Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1905-08-05

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Josiah was the most thorough and
successful reformer Of Old Testament
history, Though he was the son Of
Anon, whose life and reign was so
outrageous that he was assassinated
by his own servants at the age OF
"A, when he had been king but two
years, and though his-grandfather
was Manasseh, one of the wickedest
kings Of judah, and though he came
TO the throne when he was but eight
years old, in virtues and piety, and
uninterrupted zeal for God Josiah neY-
er had an equal among the kings OF
Judah.
Josiah was fortunate in his advis-
ers. His faithful career is largely
due to the wise and holy men who
had charge Of his early training.
Never had there been in the Jewish
court such noble band of high-mind-
ca and God-fearing men Shaphan,
the scribe, was chief. He had charge
of the finances and trained the young
prince in political economy. Hilkiah,
the high priest had charge of his
religious education, Huldah, the
prophecies, with her husband,
Shallum, were in close attendance as
guides and advisers. And the prince
had a young companion, who for early
piety, devoted patriotism, and clear
insight into divine truth, had no su.
perior in that or any other age
Jeremiah, the prophet Under such
training, and in such society, no
wonder Josiah turned out well, and
did so much toward reforming a cor
rupt church and regenerating a de-
graded kingdom.
One of the things for which Josiah
is remembered gratefully is the work
which he did in thoroughly renovating
and repairing the temple Of Jerusa-
lem. 1t must be borne in mind that
in the days of Josiah the nation was
already struck with death. The north
ern kingdom of Israel was gone, and
Josiah had only four successors be-
fore Jerusalem and the kingdom OF
Judah fell at the hands Of Nebuchad-
nezzar. Idolatry was rampant every
where, and the people gave but a
feeble response to the patriotic eff
forts of their king. Yet in spite OF
that handicap Josiah undertook and
carried forward to completion the
perfect renovation and reconstruction
of the matchless temple of God.
The extent OF the dilapidation is
shown in the fact that the walls, the
roofs and the floors alike needed to
be restored The work was carried
out with thoroughness. The rubbish
was carted away, the Idols were
smashed, the leaky roof, the rotten
floors, and the broken walls were put
into first class shape and once more
the people had a beautiful church in
which to worship.
There is many a community today
which needs a church-repairing Josiah.
There were never so many bright
and beautiful places of worship as
there are now, yet decaying and
weather-beaten churches are to be
seen everywhere. The roofs leak,
the timbers sag, the windows are
broken, the carpets are full of holes,
the furnace smokes, the plastering is
loose, the paint is long since gone,
there is nothing attractive about such
a place If people worship there they
do it in spite of the surroundings, not
because of them. If young people at
tend they do it because they have5to,
not because they love to. There is
nothing elevating or refining connect
ed with such house of prayer.
The church ought to be the finest
building in the community. That men
should put more money into srruc-
lures devoted to the god Of business
or the god of pleasure is all wrong.
In Solomon's time everything in
church and state reyolved around the
temple. The land was the garment
the city was the body, the temple
was the heart You can judge of the
morals of a community by the condi-
ton of their churches. II they are
tumbling into ruins, the community is
tumbling into ruins. When churches
cut down their preachers to starva-
tion salaries, take no interest in keep
ing their house of worship in order,
burn cheap kerosene to save ex-
penses, refuse to keep the property
insured as a useless output, lug along
old debts year after year through
slack business methods, they adver-
tise to the world that while they
draw near to the Lord with their lips,
their hearts are far from him."
Many a church needs a revival OF
common honesty. Many a church
needs to turn out its fossils and in
stall modern methods of doing things.
Many a church needs a Josiah TO
knock in pieces venerated relics, in
troduce a broom brigade, and scrub
bing committee, and never cease his
efforts until the spiders and cobwebs
are gone. up-to-date lighting has taken
the place of smoky gloom, real or
gan has supplanted the ancient music
box. a liberal coat of paint and white
wash has been applied, a brand new
Bible has replaced the pulpit volume
which long since lost connection with
its covers. and in fact has recon-
structed and transformed the whole
building into an appropriate dwell
ing place for the King of Kings, and
Lord of Lords. 1t would cost money
and someone would have to raise it.
:. ,,,o,la raouire builders. and some