What we're doing here every Friday is a partial fulfillment
of the Great Commission. What's the Great Commission?
People kind of limit it to 1 dimension.
Go therefore make disciples of all nations, right?
But Jesus didn't end there. He said what following that,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
And did he end it there? What's the third component of
the Great Commission? Does anybody know teaching them
to observe all that I've commanded you?
Again, people limit the Great Commission to go.
Let's go to the nation's, let's go to the streets, the highways
and the and the byways and let's win souls.
OK, but what are you going to do with those souls?
The Great Commission includes people being baptized, making
that commitment, that first step of obedience, and it's a
perpetual reality. Teaching them to observe all
that I've commanded you so. If you're a person here and
you've wondered or you've. Potentially even yearn to be
discipled. What does it mean to be
discipled? What does it mean for me to be
discipled? I'll tell you this in great
part. In fact, the main part is you
being taught what Jesus said. You're being discipled here
every Friday, including Sunday. So hopefully that encourages
you, that encourages me to know that we are fulfilling in part,
the Great Commission for what we do here every Friday evening.
Well, that being said, let's. Come to our Bibles now.
And let's meet together in Second Kings chapter 23, Second
Kings chapter 23. And as you and I prepare to come
to this chapter, I actually would like to begin not in verse
one, but in verse 25. The verse that we're going to
read. Verse 25 is a statement from the
author that comes just before Josiah's death and it really
serves as a summary of his life and the comment made in this
verse will also be used to shape the direction of our Bible study
this evening. Second Kings 23, verse 25, the
word of God says about Josiah. 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 king or any like him, rather
arise after him. Can we pray together?
We ask, Father, that You would help us in this study.
We are not concerned, Lord, with the length of it.
We're not concerned about any component of this delivery apart
from Your power being realized in it, your voice being heard
through it, your truth being understood because of it.
We long, Lord, to be conformed by this truth.
And we pray that every step that we take, we would sense your
leadership. And Lord, as we open the service
with we, we pray that there would be a tangible joy that
would accompany this study. We ask these things in the
matchless name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
I I trust that the verse that we just read, what was said about
Josiah is something that you long for to be said of you, that
your devotion to Christ would not be partial, but it would
truly consume all your heart, all your soul, and all your
might. And if you are someone who
shares in that holy ambition, then I want you to be encouraged
this evening because Josiah is not just an outstanding leader
that stands out from both his predecessors and successors.
He's been given to us as an exceptional example of what true
devotion to God looks like. And though this is a rather
lengthy section of Scripture. We have a detailed outline for
why it is that Josiah was crowned with this uncommon
praise regarding faithfulness to the Lord.
There are two main characteristics that I want us
to leave with, just two qualities that are striking.
But if we rightly understand them and more importantly apply
them, I guarantee that you and I will be set on a path that will
promise the testimony of being wholeheartedly devoted to the
Lord Jesus Christ. What are those two qualities #1
the motive of Josiah's obedience?
What was his motive? Well, it's spelled out for us
between verse one and verse 3, and not just his motive, but
secondly the extent of His obedience.
And that is found beginning in verse 4 down to verse 20.
And that's what we're going to be covering tonight.
Second Kings 23 beginning in verse one.
Down to verse 22, Main headings, 2 main characteristics of this
man that can position us to know what it means to have every part
of our lives truly set apart unto Christ.
Again, let me repeat it. The motive of his obedience.
Why did he do what he did and the extent of his obedience
where he was willing to go with his trust and his faithfulness
to Christ. And yes, although this is to the
Lord and Christ comes to the New Testament, we interpret all
things in light of the new covenant.
And so these are principles for us in our walk with the Lord.
And so we're going to begin tonight with the first
characteristic, the motive of Josiah's obedience.
Let's read from verse one down to verse 3.
Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem
were gathered to him, and the king went up to the House of the
Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, and the priest and the prophets, all the people,
both small and great. And he read in their hearing all
the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in
the House of the Lord. And the king stood by the
pillar, 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
perform the words of this covenant that were written in
this book. And all the people joined in the
covenant. As impressive as Josiah's
conviction and leadership are in this moment, we will not know
their full impact unless we remember how chapter 22 ended.
Do we remember what happened last week?
Josiah discovered the book of the Law.
It was read in his presence. It cut his heart, and without
any hesitation he sent for a prophetic voice to give him
guidance of what he ought to do with the truth that he just
discovered. And he was told by prophetess
named Holda that judgment against the people of Judah was
certain. It was imminent and it was
fixed. Nothing could change the fate of
this people, and I want us to be reminded of that.
Scroll up to chapter 22, verse 17.
Notice what Holda the prophetess said to the messengers who came
on behalf of King Josiah. Second Kings 2217 because they
have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that
they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their
hands. Therefore my wrath will be
kindled against this place and it will not be quenched.
