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2 Kings 22 (Part 1) Bible Study (Josiah Reigns in Judah) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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I invite you to come to 2nd Kings chapter 22, and I hope
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that you brought a copy of God's Word with you tonight.
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This will make your experience here every week more meaningful
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as you see these verses and these truths with your own eyes,
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in your own hands. And before we begin reading this
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new chapter, I'd like to ask you to pause and think about the
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types of attitudes, convictions, perhaps interests that the
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average 16 year old might have. I'll give you a few seconds to
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allow your imagination to capture the possibilities.
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The average 16 year old, what does their day-to-day look like?
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Now let's Fast forward a few years and let's think about a 20
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year old. I'm aware that some of you are
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that age. Around that age, a 20 year old,
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what does a 20 year old preoccupy himself with or
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herself with? Now let's Fast forward yet again
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and think about someone at the peak age of 26.
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What kind of behaviors? What?
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What kind of things does a 26 year old busy himself with?
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Kind of outlook? What kind of inlook, What fills
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their calendar? More importantly, what occupies
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their hearts, The common 26 year old.
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Now, if you have those time stamps still in your head, I
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want to explain to you why I bring it up to you.
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Because the subject of our study today is of an exceptional king
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by the name of Josiah. And the Bible provides us in
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great detail what Josiah was like at those key moments of his
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young life. And it's important to mention
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that as we get closer to the end of the Book of Second Kings,
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there will be no other king after Josiah who will receive
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the level of attention that he does.
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And that is because this is technically the final monarch
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who will bring widespread reformation to the Kingdom of
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Judah before the people will be taken away by the Babylonians.
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This is a significant individual and his importance should not be
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a surprise to us for a couple of reasons.
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The main reason is because he has been prophesied about in
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great detail in former times. Does anyone remember where
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Josiah was mentioned by a prophet in the Bible?
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Why I told you to turn to 2nd Kings 22, but now go to 1st
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Kings chapter 13. We've obviously studied this
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passage few months ago, but let's refresh our memories and
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consider a prophecy that was made by a man of God who came
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out of Judah to confront Jeroboam.
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This was fresh after the Kingdom of Israel was divided into two,
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the northern Kingdom of Israel represented by the 10 tribes,
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and then the southern Kingdom of Judah represented by Judah and
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Benjamin. And here's what we read in First
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Kings 13123. And behold, the man of God came
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out of Judah, by the word of the Lord to Bethel.
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Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make offerings, And the
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man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said,
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O altar, altar. Thus says the Lord, Behold, a
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son shall be born to the House of David, Josiah by name, and he
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shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who
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make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.
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Oh, there is no doubt that we have here yet another autograph
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of divine authorship concerning the Bible.
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If you take into account the historical gap between this
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incredible prediction of Josiah's birth and rain and its
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fulfillment, you are talking about a span of likely and
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roughly 300 to 350 years. This is glorious.
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We shall also keep in mind that very few individuals had been
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prophesied by name before they came into existence, which only
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adds to how remarkable this person is.
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And so he's been foretold. We've been anticipating Him and
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here's the fruition of it. And I'll be honest, earlier this
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week as I was reviewing this chapter, I was initially
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thinking that we're going to cover this chapter in its
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entirety in one setting. But then after I studied it,
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I've come to the conclusion that this evening we're only going to
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look at the 1st 2 verses, the 1st 2 verses, and you'll see at
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the end of the study. Why?
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Now if we're going to only cover the 1st 2 verses of chapter 22,
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then we already know something. We're going to be visiting a lot
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of different other passages that will complement the introduction
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to King Josiah and rightly so. There is much given to us that
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will make this a meaty Bible study.
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If you and I are willing to do our part and traverse through
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the Bible and look at the different passages and see the
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fullness of the mind of God pertaining this man, shall we
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begin? We're not going to be reading
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much, at least in the beginning of the study.
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Let's look at the first 2 verses and take into account with our
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minds engage and our hearts open this wonderful biography.
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Josiah was 8 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned
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31 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Judaida,
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the daughter of Adiah of Boskath.
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And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in
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all the way of David, his father.
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And he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
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So before we explore what Josiah did at 16, what he accomplished
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at 20, how he lived at 26, we are informed that he occupied
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the throne at the ripe age of 8. How is it someone so young is
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given such prerogative? And the simple answer is because
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his father was assassinated early in his administration.
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Look back at chapter 21, verse 19.
