1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,960 I invite you to come to 2nd Kings chapter 22, and I hope 2 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:07,400 that you brought a copy of God's Word with you tonight. 3 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:12,360 This will make your experience here every week more meaningful 4 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:16,280 as you see these verses and these truths with your own eyes, 5 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:19,640 in your own hands. And before we begin reading this 6 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:25,480 new chapter, I'd like to ask you to pause and think about the 7 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:32,640 types of attitudes, convictions, perhaps interests that the 8 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:37,960 average 16 year old might have. I'll give you a few seconds to 9 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,320 allow your imagination to capture the possibilities. 10 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:46,040 The average 16 year old, what does their day-to-day look like? 11 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:52,440 Now let's Fast forward a few years and let's think about a 20 12 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:55,160 year old. I'm aware that some of you are 13 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:58,120 that age. Around that age, a 20 year old, 14 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:02,680 what does a 20 year old preoccupy himself with or 15 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:08,680 herself with? Now let's Fast forward yet again 16 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:13,960 and think about someone at the peak age of 26. 17 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:17,160 What kind of behaviors? What? 18 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:22,920 What kind of things does a 26 year old busy himself with? 19 00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:27,440 Kind of outlook? What kind of inlook, What fills 20 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:31,880 their calendar? More importantly, what occupies 21 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:33,960 their hearts, The common 26 year old. 22 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:37,360 Now, if you have those time stamps still in your head, I 23 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:39,920 want to explain to you why I bring it up to you. 24 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:44,640 Because the subject of our study today is of an exceptional king 25 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:49,520 by the name of Josiah. And the Bible provides us in 26 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:54,800 great detail what Josiah was like at those key moments of his 27 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:58,720 young life. And it's important to mention 28 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,200 that as we get closer to the end of the Book of Second Kings, 29 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:06,320 there will be no other king after Josiah who will receive 30 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:08,199 the level of attention that he does. 31 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:13,240 And that is because this is technically the final monarch 32 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:16,200 who will bring widespread reformation to the Kingdom of 33 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:22,240 Judah before the people will be taken away by the Babylonians. 34 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:28,680 This is a significant individual and his importance should not be 35 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:32,800 a surprise to us for a couple of reasons. 36 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:38,520 The main reason is because he has been prophesied about in 37 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:44,000 great detail in former times. Does anyone remember where 38 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:48,880 Josiah was mentioned by a prophet in the Bible? 39 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:55,080 Why I told you to turn to 2nd Kings 22, but now go to 1st 40 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,280 Kings chapter 13. We've obviously studied this 41 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:03,280 passage few months ago, but let's refresh our memories and 42 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:07,280 consider a prophecy that was made by a man of God who came 43 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:10,560 out of Judah to confront Jeroboam. 44 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:16,800 This was fresh after the Kingdom of Israel was divided into two, 45 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,280 the northern Kingdom of Israel represented by the 10 tribes, 46 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:23,680 and then the southern Kingdom of Judah represented by Judah and 47 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:25,760 Benjamin. And here's what we read in First 48 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:29,600 Kings 13123. And behold, the man of God came 49 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:32,400 out of Judah, by the word of the Lord to Bethel. 50 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:36,160 Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make offerings, And the 51 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:39,800 man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, 52 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,680 O altar, altar. Thus says the Lord, Behold, a 53 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:50,120 son shall be born to the House of David, Josiah by name, and he 54 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,400 shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who 55 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:58,160 make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you. 56 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:03,520 Oh, there is no doubt that we have here yet another autograph 57 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:06,200 of divine authorship concerning the Bible. 58 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:10,080 If you take into account the historical gap between this 59 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:15,640 incredible prediction of Josiah's birth and rain and its 60 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:19,839 fulfillment, you are talking about a span of likely and 61 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:25,880 roughly 300 to 350 years. This is glorious. 62 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:32,160 We shall also keep in mind that very few individuals had been 63 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:37,600 prophesied by name before they came into existence, which only 64 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:42,440 adds to how remarkable this person is. 65 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:46,640 And so he's been foretold. We've been anticipating Him and 66 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:51,560 here's the fruition of it. And I'll be honest, earlier this 67 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:55,200 week as I was reviewing this chapter, I was initially 68 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:58,560 thinking that we're going to cover this chapter in its 69 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:03,080 entirety in one setting. But then after I studied it, 70 00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:05,920 I've come to the conclusion that this evening we're only going to 71 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:10,440 look at the 1st 2 verses, the 1st 2 verses, and you'll see at 72 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:11,760 the end of the study. Why? 73 00:05:12,840 --> 00:05:15,800 Now if we're going to only cover the 1st 2 verses of chapter 22, 74 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,400 then we already know something. We're going to be visiting a lot 75 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:21,680 of different other passages that will complement the introduction 76 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:27,480 to King Josiah and rightly so. There is much given to us that 77 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:30,400 will make this a meaty Bible study. 78 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:35,000 If you and I are willing to do our part and traverse through 79 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,760 the Bible and look at the different passages and see the 80 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:43,680 fullness of the mind of God pertaining this man, shall we 81 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:45,200 begin? We're not going to be reading 82 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:48,120 much, at least in the beginning of the study. 