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Josiah's Reforms · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Moreover, the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and
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  Speaker 1: the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that
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  Speaker 1: were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem,
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  Speaker 1: did Josiah put away. 2 Kings 23-24 My Lord, I
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  Speaker 1: want to take time to thank you for guiding me
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  Speaker 1: and protecting me in my youth, so that I could
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  Speaker 1: get to the place where I am now. as I
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  Speaker 1: rest and meditate on your goodness in times past, I
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  Speaker 1: will remember that you are the reason for the celebration
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  Speaker 1: and the gratefulness in my life. Through my intentional devotion,
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  Speaker 1: I tear down any false idols and ungodly ways of
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  Speaker 1: being that may have crept into my life. Anything that
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  Speaker 1: I've erected over your word, like work, money, relationships, or comfortability,
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  Speaker 1: that serve as an idol, I tear down right now.
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  Speaker 1: Let your will and your ways be the focus of
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  Speaker 1: my attention. Let your heart be the focus of my affection,
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  Speaker 1: for in your presence is everything I'll ever need. May
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  Speaker 1: my legacy be a mirror of King Josiah's in today's reading,
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  Speaker 1: a legacy known for putting your presence, before my pleasures.
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  Speaker 1: In Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for praying with me today.
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  Speaker 1: Continue listening for an incredible Bible story brought to you
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  Speaker 1: by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: Josiah's Reforms In our last story, Josiah became king over Judah.
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  Speaker 2: He was only eight years old when he took office. However,
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  Speaker 2: he clung to the wisdom of God and became beloved
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  Speaker 2: as the righteous king of Jerusalem. He restored the temple
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  Speaker 2: and repented on behalf of the people. In this story,
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  Speaker 2: we see Josiah bringing Judah out of the depths of
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  Speaker 2: darkness and slavery to sin. He goes throughout the city
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  Speaker 2: and wilderness to rid Judah of all its shrines to
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  Speaker 2: past gods. inspired by the book of 2 Kings.
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  Speaker 3: Hello, I'm Jack Graham with today's episode of the Bible
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  Speaker 3: in a Year podcast. But before we begin, I want
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: to let you know about a unique e-book that's yours
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: to download absolutely free today. It's called Breaking Free from Stress.
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: And my prayer is that it will help you conquer
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: the daily tasks and pressures and burdens that bring stress
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: in your life. Download your free copy of Breaking Free
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  Speaker 3: from Stress today by visiting jackgram.org slash stress. That's jackgram.org
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  Speaker 3: slash stress. In our previous episode, we were introduced to
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  Speaker 3: King Josiah. He began to rule Judah at a very
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  Speaker 3: early age, but his constant search for wisdom and godly
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  Speaker 3: instruction led him to rule with honor, faith, and integrity.
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  Speaker 3: He tore down the altars of the false gods and
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  Speaker 3: restored the temple, And during the restoration, the scroll of
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  Speaker 3: the law of Moses was discovered, God's word. When faced
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  Speaker 3: with the reality of Judah and Israel's unfaithfulness, Josiah sought
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  Speaker 3: a prophet of God for insight on how to make
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  Speaker 3: things right. And even though the prophecy he received foretold
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  Speaker 3: judgment and captivity, Josiah committed himself and his people to
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  Speaker 3: live in obedience before God. Today, we'll hear about all
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  Speaker 3: the reforms that Josiah enacted in Judah. cleansing the land
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  Speaker 3: and God's people, cleansing them from sin and idolatry that
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  Speaker 3: had kept them in slavery. So once again, let's listen
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  Speaker 3: to the Word of God.
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  Speaker 2: Midday was beginning to turn into dusk. The sun was
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  Speaker 2: grazing the top of the holy temple. The gold adorned
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  Speaker 2: on the pillars spread the light into a hundred different directions.
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  Speaker 2: Josiah climbed the smooth steps into the house of the Lord.
