Sunday
Morning Bible Study
September 22, 2002
Introduction
We've been looking at the reigns of the various kings of Israel.
We are now in the home stretch, with the last of the good kings, Josiah. He becomes
king when he is eight years old, after his father had been assassinated
(2Ki.21:24; 22:1).
Josiah – Yo’shiyah – “whom Jehovah heals”
We live in times that aren’t too different from that of Josiah. Josiah lived in a time that was filled with
great wickedness. He lived in a critical
point in history when God would soon be bringing His judgment.
We too live in a time of great wickedness, and we are living in a time
very, very close to when God will be bringing His judgment on the world.
Josiah was a man who a measure of revival, one last revival, before the
time of judgment.
I wonder if God wouldn’t be looking for a few Josiah’s today – people who
would be used by Him perhaps for one last revival.
Seven Qualities of an Extraordinary Person
(2 Ki
23:25
KJV) And like unto him
was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and
with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses;
neither after him arose there any like him.
1. An Extraordinary Person Knows the Lord (2Chr. 34:3)
(2 Chr 34:3 KJV) 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.
It started when he came to know the Lord.
When the Lord wasn’t just “his father’s god”, but was now “his God”. He didn’t go to church because his parents
made him go; he went because he wanted to.
You know it was real because of the changes that began to take place.
Changes don’t necessarily mean that a person really knows the Lord, but if
there are no changes, then you ought to be questioning if it was real or not.
I know that for some of you, Jesus is “your father’s god” or “your friend’s
god”.
You’ve heard about Jesus. Perhaps you
like what you hear. But you don’t know
Him. If they weren’t around, you
wouldn’t be here.
The gospel – Jesus died on a
cross to pay for your sins. He wants you
know Him. He wants you to know God. He wants to forgive your sins.
2. An Extraordinary Person Discovers the Word (2Kings 22:8-11)
We pick up the story of Josiah in the 18th year of his reign,
when he is now 26 years old (2Ki. 22:3).
Josiah has ordered that the Temple
be refurbished. While the workers are cleaning out the Temple,
a discovery is made.
:8 I have
found the book of the law in the house of the LORD.
The book of the law refers to the writings of Moses, the first five
books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy).
Some feel that because of the wording in the parallel passage, that this
might have actually been Moses' own copy of the Law:
2Ch 34:14 …Hilkiah
the priest found a book of the law of the LORD [given] by Moses.
It is thought that during the reign of Manasseh, all the copies of the
Scriptures had been destroyed, except for this one copy, possibly hidden by
someone in the temple.
As Hilkiah’s work crew begins the restoration work, someone comes across
the hidden Scriptures.
:10 Shaphan read it before the king.
I wonder how much he read. I think he at least read Lev. 26 or Deut. 28. That's
where God's promises of judgment are given to the people if they don't obey His
laws.
:11 he rent
his clothes.
Josiah is so terrified with the promises of judgment in the book, that he goes into mourning, tearing his clothes.
Lesson
Rediscovering
God’s Word.
For some of us, perhaps we’ve lost a little of the wonder that comes from
reading through the Bible the first time.
God still wants to show you things, some for the very first time.
For me, there’s been a couple of gems this week that
I’ve never noticed before:
(Psa 126:5 KJV) They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
I’ve always looked at this as if “sowing in tears” simply
meant crying a lot. But I’ve come to see
that it means that we need to be planting seeds, even if we are going through a
time of sadness. Don’t “stop with
tears”, but “sow in tears”.
(Psa 134:1-2 KJV) Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of
the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD. {2} Lift up your hands
in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.
I usually just think of songs that are based on this
text. But it hit me that the command is
to bless the Lord, even if you’re standing at “night”, going through dark times
in your life.
Ask God to speak to you as you read your Bible. Open it up expecting Him to speak. Pay attention to Him. Discover His Word.
3. An Extraordinary Person has a Tender Heart (2Kings 22:19-20)
:19-20 Because thine heart was tender …
tender – rakak – to be tender, be soft, be weak; to be timid, be fearful; to be
softened, be penitent; soft
like wax, impressionable.
thou hast humbled thyself – kana‘–
to be humble, be subdued, be brought down, be low, be under, be brought into
subjection
Lesson
A tender heart
If we’re not careful, we can allow our hearts to grow callused. We get hurt by circumstances in life. We get hurt by people. And we can allow our hearts to grow stiff and
hard. Jeremiah the prophet wrote around
this time:
(Jer 4:3-4 KJV) For thus saith the LORD to
the men of Judah and Jerusalem,
Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
{4} Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away
the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah
and inhabitants of Jerusalem:
lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of
the evil of your doings.
God pays attentions to
hearts that are tender towards Him.
David wrote:
Ps 51:17
The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit: a broken and a
contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. (AV)
4. An Extraordinary Person doesn’t change everyone (2Kings 23:1-3)
:3 all the
people stood to the covenant.
This is their way of agreeing to obey the covenant.
We are told:
2Ch 34:33 And Josiah took away all the
abominations out of all the countries that [pertained] to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, [even] to serve the LORD their God. [And]
all his days they departed not from following the LORD, the God of their
fathers. (AV)
Josiah brought about a reformation among the people. Or did he?
Lesson:
Not everyone is changed.
During Josiah's time, the nation got rid of lots of idolatry. Some did this because they wanted to, other did it because they had to.
Josiah would rule for 13 more years from this point until his death (he
ruled for 31 years, this is his 18th year ...)
But after Josiah was gone, some of the people went back to what they REALLY
wanted to do.
The prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 26) tells us that
after Josiah died, the people simply went back to their evil ways because
that’s what they wanted to do all along.