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Amon was 22 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 2
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years in Jerusalem. That's brief.
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Why only two years? Because the same context tells
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us that he was assassinated by his servants.
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And because he was killed, now the throne is vacant, the
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Kingdom is vulnerable, so there needed to be immediate
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replacement. So Josiah takes his place.
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Fortunately, Eamon did not have great influence over his son
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Josiah, and that is proven to us because of what we read in verse
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two of our text. Look back at Second Kings 22,
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verse 2. And he did what was right in the
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eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David, his
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father. And he did not turn aside to the
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right or to the left. The first part of that verse.
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The language is very familiar to us, right?
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It's the latter part, the latter comment in that verse that is
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quite unique. What does it say?
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And he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
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That phrase appears quite a few times in the Old Testament, but
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there's one instance where it is mentioned that helps us
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understand how special Josiah is in light of and in comparison to
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the other kings. We've turned to this passage
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many, many times in our study of first and second kings.
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It's worth looking at it again. It's that place in Deuteronomy
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where God gave instructions to the future kings of Israel,
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specifically how they were to have a copy of the law in their
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own hands and they were to read it and they were to obey it.
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And he follows it up with the promises and the rewards of
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doing so. So in Deuteronomy 17, again,
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let's turn there and look here, beginning in verse 19.
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This is before the people even enter into the promised land.
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And the Lord, anticipating that they would request kings, gives
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some parameters, some precepts. What is he saying?
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Deuteronomy 1719 And it shall be with him.
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That is a copy of the law with the king, and it shall be with
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him, and he shall read it in all the days of his life.
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By the way, pause. That's where I get my cue to
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read my Bible every day, among other places.
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And he shall read it in all the days of his life.
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That he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the
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words of this law and these statutes and doing them.
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That his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that
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he may not turn aside from the commandment either to the right
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hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his
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Kingdom, he and his children in Israel.
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The connection is clear, isn't it?
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Second Kings chapter 22 echoes this expression from these
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instructions to tell us what that King Josiah embodied the
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kind of king that God desired. So what you find here is that he
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was unwavering in his commitment to the will of God, that he
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never deviated from it in any way.
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This is a man with a general summary of his life who was
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consistent. He was absolutely faithful to
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the Lord all of his days. This is a wonderful reminder to
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us that it's possible to live for the cause of Christ from the
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moment you said yes to him to the moment that you will see
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him. It's possible it happened with
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Josiah and it was not entirely clear how much of the Word of
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God Josiah was exposed to. Especially when you consider in
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this chapter how he will make the discovery of the book of the
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Law in the abandoned temple. There is no doubt that there
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were righteous influences in his life and just how remarkable his
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faith is is demonstrated by parallel account where we see
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those time stamps that I mentioned early on and how he
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utilized that time well. So in Second Kings 22 we go from
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8 year old Josiah in verse 3 to the 18th year of his reign,
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which would make him 26. But there's another passage that
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fills the gap. Second Chronicles 34.
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Let's go there. If we do, the work will be
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rewarded. Second Chronicles 34 one to
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three. It was at this point when I went
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to visit this passage where I realized we're not getting past
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verse 2. The 1st 2 verses will be
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familiar. Second Chronicles 34 beginning
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in verse one. Josiah was 8 years old when he
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began to reign and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem.
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And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in
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the ways of David his father. And he did not turn aside to the
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right hand or to the left. OK, we we read that already.
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Look at verse 3 now. For in the eighth year of his
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reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of
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David his father. And in a 12th year, he began to
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purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the ashram and the
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carved and the metal images. Read verse 3 very carefully,
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We're told in the eighth year of his reign, not when he was 8
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years old. So if he began as an 8 year old
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boy and now we're talking about the 8th year, he's how old?
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Very good. We do math at this Bible study.
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16 years old. More importantly, what does he
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do as a 16 year old? Here's how to understand this
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verse. Josiah made the personal
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decision to seek after God and to know him for himself at 16.
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I'm afraid that in modern Christianity we've made a lot of
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excuses for the apathy that young men generally have towards
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the Lord, as the hormones, temptations, distractions
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somehow make it impossible to cultivate an all consuming love
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for Christ. Josiah proves otherwise, and
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it's to our encouragement. Remember, Josiah is not a 16
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year old in a nice suburb in Illinois.