83 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:53,360 Let's look at the first 2 verses and take into account with our 84 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:56,840 minds engage and our hearts open this wonderful biography. 85 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:04,480 Josiah was 8 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 86 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:10,080 31 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Judaida, 87 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:12,560 the daughter of Adiah of Boskath. 88 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:15,800 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in 89 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:17,840 all the way of David, his father. 90 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:23,640 And he did not turn aside to the right or to the left. 91 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:31,200 So before we explore what Josiah did at 16, what he accomplished 92 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:37,640 at 20, how he lived at 26, we are informed that he occupied 93 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:46,200 the throne at the ripe age of 8. How is it someone so young is 94 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:50,880 given such prerogative? And the simple answer is because 95 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:55,320 his father was assassinated early in his administration. 96 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:58,200 Look back at chapter 21, verse 19. 97 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:03,280 Amon was 22 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 2 98 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:06,800 years in Jerusalem. That's brief. 99 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:10,040 Why only two years? Because the same context tells 100 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:13,080 us that he was assassinated by his servants. 101 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:17,600 And because he was killed, now the throne is vacant, the 102 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:20,760 Kingdom is vulnerable, so there needed to be immediate 103 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:24,480 replacement. So Josiah takes his place. 104 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:31,960 Fortunately, Eamon did not have great influence over his son 105 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:36,680 Josiah, and that is proven to us because of what we read in verse 106 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:39,600 two of our text. Look back at Second Kings 22, 107 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:42,040 verse 2. And he did what was right in the 108 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:45,400 eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David, his 109 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:47,920 father. And he did not turn aside to the 110 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:51,760 right or to the left. The first part of that verse. 111 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:53,560 The language is very familiar to us, right? 112 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:57,520 It's the latter part, the latter comment in that verse that is 113 00:07:57,760 --> 00:07:59,960 quite unique. What does it say? 114 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:05,320 And he did not turn aside to the right or to the left. 115 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:10,280 That phrase appears quite a few times in the Old Testament, but 116 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:14,720 there's one instance where it is mentioned that helps us 117 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:19,480 understand how special Josiah is in light of and in comparison to 118 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:22,200 the other kings. We've turned to this passage 119 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:26,120 many, many times in our study of first and second kings. 120 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:29,760 It's worth looking at it again. It's that place in Deuteronomy 121 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:33,400 where God gave instructions to the future kings of Israel, 122 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:36,679 specifically how they were to have a copy of the law in their 123 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:40,600 own hands and they were to read it and they were to obey it. 124 00:08:40,919 --> 00:08:45,040 And he follows it up with the promises and the rewards of 125 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:47,880 doing so. So in Deuteronomy 17, again, 126 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:52,360 let's turn there and look here, beginning in verse 19. 127 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:55,360 This is before the people even enter into the promised land. 128 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:59,760 And the Lord, anticipating that they would request kings, gives 129 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:03,920 some parameters, some precepts. What is he saying? 130 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:07,360 Deuteronomy 1719 And it shall be with him. 131 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:11,040 That is a copy of the law with the king, and it shall be with 132 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:15,400 him, and he shall read it in all the days of his life. 133 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:18,000 By the way, pause. That's where I get my cue to 134 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:20,520 read my Bible every day, among other places. 135 00:09:22,560 --> 00:09:25,040 And he shall read it in all the days of his life. 136 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:29,120 That he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the 137 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:32,560 words of this law and these statutes and doing them. 138 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:36,680 That his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that 139 00:09:36,680 --> 00:09:40,200 he may not turn aside from the commandment either to the right 140 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:46,160 hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his 141 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:48,520 Kingdom, he and his children in Israel. 142 00:09:48,680 --> 00:09:50,000 The connection is clear, isn't it? 143 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:56,360 Second Kings chapter 22 echoes this expression from these 144 00:09:56,360 --> 00:10:01,720 instructions to tell us what that King Josiah embodied the 145 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:07,680 kind of king that God desired. So what you find here is that he 146 00:10:07,680 --> 00:10:10,200 was unwavering in his commitment to the will of God, that he 147 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:12,920 never deviated from it in any way. 148 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:17,640 This is a man with a general summary of his life who was 149 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:21,520 consistent. He was absolutely faithful to 150 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:30,400 the Lord all of his days. This is a wonderful reminder to 151 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:34,200 us that it's possible to live for the cause of Christ from the 152 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:37,200 moment you said yes to him to the moment that you will see 153 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:40,200 him. It's possible it happened with 154 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:44,520 Josiah and it was not entirely clear how much of the Word of 155 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:48,320 God Josiah was exposed to. Especially when you consider in 156 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:51,080 this chapter how he will make the discovery of the book of the 157 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:55,640 Law in the abandoned temple. There is no doubt that there 158 00:10:55,640 --> 00:11:01,760 were righteous influences in his life and just how remarkable his 159 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:06,800 faith is is demonstrated by parallel account where we see 160 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:11,320 those time stamps that I mentioned early on and how he 161 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:16,520 utilized that time well. So in Second Kings 22 we go from 162 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:21,160 8 year old Josiah in verse 3 to the 18th year of his reign, 163 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:24,680 which would make him 26. But there's another passage that 164 00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:27,960 fills the gap. Second Chronicles 34. 