Highlight the last part. Nothing will change what has
been determined for this people. The verdict is final.
There will be horrific judgement that will visit this people and
Josiah was to hear this, although it was not the final
message from Holda. In addition to that, Josiah was
personally comforted with what that he would not witness the
tragedies of God's chastisement, but that he would be ushered
into the grave with peace. He would not behold the horrors.
He would live his. Life.
At rest, knowing that it would come at a later time.
Now I want you to pause and think for a moment.
Does that leave much motivation for Josiah to continue to invest
in this people? Think about it.
If judgment is determined, if nothing will change the future,
then what's the point of really leading this people onto
holiness? What's the point of really
continue to be an example of what it means to be consecrated
unto the Lord? Why not just sit back and relax
and not worry about it? That's not what we find.
Instead, the first verse that we read in chapter 23 shows us the
opposite, that this man was catapulted in the direction of
doing what he can to bring this people to God.
Now, there are some who assume that the reason why Josiah is
ready to bring this reform to a new level is because he hopes
that this verdict will be reversed somehow, that this
indictment will be pushed aside, will maybe even be cancelled if
his people are brought back to renew their covenant with God.
But I don't believe that because there's no indication that that
is his motive and there is no hint that he was granted that
that was even possible, that the course can be changed.
As we just read, the prophet has said it will not be quenched,
nothing can be done to alter it, and yet he still wants to obey
God and he still wants to lead this people to repentance and
obedience to the one and only God.
Why this is? Why?
Because you love God. Consider this.
There is no circumstance then or in the future that would deter
Josiah from doing whatever he could to be in total alignment
with God's will for his life 1st and then as a leader of God's
people. It didn't matter if what he
learned concerning God's will was met with difficulty, was met
with appreciation, or even heavenly reward.
Josiah would obey God for one main reason.
He loved his God, full stop. There is no other incentive.
There is no other pull. There is no other ambition.
It was simply this. If God says it, then I will do
it. And that was the reward for him.
You see, Josiah wasn't leading this nation toward God because
he wanted to evade punishment or because he wanted to secure some
kind of prize. Instead, punishment was
guaranteed. And yet this man still.
Wanted to honor and please God. That in itself was his pursuit.
That was the end of his pursuit. That was the goal.
Can I ask you a question now? What would become of our
sanctification if we had a similar goal?
What would become of our consistency with Christ?
If we find total satisfaction in knowing that our choices and our
commitments please God, and that's all we want, just to
bring delight to his heart, just to bless the Lord, What could
become of the purity of God's church?
What could become of every facet of our life as we walk with
Christ if He is our ultimate goal?
Just Him. Not what He can give us, not
what He can protect us from, Just Him.
I'm doing it for the Lord, and though Josiah is a wonderful
inspiration, Christ is a greater one.
I'm reminded of the words of Jesus in John 829 when he said
the following. He who sent me is with me, and
He has not left me alone. For I always do the things that
are pleasing to him. You see that?
The Son of God lived his human life with that as the banner
over his obedience. I do everything for what reason
Lord to please the Father, to please him.
Now we should be grateful that Christ perfect obedience is
imputed unto us. Is it not that there was not a
moment where Jesus did not please the Father?
Every millisecond of his life brought perfect delight to God.
And when we accept Christ by faith, that level of obedience
is now given to us in our account before the throne.
It's a wonderful thought, but don't make the mistake that so
many make where they celebrate what they've inherited in their
justification and fail to see how Christ is also an example
for our own sanctification. As much as we see what we
receive in His obedience, we also receive instruction.
I always do the things that are pleasing to him.
The same John who recorded the words of Jesus here says
something to Christians and his first epistle.
It's found in first John chapter 3 verse 22.
What did John say there? And whatever we ask, we receive
from him, because we keep his. Commandments and do what pleases
him. John isn't speaking about Jesus
here. He did that in John 829.
He's speaking about Christians here.
And what does he say about Christians?
We do what pleases God. Can I ask you something?
Is that the heartbeat of your obedience?
Is that? Is that why you serve the
church? Is that why you want to
represent them in any context you find yourself in?
Is that the reason why you reject sin and deny the flesh
and come to him in repentance when you act up in the?
Flesh. Is it because down deep inside
you really want to please God, Not your pastors, not your
mother, not your father, not your older sibling, not your
friend who's spiritual and loves Christ?
Is it because ultimately you want to please him?
A singular devotion to Christ that was Josiah.
I just, it blows my mind. It really does.
What do you do with that kind of prophetic report?
Nothing that you can do is going to change the judgement that's
coming on the horizon. It didn't matter to him, God
still said it. So I'm going to do it well.
Why Josiah? Because I want to please God.
As simple as that. Now let's come back to our main
taxes in Second Kings 23. I want you to notice a couple of
things with me in the first 3 verses that we read.