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Josiah is a 16 year old king who is surrounded by unspeakable
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pollution, compromise, filth, perversion that has been made
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normal and culturally acceptable in a time Listen as a context
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suggests where the Bible was not widely recognized, so much so
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that when people who are working in the temple found it, they
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didn't even recognize the book. And yet at 16 and the Bible
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underlines while he was yet a boy, the ESV renders it.
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I'm going to seek after God. Here's what this means for us.
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You and I should never hesitate to challenge and inspire youth
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to joyfully dedicate the peak of their strength and energy to
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know God and to make Him known. And those efforts will only be a
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possibility if we start by believing that it's possible for
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this demographic to actually view and experience Christ as
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their surpassing treasure. All satisfying good.
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And if you are here listening in person or online, and you are
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under the age of 20, if you've never heard this before, hear it
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now. Remember your Creator in the
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days of your youth. All the trinkets and all the
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persuasions and all the opportunities that this world
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has to offer, as much as it may seem like it's purposeful and
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it's pleasurable, are cheap and deceiving.
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You were made to walk with God and not to put that off once
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you've experimented with the world, but to give what you have
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to give, even as a young man or as a young woman, because that
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is a window of time in your life that will present unique
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opportunities that cannot be regained in later years.
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Those who are older can attest to that.
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So we should see this as an encouragement, not just for
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those who find themselves in a similar stage of life, but for
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those who are older and look upon a generation and think
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they're doomed. No, they're not doomed.
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Actually. Have you considered Josiah, his
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environment? Oh, yeah.
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But you know, there's a lot of broken.
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Oh, so having a father who was assassinated and he did, he left
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a terrible legacy that that's not traumatic.
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It's pretty traumatic to me. Anything is possible with
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Christ, and you and I have to believe that, not just for
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ourselves, but for those who seem unlikely candidates.
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But that's not all that we learn about Josiah in this verse.
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Look again at verse 3. And in the 12th year he began to
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purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the ashram and the
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carved and the metal images. So all this means is four years
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after he made a decision to nurture a personal relationship
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with the Lord, he launched the nation's cleansing from
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idolatry. 20 a 20 year old. What a thought.
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It's almost hard to imagine that you had a man so young, so green
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in life leading the charge of reformation unlike any other.
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But there should be no doubt that this man is the initiator
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and the supervisor of this effort.
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Look at again at verse 4. Now Second Chronicles 34, verse
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four. And they chopped down the altars
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of the bales in his presence. I love those 3 words in his
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presence. And he cut down the incense
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altars that stood above them. And he broke in pieces the
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ashram and the carved the metal images, and he made dust of them
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and scattered over the Grays of those who had sacrificed to them
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in his presence. Why is that mentioned there?
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I believe it's mentioned because Josiah 20 held his subjects
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accountable to carry out God's commands and listen.
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He personally oversaw this campaign.
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He showed up at the sight of these evil and wicked shrines
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and altars to make sure that they were done properly, that
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they were destroyed effectively in his presence.
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This took courage. You got to imagine again,
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righteousness is not popular at this time.
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Believing in one God, the true God, the God of Israel was that
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widely accepted at this time. And you have a 20 year old who
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had his father assassinated. You can imagine the things that
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he was possibly worried about, but there's no sense of that.
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Fearless. And he made sure that God was
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honored. So Josiah was no surrogate.
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He was not a puppet trying to fulfill somebody else's
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righteous cause. No, he was doing this.
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He owned it. Notice how much the word he
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appears in this one verse. And it continues in this
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section. He, he, he, he.
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This was his desire at 20 years old.
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But as always, this is not just for inspiration.
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We're not just looking back in history saying, oh, it's
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wonderful that Israel had a guy named Josiah at one point.
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No, no, no, this is for our instruction.
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And let me offer a cup a couple of observations #1 the
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fearlessness and drive for Josiah to do what we see here.
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This external impact for the Lord can only come from the
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overflow of 1's devotion in secret to the Lord.
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What he did for the Lord, right? This courage, this incredible
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zeal came from what we read earlier, a nurturing and a
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cultivating of a personal experience of God in private,
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and that happened between the ages of 16 and 20.
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I am absolutely persuaded, and nobody has convinced me
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otherwise up to this point in my own pilgrimage, that the key to
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stimulation and steadfast motivation and service to God is
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spending uninterrupted time with Him.
