the false gods baal asherih and others. When that’s done he begins to clean up the temple Lets read on:
14As Hilkiah the high priest was recording the money collected at the LORD’s Temple, he found the Book of the Law of the LORD as it had been given through Moses. 15Hilkiah said to Shaphan the court secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the LORD’s Temple!" Then Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan.
16Shaphan took the scroll to the king and reported, "Your officials are doing everything they were assigned to do. 17The money that was collected at the Temple of the LORD has been given to the supervisors and workmen." 18Shaphan also said to the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll." So Shaphan read it to the king.
19When the king heard what was written in the law, he tore his clothes in despair. 20Then he gave these orders to Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah,[1] Shaphan the court secretary, and Asaiah the king’s personal adviser: 21"Go to the Temple and speak to the LORD for me and for all the remnant of Israel and Judah. Ask him about the words written in this scroll that has been found. The LORD’s anger has been poured out against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the word of the LORD. We have not been doing what this scroll says we must do."
22So Hilkiah and the other men went to the newer Mishneh section[2] of Jerusalem to consult with the prophet Huldah. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas,[3] the keeper of the Temple wardrobe. 23She said to them, "The LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken! Go and tell the man who sent you, 24`This is what the LORD says: I will certainly destroy this city and its people. All the curses written in the scroll you have read will come true. 25For the people of Judah have abandoned me and worshiped pagan gods, and I am very angry with them for everything they have done. My anger will be poured out against this place, and nothing will be able to stop it.’
26"But go to the king of Judah who sent you to seek the LORD and tell him: `This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says concerning the message you have just heard: 27You were sorry and humbled yourself before God when you heard what I said against this city and its people. You humbled yourself and tore your clothing in despair and wept before me in repentance. So I have indeed heard you, says the LORD. 28I will not send the promised disaster against this city and its people until after you have died and been buried in peace. You will not see the disaster I am going to bring on this place.’ " So they took her message back to the king.
When Josiah read the scriptures for the first time he realized that for all the good he was trying do as hard as he was follow the God of his ancestors he had fallen short desperately short. So he had to take action he couldn’t just let things go. He had to do something. I Love The old testament if this was TV it would be time to go to a commercial so… Comercial
Josiah’s Religious Reforms
29Then the king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30And the king went up to the Temple of the LORD with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites--all the people from the greatest to the least. There the king read to them the entire Book of the Covenant that had been found in the LORD’s Temple. 31The king took his place of authority beside the pillar and renewed the covenant in the LORD’s presence. He pledged to obey the LORD by keeping all his commands, regulations, and laws with all his heart and soul. He promised to obey all the terms of the covenant that were written in the scroll. 32And he required everyone in Jerusalem and the people of Benjamin to make a similar pledge. As the people of Jerusalem did this, they renewed their covenant with God, the God of their ancestors.
33So Josiah removed all detestable idols from the entire land of Israel and required everyone to worship the LORD their God. And throughout the rest of his lifetime, they did not turn away from the LORD, the God of their ancestors.
Josiah Called everyone together all the leaders from and read the entire book of the covenant to them this book was probably the book of Deuteronomy when he was done reading he pledged to follow God and obey what was in the book And his people made a similar pledge. Those pledges changed the entire nation They caused a revival.
We have the scripture right here. Those of us who have accepted Jesus have the very spirit of God living in us and we know what God wants of us. God is calling us to Radical lives of obedience to him. He is not content with are meager efforts to appease him he wants to live the type of lives we can only live if we are empowered by his spirit.
What about you does Christ live in side you if not come down to the front invite him into your life. Maybe your are saved but nothing has really changed you still aren’t live much differently then you come up to this is a place of Grace not a place of disgrace. You come and pray.