First, I want you to see how Josiah was the director of all
the movement here. Look at verse one.
Then the king sent verse 2 and the king went up verse 3, and
the king stood by the pillar, made a covenant before the Lord.
The impression that you have here is that this is coming from
this man's heart. He's the one who's orchestrating
all of this. He's the one who is urgent.
You can sense the urgency. You can sense the enthusiasm
here, even though there is a very great lack of shared
concern. He's moving all the pieces.
He's setting up the meeting. He is doing it.
And here's what I want to leave with you.
It's a wonderful portrait of the power of the word of God at work
in the human spirit. What's energizing Josiah here?
What we read last week, the word of God being revealed to him,
this is what moved him in the direction that he was moving in.
And that's the power that the Word of God contains.
It is able to energize you and I.
It is able to motivate. It's able to compel you to this
kind of level of obedience even though nobody else has it.
It's a remarkable thing to witness because it does compel
us to live for Him, but also moves you to be unashamed of the
truth and to even be bold to call others to embrace it.
Did you notice another word that appears here in the first 3
verses? It's the word all.
Look again, verse one that the king sent and all the elders of
Judah and Jerusalem. Look at verse 2.
And the king went up to the House of the Lord, and with him
all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and
the priests and the prophets, all the people.
And finally he says that again in verse 3.
All, all, all, all. Now, my sanctified imagination,
I step back after reviewing this today, and I just enjoyed the
thought because you read here that there was prophets,
priests, men, women, small. Great.
What a sight it must have been to see Josiah elevated with the
copy of God's law in his hand, reading it plainly.
And there you have the priest, and there you have the prophets,
who? Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and others
like them, silently absorbing all that God was saying in his
word. It's just a spectacular thing to
think about. But that's not the main point.
The main point is that Josiah desired that every person be
under the reading of God's Word and that there wouldn't be one
person left out from the covenant that he was about to
establish. Again, all.
Now Speaking of covenant, did you notice how the scriptures
are referred to in the first 3 verses that we read?
What's the title that's given to the scriptures?
Anybody miss it? The book of the Covenant?
Why is that striking? How is it introduced to us in
chapter 22? What was it called?
The Book of the Law? Why the change?
Any idea why did we go from the book of the Law in chapter 22 to
now the book of the Covenant in chapter 23?
If you have an answer you you should feel free to answer.
Can I give you a hint? Another question, when was the
last time we saw this title The book of the Covenant?
Any idea? When was the last time we saw
this? You have to.
Turn that I will not just tell you it's an Exodus chapter 24.
This is the first time it appears and this is the last
time it appears before this chapter in Second Kings 23 and
it's very telling. I believe that there is a
connection that's to be made between this chapter and what we
find in chapter 24 of the book of Exodus.
This is where the covenant between the people of Israel and
God is being ratified through the mediating work of Moses.
And notice what I said here in Exodus 24, verse 6.
And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half
of the blood he threw against the altar.
Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the
hearing of the people. Sound familiar?
And they said, All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we
will be obedient. And Moses took the blood and
threw it on the people and said, Behold, the blood of the
covenant that the Lord has made with you.
In accordance with all these words, it seems as though the
Spirit of God is using the same term to parallel Josiah's
actions with the foundational moment of the covenant being
established at Sinai. He wants us to link them
together. He wants us to read chapter 23
and think, oh, the book of the covenant.
Yeah, well, we saw that in Exodus chapter 24.
For what reason? To show us that Josiah is
bringing the people back to their original promise to God.
In other words, by using this title, Josiah is being portrayed
as a leader bringing the people back to what God intended for
them from the beginning. He's renewing the original
covenant. Additionally, by using Book of
the Covenant, there's an emphasis being made, and the
emphasis is on the relational binding nature of God's Word.
Josiah is not just standing before the nation enforcing
rules and regulations and laws. He's reminding them, listen, we
got to enter back into relationship with God.
This is a covenant. This is not just about abiding
by certain precepts. No, this is about coming back
into communion with God. Listen, that's the purpose of
the Bible. By the way, the Bible is not an
end in itself. It's a wonderful means to
relationship with the Lord. The only means, the primary
means, yes, there's prayer and fellowship with the Saints, all
that, but the Scriptures is meant to bring you and I closer
to God and remain in fellowship with God.
It's through this window and this window alone.
So that's the emphasis being made here.
Josiah is calling the people back into covenant, not just to
the law. So this is significant.
The author is being very strategic.
This is a very pivotal moment for the people of Israel because
the last time we saw the book of the covenant was when the people
entered into covenant with God in the desert.
So we're supposed to feel the weight of.
This. This is massive.
But remember, we're considering the motive of Josiah's obedience
because we we want to know how can it be said of me not, not
from others, from God, that with all my heart and all my soul and
all my might, I truly am His. It's his motive.
