Josiah and the Law

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for today. We thank you, Lord Jesus, for all that you do. This beautiful season of Christmas, Lord, where we are able to focus in on the birth of the Lord Jesus, reminds us of your love for us. And today, Father, as we examine your word, we think of the many people who have yet to hear about Jesus Christ, our Lord, and how we can reach them with the gospel of Christ. We think of the people, even in our own country, Lord, who have ignored this great season, its importance.

So much happens during the holiday season that, Father, we sometimes forget ourselves about you and what you have for us. Today, help us through the life of Josiah to remember the important things of Christmas, the significance of this season, and how we might best represent our Lord Jesus Christ to a lost world. We ask in Jesus' name, amen. Today, we have the opportunity to study another symbol that leads us to the understanding of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and the arrival of the Messiah. In your Advent Jesse Tree book, it's entitled Josiah and the Law, or Josiah Finds the Law.

This is a wonderful story about a king, a king that was, as the scriptures say, was the greatest king in the history of Israel. Let me read that to you.

That is 1st, or excuse me, 2nd Kings chapter 23 verse number 25. It says, and before him there was no king like him who 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, nor did any like him arise after him. That's quite a statement, isn't it? No king before him, no king after him. Before him there was King David. There was King Solomon. The kings began with Saul. After Solomon, the kingdom of God was divided. There was the northern kingdom of the ten tribes of Israel, and then there was a southern kingdom, two tribes.

It's called Judah. Judah had 20 kings. Of the 20 kings, only eight of them we could call good kings, and Josiah was the last of the good kings. There would be four kings that would follow him, but none were as devoted to the Lord as Josiah was. He became the king at age eight. He would rule for 31 years. He would die at the age of 39 at Megiddo. It's a wonderful story about a king committed to the Lord God. His name means the fire of the Lord. This man was on fire for the Lord. It helps us understand how your life can be set ablaze for God, and how we can learn to live as this man lived, and I wonder as I read in 2 Kings 23 about Josiah, would it be said of us that there was no businessman before him or after him whose heart was completely sold out to God?

There was no pastor, there was no coach, there was no doctor, there was no nurse, there was no teacher so committed to God before or after this individual, because they were so sold out for the Lord God. Josiah, the king of Israel, who became king at age eight. I'm going to read a lot of verses to you this morning, because it's best for the Bible to tell you the story of Josiah. I've got four points for you this morning, four and only four, that will help you understand how you will be on fire for the Lord as Josiah was.

We'll begin reading in 2 Kings 22 verse number one. Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidiah, the daughter of Adiah of Bozkath, and he did write in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the way of his father David, nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left. Now turn with me in your Bible if you would to the book of 2 Chronicles, because 2 Chronicles 34 also talks to us about King Josiah, and this is what it says in verse one of chapter 34.

Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He reigned 31 years in Jerusalem, and he did write in the sight of the Lord and walked in the ways of his father David, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left. For in the eighth year of his reign, that would make him 16 years of age, while he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David. 16 years of age, he began to seek the God of his father David. When he became king, he was eight years of age. You need to ask yourself what you did when you were eight.

Probably nothing as important as Josiah, but he became king when he was eight years of age. Principle number one about the fire of the Lord, this man Josiah, simply means if you want to be on fire for the Lord, you must focus wholeheartedly on the one who is holy.

You must focus wholeheartedly on the one who is holy. He, Josiah, was one who did what was right in the sight of the Lord. He was the one who walked after his father David. He was the one who, as the scriptures say, he did not turn aside to the right or to the left. He was committed to his God. All this with never reading anything in the law of God. All this with never reading one word of the law of God. We know that because in the story, the Torah, the law of God, the lost law is found. So there was no reading of the law to Josiah when he was eight years of age, when he was 16 years of age.

But this is important because at 16, when he began to seek the Lord, his God, the father of his own life, his father David, he did that because he could not follow in the footsteps of his father Ammon, nor could he follow in the footsteps of his grandfather Manasseh. There had been 60 years of nothing but sin in Israel. Idolatry, immorality, apostasy, infidelity was commonplace in the land of Israel. His grandfather was the most wicked king in Israel's history. His father would follow in the footsteps of his grandfather.

In fact, the Bible says in the book of 2 Kings chapter 21, Ammon was 22 years old, verse 19, when he became king.