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  Speaker 2: Behind him were all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. All people,
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  Speaker 2: young and old, followed their king as their ancestors followed
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  Speaker 2: Moses to the tent of meeting. There Josiah knelt before
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  Speaker 2: the Lord. He beat his chest and lamented the sins
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  Speaker 2: of his forefathers. The people watched their king weep over sin.
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  Speaker 2: It was a new feeling for them. They had spent
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  Speaker 2: several decades with kings hell-bent on destroying all forms of holiness.
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  Speaker 2: To see a king bow before God was an odd sight.
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  Speaker 2: They wondered if this is what David looked like all
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  Speaker 2: those years ago. Josiah read before them the law of
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  Speaker 2: Moses and exhorted them on the love and justice of God.
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  Speaker 2: The sea of faces were somber and contemplative as they
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  Speaker 2: listened to their king. When Josiah finished, he closed the
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  Speaker 2: scroll inside. He raised his hands high into the air
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  Speaker 2: in front of his people and cried out to the
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  Speaker 2: Lord on their behalf. King Josiah made a covenant with
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  Speaker 2: God that he and the rest of his people would
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  Speaker 2: seek him alone for their worship, that they would hold
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  Speaker 2: fast to him and his statues with their whole hearts
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  Speaker 2: and souls. Josiah fell to his knees and prayed to God,
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  Speaker 2: his hands still lifted in praise. A hush fell over
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  Speaker 2: the vast crowd. Then, one by one, they all began
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  Speaker 2: to bow as well. For the first time in nearly
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  Speaker 2: 400 years, God's people bowed to him in reverence and worship.
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  Speaker 2: After a while, the people returned to their homes. The
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  Speaker 2: torches were snuffed out and the city became silent. Yet
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  Speaker 2: Josiah remained. The echoes of his slow breaths filled the
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  Speaker 2: empty sanctuary. Josiah remembered how close the Lord had been
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  Speaker 2: to him as a child. Josiah would not have been
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  Speaker 2: able to survive being king as a boy. if it
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  Speaker 2: weren't for the comfort of love and God. Josiah rose
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  Speaker 2: to his feet and called for a few of his
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  Speaker 2: men to be gathered. Although it was late, there was
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  Speaker 2: still much work to be done before Judah was truly free.
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  Speaker 2: Josiah stood outside the temple with his most trusted men
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  Speaker 2: in front of him. The sun had set completely, and
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  Speaker 2: they all stood with torches lit in a circle. Josiah
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  Speaker 2: looked to the high priest Hilkiah and ordered him to
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  Speaker 2: take his servants back into the temple There were still
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  Speaker 2: some old idols and shrines in Baal and Asherah dwelling there.
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  Speaker 2: He wanted them removed and burned outside the city. He
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  Speaker 2: looked to some of the city guards and ordered them
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  Speaker 2: to scour the city for the priests of Baal. Once
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  Speaker 2: they were all found, they were deported out of the city. Lastly,
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  Speaker 2: he had his generals break down the homes of the
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  Speaker 2: male cult prostitutes who lured men and women into the
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  Speaker 2: temple to fornicate on the altar of Asherah. Once all
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  Speaker 2: of the men departed, Josiah took a few of his
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  Speaker 2: guards to the hills. That is where his grandfather and
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  Speaker 2: other worshippers would kill and burn their children. The woods
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  Speaker 2: were silent. The trees swayed slightly to the breeze as
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  Speaker 2: Josiah and his men walked. Josiah looked around. He could
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  Speaker 2: see fire pits and altars in different parts of the woods.
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  Speaker 2: Charred infant bones were illuminated in the moonlight. Josiah remembered
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  Speaker 2: his father coming here often. He had lost brothers and
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  Speaker 2: sisters to these wretched rituals. Looming over the charred ground
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  Speaker 2: were large twenty-foot wood altars to Moloch. A righteous anger
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  Speaker 2: filled Josiah as he peered.
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  Speaker 3: Up at it.
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  Speaker 2: How many innocent lives were given for this false god?
