Children of the Bible

Lesson 9

Lesson Text—II Kings 22:1-2

II Kings 22:1-21 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.

Lesson Text—II Kings 22:1-2

2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.

Lesson Text—II Kings 22:8-9

II Kings 22:8-98 And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.

Lesson Text—II Kings 22:8-9

9 And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD.

Lesson Text—II Kings 22:10

II Kings 22:10And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.

Lesson Text—II Kings 23:1-2

II Kings 23:1-21 And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.

Lesson Text—II Kings 23:1-2

2 And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant

which was found in the house of the LORD.

Lesson Text—II Kings 23:3

II Kings 23:3And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

Focus Verse—II Kings 23:25

II Kings 23:25And like unto him was there no

king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with

all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any

like him.

Focus Thought

As in Josiah’s day, discovery of

the Word of God and a proper

response to the Word of God bring

revival and restoration.

I. Josiah’s HeritageCulture Connection

Celebrating Young People Making a Difference

Did anyone ever tell you that you were too young to make a difference? Then, before you even realized it, people were saying you were too old to make a difference. I am convinced no one is ever too young or too old to make a difference in this world.

I. Josiah’s HeritageJosiah, the child king, made a

difference in Judah when he was only eight years old. Though very young, he recognized the need to draw the people of Judah back toward God, His Word, and the things of God. Consequently, through his reforms he made a great difference for the people of God.

In the April 5, 2011, issue of the Brattleboro Reformer, reporter Josh Stilts wrote an article titled “Area Celebrates Young Children.” In the piece Stilts wrote, “As spring time blooms, members of various area children organizations are celebrating kids, families, teachers and other adults who are working to help improve the lives and opportunities for young children.

I. Josiah’s HeritageJosiah, the child king, made a

difference in Judah when he was only eight years old. Though very young, he recognized the need to draw the people of Judah back toward God, His Word, and the things of God. Consequently, through his reforms he made a great difference for the people of God.

In the April 5, 2011, issue of the Brattleboro Reformer, reporter Josh Stilts wrote an article titled “Area Celebrates Young Children.”

I. Josiah’s HeritageIn the piece Stilts wrote, “As spring time blooms, members of various area children organizations are celebrating kids, families, teachers and other adults who are working to help improve the lives and opportunities for young children.

“April is Month of the Young Child, an extension of the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s annual Week of the Young Child” (www.reformer.com, accessed April 6, 2011).

I. Josiah’s HeritageChildren can and do make a great difference in this world. By their conduct they sometimes inspire right behavior and right decisions in the older individuals who may be in control politically and socially, but who often have been tainted by cynicism and corruption. The young often are refreshingly innocent, honest, and sincere.

I. Josiah’s HeritageMay we celebrate the good actions of the youth of our land who inspire us all to do better. The youth are not just the church of tomorrow; they are a vibrant part of the church today!

I. Josiah’s HeritageContemplating the Topic

The novelty of having a child for a king must have lost its luster for the residents of Judah during the fifty-five year reign of Manasseh. Crowned when he was only twelve years old, Manasseh misused his power to plunge the people of Judah into the most perverse wickedness to be found in the heathen inhabitants God had driven out of the land before them. (See II Kings 21:9.)

I. Josiah’s HeritageHe erected altars for Baal and dedicated groves to the host of heaven. He used enchantments, dealt with familiar spirits, and consulted wizards. He sacrificed his son to Molech. Although Manasseh repented near the end of his life, the damage he had wrought on Judah earned him a place among the worst of Judah’s kings.

Some could reasonably argue the primary reason for Manasseh’s wickedness was that he became king while inexperienced and immature.

I. Josiah’s HeritageThus it is probable the citizens of Judah did not rejoice at the coronation of the king’s eight-year-old grandson, Josiah. The people may have assumed life would continue down the wicked path winnowed by their previous rulers. To expect anything different would be to place inordinate faith in an unproven and immature king.

Transparency 1

I. Josiah’s HeritageBut Josiah was nothing like his father and grandfather. Instead of continuing along that wicked path, Josiah set out to learn the ways of David, Israel’s greatest and most successful king. His commitment to follow wherever that righteous road led eventually provided the people of Judah an opportunity to reconnect with the God of their fathers—the only true and living God.

I. Josiah’s HeritageSearching The Scriptures

Josiah’s Heritage

Josiah, Judah’s sixteenth king, came from the royal lineage of David. His most remarkable distinction among Judah’s kings is that “while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father” (II Chronicles 34:3). This young man possessed a desire to know and understand God to a degree that none of Judah’s other kings

demonstrated.