He reigned two years in Jerusalem. It says in verse 20, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord as Manasseh his father had done. For he walked in all the way that his father had walked and served the idols that his father had served and worshiped them. So he forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord. And the servants of Ammon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house. The people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Ammon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

Josiah did not have a father figure that would lead him in the ways of God. He did not have a grandfather figure who would lead him in the ways of God, but his forefather David would lead him in the ways of God. He would follow in the footsteps of the great king of Israel, David himself. How did he do that? How would he know what to do? If there was no law to read, how would he know to walk in the way of his father David? How would he know not to turn to the right or to the left? How would he know which way to go?

Well, point number two, not only was he focused wholeheartedly on the one who was holy, but he imitated only those who were godly.

He imitated only those who were godly. Well, if you go back and look at 2 Kings 22, verse number one, it says, Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Jeredah, beloved of the Lord.

Now, most commentators would tell you that's very strange to have the mother's name mentioned in the records, and yet God puts it there so you and I begin to understand the impact of this man's mother in his life from a very early age because of the iniquity of his fathers. This goes to show you that you can't go back and say, well, you know, I am the way I am because of my cultural background. I do what I do because of my upbringing. My environment has shaped my nature and my character. I can't help but commit the crimes I do because of the environment in which I was raised.

That's hogwash. It's from the Greek word hagoateo because Josiah was raised in a horrible environment, the most wicked environment in Israel's history. That's where he was raised. He was born into that, and yet his mother, Jeredah, beloved of the Lord, would somehow be able to communicate to him all the truth he needed to know that he might follow the Lord and serve him. He walked in the way of his father David. Somebody had to tell him, right? That would be his mother. She would tell him. A lot like Lois and Eunice did in Second Timothy where Timothy was raised by his mother and grandmother because his father was a Greek.

He was a pagan. He did not follow the word of the Lord, but his mother and grandmother did, and they would teach him. You see, you can use the excuse of your environment being bad or your upbringing being bad or my dad wasn't saved or whatever you want to, you can use all that just as a whole water with anybody because Josiah, Josiah was raised in a horrible environment, but his mother, mother would teach him the way of his father David, not the way of his father Ammon or his grandfather Manasseh because they would lead Israel into wickedness, but somebody had to teach him right from wrong.

He just didn't wake up one day and say, well, I think that's right. I think that's wrong. Maybe I should do this. Maybe I should do that. No, someone had to teach him. He began to imitate those who were godly. Remember now that the mentors of his life were the servants of King Ammon, a wicked king, his father. So when he stepped into his kingship role, he was surrounded by all those who had been influenced by a wicked king, and don't think that they would not try to influence him in the way of wickedness, but eight years of age doesn't tell us what took place between age eight and age 16, except, except that he focused wholeheartedly on the one who was holy, and that he imitated only those who were godly.

He followed in the footsteps of his father David. He had to imitate his forefather, King David. He had to imitate somehow his mother, because he wasn't going to imitate his father Ammon. He was completely different then. He, he was tired of the status quo. He was tired of the way things have been for the last 60 years. Somebody's got to change sometime. Somebody's got to break the chain of immorality sometime. Somebody's got to break the chain of idolatrous worship sometime. Who's going to be that person?

Who's going to break that chain? Who's going to start anew? Who's going to lead Israel in the path of righteousness? Josiah would. He would be that leader. He was tired of the, of the way things always have been. He would change things, because he would seek after his God. He would focus his heart and soul and mind on the things of God. That's why this man was on fire for the Lord. He focused wholeheartedly on the one who was holy. He imitated only those who were godly. Everybody imitates somebody, my friend.

Don't we? We pattern our lives after someone. All of us do. And somebody is pattering their, pattering their lives after us as well. They're going to imitate us. They're going to follow us. That's why Paul said, follow me as I follow Christ. Paul says, I want you to follow me. If I'm following Christ, follow me, because I want you to be like Christ. If I'm not following Christ, don't follow me. But as I follow Christ, you follow me. Don't you as a parent want your children to be just like you? I do.

I want my boys to be just like me. I want them to be strong. I want them to follow the Lord. I don't want them to be intimidated by anybody who comes across their path. I want them to be able to stand strong against iniquity. If I don't teach them how to do that, who's going to teach them? I want my girls to be just like their mother. I don't want my girls to be like me. I want them to be just like their mother. I want them to be committed to raising a godly seed. I want them to be committed to investing into the lives of their children 24-7, not just when they come home from school, 24-7, all day, every day.

