Still They Speak - Josiah

Jul 12, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: God’s 300-Year-Old Promise to an Eight-Year-Old King

A child’s age didn’t stop God from fulfilling a prophecy spoken three centuries earlier. Josiah’s reign began at eight years old, yet God’s promise to tear down idolatrous altars through him came true exactly as declared. This reveals God’s faithfulness transcends time, human failure, and even generational wickedness. His word never expires or falters. Just as Josiah unknowingly walked into his prophetic purpose, Christ fulfilled hundreds of ancient promises with precision. Every divine guarantee—for nations or individuals—is anchored in God’s unchanging character. [56:32]

“A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense, and human bones will be burned on you.” (1 Kings 13:2, NIV)

Reflection: Where have you doubted God’s promises because of delays or circumstances? How might Josiah’s story strengthen your trust in His timing?

Day 2: Seeking Sparks Revival Before Sweeping Reform

Revival didn’t start with Josiah’s demolition of idols but with his private pursuit of God. At sixteen, he began seeking the Lord despite growing up in a family of child sacrificers and idolaters. No spiritual mentors or scriptures guided him—just a raw hunger for God. This personal seeking ignited national transformation. Jesus, who eternally dwelled in perfect fellowship with the Father, calls us to prioritize relationship over religious activity. Reformation flows from intimacy, not the other way around. [01:00:36]

“In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David.” (2 Chronicles 34:3, NIV)

Reflection: Is your spiritual life more defined by doing things for God or knowing Him? What practical step can you take this week to seek Him first?

Day 3: Your Grandfather’s Idols Don’t Define Your Destiny

Josiah’s lineage included Manasseh, who burned children alive, and Amon, who “surpassed” his father’s evil. Yet Scripture calls Josiah a son of David, not of his biological fathers. God rewrote his identity. Like Jesus—the new Adam who redeems us from ancestral sin—Christ severs generational chains. Our pasts, families, or cultures don’t dictate our futures when we’re hidden in Him. The tomb of the unnamed prophet who foretold Josiah’s work became proof: God’s plans override bloodlines. [01:04:36]

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV)

Reflection: What old identity or family pattern are you still carrying? How can you actively embrace your “in Christ” identity today?

Day 4: Pulverizing Idols Instead of Negotiating With Them

Josiah didn’t relocate idols—he ground them to dust, burned bones on altars, and defiled pagan sites. Half measures couldn’t cleanse Judah. Jesus goes further, not just removing external idols but transforming hearts that house them. The Titus 2 Savior doesn’t reform—He redeems, making us “eager to do what is good.” Like Josiah’s radical obedience, we’re called to annihilate rivals to Christ’s throne in our lives, trusting His grace empowers the demolition. [01:10:14]

“He tore down the altars… crushed the idols to powder… burned the bones of the priests on their altars.” (2 Chronicles 34:4-5, NIV)

Reflection: What subtle “truce” have you made with a habit or desire that competes with Christ’s lordship? What would pulverizing it look like practically?

Day 5: The Throne Room of an Eight-Year-Old’s Heart

Josiah’s story ends with a child’s throne illustration: who sits at the center? The boy king prioritized God despite his youth and culture’s chaos. Jesus—the ultimate King—invites us to enthrone Him daily, displacing modern idols like comfort, control, or approval. Just as Josiah’s reforms began when workers rediscovered God’s Word in temple rubble, our revival starts when we recenter on Scripture’s authority. The youngest seeker can spark eternal change. [01:13:41]

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33, NIV)

Reflection: What currently occupies the “throne” of your priorities? How can you intentionally crown Christ there this week?

Sermon Summary

Josiah’s life comes forward as one of those Old Testament witnesses still speaking, and praise God for king Josiah. Josiah’s eight-year-old throne says that God does not need somebody famous, strong, or a certain age. God can pick somebody and use that person right as that person is.

Judah was messed up when Josiah inherited it. Manasseh had practiced witchcraft, idol worship, and even child sacrifice, and Amon multiplied that wickedness. Josiah had the cards stacked against him, but God turned his life into one of the brightest lights in Judah’s history.

First Kings 13 had already spoken Josiah’s name three hundred years before he was born. The altar heard the word of the Lord: a child named Josiah, from the house of David, would tear down the high places and burn bones on the altars. God did not forget. If God says it, it is going to happen.

Second Chronicles 34 shows Josiah seeking the God of David while he was still young, then purging Judah and Jerusalem of idols, Asherah poles, and high places. Josiah did not negotiate with idols. Josiah smashed them, crushed them to powder, cut them up, and burned what had taken God’s rightful place.

The lost book of the law shows how bad things had gotten. The temple was in such ruin that God’s law had been misplaced, and when it was found, Josiah tore his clothes. God’s word exposed how far the people had gone, and Josiah cried for mercy because God’s people had messed up.