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And to do so long enough until you catch glimpses of His glory
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and are marked by them. I'm reminded of Peter and John
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in Acts chapter 4. Some of you know where I'm going
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with this. Where they were commanded to no
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longer teach or preach in the name of Jesus.
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And what was the rebuttal? We cannot help but speak for
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what we have seen and heard. You understand what the apostles
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were saying there, that the reason why they were, they were
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willing to risk their lives as no name disciples to tell other
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people about this Jesus was because they were recipients of
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life giving revelation that compelled them to.
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We have seen things and we have heard things, and this is the
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means, this is the energy. This is what propels us to
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embrace even persecution, because Jesus is worth it and we
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have tasted of Him and we are calling all men to repent and to
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turn to Him. The times of refreshing may come
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from the presence of the Lord. Josiah is flowing in that same
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equation. At 16.
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He sought God in a short amount of time.
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His heart was stirred now to actually introduce Him to an
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apostate nation. If you are waning in your desire
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to serve God, perhaps it's been some time where you have seen
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something or heard something concerning him.
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A second thing to note is how Josiah's ministry began at home.
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What I mean by that, look at verse 3 again.
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And in the 12th year he began. Where do you begin, Josiah?
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He began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places.
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Now verse 6, eventually he's going to go to the cities of
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Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon and even as far as NAFTA Lee the
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the the tribe that is furthest N, he's going to cover even what
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was known as the Kingdom of Israel.
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He wants to purge every corner of the promised land, but I find
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it encouraging that he started nearby.
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You know why I find that encouraging?
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Because I think there's a principle there for believers
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who are eager to serve God. There are many believers who are
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under this impression that unless they abandoned everything
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that they've ever known and pack their bags and travel to some
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uncharted territory, some foreign nation, and start fresh,
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they can't really do anything impactful or meaningful for God.
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And I believe that God does call some to relinquish everything,
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to stop where they are right now and to go to these places.
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But that's not the Commission of every man.
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And if that is unclear to you and you have no such Commission
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from Christ, I adjure you through Josiah's example.
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Be passionate and zealous where you are, exactly where you are.
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Where was Josiah in Jerusalem? Where did he start?
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In Jerusalem? And he worked his way out.
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I think that's helpful for you and I to consider.
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Now we look at this and we might think, OK, we're ready now to
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return to 2nd Kings 22 and skip over to the 18th year of his
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reign. But we can't do that.
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Do you know why? Because there's more than Second
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Kings and Second Chronicles relating to Josiah.
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So let's recap. 8 years old he takes the throne. 16 years old,
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he begins to own his faith. 20 years old, he actually starts a
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purging in the land. When did the purging in the land
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take place? In the 12th year of his reign.
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Good, we're all on the same page.
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Excellent. Something happens in the 13th
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year of Josiah's reign, and it's a detail not found in Second
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Kings. You won't find it in Second
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Chronicles. Does anybody know where we can
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find a very instrumental part of Josiah's reign, specifically a
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year into his reformation, and what book it's found in?
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I'll give you 5 seconds to think about it.
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Say it loud. What book?
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What book would you believe if I told you that it is in the 1st
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chapter of the book of Jeremiah? Jeremiah chapter 1.
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Let's look at the first 2 verses together.
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And this is where I really knew we're not going past verse two
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and second Kings. 22, Jeremiah 1, one to two.
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I'll wait for those pages to stop turning.
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Let's read it together. The words of Jeremiah the son of
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Helkaya, one of the priests who are in Anathoth in the land of
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Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of
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Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the 13th year of his
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reign. When I found this, I got so
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excited, I was thrilled, and then I calmed down.
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And then once I calmed down, a very deep question emerged, and
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it is this why? That's my question.
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Why did God summon Jeremiah a year into Josiah cleansing the
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land of idolatry? That's a good question, right?
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I would say so, and upon meditation, I believe there are
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at least three observations that we can make from this wonderful
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insight. So here's number one.
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God called Jeremiah the prophet in order to support and
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encourage King Josiah, especially after Josiah made the
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decision to bring reformation. How can we conclude that?
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By looking at different parts of Jeremiah's writings and to see
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how highly he respected Josiah and how he praised his piety.
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Can I show you one example? It's worth seeing it so that we
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can dispel any doubt. Scroll to Jeremiah 22 and look
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at verse 11. Now why I'm reading verse 11 so
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that we can confirm when this prophecy was made.