165 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:31,640 Let's go there. If we do, the work will be 166 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:37,280 rewarded. Second Chronicles 34 one to 167 00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:40,160 three. It was at this point when I went 168 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:44,480 to visit this passage where I realized we're not getting past 169 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:49,240 verse 2. The 1st 2 verses will be 170 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:52,360 familiar. Second Chronicles 34 beginning 171 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:54,360 in verse one. Josiah was 8 years old when he 172 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:57,280 began to reign and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem. 173 00:11:57,480 --> 00:11:59,720 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in 174 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:02,520 the ways of David his father. And he did not turn aside to the 175 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:06,360 right hand or to the left. OK, we we read that already. 176 00:12:06,680 --> 00:12:11,200 Look at verse 3 now. For in the eighth year of his 177 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:15,800 reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of 178 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:19,720 David his father. And in a 12th year, he began to 179 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:24,240 purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the ashram and the 180 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:30,120 carved and the metal images. Read verse 3 very carefully, 181 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:33,320 We're told in the eighth year of his reign, not when he was 8 182 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:35,600 years old. So if he began as an 8 year old 183 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:38,360 boy and now we're talking about the 8th year, he's how old? 184 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:41,440 Very good. We do math at this Bible study. 185 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:47,400 16 years old. More importantly, what does he 186 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:49,520 do as a 16 year old? Here's how to understand this 187 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:52,480 verse. Josiah made the personal 188 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:59,880 decision to seek after God and to know him for himself at 16. 189 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:03,800 I'm afraid that in modern Christianity we've made a lot of 190 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:08,520 excuses for the apathy that young men generally have towards 191 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:17,560 the Lord, as the hormones, temptations, distractions 192 00:13:17,560 --> 00:13:22,480 somehow make it impossible to cultivate an all consuming love 193 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:27,720 for Christ. Josiah proves otherwise, and 194 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:31,720 it's to our encouragement. Remember, Josiah is not a 16 195 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:35,280 year old in a nice suburb in Illinois. 196 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:42,400 Josiah is a 16 year old king who is surrounded by unspeakable 197 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:50,480 pollution, compromise, filth, perversion that has been made 198 00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:57,520 normal and culturally acceptable in a time Listen as a context 199 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:02,680 suggests where the Bible was not widely recognized, so much so 200 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:05,480 that when people who are working in the temple found it, they 201 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:12,680 didn't even recognize the book. And yet at 16 and the Bible 202 00:14:12,680 --> 00:14:15,720 underlines while he was yet a boy, the ESV renders it. 203 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:21,480 I'm going to seek after God. Here's what this means for us. 204 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:27,000 You and I should never hesitate to challenge and inspire youth 205 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:31,280 to joyfully dedicate the peak of their strength and energy to 206 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:37,400 know God and to make Him known. And those efforts will only be a 207 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:42,920 possibility if we start by believing that it's possible for 208 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:49,560 this demographic to actually view and experience Christ as 209 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:53,120 their surpassing treasure. All satisfying good. 210 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:59,200 And if you are here listening in person or online, and you are 211 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:02,360 under the age of 20, if you've never heard this before, hear it 212 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:04,880 now. Remember your Creator in the 213 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:12,360 days of your youth. All the trinkets and all the 214 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:15,280 persuasions and all the opportunities that this world 215 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:20,240 has to offer, as much as it may seem like it's purposeful and 216 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:25,200 it's pleasurable, are cheap and deceiving. 217 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:29,920 You were made to walk with God and not to put that off once 218 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:33,680 you've experimented with the world, but to give what you have 219 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:37,120 to give, even as a young man or as a young woman, because that 220 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:40,640 is a window of time in your life that will present unique 221 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:44,560 opportunities that cannot be regained in later years. 222 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:47,960 Those who are older can attest to that. 223 00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:53,480 So we should see this as an encouragement, not just for 224 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:58,400 those who find themselves in a similar stage of life, but for 225 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:01,280 those who are older and look upon a generation and think 226 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:02,960 they're doomed. No, they're not doomed. 227 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:06,720 Actually. Have you considered Josiah, his 228 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:08,720 environment? Oh, yeah. 229 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:10,080 But you know, there's a lot of broken. 230 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:13,840 Oh, so having a father who was assassinated and he did, he left 231 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:16,000 a terrible legacy that that's not traumatic. 232 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:22,200 It's pretty traumatic to me. Anything is possible with 233 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:25,680 Christ, and you and I have to believe that, not just for 234 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:28,000 ourselves, but for those who seem unlikely candidates. 235 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:31,920 But that's not all that we learn about Josiah in this verse. 236 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:35,120 Look again at verse 3. And in the 12th year he began to 237 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:38,480 purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the ashram and the 238 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:42,520 carved and the metal images. So all this means is four years 239 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:45,960 after he made a decision to nurture a personal relationship 240 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:50,920 with the Lord, he launched the nation's cleansing from 241 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:58,120 idolatry. 20 a 20 year old. What a thought. 242 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:02,400 It's almost hard to imagine that you had a man so young, so green 243 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:08,040 in life leading the charge of reformation unlike any other. 244 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:13,040 But there should be no doubt that this man is the initiator 245 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,720 and the supervisor of this effort. 