Josiah models a proper response to Scripture for us. Whenever we are shown a new passage (or a familiar one in a new light) that brings conviction of previously unrecognized sin, we should be quick to lament our disobedience, repent, and search out what God would have us do to return to the right path. God honored Josiah’s repentance, speaking through Huldah the prophetess that he would be spared from seeing God’s promised wrath poured out against Judah (2 Kings 22:18-20). IV. Josiah Read the Book of the Law to the People—He Proclaimed the Word of God After Huldah’s prophecy in 2 Kings 22:16-17 that the nation would still be punished (despite Josiah’s reforms), Josiah gathered all the people of Judah to the temple and read the lost book to them (2
Kings 23:1-2). He then lead the nation in a covenant “to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statues with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book” (2 Kings 23:3). This proclamation and rededication was taken seriously by the king and the people. We are told, “Josiah removed all the abominations from all the lands belonging to the sons of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel to serve the Lord their God. Throughout his lifetime, they did not turn from following the Lord God of their fathers” (2 Chron. 34:33). Josiah did not keep to himself the discovery of God’s Word, but shared it boldly and accurately with all in his sphere of influence (which, as king, included the whole nation). Likewise, we should be faithful to teach and share the truths that God reveals
When the leaders read and taught the Word, the people obeyed; when the leaders strayed and ignored the Scriptures, the people shamed God’s name and brought judgment on themselves. In today’s Christian world, where we have unprecedented access to Scripture and to those who study and teach it professionally, how much greater is our shame if we allow God’s Word to be forgotten or ignored? As the author of Hebrews cautions, “For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard” (Heb. 4:2). The Word of God is for us to read and believe—it is no blessing to us if it sits idle or is misused for our own purposes. But God will honor those who seek after Him in faith with the understanding they need from His Word to
feelings and preferences, and he recognized Jacob was God’s choice not his own. Later he confirmed the blessing to Jacob and gave to Esau a lesser one, but in both he revealed his faith in the promises given to Abraham. Beneath all Isaac’s own confused preferences, God made it evident that he discerned real faith in the manner in which Isaac blessed his sons by including him in Hebrews 11. “By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come.” So, a word to Dads, you don’t have to be a great success in the world’s eyes in order to pass on a heritage of trusting God to your children. Just believe who God is and act on what God says. Let this cause a thirst for what you have in Christ. Pass on to your children what God has revealed to you! That’s a success in God’s eyes.
all “come short of the glory of God.” And Psalm 103:14 reminds us that God is all too well aware of this: “He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.” 2) You are too. This means two things: you are a lot like your dad (insofar as being flawed), and, being human, you will require an extra dose of God’s grace to be able to forgive him. 3) Your father is the product of a fallen world and flawed parents. It’s easy to think of your father as choosing to become (insert here whatever he alcoholic, a wife-beater, a party-animal, whatever) and thus holding him totally responsible. However, remember that he was a child once too, and God alone knows to what extent he became whatever he was due to his parents’ failures, the faults of the schooling he received or did not receive, and other influences.
of the apostle, “Fulfill thy ministry” (2 Tim. 4:5). This is necessary as to equipment, methods, and work. As to equipment, the first responsibility concerns the gift; and is declared in the words, “Stir up the gift of God which is in thee” (2 Tim. 1:6). To stir up is to set on fire, to fan to a flame. The gift received for the ministry is a thing of fire; we are to fan it to a flame; and not allow it to burn to an ember. Are we not all in danger of allowing the fire to die down? There is nothing the Christian minister has to guard against more earnestly than the danger that he should come to the hour when the Word of God ceases to move him. It is a subtle danger. We are always handling the Word, reading it, studying it. Unless we are careful, it will cease to surprise us, cease to amaze us, and the gift, whether of apostle, prophet,
It is as the German poet-philosopher Goethe wrote: “What more can man profit from life than to apprehend how God reveals Himself through nature, and how constant nature is, imbued with the Spirit.” Amen! The Old Scot (Ted Kyle) lives in Newberg, Oregon, with his wife, Marga. Sources: The Living Clocks, Ritchie R. Ward, Alfred A. Knopf, NY, 1971, p. 96. Frank A. Brown Jr., “The Rhythmic Nature of Animals and Plants,” American Scientist, Vol. XLVII (June 1959), pp. 164-186.