Latest / Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms / #156. AND: King Josiah's Thorough and Zealous Reforms and How They Inspire Christian Moms | 2 Kings 22-23 + 2 Chronicles 34-35

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#156. AND: King Josiah's Thorough and Zealous Reforms and How They Inspire Christian Moms | 2 Kings 22-23 + 2 Chronicles 34-35 · Dwelling Place: The Bible for Moms

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  Speaker 41: This is the Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.
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  Speaker 41: I'm Stephanie Hickox.
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  Speaker 41: Today, as we focus on the thoroughness and zeal of King Josiah's reign in 2 Kings 22 and 23 and 2 Chronicles 34 and 35, I want us to ask ourselves, do we obey God even when a blessing isn't
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  Speaker 41: promised?
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  Speaker 41: And do we fervently put sin to death in our lives?
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  Speaker 41: I want us to be reminded to encourage our kids that even children and teenagers can make an incredible impact for the Lord I love King Josiah so much That one of my sons has the middle name of Josiah
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  Speaker 41: Josiah wholeheartedly served God from an early age and obeyed all that he knew to do Let's start out looking at his life beginning in 2 Chronicles 34 Because we're given a little bit more detail about his earlier years
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  Speaker 41: here.
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  Speaker 41: Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem, and he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and he
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  Speaker 41: did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
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  Speaker 41: For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father.
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  Speaker 41: Now, David lived hundreds of years before Josiah, so he's not his biological father, but scripture is telling us that he was his spiritual father.
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  Speaker 41: Josiah's actual father was the wicked King Ammon, And his grandfather was the relentlessly wicked Manasseh.
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  Speaker 41: His great-grandfather was Hezekiah, but given the fact that Josiah was only eight years old when he became king, It seems that he couldn't have been too influenced by Hezekiah's righteous reign.
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  Speaker 41: He's mostly had very evil influences And yet, in the twelfth year of his reign, he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and metal images.
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  Speaker 41: He didn't just make these changes in Jerusalem, he did it throughout the land, even extending into the former northern kingdom, which Assyria had conquered.
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  Speaker 41: He is trying to undo all the wickedness that God's people have done and he tries to take away many opportunities to worship false gods His devotion and fervency is inspiring.
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  Speaker 41: He breaks down much of the influence his father and grandfather had upon the land, and I love how powerfully God used this teenage boy to do his work And next, in the 18th year of his reign, so he's
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  Speaker 41: probably 26 at this point, he has it on his heart that the temple of the Lord would be restored if we remember the purpose of the Book of Chronicles, it was to encourage the people coming back from exile
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  Speaker 41: to restore themselves to faithfulness to God and to get the temple in order.
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  Speaker 41: When they read about the temple being in disrepair in the days of Josiah and the people faithfully restoring it, that would've been so encouraging for them to hear as they embarked upon the same endeavor It's during this restoration
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  Speaker 41: project that we read in verse 14 something of paramount importance.
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  Speaker 41: While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord given through Moses.
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  Speaker 41: Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the secretary, I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord."
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  Speaker 41: And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan.
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  Speaker 41: Shaphan brought the book to the king and further reported to the king, all that was committed to your servants, they are doing.
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  Speaker 41: They have emptied out the money that was found in the house of the Lord and have given it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen."
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  Speaker 41: Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, Hilkiah the priest has given me a book."
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  Speaker 41: And Shaphan read it from before the king.
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  Speaker 41: And when the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes.
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  Speaker 41: You might be wondering, how could this book have been lost?
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  Speaker 41: Scrolls were incredibly valuable, and the Book of the Law was never to depart from the king.
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  Speaker 41: But in all the faithfulness and the idolatry of the wicked kings before Josiah, many scrolls had been lost or destroyed I really appreciate the insight that David C.
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  Speaker 41: Cook gives.
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  Speaker 41: He says the Book of the Law was probably not found on a dusty shelf or in a forgotten corner of the temple.
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  Speaker 41: In ancient times, it was common for important documents to be placed in the cornerstone of a new building.
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  Speaker 41: In Josiah's day, his workmen were making extensive repairs to the temple.
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  Speaker 41: The old cornerstone that Solomon had laid over three and a half centuries before was probably cracked or broken, and when the workmen arrived to fix or replace it, they found the important book And now listen to what Kevin
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  Speaker 41: Zuber says about the way that the chronicler tells us this story.
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  Speaker 41: The skill of the chronicler's narrative should be noted.
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  Speaker 41: The reader knows the significance of this book- But as yet, no one handling it seems to realize it, and the narrative builds suspense.
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  Speaker 41: Will anyone recognize this book for what it is, significantly, it was the Davidic king who recognized the book's meaning Instantly, Josiah understood a project more vital than the restoration of the temple needed to be undertaken, namely the restoration
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  Speaker 41: of the nation to obedience.
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  Speaker 41: So next, Josiah sends messengers to inquire of a prophetess named Huldah, who is a woman.
