Read: 2 Kings
22:1-2
Summary of 2 Kings
22:3-20:
·
In the 18th year of King Josiah’s
reign, which makes him 26 years old, he has his secretary, Shaphan, go to the
temple and check in with the high priest, Hilkiah, to make sure everything was
going smoothly in the rebuilding of the temple.
·
Hilkiah found the Book of the Law and gave it to
Shaphan to bring it back to Josiah. Shaphan read the Book of the Law in King
Josiah’s presence and Josiah tore his robes because of what was written.
·
He then sent five of his trusted men to the
prophetess Hulda to find out what the Lord meant in the Book of the Law.
·
And the message which he received back was that Judah
was going to be destroyed. And this is where we pick up the story….
Read: 2 Kings
23:1-25
I. Introduction
One of my
favorite things to do whenever I go somewhere on vacation or when I am
traveling is collect rocks from wherever I go. It may be big rocks or small
rocks, cool rocks or not so cool rocks—I love all of them. In fact, people who
know that I love rocks; when they go on vacation, they don’t bring me back a
t-shirt, rather they bring me back a rock—to which I greatly rejoice! I’ve
actually got a rock pile in my room that’s about 3 foot long by 2 foot wide and
2 ½ feet high. And I also have many rocks spread all throughout my room in Michigan . I look at these
every time I wake up and every time I enter my room because it reminds me that
God is my rock. He is my cornerstone and even when things in life don’t seem to
be going my way and life seems tough, I know that God will always be there
because He is my Rock; He is my fortress. And I know that when God is my Rock,
when I am built upon Him; I can stand strong.
Not only do
I love to collect rocks, but I also love to read. Some of my favorite men to
read about are them known as the Puritans—like William Bridge, William Bates,
Richard Baxter and John Owen to name a few. One of my favorite quotes from these
men is from John Owen who said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” “Be
killing sin or it will be killing you.”
This story about King Josiah is
certainly about how he was able to kill sin because he had God who was his rock
and cornerstone of his life.
II. Sin Had Killed
Those Who Went Before King Josiah
King Josiah
did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not all the kings were like
this. On the back of the outline in your bulletin there is a chart of the kings
and it is helpful to look at this when examining it or it might get confusing.
After King Solomon died, the nation of Israel
was split into two nations—Judah(the Southern Kingdom) and Israel (the Northern Kingdom ).
All of the Kings of Israel were wicked and did what was evil in the eyes of the
Lord, therefore they were destroyed. Their sin had killed them. It was their sin
that destroyed the entire nation.
However,
the nation of Judah ,
survived roughly 200 years longer than Israel . This nation had some evil
kings, but they also had a few good kings. For example, King Hezekiah, who was
Josiah’s great-grandpa, did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. But King
Hezekiah’s son was King Manasseh and he was Josiah’s grandpa. He reigned for 55
years doing evil in the eyes of the Lord.
After he died, King Josiah’s
father, named King Amon reigned on the throne. But he only reigned 2 years. He
was killed by his own people due to his sin—literally; the sin which he
committed killed him. Thus, after King Amon died, Josiah was made King. And young
King Josiah was not about to have sin kill him as it had done to those who had
gone before him.
But what
shouldn’t King Josiah do? What were the other kings doing wrong? Well the
people of Judah and the kings were following the ways of the other nations
around them by worshiping their gods. They were not worshipping the One True
and Holy God who delivered them out of slavery in Egypt . For example, Josiah’s
grandpa, King Manasseh, he built altars to the starry hosts, he sacrificed his
own son in a fire, he practice sorcery and divination, he consulted mediums and
spiritists and he carved Asherah poles and placed them in the temple. These are
just a few of the idols that King Manasseh made for the people. He did this
because he was following the ways of the nations around him; thus allowing sin
to not only kill him, but also sin was killing the whole nation of Judah .
And King
Josiah’s dad, King Amon, followed in his dad’s footsteps by doing evil in the
eyes of the Lord, worshiping idols and bowing down to them. And King Amon’s
officials were not happy with this. They had enough, so they killed him. Literally,
he was killed because of the sins he was committing. The nation of Judah surely didn’t
have the Lord as their Rock and they certainly were not killing sin.