I want my girls to invest in the lives of their children, every part of every day, that they might be like their mother. Well, you should want the same for your children. You should want your children to follow in your footsteps, that that godly legacy would continue from generation to generation to generation. And if we don't invest into the lives of our children, it's not going to happen. And I'm sure Ammon was proud to have a son and tried to invest into the life of his son. But there was a mother who was godly, beloved of Jehovah, who would love her son and teach him the ways of God.

Ladies, let that be an encouragement to you. No matter what kind of husband you have, you can override all of his influence by living a godly life. Did you know that? Never underestimate the power of a woman. And they call them the weaker sex, right? Let me tell you something.

There's nothing more powerful than the influence of a godly woman in the life of her children. Nothing. It was Abraham Lincoln who said, no man is poor who has a godly mother. Well, that's true. And in spite of all the wickedness that happened in Josiah's family, there was one mother who said, you know what? I'm going to invest into the life of my son that he might live a godly, holy life. Now, there's more to this story other than that. And I'm going to tell you that at the very end of today. So I can keep you awake and keep you interested all the way to the very end of the sermon, because I'll wrap it all up with the very important, significant prophecy, particularly about Josiah.

But this man was on fire for the Lord because, number one, he focused wholeheartedly on the one who was holy.

He sought the God of his Father David and seek Him with his whole heart. He was fixed. He was steadfast. He was focused. And, number two, he imitated only those who were godly.

Didn't follow the ungodly. Bad company always corrupts good morals, right? You want to be able to follow those who are godly and imitate the ones who are true to the Lord God. But number three, number three, he would respond properly to the law and its authority.

He would respond properly to the law and its authority. The story just gets so, so incredibly good. It says in verse three, now it came about in the 18th year of King Josiah. Now he's 26 years of age, okay? 26 years of age. What were you doing when you were 26 years old? What kind of impact did you make in your generation when you were 26 years of age? Josiah is 26 years of age. It says in the 18th year of King Josiah that the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshulam, the scribe to the house of the Lord saying, go up to Hilkiah the high priest that he may count the money brought in to the house of the Lord which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people and let them deliver it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord and let them give it to the workmen who are in the house of the Lord to repair the damages of the house.

God's house had been damaged by idol worship by his father and his grandfather. To the carpenters and the builders and the masons and for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the house only no accounting shall be made with them for the money delivered into their hand for they deal faithfully. Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. So during their repairing of the temple they found the Torah, the book of the law. It had been lost for over 60 years had been lost and Hilkiah gave the book of book to Shaphan who read it and Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought back word to the king and said your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.

Moreover Shaphan the scribe told the king saying Hilkiah the priest has given me a book and Shaphan read it in the presence of the king and it came about when the king heard the words of the book of the law that he tore his clothes. Then the king commended Hilkiah the priest Ahikam and the son of Shaphan Akbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe and Isaiah the king's servant saying go inquire of the Lord for me and the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found.

For great is the wrath of the Lord that burns against us because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book to do according to all that is written concerning us. Josiah hears the word of the Lord listen for the very first time in his life 26 years of age.

It's the very first time someone reads him the book of the law and the very first time he hears it he rips his clothes to respond properly to the law and its authority.

He began to repent. Oh we've sinned. We've done it all wrong. The wrath of God is against us. Something must change. He recognizes that. What a tremendous testimony to how it is we are to respond to the word of the Lord. You know sometimes we hear what God's word says about sin and what do we say? Well that doesn't apply to me. That's somebody else. Oh well you know God's not really serious about that. He's not really gonna bring down his wrath upon us. But Josiah so tender to the truth of God's word.