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  Speaker 41: She's obviously earned herself a respectable reputation scripture doesn't explain why Josiah doesn't seek out some of the contemporary prophets of his day, such as Jeremiah or Zephaniah or Nahum, but God uses this woman to proclaim that he will
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  Speaker 41: be faithful to do what he has said in his word He is going to bring judgment upon the nation of Judah.
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  Speaker 41: Though there are many times that God offers a chance to repent to alter His plan, this is not one of them.
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  Speaker 41: However, Josiah is going to be blessed because his heart was tender and he humbled himself and wept before the Lord.
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  Speaker 41: God promises that he will die before the destruction of Jerusalem and that he'll be buried with his fathers Even though a blessing is not offered for the people's repentance or their obedience, still King Josiah gathers everyone together.
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  Speaker 41: Both great and small.
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  Speaker 41: And he doesn't assign someone else to read it.
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  Speaker 41: Josiah himself reads in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant and the king leads by making a covenant before the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul He guides the people to
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  Speaker 41: join in with him, and as long as he was reigning, the people did follow through with this commitment Next, Josiah takes away all the abominations throughout the land of Judah and Israel, and this is what our reading will
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  Speaker 41: be for today.
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  Speaker 41: As I was studying it, I felt the banner over this chapter is and.
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  Speaker 41: It seems that Josiah was never satisfied with doing just enough.
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  Speaker 41: He repeatedly went above and beyond, zealous and thorough are the perfect words to describe These righteous reforms I'll begin reading in 2 Kings 23:4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order,
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  Speaker 41: and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven.
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  Speaker 41: He burnt them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.
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  Speaker 41: And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem.
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  Speaker 41: Those also who burnt incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations and all the host of the heavens.
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  Speaker 41: And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem and burnt it at the brook Kidron, and beat it to dust, and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people.
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  Speaker 41: And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord, where the woman wove hangings for the Asherah.
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  Speaker 41: And he brought all the priests out of all the cities of Judah and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings from Geba to Beersheba.
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  Speaker 41: And he broke down the high places of the gate of Joshua, the governor of the city, which were on one's left at the gate of the city.
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  Speaker 41: However, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, But they ate unleavened bread among their brothers.
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  Speaker 41: And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech.
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  Speaker 41: And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan Malek, the chamberlain, which was in the precincts, and he burned
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  Speaker 41: the chariots of the sun with fire, and the altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house
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  Speaker 41: of the Lord.
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  Speaker 41: He pulled down and broke in pieces, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
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  Speaker 41: And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth, the abominations of the Sidians, and for Chemosh the abomination
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  Speaker 41: of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
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  Speaker 41: And he broke in pieces the pillars, and cut down the Asherim, and filled their places with the bones of men.
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  Speaker 41: Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned, reducing it to dust.
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  Speaker 41: He also burned the Asherah.
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  Speaker 41: And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount, and he sent and took the bones of the tombs and burned them on the altar, and defiled it according to the word of the Lord that the
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  Speaker 41: man of God proclaimed who had predicted these things and Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger.
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  Speaker 41: He did to them according to all that they had done at Bethel.
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  Speaker 41: And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there on the altars, and burned human bones on them.
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  Speaker 41: then he returned to Jerusalem josiah doesn't just destroy or burn things.
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  Speaker 41: He turns the remnant to ashes and often scatters those ashes on wicked places, which was a sign of defilement.
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  Speaker 41: In 2 Chronicles 35, we read a detailed account of Josiah's faithfulness to restore the Passover feast.
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  Speaker 41: This was the main feast celebrating God's salvation and redemption for the nation.
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  Speaker 41: Josiah uses his own money and resources and returns the people to honoring this feast exactly as God had commanded the Passover hadn't been celebrated as thoroughly since the days of Samuel the prophet, which was before any of the
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  Speaker 41: kings began to reign Next, he puts away the mediums and the necromancers even household gods and idols.
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  Speaker 41: It's so inspiring the extent to which he is removing any opportunity for the people to worship false gods Scripture tells us, Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and
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  Speaker 41: with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him."
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  Speaker 41: But the next verse declares, "Still the Lord did not turn from the burning of His great wrath.
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  Speaker 41: God has been warning the people over and over for hundreds of years.
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  Speaker 41: And they haven't listened.
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  Speaker 41: But there is this brief season where Josiah returns the people to righteousness it's so encouraging as a mom that God could use a child or a teenager to make such an impact for Him and it's because of Josiah's
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  Speaker 41: upstanding example that many wrestle with the way his reign ends Let's take a moment to be reminded what's happening around Judah at this point The ruler of Egypt at this time was Pharaoh Necho.
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  Speaker 41: He was a pagan king who had a love for the sea.
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  Speaker 41: It's possible he invented the trireme ship, and he even began creating something similar to the Suez Canal.
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  Speaker 41: Egypt has been a declining power for some time, and Assyria has been the main world power.