III. King Josiah
Killed Sin
But King
Josiah did something different than the 57 years of kings who reigned before
him. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord…not turning aside to the
right or to the left. He killed sin. The Bible commands us to kill sin and to
flee from sin, but it sometime seems confusing on how exactly this is done.
Well, this story of King Josiah and the Bible points each day from VBS provide
for us with 6 ways on how we can stand strong in order to kill sin.
First, King Josiah realized the
love that God has for him and the nation of Judah and he realized that this
love would help him stand strong. After hearing the Book of the Law read and after
consulting the prophetess Huldah, Josiah immediately renewed the covenant that
God had with the nation of Israel
from Mt. Sinai Judah . This
helped King Josiah kill sin and stand strong on God as His Rock.
Do you ever think deeply how much
God loves you? He loves you so much that He sent His one and only Son, Jesus
Christ, to this earth to live as the God-man. He died a cruel death on a cross
for the sins of those who believe in Him as their Lord and Savior. He has
adopted us as His sons and daughters who are co-heirs with Jesus Himself.
People of God, this is amazing love. This should help us as we strive to kill
sin and it also will keep us firm on the Rock because nothing on heaven and
earth shall separate us from this love that God has for us.
Second, King Josiah had advisors
who were his family and friends. Surely as a young king at age 8, he couldn’t
rule alone without any guidance. He had five trusted friends and his mother
whom he sought guidance from. His mother, Jedidah, gave him guidance on how to
rule the kingdom in a right manner because she saw her husband killed by his
own people due to his unfaithfulness to God. His five trusted friends were the
friends that he sent to the prophetess Huldah in 2 Kings 22:12. They were:
- Shaphan—his
secretary
- Hilkiah—the
high priest
- Ahikam
- Acbor
- And
Asaiah—his attendant.
These men probably were around during King Manasseh’s reign
and also during King Amon’s reign, therefore they knew the wickedness and the
evil things they had done. Now they could properly raise the young King Josiah
in a manner of following the Lord after all the wickedness that had come upon
them. These people definitely helped King Josiah in his walk to kill sin in his
own life and in the nation of Judah .
Just as King
Josiah had trusted in these advisers, we too, need people that we can trust in
guiding us. Often times these are close friends and family members. In my life,
my parents have been the ones who have provided the greatest amount of guidance
on how to be a godly man. And my college roommate, Harrison, and another
college friend, Jonathan, talk on the phone weekly to make sure we are walking
with the LORD. These are sometimes painful conversations, but having someone as
an accountability partner to be guided in life is such a blessing and a
wonderful gift! Just as King Josiah was given family and friends to help him
stand strong, so we are given family and friends to help us also stand strong
on God our Rock so that we may kill sin.
The third
way which King Josiah killed sin is by seeking the Lord. The story of King
Josiah is also told in 2 Chronicles 34-35. The Chronicles account provides us
with a little more detail about King Josiah’s life. It says in 34:3 that in the
8th year of Josiah’s reign, which makes him 16 years old, he began
to seek the God of David. We aren’t told that in the Kings narrative, but we
are told that he went to the prophetess Huldah to “inguire of the LORD”. King Josiah wanted to know what God said
about the finding of the Book of the Law and what it meant for the people;
therefore he sought God through the prophetess Huldah, who gave him a lot of
knowledge about what was to come. He also sought the Lord in many other areas
of his life as well—these all helped him kill sin in his life and in the land of Judah
Many times,
when we talk about ‘seeking God’ we can be confused at to what this exactly
means; well, King Josiah went to the prophetess because he wanted to know what
the Book of the Law meant. So he sought out the Lord through the prophetess. We
too can seek out God on our very own—it is called prayer. Prayer brings us
before the face of God and into His holy presence through Jesus Christ. John
Piper says this about seeking, “Seeking involves calling and pleading, O Lord,
open my eyes. O Lord, pull back the curtain of my own blindness. Lord, have
mercy and reveal yourself, I long to see your face.” And God promises that when
we seek Him, we will find Him (1 Chronicles 28:9; Hebrews 11:6). When ask, we
will receive, when we seek, we will find and when we knock the door will be
opened unto us (Matthew 7:7). When we seek God through prayer, we will be
killing sin; sin will not be killing us.