I. Josiah’s HeritageJudah’s wicked kings had

incorporated so much idol worship into their religious system that by the time Manasseh’s fifty-five year reign ended, both the knowledge and the practice of how to worship Jehovah had practically vanished from their culture. It seems, though, that Judah still cherished the memory of Israel’s second king who had ruled four hundred years earlier, for Josiah knew enough about him to use his successful reign as the model for his

own.

I. Josiah’s HeritageHe knew that while David sat on the highest throne in the known world he was a humble worshiper of Jehovah. Although Manasseh had been responsible for leading Judah into sin, near the end of his life he repented and attempted to repair some of the damage. He destroyed some of the altars he had built to foreign gods, but did not completely rid Judah of the groves and the high places. This incomplete revival left a strong foundation of evil upon which Amon, his wicked son, continued to build.

I. Josiah’s HeritageSome suggest that Josiah’s

grandfather’s dramatic conversion motivated him to choose good over evil. Others argue that, as a five- or six-year-old, he would have been too young to comprehend the depths of his grandfather’s depravity. Regardless of what prompted Josiah to seek God, he developed over time such godly characteristics that the Book of II Kings links his name with his ancestor David whose reign was the spiritual benchmark by which all

other kings were measured. (See II Kings 22:2.)

A. Amon—Josiah’s FatherA. Amon—Josiah’s Father

If having evil ancestors dooms children to a lifetime of sin, then Josiah was doubly cursed. The only thing that prevented Josiah’s father, Amon, from being more wicked than Manasseh was that he did not live as long. When Amon had reigned only two years, his servants assassinated him in his own house.

I. Josiah’s HeritageAmon’s reign, though short-lived,

reversed the revival Manasseh had begun in his waning years. (See II Chronicles 33:12-17.) The lifestyle changes Manasseh made had not convinced the crown prince that living by God’s laws was the better option. Instead, he carried on the wickedness his father had embraced during most of his fifty-five-year reign.

A father’s influence upon his children during their impressionable years cannot be overemphasized.

I. Josiah’s HeritageBecause parental guidance is so crucial, the writer of Proverbs admonished parents to “train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). Paul recognized the significance of a father’s authority when he instructed, “Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).

I. Josiah’s HeritageAmon failed to escape the influence of his father’s wicked lifestyle, and he dragged Judah back into the depths of wickedness. It is possible Amon’s servants appreciated the recent trend away from idolatry and toward Jehovah, for even they recognized the harm Amon was causing to his family, his country, and his God. The only remedy they knew was to eliminate the cause of it all. Ultimately, we will reap what we sow.

B. Josiah Crowned KingB. Josiah Crowned King

Although quite young to bear the heavy responsibility of ruling a nation, Josiah demonstrated maturity beyond his years. After the high priest found the Word of the Lord, Josiah quickly became a serious student of the ways and laws of God.

“While he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father” (II Chronicles 34:3, ESV).

I. Josiah’s HeritageJosiah did not consider the Word of

God merely as a commentary on the ancient religion and culture of his race. It was a holy Word. He purposed in his heart to conform both his lifestyle and his kingdom to the Word, earning the reputation that “he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left” (II Kings 22:2).

The ways of David were markedly different from the ways of Josiah’s

predecessors.

I. Josiah’s HeritageWorship and submission to God, the hallmarks of David’s life and reign, were foreign to the culture in which Josiah was reared and trained. Apparently, the young king had never been taught the law of Moses, nor did he ever witness a priest performing his sacred tasks as God had instructed. Yet some unmentioned event or person motivated him to study the life of David and use it as the model for his own. In the eighth year of Josiah’s reign, he began to seek after David’s God (II

Chronicles 34:3).

I. Josiah’s HeritageHis intense desire for righteousness freed him from the wickedness of his generation and ultimately led the whole nation of Judah back to the knowledge of God and a relationship with Him. The inner work of repentance will always result in an outer work of cleansing and re-arranging the life and environment of a believer. A person’s desires and values will be manifested in his everyday life. “Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he”

(Proverbs 23:6-7).

I. Josiah’s HeritageOn December 26, 2004, an

earthquake caused a tsunami that overwhelmed coastal areas throughout Asia and swept thousands of people to their deaths. A ten-year-old British girl, vacationing with her family, saved at least one hundred of her fellow tourists by warning them that a giant wall of water was heading their way. “I was on the beach and the water started to go funny,” Tilly Smith told reporters. “There were bubbles and the tide went out all of a sudden.

I. Josiah’s HeritageI recognized what was happening and had a feeling there was going to be a tsunami. I told mummy,” she said.While other vacationers stood and stared as the disappearing waters that left boats and fish stranded on the beaches, Tilly recognized the danger signs because she had recently completed a school project on tsunamis. She and her mother warned the hotel staff and they quickly moved everyone to the upper floors of the hotel just minutes before the huge wave crashed ashore.

