|
God Renews His Covenant With Josiah...
New Sunday School Lesson...
GOD RENEWS THE COVENANT WITH JOSIAH -
2 Chronicles 34:15, 18, 19, 25-27, 29, 31-33
BACKGROUND:
Solomon began his reign in 970 B.C. Josiah began his reign in 640 B.C. Some 330 years have passed since the time of the text we studied last Sunday. And as for the temple, which continues to be the major theme, much has happened to it also. During Solomon’s reign, the temple was the picture of splendor in the center of Jerusalem . However as time passed, the kingdom was split, and kings who did not believe in God came to power. Among the more notable of these were Josiah’s father and grandfather, Amon and Manasseh. These two held the throne in the Southern Kingdom for some 57 years, and they were religiously wicked men. Manasseh even put idols inside the temple...
Somewhere in all this unholy chaos, the Book of Law (either the entire Pentateuch or the Book of Deuteronomy) was “lost”. This left the people without God’s Word to guide them in their worship and day-to-day situations. All this left the eight-year-old Josiah with an almost impossible religious challenge. It becomes one of those back-to-the-Bible stories that could address situations even today…
PROGRESS OF REFORM (2 Chronicles 34:15, 18, 19)
Josiah was only eight years old when he ascended the throne at Jerusalem . Still, by the tender age of 16 he began on his own (he had no parental guidance) to seek God. Four years later he began a campaign of great significance. First, he got rid of the idols that had been placed around the area by his ancestors. Next, he set out to “clean up” the House of God. Give Josiah credit: he got things in order. One can hardly seek God without first ridding himself of earthly idols...
It is surprising what one may find in doing God’s work. Somewhere in the rubble of the temple was the Book of Law (verse 14). Think about it: here people had been living for probably 60 years without a Bible to guide them! Clearly, young Josiah had done his best to do right, but when he heard the Word of God as read by the scribe Shaphan, he “rent his clothes”. This act is common in Scripture and denotes horror or dismay...
Of course, this phenomenon may not be too uncommon today. The Bible is everywhere, but people often fail to read it. It is as though it were still in the rubble of the Temple , out of man’s eyesight. People without the Word of God can do no better than to do that which seems right. But this is probably what Josiah had been doing, and when he found how far off the “mark” he had been, it brought him to a rude awakening...
DELAY OF CURSES (2 Chronicles 34:25-27)
Josiah wanted to know just how God was going to react to the terrible transgressions of His people. He assigned the best of his religious leaders the task of determining God’s “mood” (verses 20, 21). They went to a prophetess named Huldah, who promptly gave them the verdict: Jerusalem would indeed suffer for the nationwide sins. But as for young Josiah, he would not live to see the wrath of God meted out. It tells us if nothing else that even when surrounded by evil, a sincere worshipper can find favor with God. But keep in mind that Josiah was not putting on a show – he was truly sincere about his commitment to do that which was right in the eyes of God...
RENEWAL OF THE COVENANT (2 Chronicles 34:29, 31-33)
It seems that every good king finds reason to gather the people at the House of God. You will recall that in our earlier studies we saw this done by both David and Solomon. Here, Josiah is doing the same thing. In the cases of Solomon and David, it had to do with the Temple . With Josiah, the issue was the Word of God. First, he had the Word read before the people (verse 30) so that they, too, may be “disturbed” by the Book. Then, Josiah did what many great men before him had done – he made his pledge before God without asking anyone’s opinion...
Once he had made HIS pledge, he was worthy to call on his followers to do likewise. They had all heard the Word, now it was in order to put it into their daily lives...
It should be clear to us today: if we would bring people to Christ, we must begin by bringing ourselves to Him. Following that, we may be worthy to issue the Divine Invitation....
A
__________________
By HIS stripes, we are healed...
|
Linear Mode
