JOSIAH – AGAINST ALL ODDS “The great day of the LORD is near” Zeph.1:14

1Ki 13:2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. 1Ki 13:8 And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: 1Ki 13:18 He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him. 1Ki 13:24 And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase. THE CONDEMNATION OF JEROBOAM AND THE ALTAR AT BETHEL

Jer_23:26 How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Hab_2:18 What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols? Zeph_3:13 The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid. THE PERSPECTIVE OF THREE PROPHETS

PASSOVER Hezekiah Josiah 2Ch 35:17 And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days. 2Ch 35:18 And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem 2Ch 30:26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem. 2Ch 30:27 Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven

AGAINST ALL ODDS Session One: Searching for the God of David Session Two: “Wash thine heart from wickedness” Exhortation: “Ephraim, my dear son”

Session One SEARCHING FOR THE GOD OF DAVID Seeking for Yahweh – Where did Josiah look? The extent of apostasy and odds against reform The first cleansing of the land The repair of the Temple Finding the book of the law The second cleansing commences

3 Separate Deportations and 3 Separate Returns

2Ki 18:4 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. Hezekiah 1Ki 13:2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.

THE KING AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES Jeremiah Zephaniah Hilkiah Huldah Habakkuk

THE TREACHERY OF THE PROPHETS AND PEOPLE Jer 5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof? Jer 7:4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these. Jer 9:3 And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD Jer 14:14 Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart. Jer 23:14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

Jer_6:13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. Ps48 :1-2 Josiah Founded of Yah

SEARCHING FOR THE GOD OF DAVID 2Ki 20:5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD. 2Ch 34:3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. Isa 38:5 Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.

LIFE OF JOSIAH 8 th year began to seek after the Lord 12 th year began to purge Judah and Jerusalem and the remnant of Israel 18 th year began to rebuild the Temple Book of the Law is found Gathering of the elders Second purge Land and Temple 31 st year death Jeremiah begins Zephaniah begins Habakkuk Passover

PURGING THE LAND AND JERUSALEM Phase One - 2 Chron.34:1-9 2Ch 34:3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. 2Ch 34:4 And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them. 2Ch 34:5 And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. 2Ch 34:6 And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks (Ruins/(sword?) round about. 2Ch 34:7 And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.

THE HIGH PLACES Gezer 1500 BC Num 33:52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:

CLEANSING OF THE LAND, THE TEMPLE AND THE PEOPLE

Lev 26:30 And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you. Gezer 1500 BC Deu 12:2 Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree. 1Ki 3:3 And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. 1Ki 3:2 Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days. The ‘Samaritans’ 2Ki 17:32 So they feared the LORD, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. 2Ki 18:22 But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? Rabshakeh

1Ki_3:2 Solomon: Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days. 1Ki_3:3 And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. 1Ki_12:31 Jeroboam : And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi. 1Ki_14:23 Rehoboam ; For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree. 1Ki_15:14 Asa: But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the LORD all his days. 1Ki_22:43 Jehoshaphat: And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD: nevertheless the high places were not taken away; for the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places. 2Ki_12:3 Joash: But the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places. 2Ki_14:4 Amaziah (good king) Howbeit the high places were not taken away: as yet the people did sacrifice and burnt incense on the high places.

THE HIGH PLACES 2Ki 15:4 Azariah: (good king) Save that the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places.. 2Ki 16:4 Ahaz: And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. 2Ki17:9 And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. 2Ki_18:4 Hezekiah; He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan 2Ki_21:3 Manasseh: For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.