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  Speaker 2: How many children burned in these forests, all for the
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  Speaker 2: vain pleasure of wicked men? Josiah could hardly stand it.
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  Speaker 2: Some of the altars were much older than others. It
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  Speaker 2: was Solomon himself who first erected altars in the high places.
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  Speaker 2: Josiah gestured to his men, and they tore down the pillars.
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  Speaker 2: They crushed them and burned them. Then they went into
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  Speaker 2: the small shrines and filled them with dead men's bones
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  Speaker 2: to defile it. Josiah wanted to make sure that no
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  Speaker 2: man or woman would come to this place for worship again.
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  Speaker 2: So he could not simply destroy these shrines. He had
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  Speaker 2: to make the ground itself unclean. Josiah descended down from
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  Speaker 2: the high place back into the city. There he lay
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  Speaker 2: in his bed, praying for the Lord to spare him
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  Speaker 2: and his people. Dawn's light was covered from the lingering
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  Speaker 2: smoke of burning Asherah poles and ceremonial brothels. Yet Jerusalem
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  Speaker 2: seemed cleaner than it had ever been before. Priests were
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  Speaker 2: making sacrifices in the temples, and people were freely entering
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  Speaker 2: into the temple's gates to worship. Men who had made
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  Speaker 2: a living corrupting the minds of young people were gone.
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  Speaker 2: Families were restored to one another, broken marriages were beginning
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  Speaker 2: to mend, and a selfless culture was beginning to blossom.
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  Speaker 2: It was then when Josiah restored the Passover feast as
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  Speaker 2: a national tradition. It had been forgotten with the age
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  Speaker 2: of wicked kings, yet Josiah brought it back as a
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  Speaker 2: reminder that God is the source of true freedom. After
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  Speaker 2: Josiah's period of reform, he marched into battle against Egypt
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  Speaker 2: to protect Judah from further harm. The two armies raged
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  Speaker 2: against one another, and Josiah leapt into battle with his men.
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  Speaker 2: Josiah was not a mighty man of war like his
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  Speaker 2: ancestor David. He was a gentleman, but noble and filled
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  Speaker 2: with courage. Necho, the king of Egypt, spotted Josiah from
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  Speaker 2: the other end of the battlefield. Necho rode through the
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  Speaker 2: enemy lines, toppling Judeans in his wake. Necho held his
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  Speaker 2: spear high and sent it whistling through the air. Before
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  Speaker 2: Josiah had a chance to even see it, the spear
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  Speaker 2: impaled him. Josiah's heart stopped beating before he could even
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  Speaker 2: hit the floor. Thus ended the rule of Josiah. Never
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  Speaker 2: had there been a more righteous king before him. He
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  Speaker 2: pursued righteousness and loved his people. Yet all men must
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  Speaker 2: face their end. So Josiah was buried with his ancestors.
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  Speaker 3: Today's scripture passage is a fantastic scripture when King Josiah
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  Speaker 3: gathers the people for a tremendous, momentous occasion. The book
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  Speaker 3: of the law of Moses, God's perfect word of instruction
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  Speaker 3: and guidance to his people has been discovered. But this
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  Speaker 3: was no museum relic. This was the living Word of God,
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  Speaker 3: the Word of God without error, inspired by God Himself,
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  Speaker 3: which is the key to living right before the Lord
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  Speaker 3: and others. Josiah knew that people needed to hear the
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  Speaker 3: Word of God. Like David the psalmist and the king,
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  Speaker 3: his delight was in the law of the Lord. And
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  Speaker 3: if the people would only hear it and read it
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  Speaker 3: and open their hearts, healing could begin in Judah. God's
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  Speaker 3: law expresses God's love, his incredible love for his people
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  Speaker 3: to protect them and to provide for them. It was
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  Speaker 3: how Israel and Judah were set apart from all the
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  Speaker 3: nations of the world. The word of God is how
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  Speaker 3: the Jewish people became the people of God. After reading
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  Speaker 3: the book of the covenant, Josiah renewed his promises with
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  Speaker 3: God as we read in 2 Kings 23 and verse 3.