246 00:17:15,839 --> 00:17:19,560 Look at again at verse 4. Now Second Chronicles 34, verse 247 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:21,440 four. And they chopped down the altars 248 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:25,560 of the bales in his presence. I love those 3 words in his 249 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:29,080 presence. And he cut down the incense 250 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:31,680 altars that stood above them. And he broke in pieces the 251 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:34,960 ashram and the carved the metal images, and he made dust of them 252 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:38,560 and scattered over the Grays of those who had sacrificed to them 253 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:41,520 in his presence. Why is that mentioned there? 254 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:45,680 I believe it's mentioned because Josiah 20 held his subjects 255 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:50,560 accountable to carry out God's commands and listen. 256 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:54,320 He personally oversaw this campaign. 257 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:58,120 He showed up at the sight of these evil and wicked shrines 258 00:17:58,120 --> 00:18:02,120 and altars to make sure that they were done properly, that 259 00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:05,960 they were destroyed effectively in his presence. 260 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:10,520 This took courage. You got to imagine again, 261 00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:14,400 righteousness is not popular at this time. 262 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:20,200 Believing in one God, the true God, the God of Israel was that 263 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:25,880 widely accepted at this time. And you have a 20 year old who 264 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:30,040 had his father assassinated. You can imagine the things that 265 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:33,320 he was possibly worried about, but there's no sense of that. 266 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:37,360 Fearless. And he made sure that God was 267 00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:39,840 honored. So Josiah was no surrogate. 268 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:42,880 He was not a puppet trying to fulfill somebody else's 269 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:46,040 righteous cause. No, he was doing this. 270 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:49,600 He owned it. Notice how much the word he 271 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:51,360 appears in this one verse. And it continues in this 272 00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:53,640 section. He, he, he, he. 273 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:58,520 This was his desire at 20 years old. 274 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:01,520 But as always, this is not just for inspiration. 275 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:03,440 We're not just looking back in history saying, oh, it's 276 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:06,360 wonderful that Israel had a guy named Josiah at one point. 277 00:19:06,360 --> 00:19:08,080 No, no, no, this is for our instruction. 278 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:13,280 And let me offer a cup a couple of observations #1 the 279 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:16,960 fearlessness and drive for Josiah to do what we see here. 280 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:23,040 This external impact for the Lord can only come from the 281 00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:28,680 overflow of 1's devotion in secret to the Lord. 282 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:34,920 What he did for the Lord, right? This courage, this incredible 283 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:41,160 zeal came from what we read earlier, a nurturing and a 284 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:45,240 cultivating of a personal experience of God in private, 285 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:49,600 and that happened between the ages of 16 and 20. 286 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:54,080 I am absolutely persuaded, and nobody has convinced me 287 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:58,880 otherwise up to this point in my own pilgrimage, that the key to 288 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:04,440 stimulation and steadfast motivation and service to God is 289 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:08,360 spending uninterrupted time with Him. 290 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:15,160 And to do so long enough until you catch glimpses of His glory 291 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:23,280 and are marked by them. I'm reminded of Peter and John 292 00:20:23,360 --> 00:20:26,000 in Acts chapter 4. Some of you know where I'm going 293 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:28,000 with this. Where they were commanded to no 294 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:31,440 longer teach or preach in the name of Jesus. 295 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:36,520 And what was the rebuttal? We cannot help but speak for 296 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:42,920 what we have seen and heard. You understand what the apostles 297 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:46,480 were saying there, that the reason why they were, they were 298 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:51,800 willing to risk their lives as no name disciples to tell other 299 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:54,760 people about this Jesus was because they were recipients of 300 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:57,600 life giving revelation that compelled them to. 301 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:02,880 We have seen things and we have heard things, and this is the 302 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:07,600 means, this is the energy. This is what propels us to 303 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:13,840 embrace even persecution, because Jesus is worth it and we 304 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:17,840 have tasted of Him and we are calling all men to repent and to 305 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:20,000 turn to Him. The times of refreshing may come 306 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:26,040 from the presence of the Lord. Josiah is flowing in that same 307 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:28,720 equation. At 16. 308 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:32,240 He sought God in a short amount of time. 309 00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:36,920 His heart was stirred now to actually introduce Him to an 310 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:42,280 apostate nation. If you are waning in your desire 311 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:46,720 to serve God, perhaps it's been some time where you have seen 312 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:51,400 something or heard something concerning him. 313 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:57,680 A second thing to note is how Josiah's ministry began at home. 314 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,360 What I mean by that, look at verse 3 again. 315 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:06,280 And in the 12th year he began. Where do you begin, Josiah? 316 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:11,040 He began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places. 317 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:14,400 Now verse 6, eventually he's going to go to the cities of 318 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:18,720 Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon and even as far as NAFTA Lee the 319 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:22,480 the the tribe that is furthest N, he's going to cover even what 320 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:24,240 was known as the Kingdom of Israel. 321 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:30,200 He wants to purge every corner of the promised land, but I find 322 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:32,520 it encouraging that he started nearby. 323 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:34,720 You know why I find that encouraging? 324 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:36,360 Because I think there's a principle there for believers 325 00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:38,960 who are eager to serve God. There are many believers who are 326 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:41,560 under this impression that unless they abandoned everything 327 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:46,320 that they've ever known and pack their bags and travel to some 328 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:51,320 uncharted territory, some foreign nation, and start fresh, 329 00:22:52,360 --> 00:22:54,840 they can't really do anything impactful or meaningful for God. 330 00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:01,960 And I believe that God does call some to relinquish everything, 331 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:06,680 to stop where they are right now and to go to these places. 