King Josiah

Description

Some time today I would guess that most of you that are listening to me either have held, or will yet hold a set of scriptures in your hands. Now, just how precious are they to you? And what will you do with those books?

Centuries ago, a high priest was working to repair damage to the Temple of Solomon. While doing so, he chanced to find “the book of the law” in the House of the Lord – the scriptures. He delivered those to Judah’s King, Josiah. What this ancient king did with that long lost set of scriptures is my story.

Once those scriptures were delivered, Josiah wanted to read them. He listened as they were read, and then suddenly he rent his clothes in a show of deep anguish and emotion.

“Go ye,” he commanded, “and enquire of the Lord for me, and for the people…concerning the words of this book that is found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us; because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book.” 1

Well, the word of the Lord came back that indeed Jehovah was angry with the people of Judah for their neglect of the word. So Josiah gathered all his people to the Temple and he read the word of the Lord to them, right there – publicly. 2 And then in utmost solemnity, standing by a pillar of the Temple, King Josiah placed himself and all his people under solemn covenant to obey the scriptures.

You see, to Josiah it was not enough to once more own a copy of the scriptures, nor was it enough to simply read them. They had to be lived with exactness, and that is exactly what King Josiah proceeded to do. He turned his nation and his people politically, culturally, and religiously inside out. He went after every vestige of idolatry that he could discover, from the destruction of shrines to the execution of false priests, stamping their evil altars and traditions into fine powder. He was determined to obey the word of the Lord. You can only imagine the courage and the fortitude of this young king, as the floodtide of public opinion surged against him. Nonetheless, he stood firm. Once the filth of idolatry had been returned to the dust that spawned it, King Josiah then commanded his people to renew the Passover of Moses. Never before had there ever been such a spiritual feast as was this Passover week. 3

In the end, King Josiah did what his people would not. The scriptures became written on the tables of his heart. The Lord loved him, and King Josiah died a martyr in a place we now call Armageddon. After he was gone though, his people cast out The Word from their hearts, and were slaughtered and scattered in disgrace.

How did the Lord feel about him and his love of the Word? Listen to this epitaph written by God Himself, “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…neither after him arose there any like him,” 4

And all of this [was] because a noble young son understood in his day that the word of the Lord is as precious a treasure as anything on this earth, and more so, and must be obeyed with exactness.

May the God of Heaven bless us with this same almighty conviction.

1 2 Kings 22:13
2 2 Kings 23:2
3 2 Kings 23:22
4 2 Kings 23:25