“If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. If you look to God you’ll be at rest!” -Corrie Ten Boom
If you are tempted to give up hope in these last days, the account of the reign of King Josiah will be an inspiration and a blessing to you. Josiah ushered in the last great revival in the history of Judah before their captivity. The Jewish people were chosen by God to receive His word and to be in a covenant relationship with Him. As evidence of His presence, they were blessed unmistakably and powerfully, so much so that even their enemies could not ignore it.
But they were also an illustration of the unfaithfulness of mankind toward God. Biblical scholars call the times of revival followed by times of idolatry in Jewish history as “the Cycle of Apostasy.” There were far more evil rulers, those who ignored the law of God and His prophets, than there were “good” kings who sought His will. Josiah is the last to live faithfully, but not perfectly, in obedience to God. During the beginning of his reign, the priests found the missing Scriptures and ordered that the temple be restored and cleansed. Previous kings had allowed it to fall into ruin. When the king and the people of Jerusalem heard the word of God read aloud, they repented and mourned over their sins, sins that included idolatry, greed, cruelty, disobedience to the law, and perversion of temple worship.
Knowing that their sins would bring judgment, they begged God’s forgiveness. God would not stop judgment from coming, but He promised peace and blessing during Josiah’s reign, a reprieve. Josiah is responsible for national revival and for reinstating the Passover celebration, which commemorated God’s rescue of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt hundreds of years before. As a matter of fact, Josiah’s Passover was the most faithful and scripturally correct Passover that the nation kept in all of its history.
“Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” Although the nation was in decline and in just a few years destruction would come, repentance, obedience, and confession by the king and his people resulted in a pouring out of Grace from our merciful God. God in Heaven responded in Grace and Kingly Kindness to the requests made in Jerusalem. Today, our nation has much to repent of and to answer for. Our founding was rooted in the knowledge of the Bible and in the understanding of right and wrong. Our reputation around the world was that of a Christian nation, “conceived in Liberty.” You may be tempted to think it’s too late to pray, but it isn’t. Judgment for sin is inevitable, but the grace of God is available still, for those who will humble themselves before God’s word and repent.
35 Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the Lord in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.
2 And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the Lord,
3 And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the Lord, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders: serve now the Lord your God, and his people Israel,
Historians say that the ark had been removed from the Holy of Holies at this time, because Josiah’s wicked predecessors had brought pagan statues into the temple to be worshiped. They had copied the ideas and customs of their neighbors, despite the fact that none of those false deities had been able to protect their nations from foreign invaders, like the Assyrians, in the way that Jehovah God had done. This was blasphemy, done in the name of inclusion and tolerance. While they defiled the place God chose to place His name, they considered themselves to be open minded and equitable. Josiah and the faithful priests of God, cleaned house. They destroyed the pagan idols.
Only when the abominations were removed, was the ark of the covenant restored to its proper place. You cannot have a right relationship with God, until you relinquish the idols you’ve placed in your heart. Surrender to God is a pledge of allegiance to Him alone, and it means giving up your love of the things you cling to and depend on that are of this world. “For what would a man give in exchange for his soul?”
4 And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.
5 And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and after the division of the families of the Levites.
6 So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
I Peter 4:17 states, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”
Order needed to be brought to the tribe of Levi, to the individual lives of its members and to their families first, and then to the administration of the office of the priesthood. In 2024, the family of God is in a woeful state. Many have let the oil in their lamps run out, many have grown lazy and indifferent. We are not prepared for the coming of the Lord, or the coming judgment for our sin. First, repent and make your life an example to your own family. Then fulfill the calling God has placed on every believer, to share the gospel faithfully until His coming.
We need leaders who will trust the Lord and put things in order according to His word. We need church members who will sacrifice their own pleasure to see the gospel proclaimed. First the priests had to offer a sacrifice to cover their own sin, then they could serve others. First, you need to rededicate your own heart to God, then you can be useful to the Lord to win others.
16 So all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the Lord, according to the commandment of king Josiah.
17 And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.
18 And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept.
Not only did those who lived in the kingdom of Judah keep the Passover, their estranged family in the Kingdom of Israel also came to Jerusalem and celebrated the salvation of God with them. King Josiah supplied the animals to be sacrificed, so that no one was left out. This was a generous act on the part of the King, who proved he gave to God more than lip service.
Josiah was a great king, although if you continue reading about him, you will find that he also made mistakes. King Josiah is a beacon of hope for all of us who grieve over the state of our nation today. God hears prayer, He has respect for obedience and repentance, He wants to protect, provide, and participate in the lives of His people. Assuredly, sin will be judged and consequences will come, but until He appears, we have an opportunity to pray, over our own sin, for our families, and for our country. Revival begins in the house of God.
Matthew 5:14-16
4 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.
If you are the light of the world, the salt that preserves, the body of Christ, don’t give up hope. Pray. Your witness and testimony still have the power to change things!
Thank you for studying with us! God bless!
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