332 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:09,360 But that's not the Commission of every man. 333 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:14,680 And if that is unclear to you and you have no such Commission 334 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:18,640 from Christ, I adjure you through Josiah's example. 335 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:24,000 Be passionate and zealous where you are, exactly where you are. 336 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,320 Where was Josiah in Jerusalem? Where did he start? 337 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:29,680 In Jerusalem? And he worked his way out. 338 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:34,040 I think that's helpful for you and I to consider. 339 00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:40,080 Now we look at this and we might think, OK, we're ready now to 340 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:45,920 return to 2nd Kings 22 and skip over to the 18th year of his 341 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:47,520 reign. But we can't do that. 342 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:50,400 Do you know why? Because there's more than Second 343 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:54,400 Kings and Second Chronicles relating to Josiah. 344 00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:00,640 So let's recap. 8 years old he takes the throne. 16 years old, 345 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:05,480 he begins to own his faith. 20 years old, he actually starts a 346 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:11,160 purging in the land. When did the purging in the land 347 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:14,120 take place? In the 12th year of his reign. 348 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:15,880 Good, we're all on the same page. 349 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:22,160 Excellent. Something happens in the 13th 350 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:27,480 year of Josiah's reign, and it's a detail not found in Second 351 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:30,280 Kings. You won't find it in Second 352 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:34,560 Chronicles. Does anybody know where we can 353 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:39,680 find a very instrumental part of Josiah's reign, specifically a 354 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:43,480 year into his reformation, and what book it's found in? 355 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:45,080 I'll give you 5 seconds to think about it. 356 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:50,440 Say it loud. What book? 357 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:59,960 What book would you believe if I told you that it is in the 1st 358 00:24:59,960 --> 00:25:06,960 chapter of the book of Jeremiah? Jeremiah chapter 1. 359 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:09,240 Let's look at the first 2 verses together. 360 00:25:14,360 --> 00:25:16,840 And this is where I really knew we're not going past verse two 361 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:22,280 and second Kings. 22, Jeremiah 1, one to two. 362 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:25,160 I'll wait for those pages to stop turning. 363 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:31,560 Let's read it together. The words of Jeremiah the son of 364 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:36,120 Helkaya, one of the priests who are in Anathoth in the land of 365 00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:39,440 Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of 366 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:44,600 Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the 13th year of his 367 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:51,840 reign. When I found this, I got so 368 00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:56,240 excited, I was thrilled, and then I calmed down. 369 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:02,080 And then once I calmed down, a very deep question emerged, and 370 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:06,920 it is this why? That's my question. 371 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:16,160 Why did God summon Jeremiah a year into Josiah cleansing the 372 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:18,960 land of idolatry? That's a good question, right? 373 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:24,680 I would say so, and upon meditation, I believe there are 374 00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:27,680 at least three observations that we can make from this wonderful 375 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:30,520 insight. So here's number one. 376 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:37,960 God called Jeremiah the prophet in order to support and 377 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:44,200 encourage King Josiah, especially after Josiah made the 378 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:50,840 decision to bring reformation. How can we conclude that? 379 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:55,480 By looking at different parts of Jeremiah's writings and to see 380 00:26:55,480 --> 00:27:00,680 how highly he respected Josiah and how he praised his piety. 381 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:03,520 Can I show you one example? It's worth seeing it so that we 382 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:08,000 can dispel any doubt. Scroll to Jeremiah 22 and look 383 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:20,800 at verse 11. Now why I'm reading verse 11 so 384 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:23,120 that we can confirm when this prophecy was made. 385 00:27:24,120 --> 00:27:26,720 For thus says the Lord concerning Shalom the son of 386 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:31,920 Josiah king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his 387 00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:33,800 father. So this is a prophecy made to 1 388 00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:37,840 of Josiah's son, which implies that Josiah is dead at this 389 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:40,280 point. And who went away from this 390 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:42,040 place? He shall return here no more. 391 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:43,400 But we have to skip over to verse 15. 392 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:46,760 Now remember he's speaking to Josiah's son. 393 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:51,480 And what does he say in part? Do you think you are a king in 394 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:53,840 verse 15 because you compete in cedar? 395 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:57,560 In other words, you think you're really a king because you sit in 396 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:01,440 a palace. Did not your father eat and 397 00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:03,800 drink and do justice and righteousness? 398 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:08,480 Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor 399 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:10,160 and needy. Then it was well. 400 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:13,880 Is not this to know me? Declares the Lord. 401 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:20,280 What is Jeremiah implying by reminding his son, Josiah's son, 402 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:22,800 of his father? 1 main point. 403 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:27,200 At least here you don't know God, your dad. 404 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:32,040 Did you think you're a true king? 405 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:33,720 No, let me tell you who a real king is. 406 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:36,800 Your father. He model what it means to be a 407 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:42,000 true servant of God. And I love to hear how Jeremiah 408 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:44,520 makes a connection between knowing the Lord and acting in a 409 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:48,720 certain way. Because your behavior of mine, 410 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:52,560 especially in our treatment of others, is a massive indicator 411 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:56,240 of the authenticity of our relationship to God, right? 