And here's my final question before we move on to the second
characteristic, that the people who are being prepared to enter
into covenant with God again share Josiah's motive.
Look at the end of verse 3, the last sentence there, and all the
people joined in the covenant seems so, or else why would they
join in the covenant? But as I pause in my reading of
this chapter and visited the parallel account in Second
Chronicles, I discovered something that was
disappointing. I don't mean to disappoint you,
but I think it will enrich your understanding of this passage.
So look at this one verse. In Second Chronicles 34.
In verse 32, In Second Chronicles 34, verse 32.
Then he being Josiah, made all who are present in Jerusalem and
in Benjamin join in it. In the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
that according to the covenant of God, the God of their
fathers. Read the first part again.
Then he made all who are present in Jerusalem and in Benjamin
join it. I get the impression that this
isn't really voluntary. Instead, I think that the people
are just doing this because they're being told to.
He made them do it. And if you doubt the
interpretation of this verse, remember that Jeremiah was
raised up by God to be the prophetic voice during Josiah's
reign. And what was his repeated
message to the same people who entered into this covenant with
God? You're not really in it with
your whole heart. You're partial, you're half
hearted. He called them out for their
apathy. He he continually called them
out for their shallow surrender. That's what you find throughout
just Jeremiah's writings. And so that really confirms what
we find here in this verse that the people were.
Made to do it. And unfortunately you have you
have some. Who imitate the Israelites here
in their devotion to Christ? In what way?
Well, yeah, they're willing to become Christians, but for what?
Well, maybe they respect the leader who presented in the
gospel, or maybe there was somebody over their life that
they looked up to, so they just really want to honor them and
maybe just imitate them in. OK.
You're a Christian. OK, great.
Yeah, I like it too. I like you.
So I'll be a Christian. Well, how many people sign up to
serve Christ because they get caught up in the momentum of a
movement? Or they see others being moved
by the truth and they just want to be part of the.
Group and so sign me up. I'll follow Jesus.
There's there's so many other ways somebody could be made to
come into covenant with the Lord and then not being the real
reason. Again, we're we're discussing
the motive of Josiah obedience. What a contrast here.
You have a man, it didn't matter who had the same zealism or the
ambition. I'm going to do it.
I'm I'm making this happen. And he stood out from millions
who joined in the covenant. For who knows what reasons, it's
striking, it's sobering, but it's the truth.
What's your motive in following Christ today?
Your reaction before that question is even completed is
Christ. Christ.
It's his smile that I'm after. It's His fellowship that I
treasure. It's that face to face meeting
that I will have when I give up my final breath that I always
have before me in my life day-to-day.
I want to please Him. Surely that's one major reason
why Josiah was crowned with such wonderful praise at the end of
this chapter. But we're also considering the
extent of Josiah's obedience, not just his motive.
Maybe you're still there. Hopefully.
Second Chronicles 34. Look at the next verse we read
32. Look at 33.
And Josiah took away all the abominations from all the
territory that belonged to the people of Israel and made all
who were president Israel serve the Lord their God.
All his days. They did not turn away from
following the Lord, the God of the Father.
So there's just further confirmation.
All his days, as long as Josiah lived, we'll live for God.
The moment the man died, you're going to find out next week that
they returned to their vomit. But that's not the point that I
want to bring up. What is briefly stated in the
single verse is elaborated and expanded in great detail in our
original text in Second Kings 23.
In other words, this one verse is stretched out through 16
verses, Teens, chapter 23, verse 4 down to verse 20.
And it's this very precise unfolding of the abominations
that Josiah confronted and cleansed after this covenant was
made with the nation. And we're going to read them in
a moment, but I want to just give you a summary.
Here's the summary of what we're about to discover.
Josiah is going to remove vessels of Baal, Ashra and all
the hosts of heavens that were placed in the temple of God.
He's going to remove. These articles of false worship
from the House of God. Beyond that, he deposed the
priests who previous kings have ordained to orchestrate
sacrifices at high places. Beyond that, he will break down
the high places and the houses of mill cult prostitutes.
It doesn't even end there. He will defile these stations
that were set apart to sacrifice children to false gods.
Moreover, he will destroy horses and Chariots that were dedicated
to the worship of the Sun if you're not.
Overwhelmed yet? He will dismantle and burn
various altars, including the original ones that Jeroboam
built in Bethel. That's not even everything, and
the fact that these are just just laid out for us in rapid
succession is meant to cause you to feel shock.
This is just how corrupt the nation.
Has become We're not talking about Israel, by the way.
We're talking about the King of the Judah.
The one that was led by the dynasty of David.
This is how low they have reached.
This is how dark it became. Now I step back and I thought to
myself, two things. One, this just makes Josiah's
devotion to God all the more amazing, because with all the
wickedness that surrounded him and tented him as though there
was. Nothing around him.
