Transformative Faith: Lessons from King Josiah

Josiah's family background, I think, could best be described as broken, dysfunctional, and abusive. His grandfather was a man by the name of Manasseh. If you look at chapter 21 and verse 11, listen to what God says about him: Manasseh, the king of Judah, he has committed abominations. He's done things more evil than all the Amorites did who were before him, and he has made Judah, that's the southern tribes, also to sin with his idols. [00:03:36]

Now, over in a later book in the Bible, Second Chronicles, where we have a parallel account of these kings, we're told there about Josiah that it was in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, that he began to seek the God of David, his father. So here's Josiah, and his father dies when he's just eight years old. [00:10:04]

Josiah got serious about seeking after God when he was a teenager. Now, we're not told why he sought after the Lord when he was a teenager, just that he did. Perhaps it was that he had seen how sin had wrecked previous generations of his family. But for whatever reason, early in life, Josiah said in his mind and heart, I want to be different. [00:11:09]

Now, here's the obvious question that arises in the story at this point: If you are seeking God, how are you going to find Him? And there probably are folks in the congregation who are saying, you know, you've described where I'm at. I want to be different. I don't want to continue the things that have been passed down the line in my family. [00:12:27]

Josiah knew that God was to be worshipped in the temple in Jerusalem. So it seems from chapter 22 that he decided early on that he would do some repairs that were badly needed to this temple of the Lord. He decided to repair it, that's verse five, and that would take some money, and there were taxes that were paid to the temple. [00:14:38]

Now, this book of the law was the book of Deuteronomy, the book that is earlier in our Bible that we looked at earlier in this series. What a surprise! The high priest finds the Bible, a dusty old copy, a part of the Old Testament scriptures, and it's lying neglected and disused in a vault in the temple. [00:15:35]

If you lose the Bible from the place of worship, what happens in the end is you have a kid like Josiah growing up with a desire in his heart to seek after the Lord, and he's got no idea where to find Him because even in the temple, the Bible has been lost. And maybe that was your experience too. [00:17:21]

The Bible very simply is the word of God. What that means is that when God's word is opened, God's voice is actually heard. So verse 10 and verse 11 of chapter 22, Shaphan the secretary told the king, Hilkiah the priest has given me a book, and Shaphan read it before the king. [00:18:24]

Josiah took away all the abominations from all the territory that belonged to the people of Israel, and notice the word: he made all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God, and all his days they did not turn away from following the Lord, the God of their fathers. Josiah made them. [00:30:00]

True righteousness cannot come from trying to please some other people who want us to move in a particular direction. True righteousness can only come when your heart is changed by God, and that is why God promises a new covenant. He says, here's Josiah, and he gathers all the people and he reads the Bible. [00:32:45]

If you will come to Jesus Christ in faith and in repentance today, He'll give you more than His law. He'll give you Himself. He'll give you His Spirit, and His Spirit will create new desires and new capacities inside you so that from within, you have a desire to follow after all of His ways. [00:34:27]

Josiah died in peace, but his people lived under the judgment of God. Jesus died under the judgment of God, and His people live in peace. See, only Jesus can take away the judgment of God from you. Only Jesus can change your heart. That's why He came into the world. Seek Him early, receive His word. [00:37:13]