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For thus says the Lord concerning Shalom the son of
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Josiah king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his
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father. So this is a prophecy made to 1
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of Josiah's son, which implies that Josiah is dead at this
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point. And who went away from this
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place? He shall return here no more.
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But we have to skip over to verse 15.
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Now remember he's speaking to Josiah's son.
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And what does he say in part? Do you think you are a king in
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verse 15 because you compete in cedar?
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In other words, you think you're really a king because you sit in
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a palace. Did not your father eat and
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drink and do justice and righteousness?
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Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor
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and needy. Then it was well.
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Is not this to know me? Declares the Lord.
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What is Jeremiah implying by reminding his son, Josiah's son,
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of his father? 1 main point.
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At least here you don't know God, your dad.
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Did you think you're a true king?
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No, let me tell you who a real king is.
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Your father. He model what it means to be a
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true servant of God. And I love to hear how Jeremiah
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makes a connection between knowing the Lord and acting in a
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certain way. Because your behavior of mine,
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especially in our treatment of others, is a massive indicator
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of the authenticity of our relationship to God, right?
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Josiah, what did he do? He judged the cause of the poor
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and the needy. He did justice and
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righteousness. And, and he says, isn't that
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what it means to know God? In other words, your knowledge
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of God will produce such fruit. And so we find here because
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that's not the main point of how Jeremiah thought of Josiah.
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And if this is how he spoke about the king after he died,
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what kind of words did he offer him while he was alive?
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In fact, you can turn there if you'd like, but you don't have
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to. Just write it down as a
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reference and visit it later in Second Chronicles 3525.
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In the context there is Josiah's death.
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We read Jeremiah also lamented for Josiah.
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Jeremiah loved this man. Jeremiah understood, I'm sure in
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part that God raised him up at that specific time to come
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alongside this king. And we don't have the record of
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conversations necessarily, or what Jeremiah did to help
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Josiah, but I'm sure Jeremiah's ministry gave extra fuel to this
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king. And that's precisely the point
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here. How does this relate to us?
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Well, I think in this, when you and I, like Josiah, decide to
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give ourselves fully over to knowing God and serving God, one
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of the blessings that we will receive.
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One of the things that God will do for us is bring into our
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lives like minded people who are who will encourage us on that
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path. That's a pattern that you see
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throughout the the Bible, both an old and in the New Testament
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and and sometimes in ways that we don't even notice.
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So we're studying second Kings in my own reading.
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I just finished Judges and I'm now revisiting First Samuel.
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But there was a detail in Judges in the life of Gideon that makes
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us more true Gideon. He was always fearful from the
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moment we met him. He was not like Josiah, right
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when he was when he was called to tear down the altars of Baal.
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He didn't even want to do it during the day.
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You want to do it at night. He wanted his friends to come
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with him. And the Lord was like, OK, fine,
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I'll be merciful to you. And after the Lord brings down
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the number of his army down to how many people?
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300 this, this man can't imagine that he's going to go up against
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hundreds of thousands of enemies.
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And so the Lord says, listen, get in.
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I want you to go down to the camp of the enemy and I want you
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to experience something. I have a treat for you.
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I have something that will give you the confidence for this war.
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And then he says this, this is in Judges 7 verse 10.
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I'm paraphrasing, but he says, And if you are afraid to go
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down, behold your servant poor, I will go down with you.
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Now you read down, just you might be tempted to just read
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on, but no, no, there's something massive there.
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How was the Lord going to alleviate the fear of his
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servant? Not by performing a miracle, he
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says. I'm highlighting your servant.
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Let him accompany you. Let him walk down there with
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you. And I think that's just an Old
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Testament glimpse of the wisdom of Jesus when he sends out his
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disciples. And what in pairs?
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Go 2 by 2. I don't know about you, but I'm
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much more bold to preach the gospel when a fellow believer is
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with me in a restaurant or an Uber ride.
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And so we see here that God raises up a prophet to help the
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king. That's wonderful.
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Remember, there are three observations about Jeremiah's
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inclusion in the story #2 I believe realizing Jeremiah being
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called at this point says something about how God enjoys
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raising up young people to do great things for God.
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We've all determined that Josiah was very green when he became
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king, right? What about Jeremiah when he was
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called as a prophet? Was he an adult?
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No Famously, we know the passage in Jeremiah 1/6.
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What was his protest? The prophet?
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I can't. There's no way that I can fill
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the office of a seer because I'm what I'm unskilled in speech and
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I'm I'm a youth and the Lord responded in the the following
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verse. Do not say I am only a youth.