I. Josiah’s HeritageThis beach was one of the few on the whole island where no life was lost. Thankfully, the adults responded quickly to a child’s warning.

A. Repaired the TempleJosiah’s Work of Restoration and

Revival

A. Repaired the Temple

As Josiah cleaned up his heart and repaired his ways, it generated a desire to do the same to the house of God. Just prior to his twentieth birthday, Josiah ordered that the Temple be repaired. He wanted all traces of idolatry purged from Judah. (See II Chronicles 34:4-5.)

I. Josiah’s HeritageBut he knew that true worship of Jehovah could not resume until he had corrected the desecration of decades of idol worship. True worship can never occur when God’s truth is mixed with men’s fables. Obedience to God’s commandments can never be accomplished in an idolatrous environment.

Our bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost. (See I Corinthians 6.) We should keep them clean and in good repair, worthy dwelling places for His

holy presence.

I. Josiah’s HeritageWe should mortify our carnal nature and bring our bodies into submission to God’s Word. Just as Josiah provided for the Temple to be cleaned and repaired, we must learn what God desires of us and then cleanse and repair our ways to become what He desires. “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (I Peter 2:5). (See also Romans 12:1.)

B. The Word of the Lord Discovered

B. The Word of God Discovered

During the process of cleaning and restoring the Temple, Hilkiah, the high priest, uncovered a large, cumbersome scroll he had never seen before. He examined it and realized he had to get it to the king. He reverently passed the scroll to Shaphan, the king’s scribe: “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord” (II Kings 22:8).

I. Josiah’s HeritageDuring Manasseh’s reign no one

had consulted the law of God, much less lived by it. Pagan altars and idol worship dominated what had once been the Holy Place. Eventually, the Levitical priests forgot where they had stored their copy of the Word of God and it gathered dust in some decrepit cupboard or under a pile of discarded Temple furniture and utensils. As the years went by, fewer and fewer people would know or care what the book was even if they saw it. All they cared about was indulging their carnal

appetites.

I. Josiah’s HeritageThe culture of the unsaved appeals

to our carnal nature, and we are naturally attracted to a lifestyle that feeds our base desires. When one wanders from the path of submission to God, the absolutes of His Word become obstacles to overcome or explain away. As time passes, it becomes easier to ignore His commandments until the Bible is nothing more than a religious artifact whose only value is its sentimental connection to past generations.

C. The Enlightened KingC. The Enlightened KingShaphan the scribe had the

oversight of the funds allocated to repair the Temple. Hilkiah’s discovery of the Law coincided with Shaphan’s need to report to the king about the progress of the work, so he took the scroll in his arms, along with his account records, and hurried to the royal court. He delivered his report and then offered the scroll to Josiah, saying, “Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book” (II Kings 22:10).

I. Josiah’s HeritageHis reverent attitude alerted the king that the next few moments would change both his own life and that of his country. It would bring both joy and grief.

“Read it,” said Josiah. As Shaphan read, Josiah listened awestruck at the beauty of the words and concepts. This would fill the yawning void in their hearts. It would bring them new life. And then Shaphan got to the part about the curses incurred for disobeying God’s commands. (See

Deuteronomy 11:26-28.)

I. Josiah’s HeritageAs the light of the Word of God spotlighted Judah’s sins, anguish tore at Josiah’s heart and he rent his garments. For generations they had ignored God’s commandments and wandered far from His precepts. Surely they would suffer God’s wrath and retribution. The king sent Hilkiah to gather some of the other leaders to go inquire of the Lord.

II Kings 22:13 “Go ye, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah,

concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the

LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not

hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us” (II

Kings 22:13).

I. Josiah’s HeritageAny society or culture devoid of

God’s Word wanders in a dark and dank miasma of sin. History records atrocities committed upon humanity when godless individuals gain control. Darkness swallows up knowledge, justice, mercy, grace, and liberty and the people are left to suffer in the clutches of ignorance, lawlessness, blame, ruthlessness, and imprisonment.

I. Josiah’s HeritageFor generations, Judah’s kings had ignored God’s Word and the people had forsaken God and His ways. They had wandered in the darkness of idolatry and for generations had taught their children nothing about obeying and observing the laws of God. Their sinful behavior angered God, and He sent prophets to warn the people that the wrath of God was to be poured out upon them and their land.

I. Josiah’s HeritageThe revival in Josiah’s heart may

have been no stronger than the wavering glow of a match, but it caught the notice of God. Josiah recognized that God had called him to be king not so he might bask in the royal benefits, but to draw the hearts of his generation back to the Lord. Like David, he spent his life seeking God and leading others in the paths of righteousness.

Acts 13:36

“For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid

unto his fathers, and saw corruption” (Acts 13:36).

