J OSIAH : E NGAGING THE W ORD 2 Kings 22:10 – 23:3 (p. 360) August 29, 2010

I NTRODUCTION  Josiah the “Reformer” king  Because of his Extraordinary Faith in Scripture  Author of Kings used biblical book Deuteronomy as a ‘lens’ to evaluate the kings of Israel & Judah  Examples for us:  Extraordinary faith in the Word of God  Using the Bible as the key to understanding our experiences and the world

1. T HE S TORY OF J OSIAH  BC - Josiah became king of Judah (Northern Kingdom) at 8 yrs old; reigned 31 yrs (22:1)  Good king - “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.” (22:2; cf. Deut 17:20)  Repaired the temple (22:3-7)  High priest Hilkiah found the ‘Book of the Law’ which is the biblical book of Deuteronomy (Deut) (22:8)  Book of the Law was read to Josiah (22:10)

1. T HE S TORY OF J OSIAH  Josiah “tore his clothes” (v11) – responded with despair and saw the need for repentance  Josiah sent for confirmation from the Lord (22:13)  Priest and others went to Huldah the prophetess (22:13-20)  Her message:  Confirmed the truth of the Book of the Law  Confirmed the need for repentance,  Foretold that judgment would still come to Judah because of disobedience & idolatry  Stated that the Lord acknowledged Josiah’s repentance  Foretold that Josiah’s “eyes will not see all the disaster” (22:20) that was coming to Judah and that he would die in peace

1. T HE S TORY OF J OSIAH  Josiah read the Book of the Law to “all the people from the least to the greatest” in the nation of Judah (23:1-2)  Josiah renewed the covenant between God and God’s people as set out Deut (23:3)  Promise to keep God’s commands with all one’s heart and soul  Josiah set the example and the people renewed the covenant as well  Josiah obeyed the commandments found in the Book of the Law (23:4-19)  Destroyed all places of idol worship in Judah and in the most offensive places in Israel  The “man of God from Judah” mentioned in 23:16c-18 was a prophet. He prophesied that Josiah would bring reforms (cf. 1 Kings 13)  Josiah ordered everyone to celebrate the Passover (23:21-23)  Years later Josiah was killed at Megiddo

2. J OSIAH ’ S E XAMPLE He fully engaged with Scripture!  He CELEBRATED the Passover as per Deut 16  He LISTENED & LEARNED the Book of the Law  He OBEYED the Book of Law  He REPENTED (“tore his clothes” v11)  He led by EXAMPLE (renewed covenant first)  He TAUGHT (read Book of Law to people) SO Josiah is remembered as: the most faithful king precursor to Christ, the True Reformer

How do you engage with Scripture? Presupposes: - Belief that we should engage with Scripture - A desire to engage with Scripture

3. E NGAGING WITH S CRIPTURE  CELEBRATE the promises found in the Word of God  LISTEN & LEARN– read & study the Word  OBEY – be teachable  REPENT – turn away from sin and live by the Word  Lead by EXAMPLE – just like Christ did (cf. Phil 2)  TEACH the Word SO that we will be: good and faithful servants (cf. Mt 25:14ff) representatives of Christ, the True Reformer

3. E NGAGING WITH S CRIPTURE C E L E B R A T E L I S T E N & L E A R N O B E Y R E P E N T E X A M P L E T E A C H O FAITHFUL & CHRIST-LIKE