412 00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:59,720 Josiah, what did he do? He judged the cause of the poor 413 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:01,720 and the needy. He did justice and 414 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:03,480 righteousness. And, and he says, isn't that 415 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:05,720 what it means to know God? In other words, your knowledge 416 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:13,920 of God will produce such fruit. And so we find here because 417 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:18,280 that's not the main point of how Jeremiah thought of Josiah. 418 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:23,280 And if this is how he spoke about the king after he died, 419 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:26,280 what kind of words did he offer him while he was alive? 420 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:30,480 In fact, you can turn there if you'd like, but you don't have 421 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:31,760 to. Just write it down as a 422 00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:36,880 reference and visit it later in Second Chronicles 3525. 423 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:39,480 In the context there is Josiah's death. 424 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:45,280 We read Jeremiah also lamented for Josiah. 425 00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:52,720 Jeremiah loved this man. Jeremiah understood, I'm sure in 426 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:55,920 part that God raised him up at that specific time to come 427 00:29:55,920 --> 00:30:00,840 alongside this king. And we don't have the record of 428 00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:03,800 conversations necessarily, or what Jeremiah did to help 429 00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:10,120 Josiah, but I'm sure Jeremiah's ministry gave extra fuel to this 430 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:12,920 king. And that's precisely the point 431 00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:15,360 here. How does this relate to us? 432 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:19,400 Well, I think in this, when you and I, like Josiah, decide to 433 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:23,360 give ourselves fully over to knowing God and serving God, one 434 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:25,080 of the blessings that we will receive. 435 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:28,920 One of the things that God will do for us is bring into our 436 00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:32,160 lives like minded people who are who will encourage us on that 437 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:35,520 path. That's a pattern that you see 438 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:39,000 throughout the the Bible, both an old and in the New Testament 439 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:41,480 and and sometimes in ways that we don't even notice. 440 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:44,520 So we're studying second Kings in my own reading. 441 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:47,480 I just finished Judges and I'm now revisiting First Samuel. 442 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:52,760 But there was a detail in Judges in the life of Gideon that makes 443 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:57,560 us more true Gideon. He was always fearful from the 444 00:30:57,560 --> 00:30:59,800 moment we met him. He was not like Josiah, right 445 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:02,960 when he was when he was called to tear down the altars of Baal. 446 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:04,960 He didn't even want to do it during the day. 447 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:06,760 You want to do it at night. He wanted his friends to come 448 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:07,920 with him. And the Lord was like, OK, fine, 449 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:12,800 I'll be merciful to you. And after the Lord brings down 450 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:14,480 the number of his army down to how many people? 451 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:19,720 300 this, this man can't imagine that he's going to go up against 452 00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:21,440 hundreds of thousands of enemies. 453 00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:23,200 And so the Lord says, listen, get in. 454 00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:26,040 I want you to go down to the camp of the enemy and I want you 455 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:28,200 to experience something. I have a treat for you. 456 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:31,040 I have something that will give you the confidence for this war. 457 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:34,000 And then he says this, this is in Judges 7 verse 10. 458 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:37,920 I'm paraphrasing, but he says, And if you are afraid to go 459 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:41,440 down, behold your servant poor, I will go down with you. 460 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:45,680 Now you read down, just you might be tempted to just read 461 00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:47,880 on, but no, no, there's something massive there. 462 00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:53,160 How was the Lord going to alleviate the fear of his 463 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:55,480 servant? Not by performing a miracle, he 464 00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:57,640 says. I'm highlighting your servant. 465 00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:02,840 Let him accompany you. Let him walk down there with 466 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:05,680 you. And I think that's just an Old 467 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:08,440 Testament glimpse of the wisdom of Jesus when he sends out his 468 00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:10,120 disciples. And what in pairs? 469 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:12,800 Go 2 by 2. I don't know about you, but I'm 470 00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:15,640 much more bold to preach the gospel when a fellow believer is 471 00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:18,480 with me in a restaurant or an Uber ride. 472 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:24,120 And so we see here that God raises up a prophet to help the 473 00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:26,040 king. That's wonderful. 474 00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:29,160 Remember, there are three observations about Jeremiah's 475 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:34,760 inclusion in the story #2 I believe realizing Jeremiah being 476 00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:38,200 called at this point says something about how God enjoys 477 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:41,120 raising up young people to do great things for God. 478 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:47,760 We've all determined that Josiah was very green when he became 479 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:49,760 king, right? What about Jeremiah when he was 480 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:51,640 called as a prophet? Was he an adult? 481 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:55,560 No Famously, we know the passage in Jeremiah 1/6. 482 00:32:55,720 --> 00:32:57,560 What was his protest? The prophet? 483 00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:00,160 I can't. There's no way that I can fill 484 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:05,560 the office of a seer because I'm what I'm unskilled in speech and 485 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:09,040 I'm I'm a youth and the Lord responded in the the following 486 00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:11,640 verse. Do not say I am only a youth. 487 00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:16,560 Now famously, Jeremiah 1 is often preached to young people 488 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:19,480 to inspire them that God is willing to recruit them and and 489 00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:22,760 send them out despite their inexperience. 490 00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:27,560 But that point becomes even more powerful when you connect 491 00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:30,160 Jeremiah to Josiah. You know why? 492 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:33,720 Because he didn't just raise up a young prophet, he partnered 493 00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:37,120 him with a young king. Think about that. 494 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:42,320 The two spiritual giants that were leading the Kingdom of 495 00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:48,680 Judah were young adults. You and I generally and 496 00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:52,400 naturally are skeptical of young people who claim to be 497 00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:55,480 determined to serve God. You know who isn't God? 498 00:33:56,760 --> 00:33:59,320 God. He takes delight in it, 499 00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:02,840 actually. And so he raises up a young 500 00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:06,920 prophet and he puts them in the same ministry as a young king, 501 00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:09,440 and he says, take over the Kingdom of Judah for my glory. 