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Now famously, Jeremiah 1 is often preached to young people
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to inspire them that God is willing to recruit them and and
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send them out despite their inexperience.
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But that point becomes even more powerful when you connect
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Jeremiah to Josiah. You know why?
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Because he didn't just raise up a young prophet, he partnered
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him with a young king. Think about that.
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The two spiritual giants that were leading the Kingdom of
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Judah were young adults. You and I generally and
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naturally are skeptical of young people who claim to be
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determined to serve God. You know who isn't God?
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God. He takes delight in it,
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actually. And so he raises up a young
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prophet and he puts them in the same ministry as a young king,
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and he says, take over the Kingdom of Judah for my glory.
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Go. And they did.
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So that's an encouragement to you and I hope and we have a
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final thought to consider, and this is the most important one.
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Why did God raise up Jeremiah a year into Josiah's reform?
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As much as he was introduced to the king to hearten Josiah, he
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was also raised to confront the people of Judah.
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What do I mean by that? A year into Josiah's reforms,
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the Lord summoned the prophet to expose the insincerity of the
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repentance. Come with me to Jeremiah 3 to
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see what I'm talking about again in Jeremiah 3 verse 6.
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This is to set the context, the timing of this prophecy.
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The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah highlight that in
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the days of King Josiah, have you seen what she did, that
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faithless one Israel, how she went up on every high hill and
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under every green tree and there played the whore.
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So he's talking about the northern Kingdom of Israel.
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Have you seen it? Obviously we have, but notice
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how he continues in verse 7. And I thought, after she has
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done all this, she will return to me.
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But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah
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saw it again. Pause.
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When is this prophecy be made? In the days of king Josiah.
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And he calls Judah treacherous. Verse 8.
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She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one
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Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce.
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Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she went to
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went. But she too rather went and
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played the whore, because she took her whoredom lightly.
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She polluted the land, committing adultery with stone
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and tree. Verse 10 is the main verse.
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If for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to
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me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord
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again, for you to feel the weight of this, you have to
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remember that this pronouncement was made in the days of Judah,
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in the days of Josiah, while Judah was being reformed.
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And we see here that during that time Judah truly did not learn
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from Israel's mistakes. Even after they were exiled,
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even after the Assyrians took them from their land, they
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didn't take it to heart. Judah didn't They did not heed.
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They didn't see the warning. They did not fear.
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God says. In fact, they were so curious
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and they were so intrigued by the ways of their northern
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neighbors that they adopted their practices, dismissing the
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judgement that fell upon them. And we're willing to take the
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risk to explore on a path that they thought would be better
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than trusting the Lord and living for God.
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And while Josiah is trying to motivate the nation to truly
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give their hearts to God, they failed.
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It was all in pretense. Yeah, they crushed their idols,
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but they didn't really renounce their sins.
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They did so reluctantly. Perhaps he did so out of fear.
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Josiah is the king will obey him, but we're not going to put
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up a fight. So what does the Lord do a year
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into Remember the 13th year Josiah started the 12th year he
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raises up a man with X-ray vision to expose the hearts of
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the people for their hypocrisy. You're not wholehearted.
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This is all in pretense and here's something very important
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to take from this. I'm looking at this from
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Jeremiah's perspective. A true messenger of God will
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never be satisfied with superficial religiosity, surface
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level spirituality. Not a true servant of God,
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especially one who proclaims God's word will understand what
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God really demands of his people and he will call such people to
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the standard of the Bible prescribes relating to
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righteousness and relationship with God.
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I mean think about how many people would be happy with the
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sight of one tribe after the next destroying all their idols
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success and then God raised a prophet says you're all a bunch
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of fakes. This is all pretend.
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This is all shallow. And so I see in great part why,
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after giving them a year to really repent, he raises up a
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man to speak the word of the Lord and to wake them up.
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And that's what we exactly are in need of today in America.
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I'm persuaded of that, especially in a country where
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Christianity is accepted as a cultural norm, not really as a
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personal conviction. We need more Jeremiahs who are
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able to see through all the baloney and all the
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Churchianity. Say where?
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Where's your heart really at? Well, what is all this facade?
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Repent of your external consecration and really give
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yourself over to God. That's what Jeremiah's ministry
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was. And as we heard earlier, he is
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going to outlive Josiah. And that message that began in
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the days of Josiah will continue.