Jesus is the truer and better Josiah. Josiah fulfilled one prophecy, but Jesus fulfilled every promise and prophecy concerning the Messiah. The Scriptures bear witness about Christ, and every promise God has made to his people is safe because God has never stopped being faithful.

Seeking God stands at the beginning of the greatest works of God. Josiah’s revival did not start with activity; it started with seeking the Lord. Christ lived in perfect fellowship with the Father and the Spirit, and the call is not first, “What should be done for God?” but, “Is God being sought?”

The past does not determine the future. Josiah was not defined by Amon’s wickedness, but by David’s line, and Christ redeems his people from Adam’s old identity. In Christ, the old is gone and the new is here.

Idols still try to sit on the throne of the heart. Jesus does what Josiah could only do temporarily: he tears idols out from the inside and gives a new heart that wants God.

Key Takeaways

1. God keeps what God says God’s promise about Josiah sat for three hundred years, but it did not expire. God named the child before the child existed, and the exact word came to pass. Faith is not wishful thinking when it rests on the God who takes his own word seriously. [55:54]
2. Seeking comes before doing Josiah’s reform began before the smashing, burning, and cleansing ever happened. The first movement was not public action but a young heart seeking the God of David. The deepest works of God are not manufactured by busyness; they grow out of communion with the Lord. [60:00]
3. Christ defines the new future Josiah’s family history was dark, but it did not get the final word over his life. Christ does even more by redeeming people from the old identity in Adam and naming them in himself. The past may explain wounds and patterns, but it does not have authority to define a new creation. [64:16]
4. Idols must not be negotiated Josiah did not move the idols to a safer corner or make peace with them. He crushed them because anything sitting in God’s rightful place becomes a rival throne. Grace does not make sin manageable; grace teaches God’s people to say no and to live with a new heart. [69:25]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[48:16] - Josiah and All Church Sunday
[49:20] - A Kingdom That Was Messed Up
[50:48] - The Prophecy Before Josiah
[52:28] - Josiah Seeks and Purges Judah
[54:04] - The Lost Book of the Law
[55:54] - God Always Keeps His Promises
[60:00] - Great Works Begin With Seeking
[64:16] - Past Does Not Determine Future
[69:25] - Confront the Idols of the Heart
[75:01] - Jesus, the Truer and Better Josiah
[77:23] - Seek the Great King
[78:03] - Closing Prayer

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
2 Chronicles 34:1-8 (ESV)
Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father; and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left. For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal images. And they chopped down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and he cut down the incense altars that stood above them. He broke in pieces the carved images and the metal images and ground them to powder and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem…

Observation Questions

What specific actions did Josiah take to remove idol worship from Judah (2 Chronicles 34:3-7)? How does this reflect his attitude toward compromise?
The prophecy about Josiah in 1 Kings 13:2 was made 300 years before his birth. What does this reveal about God’s character and reliability? [56:32]
How did Josiah respond when the Book of the Law was rediscovered, and what does this teach about the role of Scripture in exposing sin? [54:36]
In the sermon, how is Jesus described as the “truer and better Josiah”? What key difference separates His work from Josiah’s reforms? [57:17]

Interpretation Questions

Why do you think Josiah’s reforms began with seeking God (2 Chronicles 34:3) rather than immediate action? How does this order prioritize relationship over activity?
Josiah’s family history included generations of evil (Manasseh, Amon). How did his identity as part of “David’s line” redefine his future, despite his upbringing? [01:04:16]
The sermon states, “Idols still try to sit on the throne of the heart.” What makes internal idolatry harder to confront than external, physical idols like those Josiah destroyed?
How does Titus 2:11-14 connect God’s grace to the removal of idols in a way Josiah’s reforms could not? [01:12:04]

Application Questions

“Seeking comes before doing.” What practical steps could you take this week to prioritize seeking God before jumping into tasks or decisions?
The sermon warns against negotiating with idols. What “idol” (e.g., comfort, control, approval) might you be tolerating in a “safer corner” of your life? How can you actively confront it? [01:09:25]
Josiah’s past didn’t define his future. What lie from your past (failure, family, shame) do you need to reject in light of 2 Corinthians 5:17 (“the old has gone, the new is here”)?
The sermon says, “God’s promises are safe.” Which specific promise of God (e.g., Philippians 1:6, Matthew 28:20) do you need to cling to in a current struggle? How will you remind yourself of it daily?
Jesus “tears idols out from the inside.” What area of your heart feels resistant to change? How can you invite the Holy Spirit to renew your desires in that area? [01:11:25]

Sermon Clips

52s

#TrustHimSeekGod

“``Trust him. The second thing, the greatest works that we'll we will see done on this earth will always begin by us seeking God first. K? Like I said, revival didn't begin with acts of reformation. It began with Josiah seeking god. K? The third thing, our past does not determine our future. Praise god for that. And because of Jesus, that's why we don't have to have our past determine our future. It says, he makes us new. So remember that. And then the fourth thing is don't make peace with the things that are competing for gods, the importance of god in your life. Don't make peace with them. Confront them and destroy them and get rid of them.”