502 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:12,360 Go. And they did. 503 00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:19,239 So that's an encouragement to you and I hope and we have a 504 00:34:19,239 --> 00:34:24,440 final thought to consider, and this is the most important one. 505 00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:33,880 Why did God raise up Jeremiah a year into Josiah's reform? 506 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:45,360 As much as he was introduced to the king to hearten Josiah, he 507 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:50,920 was also raised to confront the people of Judah. 508 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:57,960 What do I mean by that? A year into Josiah's reforms, 509 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:01,200 the Lord summoned the prophet to expose the insincerity of the 510 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:06,560 repentance. Come with me to Jeremiah 3 to 511 00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:10,840 see what I'm talking about again in Jeremiah 3 verse 6. 512 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:15,240 This is to set the context, the timing of this prophecy. 513 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:26,440 The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah highlight that in 514 00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:30,480 the days of King Josiah, have you seen what she did, that 515 00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:34,040 faithless one Israel, how she went up on every high hill and 516 00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:37,160 under every green tree and there played the whore. 517 00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:39,440 So he's talking about the northern Kingdom of Israel. 518 00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:44,200 Have you seen it? Obviously we have, but notice 519 00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:48,000 how he continues in verse 7. And I thought, after she has 520 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:49,920 done all this, she will return to me. 521 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:53,960 But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah 522 00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:57,440 saw it again. Pause. 523 00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:00,680 When is this prophecy be made? In the days of king Josiah. 524 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:07,360 And he calls Judah treacherous. Verse 8. 525 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:11,880 She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one 526 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:15,400 Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. 527 00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:22,840 Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she went to 528 00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:24,840 went. But she too rather went and 529 00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:28,800 played the whore, because she took her whoredom lightly. 530 00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:31,480 She polluted the land, committing adultery with stone 531 00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:33,920 and tree. Verse 10 is the main verse. 532 00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:37,480 If for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to 533 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:45,160 me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord 534 00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:49,640 again, for you to feel the weight of this, you have to 535 00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:52,680 remember that this pronouncement was made in the days of Judah, 536 00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:56,480 in the days of Josiah, while Judah was being reformed. 537 00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:04,560 And we see here that during that time Judah truly did not learn 538 00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:09,440 from Israel's mistakes. Even after they were exiled, 539 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:12,960 even after the Assyrians took them from their land, they 540 00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:16,240 didn't take it to heart. Judah didn't They did not heed. 541 00:37:16,240 --> 00:37:18,200 They didn't see the warning. They did not fear. 542 00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:21,600 God says. In fact, they were so curious 543 00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:24,440 and they were so intrigued by the ways of their northern 544 00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:28,520 neighbors that they adopted their practices, dismissing the 545 00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:31,680 judgement that fell upon them. And we're willing to take the 546 00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:36,360 risk to explore on a path that they thought would be better 547 00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:39,120 than trusting the Lord and living for God. 548 00:37:42,560 --> 00:37:46,320 And while Josiah is trying to motivate the nation to truly 549 00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:50,560 give their hearts to God, they failed. 550 00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:54,520 It was all in pretense. Yeah, they crushed their idols, 551 00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:57,520 but they didn't really renounce their sins. 552 00:37:58,160 --> 00:38:01,680 They did so reluctantly. Perhaps he did so out of fear. 553 00:38:01,720 --> 00:38:04,280 Josiah is the king will obey him, but we're not going to put 554 00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:08,200 up a fight. So what does the Lord do a year 555 00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:11,920 into Remember the 13th year Josiah started the 12th year he 556 00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:16,120 raises up a man with X-ray vision to expose the hearts of 557 00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:21,200 the people for their hypocrisy. You're not wholehearted. 558 00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:25,360 This is all in pretense and here's something very important 559 00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:28,520 to take from this. I'm looking at this from 560 00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:34,120 Jeremiah's perspective. A true messenger of God will 561 00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:42,800 never be satisfied with superficial religiosity, surface 562 00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:47,840 level spirituality. Not a true servant of God, 563 00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:51,360 especially one who proclaims God's word will understand what 564 00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:56,560 God really demands of his people and he will call such people to 565 00:38:56,560 --> 00:39:00,400 the standard of the Bible prescribes relating to 566 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:02,160 righteousness and relationship with God. 567 00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:06,000 I mean think about how many people would be happy with the 568 00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:10,760 sight of one tribe after the next destroying all their idols 569 00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:16,760 success and then God raised a prophet says you're all a bunch 570 00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:20,200 of fakes. This is all pretend. 571 00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:26,400 This is all shallow. And so I see in great part why, 572 00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:30,480 after giving them a year to really repent, he raises up a 573 00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:34,480 man to speak the word of the Lord and to wake them up. 574 00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:41,000 And that's what we exactly are in need of today in America. 575 00:39:42,040 --> 00:39:45,920 I'm persuaded of that, especially in a country where 576 00:39:46,760 --> 00:39:50,040 Christianity is accepted as a cultural norm, not really as a 577 00:39:50,040 --> 00:39:55,640 personal conviction. We need more Jeremiahs who are 578 00:39:55,640 --> 00:39:58,680 able to see through all the baloney and all the 579 00:39:58,680 --> 00:40:01,200 Churchianity. Say where? 580 00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:05,320 Where's your heart really at? Well, what is all this facade? 