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He's going to continue to call the same people to repentance
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until they eventually are exiled for the lack of repentance.
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And now this brings us to our final point of the study
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tonight. As important as righteous
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legislation might be, as crucial as removing corrupt ideology and
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practices from our culture may be demanded, that will never
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provide long term and lasting solution.
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Never. Josiah being the king for this
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people was a good thing. But you know what was more
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important? The people determining that God
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will sit on the Thrones of our hearts.
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And when they fail to take advantage of Josiah's influence,
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he raises up a prophet to remind them of it.
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And I'm not here advocating that we should not engage in
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community service or that we shouldn't try to infuse virtue
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into our politics. What I am saying, though, is
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that if we're not careful as Christians, we might be putting
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band aids on a disease that reaches far deeper than the
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symptoms that we're trying to subdue.
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The gospel alone offers true heart transformation.
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And no matter what we do in our efforts, what we do in our
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posts, what we do in our protests or our prayers,
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whatever the case may be, we must always point people to the
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gospel. Always.
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And that is precisely why Jeremiah came into the scene, to
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deal with the heart. Everything outside looked
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wonderful. But that would that would last
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as long as Josiah was alive. So what does Jeremiah do?
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He preaches God's word. And here's really a summary of
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it. If you're there still in
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Jeremiah, look at chapter 4. Look what he says to Jerusalem
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in verse 14. O Jerusalem, wash your heart
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from evil, that you may be saved.
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How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you?
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Can you imagine saying that to a nation?
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We're on the the news every night.
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You're learning now the tribe of Naftali is destroying the ashram
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and the Baal. You would think, what are you
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talking about, Jeremiah? Wash your heart.
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That's what God is after. Our hearts, our hearts, not just
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mere behavioral modification, not just attendance, not even
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your wallet being put into that plate every week.
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Your heart and my heart being washed.
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And there's nothing in the old covenant that is potent enough,
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that is real enough to be able to deliver what Jeremiah was
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asking for. That washing force would only
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come through someone that Jeremiah would prophecy about
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later in his book, Jesus Christ. After a Bible study like this,
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you have to be willing to accept that it's possible that in a
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Bible study like this, there might be some whose hearts are
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not really right with God. I I I'm not of those who find
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every opportunity to challenge people to examine themselves.
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There's an appropriate time for such a message.
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And when you touch on a text like this, it presents an
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opportunity. I wonder if perhaps there's
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someone here who from the outside you look good, In fact,
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you look even impressive. Your heart, has it really
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experienced change? Can you really testify that
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Christ reached into my bosom and he removed that heart of stone,
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and he put in it a heart that longs for his ways, that yearns
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for his presence? You know, Christianity is not
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about instantaneous perfection, but it is about radical new
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direction. Not immediate perfection, but
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definite new direction. What I mean by that?
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Your values, your affections, your longings, your convictions,
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your standards shift and you recognize that in yourself.
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You say, I know that this is not me.
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I know that this is a miracle of God.
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And you may stumble along that path, but you can say with
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confidence that the direction of my heart is different.
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That's what the Lord is after. And He can offer you that
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tonight. If you were here and you're
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thinking, that's me, I know that's me.
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I have nothing to offer you myself, but you can call upon
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the name of the Lord and in a very real way, He can.
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He can change that heart of yours.
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Can we thank Him for it? Let's do that as we come to a
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close tonight. Father, indeed.
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It is truly fascinating how in 2 verses you can steer us into so
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many different directions. Thank you again for showcasing
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to us the harmony of your word, how bountiful it is, how
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profound it is. We pray for the believer that
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this study would provide fresh inspiration to read every part
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of this book. And we ask for for the person
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who's here, who under compulsion might be here, who under
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compulsion or wrong fears might perform their faith, but it does
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not come from a place of true heart change.
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We asked, Lord, that you would use tonight's study as the means
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to catapult them to the foot of the cross, and that they would
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allow that precious blood to wash their hearts and to redeem
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them. We thank you for how you've
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spoken to us, and Lord, we know that this is just the beginning
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of a testimony that you have clearly preserved for our
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benefit. So, Lord, continue to guide us
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as we study this man, Josiah. It may only bring us closer to
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Jesus. We ask these things in the
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precious name of your Son, the one whom we love and adore,
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Jesus Christ, Amen and Amen. Let's stand and worship Him as
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we stand in awe of His Word.