Is God personal to you? Whereas he mom and dad's got. Or Josiah, when he was 16, God became real to him. In spite of the prophecies, his mother's influences on his life, God became real to him, personal. 2 Chronicles 34, verse 3.
for in the Eighth year of his reign, remember he became king at eight, eight years later, he's 16. While he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David. This is Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Ricky is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville. Pastorik is currently teaching through a topical series.
Please stay tuned with us after today's message to hear more information about cross-reference radio, specifically, how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick as he continues his message, How to Overcome Through Christ. Question five, part C or part three. How to overcome through Christ, i. e.
Asa, Hezekiah Josiah. last of the trilogy of kings that we're going to consider.
So I don't know where to have you go. We're going to bounce around between. Second Kings. 22 and 23. and Second Chronicles 34 and 35, because that's where the story of Josiah.
is the most robust.
So I think. Or just hang on for the ride. Get the verses. Anyway. The epitaph.
for Josiah, Second Kings chapter twenty three, verse twenty five.
Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to Yahweh with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might according to the law of Moses Nor after him did any arise like him.
Well, that is the final say on the life of Josiah, and very exciting life indeed.
Now, Davis in another category. These are the kings once the nation divided when these kind of comments show up. David is the most named character in the Bible except for Jesus Christ. In fact, the last named Human In the Bible is David. And his kingdom will go into the millennial reign.
His name is all over that.
So we need to understand, I think it's the legalistic kind of thinking that says, well, I don't like David because. But you don't know what you're talking about. If that's your position. The man was a spiritual dynamo, and Hell hated every bit of him for it.
So, I don't want to go into any more about King David, which would be very easy for me. But we should be able to appreciate how much God used that man and how much the Lord loves him, a man after my own heart. God saw the future, and He still knew who David was going to be. Anyway, we're talking about Josiah. A descendant of King David.
We want to know what makes him tick. I think that's the question: how to overcome through Christ. And I'm delighted that the question is submitted, New Testament. Based on Old Testament. Not just tell me about Asa and Hezekiah and Josiah.
Their connection to Christ. And we do want to know what makes these Characters in scripture.
So beloved and useful to God. We want to glean from their lives. Hebrews 11:2, for by it the elders obtained a good testimony. And this king, of course, one of the most loved of all of Israel's kings. By Christians, and not for good reason.
There's a good reason why he's so lovable. But he's gonna make a big mistake in the end. This king was the fulfillment of a prophecy. about him by name three hundred years before he was born. Not only by name, but what he would do.
And he couldn't, it's not a self-fulfilling prophecy. You couldn't just be born and have this network in back of you giving you the support. Unless God was doing it. That is exactly what happened. 1 Kings 13.
Now, this is 1 Kings 13. This is not about. Josiah, who's in 2 Kings. But Here we read the prophecy about him by a man of God. These are in the days when.
The kingdom split north and south, and Jeroboam was ordained by God to take the ten tribes of Israel. and be king over them, and he ruined it. And he put up alternate places to worship God against God. Against God's word. And The Lord sent a prophet, and we read about what happened, what the prophet cried out concerning Josiah.
Then he cried out against the altar by the word of Yahweh and said, O altar. Thus says Yahweh, Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David. and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you. And men's bones shall be burned on you. Josiah fulfills that.
Which is incredible. And don't let Satan come and steal that. Oh, well, they wrote that after. They did not write that after.
So, this is the character that we're considering tonight, and the man who delivered that message was killed. Shortly after. God told him, Don't go back the way you went, go back a different way. And he allowed himself to be deceived. It's quite a.
Mm-hmm. Intriguing event that was, but that's a side note. His mother, Josiah's mother, Jededida It was her name. She would have told him about that prophecy. They're gonna find the book of the law, but it'll be Moses' section that they're gonna find.
This prophecy given by that man of God 300 years ago survived, would have been passed on, if not in print, it would have been an oral tradition. And that, I am sure, impacted how he lived. The hand that rocks the cradle rules the kingdom. You cannot devalue how important a woman's role is. Among the righteous, well, the wicked too, but we are concerned with the righteous.