581 00:40:07,520 --> 00:40:11,480 Repent of your external consecration and really give 582 00:40:11,480 --> 00:40:14,640 yourself over to God. That's what Jeremiah's ministry 583 00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:17,360 was. And as we heard earlier, he is 584 00:40:17,360 --> 00:40:21,720 going to outlive Josiah. And that message that began in 585 00:40:21,720 --> 00:40:22,960 the days of Josiah will continue. 586 00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:25,560 He's going to continue to call the same people to repentance 587 00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:29,240 until they eventually are exiled for the lack of repentance. 588 00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:35,760 And now this brings us to our final point of the study 589 00:40:35,760 --> 00:40:39,000 tonight. As important as righteous 590 00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:43,840 legislation might be, as crucial as removing corrupt ideology and 591 00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:49,160 practices from our culture may be demanded, that will never 592 00:40:49,160 --> 00:40:52,880 provide long term and lasting solution. 593 00:40:53,080 --> 00:41:00,720 Never. Josiah being the king for this 594 00:41:00,960 --> 00:41:03,640 people was a good thing. But you know what was more 595 00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:06,880 important? The people determining that God 596 00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:09,160 will sit on the Thrones of our hearts. 597 00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:15,120 And when they fail to take advantage of Josiah's influence, 598 00:41:15,120 --> 00:41:17,280 he raises up a prophet to remind them of it. 599 00:41:19,080 --> 00:41:21,720 And I'm not here advocating that we should not engage in 600 00:41:21,720 --> 00:41:26,120 community service or that we shouldn't try to infuse virtue 601 00:41:26,120 --> 00:41:29,760 into our politics. What I am saying, though, is 602 00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:32,600 that if we're not careful as Christians, we might be putting 603 00:41:32,600 --> 00:41:37,520 band aids on a disease that reaches far deeper than the 604 00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:39,280 symptoms that we're trying to subdue. 605 00:41:41,120 --> 00:41:44,280 The gospel alone offers true heart transformation. 606 00:41:45,720 --> 00:41:47,880 And no matter what we do in our efforts, what we do in our 607 00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:50,520 posts, what we do in our protests or our prayers, 608 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:54,920 whatever the case may be, we must always point people to the 609 00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:56,600 gospel. Always. 610 00:41:58,080 --> 00:42:02,000 And that is precisely why Jeremiah came into the scene, to 611 00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:05,360 deal with the heart. Everything outside looked 612 00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:07,440 wonderful. But that would that would last 613 00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:11,840 as long as Josiah was alive. So what does Jeremiah do? 614 00:42:13,080 --> 00:42:17,120 He preaches God's word. And here's really a summary of 615 00:42:17,120 --> 00:42:18,400 it. If you're there still in 616 00:42:18,400 --> 00:42:22,840 Jeremiah, look at chapter 4. Look what he says to Jerusalem 617 00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:33,160 in verse 14. O Jerusalem, wash your heart 618 00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:38,200 from evil, that you may be saved. 619 00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:42,440 How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you? 620 00:42:45,720 --> 00:42:49,200 Can you imagine saying that to a nation? 621 00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:53,800 We're on the the news every night. 622 00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:57,520 You're learning now the tribe of Naftali is destroying the ashram 623 00:42:57,520 --> 00:42:59,680 and the Baal. You would think, what are you 624 00:42:59,680 --> 00:43:02,120 talking about, Jeremiah? Wash your heart. 625 00:43:05,320 --> 00:43:08,840 That's what God is after. Our hearts, our hearts, not just 626 00:43:08,840 --> 00:43:12,040 mere behavioral modification, not just attendance, not even 627 00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:17,040 your wallet being put into that plate every week. 628 00:43:17,880 --> 00:43:23,360 Your heart and my heart being washed. 629 00:43:25,080 --> 00:43:29,040 And there's nothing in the old covenant that is potent enough, 630 00:43:29,040 --> 00:43:33,160 that is real enough to be able to deliver what Jeremiah was 631 00:43:33,160 --> 00:43:38,920 asking for. That washing force would only 632 00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:43,120 come through someone that Jeremiah would prophecy about 633 00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:51,600 later in his book, Jesus Christ. After a Bible study like this, 634 00:43:51,760 --> 00:43:55,160 you have to be willing to accept that it's possible that in a 635 00:43:55,160 --> 00:43:57,440 Bible study like this, there might be some whose hearts are 636 00:43:57,440 --> 00:44:04,320 not really right with God. I I I'm not of those who find 637 00:44:04,320 --> 00:44:09,040 every opportunity to challenge people to examine themselves. 638 00:44:09,240 --> 00:44:11,280 There's an appropriate time for such a message. 639 00:44:12,920 --> 00:44:16,640 And when you touch on a text like this, it presents an 640 00:44:16,640 --> 00:44:20,600 opportunity. I wonder if perhaps there's 641 00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:27,480 someone here who from the outside you look good, In fact, 642 00:44:27,480 --> 00:44:34,520 you look even impressive. Your heart, has it really 643 00:44:34,520 --> 00:44:39,240 experienced change? Can you really testify that 644 00:44:39,240 --> 00:44:45,080 Christ reached into my bosom and he removed that heart of stone, 645 00:44:46,000 --> 00:44:50,800 and he put in it a heart that longs for his ways, that yearns 646 00:44:50,800 --> 00:44:54,760 for his presence? You know, Christianity is not 647 00:44:54,760 --> 00:45:01,360 about instantaneous perfection, but it is about radical new 648 00:45:01,360 --> 00:45:05,360 direction. Not immediate perfection, but 649 00:45:05,360 --> 00:45:09,360 definite new direction. What I mean by that? 650 00:45:10,400 --> 00:45:14,440 Your values, your affections, your longings, your convictions, 651 00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:20,200 your standards shift and you recognize that in yourself. 652 00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:22,480 You say, I know that this is not me. 653 00:45:22,480 --> 00:45:24,280 I know that this is a miracle of God. 654 00:45:24,600 --> 00:45:28,720 And you may stumble along that path, but you can say with 655 00:45:28,720 --> 00:45:31,920 confidence that the direction of my heart is different. 656 00:45:32,920 --> 00:45:36,000 That's what the Lord is after. And He can offer you that 657 00:45:36,000 --> 00:45:38,400 tonight. If you were here and you're 658 00:45:38,400 --> 00:45:43,640 thinking, that's me, I know that's me. 659 00:45:44,600 --> 00:45:48,920 I have nothing to offer you myself, but you can call upon 660 00:45:48,920 --> 00:45:53,440 the name of the Lord and in a very real way, He can. 661 00:45:53,960 --> 00:45:55,600 He can change that heart of yours. 662 00:45:56,400 --> 00:45:59,080 Can we thank Him for it? Let's do that as we come to a 663 00:45:59,080 --> 00:46:14,130 close tonight. Father, indeed. 664 00:46:14,130 --> 00:46:20,570 It is truly fascinating how in 2 verses you can steer us into so 665 00:46:20,570 --> 00:46:26,130 many different directions. Thank you again for showcasing 666 00:46:26,130 --> 00:46:31,720 to us the harmony of your word, how bountiful it is, how 667 00:46:31,720 --> 00:46:36,200 profound it is. We pray for the believer that 668 00:46:36,200 --> 00:46:42,200 this study would provide fresh inspiration to read every part 669 00:46:42,200 --> 00:46:46,600 of this book. And we ask for for the person 670 00:46:46,600 --> 00:46:53,720 who's here, who under compulsion might be here, who under 671 00:46:53,720 --> 00:47:00,960 compulsion or wrong fears might perform their faith, but it does 672 00:47:00,960 --> 00:47:03,360 not come from a place of true heart change. 673 00:47:04,160 --> 00:47:07,440 We asked, Lord, that you would use tonight's study as the means 674 00:47:07,560 --> 00:47:13,560 to catapult them to the foot of the cross, and that they would 675 00:47:13,560 --> 00:47:18,840 allow that precious blood to wash their hearts and to redeem 676 00:47:18,840 --> 00:47:22,720 them. We thank you for how you've 677 00:47:22,720 --> 00:47:26,320 spoken to us, and Lord, we know that this is just the beginning 678 00:47:26,680 --> 00:47:29,800 of a testimony that you have clearly preserved for our 679 00:47:29,800 --> 00:47:33,480 benefit. So, Lord, continue to guide us 680 00:47:33,880 --> 00:47:39,760 as we study this man, Josiah. It may only bring us closer to 681 00:47:39,800 --> 00:47:42,040 Jesus. We ask these things in the 682 00:47:42,040 --> 00:47:45,880 precious name of your Son, the one whom we love and adore, 683 00:47:46,440 --> 00:47:52,640 Jesus Christ, Amen and Amen. Let's stand and worship Him as 684 00:47:52,640 --> 00:47:54,200 we stand in awe of His Word.