Listen to what Hilkiah the priest says. Verse 18 but to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord thus shall you say to them thus says the Lord God of Israel regarding the words which you have heard because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place that against his inhabitants that they should become a desolation and a curse and you have torn your clothes and wept before me I truly have heard you declares the Lord therefore behold I will gather you to your fathers and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace neither shall your eyes see all the evil which I will bring on this place so they brought back word to the king oh Josiah you responded properly so you want to be on fire for the Lord you must always respond properly to the law and authority always you can't say that well that doesn't apply to me that's not for me that's for somebody else you know I've heard that I'm not doing that I don't care what God's word says I'm not into that kind of thing really Josiah heard the word of the Lord and he repented he tore his clothes in humiliation that's what the Bible says in Isaiah 66 verse number two to this man will I look to him who is broken and of a contrite heart and who trembles uncontrollably under the authority of my word that's the kind of guy God looks to he doesn't look to anybody else he looks to those who are broken and contrite who shake under the authority of God's word that was Josiah he becomes a model of Isaiah 66 verse number two and that's why he became the greatest king in Israel's history that's why there was no king before him there was no king after him because when he heard the word of the Lord he responded properly to God's word the funny thing about this is that God's word was lost in God's house isn't that ironic God's word was lost in God's house you can go to a lot of churches today but God's word is lost in that church a lot of homes God's word is lost oh it's not that it's been hidden someplace or that you you just can't find it it's just that you devalue it and that's the way it was for Israel Ammon Manasseh the wicked kings of Israel they devalue God's word and its authority it wasn't important to them oh we know what God's word says it's not that important to us and we devalue it in our homes by not responding properly to its authority we hear it spoken we are preached we read it and we don't respond in a proper way thus devaluing the word of God it's almost as if it's been lost in the homes of the people of God it's been lost in the church of God it's no longer paramount it's no longer prominent in the hearts and lives of people we read it makes no impact listen when Josiah read the law of God it made a severe impact in his life oh by the way the deeper God's word makes the impact on your life the deeper impact you make in life did you know that the more severe the impact of God's word in your life personally than the greater and deeper impact you will make in the lives of those people round about you if those closest to you are not experiencing the impact of God's word in your life go back and ask yourself how you've responded properly to the authority of God's word in your life that's the question you got to ask how they responded how am I impacting their lives because Josiah made a significant impact in the land of Judah unlike any king before him or after him because he responded properly to the law and its authority you want to be on fire for the Lord then you need to focus wholeheartedly on the one who is holy imitate only those who are godly respond properly to God's law and its authority and lastly engage tenaciously against all apostasy all immorality all infidelity all idolatry all iniquity and that's what Josiah did he went to battle he went to war because once he heard what God's word says he couldn't just hear it and do nothing about it right he had to do something he had to respond not only personally but nationally he had to have impact on on everybody's life so verse 1 of chapter 23 then the king sent and they gathered to him all the elders of judah and jerusalem and the king went up to the house of the lord and all the men of judah and all the inhabitants of jerusalem with him and the priests and the prophets and all the people both small and great and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the lord and the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the lord 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 carry out the words of the covenant that were written in this book and all the people entered into the covenant he gathers the people together he begins to read just to read the book of the covenant just to read so people who understand what the law of God is folks listen we haven't heard this i'm going to read it to you you need to hear what i just heard and i'm going to read it to you and i want you to listen and just as i'm making a covenant before all of you that with all my heart all my soul all my strength all my mind everything everything within me i am going to follow this book and the people follow the people follow read on then the king commanded the high priest and the priests of the second order and the doorkeepers to bring out of the temple of the lord all the vessels that were made for bail for asherah and for all the lost of heaven and he burned them outside of jerusalem in the fields of the kindred and carried their ashes to bethel and he did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places in the cities of judah and in the surrounding area jerusalem also those who burned incense to bail to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations into all the hosts of heaven and he brought out the asherah from the house of the lord outside jerusalem to the brook kindred and burned it at the brook kindred and ground it to dust and threw its dust on the graves of the common people remember now he's 26 years old he's not some 55 year old guy some 80 year old guy he's 26 years of age he is totally turning judah upside down unlike those old folks had never seen before and he was committed to doing the word of the lord then he brought all the priests for the cities of judah and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense from geba to beersheba and he broke down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of joshua the governor of the city which were on one's left at the city gate nevertheless the priests of the high place did not go up to the altar of the lord in jerusalem but the eight and eleven bred among their brothers he also defiled tofeth which is in the valley of the son of hinam that no man might make his son or his daughter pass the fire for moloch and did away with the horses which the kings of judah had given to the son at the entrance of the house of the lord by the chamber of nathan malec the official which was in the precincts and he burned the chariots of the son of the son with fire and the altars which were on the roof the upper chamber of ahaz which the kings of judah had made and the altars which manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the lord the king broke