Now his father the husband of Jededidah, Amon, Sound like I'm Jamaican. Hey, man. Anyway. His father Amon was a wicked man and his grandfather Manasseh was one of the most wicked. And he has a lot of cleanup to do behind his parents, well, his father and his grandfather.
And he is the last of the good kings.
Well, Judah had other good kings. I I enlisted them, Asa, Jehoshaphat. Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah from last study and Josiah. But they were the best. There were others that were They were good, but they were messed up too.
Those are the ones that did well. Even though their mistakes are, they all made. Sizable mistakes. and in a weird way we're kind of glad about that.
So Josiah, he rules for 31 years. He's going to be king. And all that work he achieved so much with his Reformations. But at his death it's like it all got flushed down the toilet that day. Not quite, but It does look like that when you look at the history of it.
Jeremiah fought desperately. preserve what Josiah achieved And he just he couldn't do it. The people were too evil.
So his reign as king was characterized by peace and prosperity. and his of course great reforms. And that piece g I think got him in trouble. He wanted to prove himself on the battlefield. He never had the chance.
And then the The day came and he did have the chance. And he wasn't supposed to take it, and he did.
So He's Some 60 years after the last king we studied, Hezekiah, who would have been his great-grandfather. Yeah. That's right. Anyway, these are among the happiest years in Judah under his reign. And Scripture focuses almost exclusively on his spiritual achievements.
Because, you know, 31 years, we don't have 31 years of information about him in all areas of his life, but how he went after the pagan gods and their idols in Israel, we do have that. His life is told to us in five stages. The first stage is when he ascends the throne. He's Eight years old. And he becomes king.
Now, of course, they didn't give the kings at eight full reign. Could you imagine that? Hot wheels for the kingdom, everybody. G.I. Joe soldiers.
I don't know what now it's games or something like that, but when I was a kid, those were things. Anyway. Apparently, he was surrounded by still God fearing. Advisors What his father and grandfather had done in Israel. And so, another place that we get.
uh look at his life is in second chronicles chapter thirty four in the first seven verses, and I'm going to read those verses because they're worthwhile. It's a read at one shot. Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem, and he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, and walked in the ways of his father David. He did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. For in the eighth year of his reign That would make him 16 years old.
We haven't gotten to that yet. While he was still young, he began to seek. The God of his father David had And in the twelfth year. 26 He began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, the moulded images. They broke down the altars of the bows and that's the pagan god, of course.
And in his presence, he was there for that. And the incense altars. which were above them he cut down, and the wooden images, the carved images. And the molded images he broke in pieces and made dust of them. He scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.
He also burned the bones of the priest. on their altars, and cleanse Judah and Jerusalem. And so he did in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, As far as Nephtali, And all around with axes, not axis AXIS, but axes like. Patches. chopping stuff up.
When he had broken down the altars, And the wooden Images He had beaten them. They beaten the carved images into powder. and cut down the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel. and return to Jerusalem. He's just a thorough man when it came to hating the evil representations of God, grinding them to powder, being there to watch it, taking the bones of the pagan priests in the northern kingdom, which at this time they had been conquered by Assyria, so they were just Jews pretty much scattered with other Gentile people there.
And he still. took it upon himself, To address this stuff. At age 16, which is the second stage of his life. Yahweh became personal to him. Is God personal to you?
Or is he mom and dad's got? For Josiah, when he was sixteen, God became real to him. In spite of the prophecies, his mother's influences on his life, God became real to him, personal. 2 Chronicles 34, verse 3. For in the Eighth year of his reign, remember he became king at eight, eight years later, he's sixteen.
While he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David. Devoted himself to pleasing God according to the world. to the law that they didn't even have at the time. They lost the word of Moses because of those rotten kings. They'll find it.
So he devotes himself to pleasing God according to the scriptures. And that precipitated a series of blessings and purgings.