The fourth
way which King Josiah stood strong in order to kill sin was by trusting in the
LORD. This is evident from the fact that he did what was right in the eyes of
the LORD and not evil like his forefathers did. His forefathers trusted in the
idols of the land, but King Josiah trusted in God as his Rock and his Salvation
which helped him stand strong. This was his response to the love that God so
graciously lavished upon Him and the nation of Judah .
We also,
need to respond to God’s love by trusting Him. Trusting Him above and not equal
to other people and we need to trust Him over all the idols in our life. This
is very hard to do and it takes time. And this isn’t a half-hearted trust of
sometimes trusting, but it is a life-long commitment trust in God as our Rock
and salvation. We trust in the Lord always for He is our eternal Rock. As we
place all of our trust in God and God alone; then we can stand strong on God
our Rock as we kill everything else that is not worthy of any ounce of our
trust.
And the
fifth way that King Josiah was able to kill sin was by reading and listening to
the Word of God—the Bible. Josiah was not searching for the Book of the Law,
but he was given it after it was found. Therefore, after hearing it read to him,
he realized the sin of the nation by worshiping other gods and not the one true
God. So the Book of the Law helped King Josiah recognize what sin was and what sin
wasn’t. And after he recognized what sin was and what sin wasn’t; it allowed
him to begin killing sin.
Therefore
the same is true of us. When we read God’s Word, which we have available in
many languages and translations—even the original languages!—when we read God’s
Word we can begin to recognize the sin in our lives that needs to be killed.
God’s Word corrects the sin in our life so that we may kill it. God’s Word
helps us stand strong by getting to know God as our Rock so that we may kill
sin.
And last,
but not least, after recognizing the love that God has for him, after
consulting his friends and his mother, after seeking the Lord, after trusting
in God as the only God and after reading the Book of the Law, he obeyed the
Book of the Law by taking action. He destroys and takes down many idols, high
places, Asherah poles and places of sacrifice to other gods. And Josiah did two
main things to the sin in the land: he desecrated it and defiled it. He
desecrated these places by turning them from a sacred religious site to a god,
into a place that was now in ruin. And he defiled them by making the once
‘pure’ and ‘holy’ sites of worship into places of dirtiness, impurities—making
them unclean.
By Josiah
desecrating these places and defiling these places, he was killing the sin in
the land of Judah
- We need to recognize the love that God has for us because He is our strength
- We need family members and friends who can encourage us and build us up
- We need to seek God through prayer so we don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything
- We need to trust in god for He is our eternal Rock
- We need to read the Bible because God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path
- And finally, we need to obey the Word of God, but taking action in killing sin.
IV. Conclusion
King Josiah killed sin, but he
couldn’t do this by himself. He needed help from God, who was his Rock in order
for King Josiah to stand firm. All the things that we learned at VBS this week
were evident in King Josiah’s endeavor to kill sin in order to not let sin kill
him like it did to the kings who went before him.
- On Wednesday we learned that God’s love helps us stand strong
- On Thursday we learned that family and friends help us stand strong
- On Friday we learned that prayer helps us stand strong
- On Saturday we learned that trust God helps us stand strong
- And this morning, we learned that the Bible helps us stand strong
All of these things that we
learned this week in VBS will help us stand strong on God our Rock which will
help us kill sin in our lives.
And John Owen’s quote that was
shared earlier is just a small portion of a bigger quote, he says, “Do you
mortify your sin? Do you make it your daily work? Be always at it while you
live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing
you….Indwelling sin always abides while we are in this world; therefore it is
always to be mortified.”
All the sins that King Josiah
killed in the land and in his life were done throughout his entire life. He
rested in the fact that God was his Rock in whom he could run to in all
circumstances of life—especially when he needed to kill sin. May we too, in our
daily life, continually kill the sin which so easily entangles us by having God
as our Rock and Redeemer.
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