down he smashed in there he threw their dust into the brook kidron and the high places which were before jerusalem which were on the right of the mount of destruction which solomon the king of israel had built for ashtaroth and the abomination of the sudanians and the kimosh the abomination of moab and for milcom the abomination of the sons of ammon the king defiled and he broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the ashram and filled their places with human bones he engaged tenaciously not passively not secretly tenaciously against all immorality all apostasy all idolatry all infidelity all iniquity he went to war against sin that's why he was the fire of the lord he went to war but this is where it gets really good really really good listen this furthermore the altar that was at bethel and the high place which jeroboam the son of nebat who had made israel sin had made even the altar in the high place he broke down then he demolished its stones ground them to dust and burned them and burned the asherah now when josiah turned he saw the graves that were there on the mountain and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled that according to the word of the lord which the man of god proclaimed who proclaimed these things did you get that this is so important because what josiah did was prophesied 300 years before he became king and the prophecy was so accurate that he was named 300 years before he became king how do we know that first kings chapter 13 turn with me your bible to first kings 13 this is so incredibly rich with the blessing of god first kings 13 and verse number one now behold there came a man of god we don't know who he is he's just a man of god from judah to bethel bethel is the house of god by the word of the lord while jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense jeroboam had violated the word of the lord jeroboam had led israel into wickedness and there was a man of god who came to the altar where jeroboam was because the word of the lord had sent this man to jeroboam verse two he cried out against the altar by the word of the lord and said oh altar altar thus says the lord now stop right there he didn't even look at jeroboam speak to him he only looked at the altar and spoke to the altar to symbolize god's rejection of jeroboam now read on behold a son shall be born to the house of david what's the next phrase josiah by name and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places and burn incense on you and human bones shall be burned on you then he gave a sign the same day saying this is a sign which the lord has spoken behold the altar shall be split apart and the ashes which are on it shall be poured out god had prophesied 300 years before joshua and before before josiah that there would be a man who would come he would destroy this altar he would burn the ashes and the bones of those who fell into iniquity and that's what second kings chapter 23 is all about when it comes now listen to this it says this verse 17 then he says what is this monument that i see and the men of the city told him it is the grave of the man of god who came from judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of bethel this happened in the mind of god 300 years ago there was a man of god who came to the altar and prophesied josiah that this is exactly what you were going to do and he said let him alone let no one disturb his bones so they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who came from samaria and josiah also removed all the houses of the high place which were in the cities of samaria which the kings of israel had made provoking the lord and he did to them just as he had done in bethel and all the priests of the high places who were there be slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them then he returned to jerusalem is there any wonder why josiah was as great as he was he fought against sin he would not tolerate sin see we tend to tolerate sin in the church in our families and then we wonder why we are not set ablaze for god why we're not making any impact anywhere we have to do that you got to be like josiah you you have to engage tenaciously in order to erase iniquity immorality idolatry apostasy you got to go to war you gotta you gotta realize that you're in a battle and you've got to engage all that which is against god that's what josiah did but not only does he do that which is bad he gets rid of the bad he also gets him back on track let's know what it says then the king commanded all the people saying celebrate the passover to the lord your god as it is written in this book of the covenant it had been over 70 years since he had celebrated the passover he took them back to help them remember all about their deliverer because that's what the passover was about he took them back to help to remind them that there is a deliverance that took place to foreshadow a deliverance that will come he pointed them back to the messiah he pointed them back to the ultimate deliverer that would come ultimately down to them and save them that's what a great man of god does that's what josiah did what a wonderful man of god tonight when you gather around your jesse tree you talk to your children your grandchildren you tell them i want you to be on fire for the lord when you turn eight i want you to be like josiah i want you to follow follow wholeheartedly the one who's holy and imitate only those who are godly i want you to begin to seek the god of your father david when he was 16 years of old that's what he did and i want you to to go after him and seek him i want you to imitate only those who are godly not the ungodly only those who are godly and then you teach them how to respond properly to the law of god and its authority by modeling to them contrition repentance submission love for the lord to do anything he says whenever he says it and how he says it you model to them how it is that they can respond properly because you want that for your children and then you begin to engage tenaciously everything that's sinful to erase it from your home get it out of there burn it up tear it out obliterate it because you don't want to be affected by anything sinful in your home you do that and then you can teach your children how they can be on fire for the lord and be able to make a significant impact no matter where they're at because they're committed to doing what god said that's josiah let's pray together father god we thank you for today the truth is there we are so blessed to be able to to understand lord your word thank you for giving to us the truth that's there thank you for the for the man of god we don't even know his name who prophesied to jeroboam was coming to king upon the line of judah his name josiah and he is going to destroy this altar he did he did it exactly as you prophesied lord you are so good and father we thank you for king josiah who's so young yet so true so committed to serving the lord god may we be that way lord may this christmas remind us of how we need to serve our lord with everything that we have because we love you more than anything we pray in jesus name amen