So by the time he's 20 years old, stage three of his life, He began to purge Judah, And the temple and it's blasphemous. 2 Chronicles 34. The second part of the verse that I just read a moment ago. And in the twelfth year, he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem. Of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, the molded images, and any.
Other visage. of idolatry. How do you overcome in Christ?
Well, looking at Josiah, you get a good look. is totally intolerant of lies about God.
Now, you have to balance that as a Christian. This isn't the nation Israel for us. We don't have the authority to outlaw, to make, you know. Freedom of religion, take that away and say, No, it's going to be Yahweh or nothing. The Christian has to move amidst a world that is infested.
with lies from hell. His father and grandfather infested. The Northern Kingdom. with these idols. And as we go forward, we'll find they're all over the place.
Now at this time, when he was 20, when he was about 21, Jeremiah. The prophet was called to ministry.
Now that's important. Whenever you drop names like Jeremiah, Abraham, Isaiah. That should mean something because they carry a lot of weight from God to to us.
So Jeremiah now is Sent into the picture. Josiah's not alone. And when Josiah dies, Jeremiah is going to have a special lamentation for him.
Now we come to the fourth stage of his life.
Well, let me read that part about Jeremiah from Jeremiah chapter 1, to whom the word of Yahweh came in the days of Josiah the son of Ammon. King of Judah. And in the 13th year of his reign, so that's how we know. that j Jeremiah is now A prophet in Israel. And that Jeremiah is going to have his own problems personally with his own family.
And the priest. But it's all working alongside of what the king is doing.
So he surrounds himself with faithful men. When Josiah now says, I want to repair the house of God that is broken down because of the idolaters that were before him. He had such trustworthy men that he didn't require accounting of the funds. It did business with a handshake. Second Kings twenty two, verse seven.
However, There need be no accounting made with them of the money delivered into their hand, because they deal faithfully.
So these are the people that were in his life during the thirty-one year reign. Under the supervision of Hilkiah the priest. As the house of God was being repaired. Before I get to any more, I want to insert this comment. They were repairing the house of God.
How many churches? need to be repaired. I don't mean their structures. The theology and their testimony to the world.
So in the process Of repairing the house of God, a copy of the Book of the Law was discovered. That's Genesis to Deuteronomy. Second Kings twenty two Verses 8 and 10 Then Hilkiah the priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of Yahweh. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
So the king doesn't get it right away.
So Chaffan The scribe went to the king, bringing the king word, saying, Your servants have gathered the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of those who do the work. And oversee the house of the Lord. That's the part where there's no need to account for them because they're such trustworthy men. Then it reads, Then Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest. has given me a book and Chafan read it before the king.
It's kind of almost a matter of fact. Maybe some of that was, I don't know how the king's gonna handle this. I know he's got this personal thing with Yahweh, but Or maybe Shafan is like, I don't want him to get that. But either way, he brings it to him. He has to, because Hilkiah might come along later and say, hey, did you see the book?
And Josiah He gets hold of The word of God, and you have to stop and say, The people of God lost the word of God in the house of God. How does that happen? How to overcome. Don't let that happen. Jeremiah 15, 16, Your words were found, and I ate them, and your word was to me, joy and rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Yahweh, God of hosts.
This is while Jeremiah was being beaten up, not physically, though some of that too later. with just everybody coming against him.
Now, I search all the commentators, and none of them tie those words of Jeremiah to this event in Josiah's life. And I don't know what's their problem. I wish I had their phone numbers. Anyway, when Josiah has the word read to him by Shaphan the scribe. He was visibly shaken.
It was ashamed. He was afraid before God and before men. By how far Judah had Fallen from God, violated His word, which is His will. His very person. 2 Kings 22, verses 11 through 13.
Now it happened. I'll skip some of the names and, well, some of the stuff, but.
So you If you're reading with me, you'll see that I'm Just getting the main points.
Now, what happened when the king heard the words. Of the book of the law that he tore his clothes. Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest. Hi, Kem. Arkborough and And Isaiah, saying, Go inquire of Yahweh for me, for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book.
that has been found. For great is the wrath of Yahweh. That is aroused against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book. to do according to all that is in it. Could you imagine?