He obeyed the Lord wholeheartedly.
But it got me thinking, Is this what we're about to read?
Josiah's initial reform? Is it his initial attempt to
cleanse the land of idolatry? Let me ask you this way, what
year are? We in in Josiah's reign.
Anybody know? Let me give you a hint.
It didn't change from last week. Good.
We're in the 18th year of his reign.
What year did he? Begin to purge the land of
idolatry. The 12th year, yes.
So here's what I'm thinking as I was reading the rest of this
chapter in chapter 23 and all the things that Josiah still
helped had to confront and cleanse what was really
accomplished in the past six years of reform.
Is that a legitimate inquiry? Not to say he didn't do
anything. Now one can answer, well, that's
just the the depth of iniquity that the people were swimming
in. Sure, you can say that.
But I think there's a more powerful statement being made
here. It is that whatever Josiah was
trying to do in the past six years, he was able to do in one
year because of one key component.
He had the Bible this time. He had the Bible this time.
True reformation, true restoration, true renewal, true
healing, true salvation can never be realized apart from
God's Word. It can't.
All these silly attempts and ideas and outreaches and
movements and events that try to usher in revival with little to
no attention to the Word of God. It's just silly.
It's really futile. One year with the Bible
outshined what Josiah was trying to do in six years without it.
Now let's bring it into our own lives.
Let's bring it into something that we deal with on a
day-to-day. How many marriages are trying to
be healed without the Bible? How many hearts are trying to be
fixed without God's Word? How many peeler people are
trying to manage their financial situation, their friendships,
whatever it may be, apart from the scriptures?
You are wasting time and energy unless you invested and based
your efforts in this. Truth, the wisdom of God, The
power of God, the breath of God. Awaits to breathe on whatever it
is you need to see restored. That's what I see here.
It just reinforces my trust in the scriptures.
Just give. People the Word of God and let
the Word do the work. But let's look at these things
now in greater detail. I want us to look at the extent
of Josiah's obedience. It's one thing to say I want to
live for the Lord Jesus. I want to obey him.
I do obey him with all my heart and all my soul and all my
might. But when you really.
Break it down. It's helpful to see if that is
the case. The first thing I want us to
look at, and there are three PS by the way, the first thing I
want us to consider is the permanency of His obedience.
The permanency of His obedience. Let's read verse 4 down to verse
6. And the king commanded Hilkiah,
the high priest and the priest of the 2nd order.
And the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of
the Lord all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for
all the hosts of heaven. He burned them outside Jerusalem
in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.
And he'd opposed the priest whom the kings of Judah had ordained
to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah
and around Jerusalem. Those also who burned incense
to. Baal to the sun, and to the
moon, and to the constellations, and all the hosts of the
heavens. And he brought out the ashra
from the House of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the Book
Brook Kindred, and burned it at the Brook Kidron and beat it to.
Dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common
people. Is there anything that stands
out to you From the verses that we just read?
We've seen idols being burned before, correct?
We've seen idols being crushed before, have we not?
But there is something that does stand out.
What is it? Look at the last part.
And cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people.
Why are you doing that, Josiah? Why are you taking the dust of
the altars and the different items of false worship and
sprinkling them on the graves of the common people?
It gets even more strange as you continue.
I want to read to you three other passages in this text.
Scroll down here to verse 14. And he broke in pieces the
pillars, and cut down the ashram, and filled their places
with the bones of men. Huh.
Verse 16 And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the
mount, and he sent and took the bones out of the tombs, and
burned them on the altar and defiled.
It according to the word of the Lord that the man of God
proclaimed who had predicted these things.
If we didn't get it, there's one more verse.
Verse 20 And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places
who were there on the altars and burned human bones on them.
Then he returned to Jerusalem. So with almost every site of
destruction, Josiah chooses to take bones of humans and to
sprinkle their bones on these altars or these.
Different artifacts and in the original case he took the
artifacts and he sprinkled them on the graves of the common
people. Any idea why he is doing this?
Is it just to be? Cruel.
Let me give you a hint. This is ring any bell to a law
in the Old Testament relating to the people of Israel and what
was to happen if they engage with anything that is dead.
Here's a scripture reference that you want to put in your
margin, Numbers 19, verse 16. Here's the reason why Josiah is
doing this, and it's brilliant. It's absolutely brilliant, and
there is a deep spiritual truth attached to it.
Notice what the law says in Numbers 1916.
Whoever in the open field touches someone who was killed
with a sword or who died naturally, or touches a human
bone or a grave shall be unclean. 7 days.
You see what Josiah is doing now?
After destroying these false things, he ensures that they are
defiled by linking them with that which was dead.
For what reason? To make it that much more
difficult for those who would be tempted to return to false
worship, because in coming in contact with those things, they
would come into contact with human bones and they would
become ceremonially unclean. What is Josiah doing?