52s

#SeekGodForRevival

“That's the first thing that Josiah speaks. The second thing, and kids, you'll write this as well in your notes, adults as well. This is awesome. The greatest works of God begin with seeking God. The greatest works that we will do on this earth for our God will all begin by us seeking him first. Do you notice that about Josiah's life? In in second Chronicles thirty four three says, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David, his father. Josiah's life, it's not in scriptures talking about what he did initially. It talks about the person he sought after initially. That's what started the whole revival, was the fact that Josiah sought after God.”

55s

#CrushIdols

“It's this, confront, don't ignore the things that are taking God's rightful place in our life. Confront and don't ignore it. Josiah did not just, like, make a deal with those who were worshiping idols or okay. I guess we could move the idols to this special area, and you can keep them. And I guess if people wanna do that, he destroyed them. He didn't just kind of destroy them. He didn't just knock them down. He actually turned them into, like, dust, powder. He crushed them. And if it was a pole, he cut it up and burned it. He destroyed it. He wanted to cleanse Judah and all of Israel of these idols in high places. He didn't negotiate with them. He broke them to pieces.”

75s

#NewIdentityInChrist

“Now it made me think about Jesus, though. How is Jesus the truer and better Josiah in this case? Because Jesus came down from heaven. His legacy, his history is being God in eternity past, and then he became he's he did awesome here on this earth. But we have to remember something about Jesus, and we all know this, but it's so important to remind ourselves. He was fully God, and he was fully He was. And how that works? I have no idea. That's a crazy concept to think that God could become man and be both fully God and fully man, but he was. He was because scriptures tell us he was. And so how is he the true and better Josiah? Because he redeems everyone from that old identity of Adam. Because Jesus became the new Adam, and he redeemed us from the old Adam. Just like Josiah was named underneath his father David, now in Christ, we're not named under our father Adam, but under Christ himself. our new identity. Our past does not determine our future. Christ determines our future. Amen.”

71s

#NotDefinedByYourPast

“We need to understand that our past does not determine our future. If anyone had the cards stacked against him, it was little Josiah. He grew up in a family of witchcraft. That was his family. His grandpa was sacrificing children. Like, That's your grandpa. Your dad is doing even more evil things than that, and that's your family. The cards were stacked against him. That didn't matter. His past didn't determine his future. So what I found fascinating is that whenever it talks about Josiah talking about Josiah's father, who did it call his father? David. David. David. Because that was the identity that Josiah was being found under, not underneath Amon, his dad. Amon was wicked. Josiah is not underneath that identity. He's underneath David who loved the Lord, who loved God. That was his identity.”

50s

#RecognizeYourIdentityInChrist

“Praise God. I thank God every day for that truth right there. Thank you, God. Because I know what I've done in my past, and I thank God I'm not defined by that anymore. as the church, guys, we need to stop defining ourselves and each other by our pasts, by our family histories, by our culture, where we're from. Knock it off. That's not what we're called to do. We're called to recognize who we are in Christ. That's it. The the past is gone. It's all Jesus now. He's our identity, period.”

65s

#JesusDestroysIdols

“So Josiah sought God, and out of that seeking God, it broke his heart about the idol worship, and he dealt with the idols. So how was Jesus the true and better Josiah? Because what Josiah did did was temporary. Unfortunately, Judah goes back to idol worship. Josiah is the last good king of Israel. He's the last one. Everyone goes back to worshiping idols. They rebuild the altars, and they fall away from God. And then eventually, the Babylonians come in and just take everyone out. So how is Jesus the true and better? Because he destroys idols, but he does it eternally, and he does it in the heart of every person who puts their faith in him. He destroys those idols. He does it on a level Josiah could never do it. He does it all the way into the heart of a man and woman. He's the true and better Josiah.”

49s

#PrioritizeKnowingGod

“Instead this is what it's saying. Instead of just asking the question, hey, what should we do for God? The first question needs to be, am I seeking God? We're always wanting to do, and god's like, but seek me first. We have to prioritize the seeking of god. We do that through prayer, worship, communion, simply listening to the holy spirit, reading God's word? And here's a question that was on my heart just for myself. Am I more passionate about accomplishing things more than I am actually just knowing God?”

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Still They Speak - Josiah

Devotional

Day 1: God’s 300-Year-Old Promise to an Eight-Year-Old King

Day 2: Seeking Sparks Revival Before Sweeping Reform

Day 3: Your Grandfather’s Idols Don’t Define Your Destiny

Day 4: Pulverizing Idols Instead of Negotiating With Them

Day 5: The Throne Room of an Eight-Year-Old’s Heart

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Still They Speak - Josiah

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