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  Speaker 3: And the king stood by the pillar, and made a
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  Speaker 3: covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord and
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  Speaker 3: to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes
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  Speaker 3: with all his heart and all his soul to perform
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  Speaker 3: the words of this covenant that were written in this book.
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  Speaker 3: And all the people joined in the covenant. Don't miss this.
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  Speaker 3: Just as an evil king turns his people away from God,
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  Speaker 3: a righteous king who seeks the Lord shepherds God's people
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  Speaker 3: back to the Lord. It's a spiritual principle for all
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  Speaker 3: of us. As parents, we are to live godly lives
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  Speaker 3: and serve as an example to our faith for our family.
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  Speaker 3: As pastors and church leaders, as national leaders and governmental leaders,
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  Speaker 3: we are to turn from our sins. We are to
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  Speaker 3: renew our hearts always before the Lord and call people
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  Speaker 3: to follow the Lord obediently. But Josiah knew that this
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  Speaker 3: was just one part of the process. evil needed to
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  Speaker 3: be rooted out, and the land rid of the idolatry
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  Speaker 3: that had plagued the people for so long. He had
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  Speaker 3: already torn down these evil altars in the city and
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  Speaker 3: destroyed symbols of pagan gods. But the country was large,
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  Speaker 3: and in the shadows of the forest were altars and
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  Speaker 3: idols hiding, waiting to seduce people away from the one
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  Speaker 3: true God again. These were demonic altars that needed to
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  Speaker 3: be destroyed. He sent his men through the woods, taking
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  Speaker 3: down the places where These horrible, evil things happened. Places
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  Speaker 3: where women and children were offered to bloodthirsty gods. Shrines
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  Speaker 3: that trapped men and women with empty promises and powerless deities.
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  Speaker 3: What a lesson is this for us to learn. Though
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  Speaker 3: you may not have an altar or an idol in
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  Speaker 3: your life, there are often dark and hidden places where
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  Speaker 3: temptations lurks that demand our attention, that we need to destroy.
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  Speaker 3: If we are wise, as Josiah was, we will pray
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  Speaker 3: for the cleansing fire of God's Spirit to burn through
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  Speaker 3: any of these dark places in our lives that threaten
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  Speaker 3: to rob us of the joy of the Lord. Josiah
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  Speaker 3: was truly committed to cleansing the land, and when the
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  Speaker 3: work was done, he called the people to a celebration
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  Speaker 3: that reminded them of how God is all about releasing
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  Speaker 3: the captives and freeing his people from slavery. They observed
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  Speaker 3: the Passover, glorifying God for their newfound freedom. Our reading
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  Speaker 3: ends with the end of a life very well lived. Josiah,
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  Speaker 3: the most righteous king in Judah, ultimately died in battle.
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  Speaker 3: Never in all of his years did he stray from
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  Speaker 3: seeking the Lord. This does not mean that he was
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  Speaker 3: a perfect man, but he was God's man, and God
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  Speaker 3: had his heart to his last day. Dear God, we
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  Speaker 3: thank you for good King Josiah, for his life and
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  Speaker 3: his legacy. We also pray that that we will live
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  Speaker 3: for you to our last day, till our very last breath,
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  Speaker 3: that we will live in obedience to you and follow
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  Speaker 3: you all the days of our lives until you take
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  Speaker 3: us home to be with you forever. Thank you for
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  Speaker 3: the strength of your spirit to do this. In Jesus' name, amen.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
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  Speaker 3: Before we go, I want to let you know about
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: a unique ebook that's yours to download absolutely free today.
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: It's called Breaking Free from Stress. And my prayer is
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: that it will help you conquer the daily task and
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: pressures and burdens that bring stress into your life. Download
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: your free copy of Breaking Free from Stress today by
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: visiting jackgram.org slash stress. That's jackgram.org slash stress.