He is putting up obstacles and hurdles for the people to not go
back to false worship. He really wants us to be a final
commitment to the Lord. In other words, Josiah is doing
this to make a statement. We're not going back.
We're not. Those things are buried.
Those things are now defiled. And if you really want to go
back to it, you're going to have to go through a lot to resurrect
false worship, because now they're associated and linked
with human bones, with the graves of common people.
In your pursuit of obedience and mind, can I ask you a very, very
important question? What do we do?
What are we doing to make it more difficult for us to return
to the things that we once worshipped?
What do we really do to cut off old ways to separate ourselves
from patterns that dishonored God?
Or have you found yourself making it very easy to return to
things that you once denounced? Is it easy for you to return to
ways of thinking and behaviors and places and people that you
vowed that you would never return to?
I'll never forget a meeting long before I was ever in ministry
where someone who I knew was entrenched in drugs and the
party lifestyle and he was sick of it.
So he came to a meeting. He couldn't even make it to the
meeting. He was just weeping through it
all. And finally he just said, I'm
done. I'm sick of it.
I want to repent. I want to, I need a change here.
And as he was trying to even catch his breath, because he was
heaving, and we discussed the gospel with this individual.
We eventually called them to make a decision.
Listen, you got to cut off your past.
You got to cut off your past. And it's as though the Holy
Spirit on that moment just LED that conversation for a few
friends, People who love this young man, pick up your phone,
go through your contacts and delete all the numbers of your
drug dealers. You know, it was amazing to
witness. How difficult it was for this
person to do that. Cut it off, sprinkle death on
it, make it that much more difficult for you to return to
your sin. And so you see, the extent of
Josiah's obedience here is that he determined for it to be a
permanent choice, and he determined to make it that much
more difficult for him and others to go back to their way
of life. So when we repent, we're really
saying I, I crucify those things.
And I myself am crucified to the world.
That's what we see here. It's brilliant, but it's not the
only thing. It's not just the permanency of
His obedience. We also see the priority of it,
the priority of His obedience. Let's look at verse 7 and we'll
read down to verse 13. And he broke down the houses of
the male called prostitutes who were in the House of the Lord.
Just pause for a second. Can you believe it?
So God is about to use Babylon to remove this people from the
promised land. And here you have people
thinking, don't you think that's just a little bit too harsh?
Don't you think it's a little bit too extreme?
OK, think about this. In the temple of God you had
male cult prostitutes in the place that was to be
consecrated, in the place that was hosting the very glory of
God. You had prostitutes not down the
street in the place. And people dare to sit on the
judgement seat and criticize God.
And he broke down the House of the male called prostitutes who
were in the House of the Lord, where the woman wove hangings
for the ashra. It is believed that these women
put together curtains so that people can perform sexual acts
behind those veils in the House of God.
Verse 8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of
Judah and defiled the high places where the priest had made
offerings from Giba to Beersheba.
And he broke down the high places of the gates that were at
the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the governor of the
city, which were on one's left at the gate of the city.
So another thing that he does, hey, all the priests come here,
all of you that worship at these high places and help the people
worship at these places that were not designated to the true
God and not even designated places to worship the true God.
You're fired. You're all fired, the priority,
and we're going to continue. Josiah didn't allow people and
even people in certain positions to determine from obeying God.
It's one thing to remove sinful entertainment, sinful items,
sinful decisions. It's another thing to remove
sinful people. Sin doesn't just appear out of
the air. Sin is encouraged, sin is
nurtured. Sin is invented by people.
And Josiah understood this. And so you priest that encourage
people in this direction, you're gone, you're out of here.
But notice what he does Something, something moving.
In verse nine. However, the priests of the high
places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem,
but they ate unleavened bread from among their brothers.
Here's what's happening that as zealous as Josiah was, he did
not become merciless, and I believe Josiah is operating in
the spirit of the law. From the Old Covenant we find
that there were instructions for the priests, even priests who
disqualified themselves from serving in the Temple primarily
because of bodily defects. One of the ways in which the
Lord assured their livelihood is that even though they were
disqualified from serving in the House of God, they were still
allowed to eat from the bread of the House of God.
You find that in Leviticus 21. You don't have to turn there.
So it could be that Josiah is operating with this in mind,
that he's borrowing from the spirit of that law.
And because the priests were solely depended upon the
provisions and the donations in the House of God for their own
survival, he didn't cut that off from them completely.
He didn't allow them to starve to death.
And so even in his pursuit, his very passionate pursuit for
purity, this man didn't become void of compassion.
And grace. And I think that's a temptation
for people who really want to obey God.
In their great angst, and even maybe in their righteous
indignation, if you're not careful, you can go beyond what
God says and you can begin to unnecessarily punish and condemn
and push people away. That's not what he's doing here,
is it? This is a real reformation.