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  Speaker 41: The Babylonians have been gaining strength and they're coming against the Assyrians So Feroniko Determined to align with Assyria to hopefully cut off the Babylonians from gaining power There was a trade route that went from Egypt near the Mediterranean
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  Speaker 41: Sea and into Mesopotamia pharaoh Necho was coming up along this trade route, there's this spot that was located in the northern kingdom of Israel named Megiddo.
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  Speaker 41: This is a pivotal place for trading, but it's also been a pivotal battle spot the victory that Deborah and Barak had in Judges 5, and the victory God gave to Gideon.
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  Speaker 41: But there have been tragedies as well, including the death of Saul and his sons, and the one we'll read about today.
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  Speaker 41: It's also been the site of numerous battles throughout history, including Greeks, Romans, Crusaders, Napoleon, even World War I, and the war of 1948.
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  Speaker 41: And Revelation 16 tells us that this historical location will be the Battle of Armageddon because the word Megiddo translates to Armageddon in Greek Recently, archeologists uncovered a considerable amount of Egyptian pottery from the seventh century BC in this
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  Speaker 41: area, there's such an extensive amount that it confirms that Pharaoh Necho and his military presence was at Megiddo during the time of Josiah and though this location of Megiddo was in the northern kingdom of Israel, which at this
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  Speaker 41: point was being ruled by the Assyrians, it seems Josiah was zealous to restore this land to the Lord Pharonico says, move aside and don't get in the way."
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  Speaker 41: He even says that he's doing the work of the Lord.
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  Speaker 41: He was certainly a pagan king.
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  Speaker 41: So you can understand why Josiah would be reluctant to believe him but Pharaoh Neco says to him, "Cease opposing God who is with me, lest he destroy you."
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  Speaker 41: And next, we read these ominous words: Nevertheless, Josiah did not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to fight with him.
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  Speaker 41: He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to fight in the plain of Megiddo.
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  Speaker 41: And the archers shot King Josiah, his servants bring him back to Jerusalem where he dies and is buried with his ancestors The nation grieves for decades to come at the loss of this wonderful God-honoring king I always wanna
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  Speaker 41: be careful That we don't assign motive where scripture is silent.
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  Speaker 41: Some say that Josiah was being prideful and trying to expand the territory of Israel but perhaps it was just zeal to defeat the enemies of the Lord It's a complex situation, but I'm certain that as he was being
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  Speaker 41: carried away from the battlefield, he realized that God was warning him through Pharaoh Nico The last time I studied the life of Josiah, I was truly grieved by the story And I recall asking the Lord, "Why would you
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  Speaker 41: allow this to happen to a man that was so faithful to you?"
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  Speaker 41: However, after walking through scripture once again and seeing the sovereignty of God in king after king, I don't see Josiah's death as a punishment or a lack of faithfulness on God's part.
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  Speaker 41: Josiah is not grieving now.
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  Speaker 41: God promised that He would protect him from seeing the downfall of Jerusalem And Judah is still on this trajectory Could God have protected Josiah in the battle?
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  Speaker 41: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 41: Could He have warned him with a more reliable source?
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  Speaker 41: Certainly.
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  Speaker 41: And He even could have made the arrow miss Josiah.
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  Speaker 41: But God allowed his life to come to an end I'm reminded of Jeroboam's son in 1 Kings 14, who got sick, and God said, "Your child shall die because in him there is found something pleasing to the Lord."
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  Speaker 41: Sometimes God knows what's coming is so terrible that He spares people through death And now not only does Josiah get to spend eternity with the Lord he loves so much, he has the honor of leaving a legacy to
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  Speaker 41: Judah.
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  Speaker 41: I can't wait To study more with you and reveal to you who was in the audience that Josiah read the words of the Lord to.
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  Speaker 41: And isn't it incredible that instead of these people going into exile not knowing the word of the Lord, they have heard it all from the mouth of Josiah, The word of God does not return void.
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  Speaker 41: I believe seeds were planted that day and were rooted in hearts, Josiah's life mattered deeply And that encourages me to teach my kids that no matter what is happening around them they can faithfully and counterculturally follow God and
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  Speaker 41: that he can use them to make an incredible impact for his glory Heavenly Father, we thank you that we can trust you to accomplish your purposes.
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  Speaker 41: Even when we can't understand them, we pray you would give us a deeply rooted trust in your goodness Help us to be sensitive to your Holy Spirit, and when you convict us of sin, I pray we would be
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  Speaker 41: zealous like Josiah to cut it off, whether it's in what we see hear, say or do May we be thoroughly obedient to your word.
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  Speaker 41: We pray for our kids that they, like Josiah, would seek you from a young age, purging impurity from their hearts and their lives, we pray they would not turn to the right or to the left but follow the
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  Speaker 41: narrow path that leads to you And Lord, for us all, I pray we would weigh every word heeding words of wisdom and casting off foolishness, seeking you above all other sources Jesus, we love you and we thank you
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  Speaker 41: for the hope of eternity.
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  Speaker 41: That when our bodies perish, We can be confident our souls will live with you.
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  Speaker 41: Amen.