He actually says to do according to all that is written concerning us because the Bible is about us. Our relationship with God. And one of the things that you could just preach on this. For weeks is so incredible. But listen to what happened.
Inquire of the Lord for me. This is the king. He wants to know what God wants to do now. His sons will not treat the scriptures this way. They will do everything they can to destroy it.
And he's only 26 years old. He's not impetuous.
Now he's going to send to Hulda the prophetess. Which is a rebuke on the men because where were the men prophets?
Well, they weren't doing their jobs. God said, I don't need you. I have the women. They'll back me up. Nor does he act according to his own understanding.
It doesn't just read the word.
So I know what that means. As we opt. Prone to do from some time. We just think we should know these things.
Well, that's just self-serving pride. Why would you know these things? Yeah. Nor did he do what was right in his own eyes without counsel, as we talked about Proverbs 12:15, which is so easy to do. You know, I don't need to ask anybody.
I don't need to consult anybody.
So I talked about Jeremiah implying that verse, I ate the word, your book was word was found and I ate it.
Well, I consulted other commentators. They were wrong. They should have consulted me. They wouldn't have had that mistake.
So what? They were born two hundred years ago. Anyway. We try to make that a practice in our lives, and I get to share the good points, not the bad points, about me.
So God blessed him for all this. Promising, God promising that. Josiah would die in peace, but he died. An Egyptian arrow killed him. How did he die in peace?
He had peace with God. He most certainly did. Peace with God is the highest peace known to man. Unlike His father said. and his grandfather So, this discovery of the scripture, while he's already beginning to institute purge in the kingdom.
When we opened up with reading about what he was doing, it really probably comes after the scripture was found. though he was already doing some of it. This discovery added momentum to his righteous crusade. amongst his own people. Again, 2 Kings 23, 2.
The king went up to the house of Yahweh with all the men of Judah. This is after they found the word. And with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. This is also after the word of the prophetess came back, blessing him. And God said in the prophecy, Josiah will have peace with me.
But the damage done by Manasseh his grandfather is so extensive the nation will not recover. And that is exactly how it played out. Anyway, he continues: the priests, the prophets, and all the people, both small and great, and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which had been found in the house of Yahweh. He summoned the nation and he read them scripture and a lot of it. I don't remember the exact words, but there was an American.
Pastor, author back in the, he died in the early 1950s. And when he was two days from death on his deathbed, His brother Robinson, who was also a pastor. Visited him that Sunday morning before going to church and preaching. And as his brother was leaving to go preach, The pastor said to him, Put in it as much of the Word of God as you can. And that's what Josiah is doing.
He's putting in as much of the Word of God as he can into the people. But it's not a magic potion. Because we'll see, we see what the kingdom did with it. The next kings are just horrific, and that's when the Babylonians will come and take the nation from them, the kingdom from them. Then, after he reads the scripture, 2 Kings 23:4, and the king commanded Hilkiah the priest of the second order and the doorkeepers to bring.
out of the temple of Yahweh all the articles that were made for Baal, Asherah, And for the host of heaven. For all the hosts of heaven, And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Khidron, And carried their ashes to Bethel. Oh, man.
So, no, no, he didn't even want their ashes in the Holy Land. Is that we're going to get this stuff out of here and we're going to take it back to where it started because Bethel is one of the places that. King Jeroboam put an alternate altar, auxiliary altars for the people When the man of God came three hundred years. earlier and cursed that altar. And so he's taking it back to Bethel.
And Yeah. The people have got to be wowed by this young king. He purged the temple of idolatrous priest and the articles that they infested the land with, he executed pagan priests up in Samaria, In Samaria, after the Assyrians came to the northern kingdom and they mixed back in Gentiles, there were still some Jews.
Well, he goes up in that area and he finds those pagan priests and he kills them. and digs up bones and burns them. He ended human sacrifice. Thanks for tuning in today to Cross Reference Radio, where Pastor Rick has some answers for various questions that have been asked. We can't fully express how grateful we are that you've been with us today.
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