Week 31

We've seen though the list of kings, men who "did what was in the eyes of the Lord" to varying degrees. Some limited this following of the Lord to apparently their own lives leaving the general population to continue in their corrupt ways. Others not only followed the Lord but did so "as David did". You will notice when a king arose and followed the Lord and removed the worship sites, idols, symbols, and altars, they were quickly replaced when a wicked king took the throne.

This week, I want to talk about a man of the latter sort. Josiah, king of Judah.

He followed the Lord just as David had (a rare attribute). From his love of God, he removed the wicked idols that had been placed in God's temple and began to repair it.

Perhaps symbolic of removing evil from our lives, and repairing the damage done?

The high priest found the Book of the Law, written by Moses as instructed by God. When the Law was read to king Josiah, he realized the sinful state that God's people had fallen into.

The apostle Paul would later write:
"Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;
because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." (Romans 3:19-20)

Hearing God's Law exposes the sinfulness of man - who has no excuse and is accountable to God. "For through the Law comes the knowledge of sin."

Faced with the Laws of God, king Josiah tore his robes. If you are not familiar with the cultural demonstration, the rending of one's garment was an expression of extreme anguish or dismay. Job tore his robes when his afflictions beset him. Ezra tore his robes when he learned that the Israelites intermingled with the nations God forbade them to be involved with. Paul and Barnabas tore their garments when the people of Lystra began trying to worship them as gods at the display of God's power through them.

Now Josiah tore his garments in anguish and dismay at how far God's chosen people had fallen away from His way and the certain punishment and destruction that awaited them for their wickedness. He said "Go, inquire of the LORD for me and the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the LORD that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us."

Because he sought God's will and had a repentent heart, God spared him the punishment although the judgement against Judah was still a consequence of their actions that they would still face.

Josiah didn't just follow the Lord by himself. As a truly godly leader, he then led the people back to God's way. He made known to them the Law. He destroyed and desecrated the idols, the places of worship, the symbols of the false gods, and slew the false priests.

Just as Josiah did, we should do in our own lives. We need to clean out the wickedness from ourselves in our zeal to follow the Lord, to remove anything that we can identify as ungodly. That should be our goal.

Now, we know that keeping all of the Law is not possible and that is why God provided the only way of redemption - Jesus Christ paying the debt we owe. By His grace, through faith, we are saved. However, we are still called to live holy lives before Him.

The scripture records of king Josiah:
Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did - with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses. (2 Kings 23:25)

Now, there's a role model.