And yet he is mindful. He is mindful of God's heart for
people. This is just an incredible
display of wisdom here and grace.
It's just it moved my soul this week.
We're talking about the priority of his obedience.
Let's read on in verse 10 and he defiled Topheth, which is in the
valley of the son of Henom, that no one might burn his son or his
daughter as an offering to Molech.
And he removed the horses at the kings of Judah had dedicated to
the son at the entrance of the House of the Lord by the Chamber
of Nathan Melek the Chamberlain, which was in the precincts, And
he burned the Chariots of the sun with fire.
Let me pause here. They got so creative with their
idolatry that they even dedicated.
It's one thing for kings, remember to have many horses.
Now you had horses with Chariots that were dedicated to what?
The Sun verse 12 And the altars on the roof of the upper Chamber
of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars
that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the House of the
Lord. He pulled down and broke in
pieces and cast the dust of them into the brook.
Kidron. And the king defiled the high
places that were east of Jerusalem, to the South of the
Mount of Corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel, had
built for Ashraf, the abomination of the Sidonians,
and for Kimosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milkham the
abomination of the Ammonites. And he broke in pieces the
pillars and cut down the ashram and filled their places with the
bones of men. The one thing I want to
highlight, as we're considering now the priority of his
obedience, is how he went to this mount called the Mount of
Corruption. And we discussed this when we
looked at the life of Solomon. Because we read there in First
Kings 11/7. That he erected these false
altars, these false places of worship on a mountain east of
Jerusalem. And most believe it was the
Mount of Olives, at least a part of the Mount of Olives.
And over time it developed this reputation among the righteous.
It was called the Mount of Corruption.
And what moves me here about Josiah is that though this
mountain and though these things that were built were associated
and linked to Solomon, he could care less.
He could care less. God's word says this doesn't
matter what Solomon did for good didn't matter what his story
ended up being like this is evil, this is sin.
I'm, I'm getting rid of it. And I bring that up because you
have some people who are not really fully, truly,
wholeheartedly obeying God because of things like their
heritage. I met people like this, the
history of their ethnicity, right?
The traditions that they've always known, that their
families have passed down, that they were accustomed to it in
different expressions within Christendom, the testimonies
associated with those who developed these traditions and
these ideas and these teachings, even though they are anti
biblical. And so you have many who
prioritize. Things like history and heritage
and ethnicity and nationality and tradition over God's Word.
This man could care less if it's not in God's Word.
More importantly, if it contradicts God's Word, I'm
removing it from my life. Do you see the?
Extent of Josiah's obedience. There's one final thing, the
priority of His obedience we just read, but there's also the
progression of it, the progression of His obedience.
Let's read down here verse 15 to the last verse of our section of
our study. Moreover, the altar at Bethel,
the high places erected by Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who
made Israel to sin. That altar with the high place
he pulled down and burned, reducing it to dust.
He also burned the ashrae, and as Josiah turned, he saw the
tombs there on the mount, and he sent and took the bones out of
the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it according
to the word the Lord that the man of God proclaimed who had
predicted these things. You remember this right back in
First Kings 13, there was a man who prophesied Josiah by name
300 to 350 years before he came into existence.
And now that prophetic word is coming to pass, verse 17.
Then he said, what is that? Monument that I see.
And the men out, the men of the city told them it is the tomb of
the man of God who came from Judah and predicted these things
that you've done against the altar at Bethel.
And he said let him be. Let no man move his bones, so
they let his bones alone with the bones of the prophet who
came out of Samaria. And Josiah removed all the
shrines, also the high places that were in the cities of
Samaria. Which kings of Israel had made,
provoking the Lord to anger. He did it to them according to
all that he had done at Bethel, And he sacrificed all the
priests of the high places who were there on the altars and
burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
What's different about Josiah's actions here?
Any idea? The hint is the geography.
Where did Josiah begin? The temple.
Then he moved outside of Jerusalem and what's the first
thing that we read after he had dealt with the amount of
corruption? Where was he?
Somebody said at verse 15, the altar at Bethel.
He went to Bethel, and after Bethel, what happened?
Look down at verse 19. He went to the cities of
Samaria. Why is that important to
realize? Is Josiah the king of Israel?
No, he's the king of what, Judah?
These cities are located in the northern tribes where the
northern Kingdom of Israel was. Now, are the people of Israel in
Samaria and at Bethel? No, they were exiled by the
Assyrians and there was just a small population that remained.
But for whatever reason, Josiah felt the need to go beyond his
area of influence and leadership and to cleanse as much of God's
land as possible. So this speaks of the
progression of his obedience, that there was not one area that
he left untouched, that as much as it was possible, he would
want every piece of real estate to become holy on to God.
You and I are not dealing with properties in our spirituality,
are we? We're dealing with these bodies,
these souls, and yet there's still instruction here for us
that we should grow in our obedience, that we should long
for every part of who we are to come under His influence and to
be permeated by His presence and His power and His truth.