(Jer 26:2-3 NLT) The LORD said, "Stand out in front of
the Temple of the LORD, and make an announcement to the people who have come
there to worship from all over Judah. Give them my entire message; include
every word. {3} Perhaps they will listen and turn from
their evil ways. Then I will be able to withhold the disaster I am ready to
pour out on them because of their sins.
We can have an influence on the world around us, but we shouldn’t be
surprised to find that not everyone will truly follow the Lord.
This is why we need a little reserve in our response when a person “accepts”
the Lord.
We hope and pray that it’s a true conversion.
The test is what happens over time, and whether or not the
person actually allows God to make changes in them.
Are the changes in your life
real, or are they “enforced”?
What do you do when nobody's around?
5. An Extraordinary Person is Moved by the Word (2Kings 23:4,7,10,14)
After Josiah has read the Word, he gets to work making changes.
:4 out of the temple
These things that were used for the worship of Baal and Asherah
had been kept INSIDE God’s Temple! This is kind of like stashing dirty books
inside your Bible.
:7 the
houses of the sodomites,
There had been male temple prostitutes who lived right next door to the
temple. Josiah put them out of business.
:10 he
defiled Topheth … the valley of the children of Hinnom,
This was the place where the Molech worshippers offered their children to Molech.
The valley was on the south side of mount
Zion. It would become a city trash
dump, where refuse was burned in piles.
It was later known as “Gehenna”, and became a
picture of hell.
:14 filled
their places with the bones of men.
This is the best way to “gross out” the “gods” of these places of idol
worship.
It’s kind of interesting to think that Josiah had been cleansing the land
of idols for six years (since his 12th year), and all this stuff was
still left!
Before, it would seem that he was operating according to his conscience.
Yet now he’s operating according to God’s Word.
Lesson:
God's Word brings deep cleansing.
We can certainly grow a lot as we simply learn to obey the leading of the
Holy Spirit.
But the problem is that the Holy Spirit has to work through a sinful
person, you.
We don't always like to be as honest with ourselves as we ought to be.
We tell ourselves, “Ice-cream is really a health food! It’s made of milk, and every body needs
milk!”
We can be pretty easy on ourselves.
But when we stay in God's Word, it doesn't mess around with us!
(Heb 4:12
NLT) For the word of God is full of
living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our
innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are.
God's Word gets right to the point.
(2 Tim 3:16-17 NLT) All
Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make
us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to
do what is right. {17} It is God's way of preparing us
in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.
This is why, after Josiah has now spent time in the Word,
that he begins to find that he has LOTS of work to do!
6. An Extraordinary Person Influences His World (2Kings 23:15)
:15 the altar that was at Bethel,
and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel
to sin,
Bethel – “the house of
God”
This was the big sin that had contributed the most to the fall of the
northern kingdom.
Jeroboam felt that if his people were allowed to go back to Jerusalem
to worship during the regular feasts that they might end up leaving his country
for good.
So he devised a counterfeit religion, to keep the people satisfied, and
they worshipped golden calves in the cities of Dan in the north, and Bethel
in south of Israel.
But the odd thing is that Bethel
wasn’t a part of Josiah’s “kingdom”. Bethel
was a part of the northern kingdom.
Lesson
God wants you to affect your world.
(Mat 5:14-16 KJV) Ye are the
light of the world. A city that is set on an hill
cannot be hid. {15} Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel,
but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all
that are in the house. {16} Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in
heaven.
Where the gospel goes, lives are changed.
7. An Extraordinary Person has a Purpose in Life (2Kings 23:16)
:16
according to the word of the LORD
Hundreds of years earlier, when Jeroboam had set up his false worship, a prophet
came up to Bethel and warned that
it would be destroyed by a person named Josiah.
(1 Ki
13:2 KJV) And he cried against the altar
in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold,
a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee
shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.
And now, hundreds of years later, a king with the right name shows up and
destroys the altar. Amazing!
Lesson:
God has a plan for you.
Josiah isn’t the only one that God has had a plan for.
(Eph 2:10 KJV) For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath
before ordained that we should walk in them.
We are God’s “made-things”, His “poema”, his
works of beauty. God has “good works” which He was already set up ahead of time
for us to do. All we have to do is do them.
Joseph –
He was a young man with dreams. God
had even given him the special ability to interpret dreams. But his brothers grew jealous of him and one
day they seized him and sold him as a slave.
I imagine life looked pretty tough to Joseph as he settled into his new
life as an Egyptian slave. But God was
still with him, and God blessed him, even as a slave. Then the day came when his master’s wife
began to make advances towards him. When
he refused to commit adultery with her, she ended up accusing him of raping
her, and Joseph now found himself in prison for a crime he didn’t do. Talk about bleak! Yet God was with him and even in prison he
could see God’s blessings. When
Pharaoh’s baker and cupbearer landed in his prison, he helped them by
interpreting their dreams, yet even after they were released, Joseph was left
in prison, forgotten, for two more years.
It’s at this point in our lives where we begin to wonder what kinds of
plans God must have for us!
But there came a day when the Pharaoh needed someone to interpret his
dreams, and Joseph was called to do so.
In the end, Joseph became exalted to the place of second ruler over Egypt. And when a time of famine hit the world,
Joseph was in a place to rescue his whole family from starvation.
Joseph was even able to forgive his brothers because he could see that God
had used all of his life’s circumstances to get him to the place where he could
save his family and the world.
How do I come to find out what God’s plans are for me?
(Prov 3:5-6 KJV) Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and
lean not unto thine own understanding. {6} In all thy
ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.