I. Josiah’s HeritageThe more closely one examines and

applies the principles of God’s Word, the more he realizes his own purpose and understands how it fits into the vast and eternal plan of God. Only an unenlightened person rejects the Bible. “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple” (Psalm 119:130). That same psalm declares that the Word gives direction, brings comfort, instills wisdom, gives hope, makes wise, produces understanding, and tastes

sweet.

I. Josiah’s HeritageWhat benefits await the believer who embraces God’s Word!

Josiah assembled all the inhabitants of Jerusalem at the Temple to hear the Law read from the newly discovered scroll. He and all the people covenanted with God that they would wholly follow Him. In keeping with that promise, Josiah continued cleansing Judah of idolatrous priests and practices and their places of worship.

III. Josiah’s BlessingJosiah’s Blessing

Josiah aimed not only to destroy every shred of false worship, but to reinstitute worship of the one true God. Judah could not worship God in a Temple that contained altars dedicated to idols, so the king tore down the abominations, dragged all unholy things out of the Holy Place, and set about repairing the damage. Next he tackled the groves and high places and the priests that led the worship there.

I. Josiah’s HeritageThe king did not stop until he had destroyed everything that was devoted to the worship of any god other than the God of his father David.

A. The Best Passover EverA. The Best Passover Ever

Besides entering into a sacred covenant with God, Josiah called for an observance of the Passover. (See II Chronicles 35.) He personally contributed thirty thousand lambs and goats and three thousand bulls from his herds. Other leaders brought thousands more. The priests worked into the night sacrificing to the Lord, and the singers and gatekeepers performed their Levitical tasks.

I. Josiah’s HeritageSo great was the response that this Passover became the most memorable in all of Israel’s history. “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” (II Chronicles 35:18).

B. One of the Best Kings EverB. One of the Best Kings Ever

People respond to leadership. Many of the same people who had followed Manasseh in his evil deeds turned to follow the sincere and unwavering leadership of Josiah in the worship of the God of David. As a result, Judah’s renewal captured the attention and favor of God.

I. Josiah’s HeritageIt was said of Josiah, “Like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him” (II Kings 23:25).

I. Josiah’s HeritageInternalizing the Message

What resident of Judah, on the day of the child king’s coronation, would have thought Josiah would become Judah’s most godly king? Born into a family that embraced idolatry and evil, he became king only because his father was murdered by his own servants. At the time Josiah ascended to the throne, the law of Moses had not been taught for so long that those responsible for its instruction did not

even know a copy of it existed.

I. Josiah’s HeritageWhat prospects for success did a mature adult have in such an environment, let alone an eight-year-old boy?

Just as a photographer manipulates darkness and light to create an image, those two elements shaped the life of Josiah and they also affect ours. The darkness of evil absorbs all hope and contentment. It shatters dreams and sows fear. Josiah was born into such a world.

I. Josiah’s HeritageBut darkness can never conquer

light. Josiah’s passion to know the God of his father David shone like a ray of hope into the darkness. When the book of the Law was finally discovered, the light of God’s Word shone freely throughout the whole nation. Josiah, with his desire to know God, brought Judah back into touch with the God David knew so well.

Transparency 3

I. Josiah’s HeritageWe can learn two important

lessons from Josiah’s story. First, we must always remember that we are only one generation from extinction. Manasseh began by placing idols and altars in the Temple next to the furniture dedicated to the true God. He established groves for the heathen to gather in the names of their gods. Judah became accustomed to a syncretized blend of religious elements that leached out any devotion to the one true God.

I. Josiah’s HeritageEventually, the law of God ceased to be taught. By the time Josiah became king, no one knew about the sacrifices or feasts or commandments God desired. Judah had completely lost its identity as God’s chosen people, and their culture had more in common with their heathen neighbors than it did with that of their godly ancestors.

I. Josiah’s HeritageBut a second lesson offsets the

hopelessness of the first. In the life of Josiah, we find the catalyst for revival, the method by which light vanquishes the darkness. It begins with a serious study of what brings the blessing and honor of God upon an individual’s life. Just as Josiah sought to know what pleased the God of his father David, we must learn what God desires so we might obtain His blessing.

I. Josiah’s HeritageOnce Josiah understood what God wanted, he began adding those things to his life while removing those things God did not desire. Finally, Josiah embraced God’s Word with his whole heart. These lessons, some of the most valuable ones we will ever learn, come from observing the life a child king.

I. Josiah’s HeritageIf God could dam up rivers of evil

by using one young man with a strong desire to please God, what could prevent Him from using us to stem the tide of wickedness in our day? If God could take a young boy from an idol-worshiping home and make him a righteous leader, why could we not be used to reach our generation?

I. Josiah’s HeritageSeeking God and learning His ways

does not require special talent or skill. One need only to have a heart that loves God and a determination to live life His way—traits displayed so well in the life of Josiah, the child king.