So we see the extent of his obedience, right?
May we imitate this man if we long for us to carry the same
badge of honor. Let me end it with this.
The mount of corruption again, it's believed to be the Mount of
Olives. I see Jesus in this.
Isn't it significant that this place that hosted filth and vile
practices was, yes, cleansed by one of these kings, but clearly
didn't have a lasting impact? And yet one king would come, and
he would, with total intentionality, make his way to
the Mount of Olives, and he would pray, and he would sweat
drops of blood, and he would cry out for the Father's will to be
accomplished. And that very place that was
littered and polluted by false idols hosted the King of Kings
who would bring a permanent end to all kinds of corruption, who
would begin his victorious, vicarious death on that mountain
and would willingly surrender his life to these wicked, vile
men who thought that they had authority over him when he, with
his own authority, lay down his life.
And we'll make a statement from that mountain.
I'm going to bring an end to all corruption.
Even in this, as wonderful as Josiah is, he points to Jesus.
I leave you with that thought and I want to let you know that
the motive for true obedience and the possibility of your
obedience to be like this man is only available in Christ.
It's his power in you. It's.
The grace that he showers over your life that gives you the
motivation to say I want to live purely for him and I want to
prioritize him. I want my obedience to progress
and I want it to be permanent. You can't do it without Christ,
and He's here ready to help us. Can we ask Him to help us?
Let's do that. Father, we acknowledge that this
book is your book. This book is alive.
This book is your voice. This book has been granted to
mankind to provide the wisdom of God unto salvation and
transformation into Your image. Lord, we thank you for King
Josiah's example. We thank You that You've shown
us how it is possible to have every part of who we are given
over to who You are. Give us the true motive for
obedience and give us the ability to know the extent of
this caliber and quality of obedience may be permanent, may
it progress, and may be our utmost priority no matter what
it costs us. Lord, tonight we afresh give
ourselves to You joyfully because You are a worthy King.
Thank You that you climbed that mountain and you prayed for us
and You fulfilled the Father's will so that you would deliver
us from every sin imaginable, from every bondage, every chain,
anything that has kept us, any addiction, any mindset, any
brokenness. Lord, You are able to deliver us
from it. And if there's even one person
in here who has not truly been saved, we pray that today would
be the day where they can know the power of your obedience on
our behalf. Maybe so in Jesus name, Amen.
Why don't we stand and worship the Lord together?
So as we conclude this study, let me leave you one final
thought. Because sometimes when a message
that's, you know, strictly or exclusively on obedience,
obedience, it can kind of overwhelm people, maybe even
discourage them. But there is a point in that
study that we didn't really expound on.
When Josiah was coming to Bethel and he was ready to, you know,
approach Samaria, he had encountered the monuments, the
grave sites of the prophet who had predicted his arrival and
his mission. And when he learned of the man
of God, he had said, nobody touches bones.
Now, what you see in that, I believe from God's perspective,
is that he supervises. And he assured that the bones of
his servant back in First Kings 13 would not be defiled like he
honored the gravesite of that man of God who spoke about
Josiah. And here's what moves me about
that. We remember the.
Prediction that that man made the man of God.
He was unnamed. Was his obedience perfect
answer? No.
He he went to Jeroboam. He pointed his Bony.
Finger in his face, he told them what was going to happen to this
altar, to his dynasty, and God told them, don't go back the
same way you came, and don't stop for any food, any drink.
Head back home in a different direction.
Did he fulfill that request? No, he failed.
He failed to the degree that a lion killed him on his way home.
It's not very inspirational in terms of obedience, right?
But he was still a man of God, and he still lived for God, and
God still honored him even in his death.
The faithfulness and the kindness of God, even in our
failures, even in our attempt to serve and obey Him, and we fall
short, God still finds a way to honor us.
It's remarkable to think about his grace.
So I want you to leave here encouraged, not beat up, not
more exhausted when you came in, but invigorated, knowing that
God's grace is not ready to supply you the energy to move
forward, but to even pick you up if you ever fall.
Help us remember that Lord, we pray, O God, that we would find
it a joyful thing to live for you as we sang earlier.
Purify our hearts, make us like gold.
Lord, do a work in us to a degree.
Where you see as you see are your own reflection.
And then when people see as they see your reflection, we trust
you're able to help us and we thank you in advance for it.
In Jesus name we pray Amen and Amen.
Greet someone, bless someone. Lord willing, we'll be reunited
here Sunday as we continue in Revelation.
Listen, in Revelation we are looking at the seven seals that
Jesus will break and each of them deal with an event that is
to arrive on the earth preceding the soon return of the Lord.
And we're also breaking bread together.
So come with anticipation as we worship together.
God bless you. We'll see you soon.