Josiah's Reforms - The Book of 2 Kings

In this Bible Story, Josiah continues his reform over the nation of Judah. He cuts down all the remnants of old idols, and reinstated the Passover to remember the freedom in God. However the people continue to long after their corrupt ways. There will be a reckoning for all the innocent souls that were led astray by past kings. This story is inspired by 2 Kings 23 & 2 Chronicles 34:32-35:1-27. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.

Today's Bible verse is 2 Kings 23:24 from the King James Version.

Episode 154: There was a prophet during the reign of Josiah named Jeremiah, who walked with God and was called to declare judgment on the kings of Judah. God gave Jeremiah visions of His judgment that was coming on Judah for their sins. He showed Jeremiah that through this judgment Judah would be molded into something beautiful for God just like clay in the hands of a potter. Through these visions and lessons, God gave Jeremiah the courage he needed to speak the word of God in spite of the persecution he would face.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and
the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all
the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah
and in Jerusalem. Did Josiah put away second kings? Twenty
three twenty four, My Lord, I want to take time

(00:24):
to thank you for guiding me and protecting me in
my youth so that I could get to the place
where I am now. As I rest and meditate on
your goodness in times past, I will remember that you
are the reason for the celebration and the gratefulness in
my life. Through my intentional devotion, I tear down any

(00:48):
false idols and ungodly ways of being that may have
crept into my life. Anything that I have erected over
your word, like work, money, relationships, or comfortability that serve
as an idol, I tear down right now. Let your

(01:10):
will and your ways be the focus of my attention.
Let your heart be the focus of my affection, for
in your presence is everything I'll ever need. May my
legacy be a mirror of King josiahs in today's reading,

(01:31):
A legacy known for putting your presence before my pleasures
in Jesus name.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Amen Josiah's reforms. In our last story, Josiah became king
over Judah. He was only eight years old when he
took office. However, he clung to the wisdom of God

(02:01):
and became beloved as the righteous King of Jerusalem. He
restored the temple and repented on behalf of the people.
In this story, we see Josiah bringing Judah out of
the depths of darkness and slavery to sin. He goes
throughout the city and wilderness to rid Judah of all
its shrines to past gods. Inspired by the Book of

(02:24):
Second Kings, Hello.

Speaker 3 (02:27):
Pastor Jack Graham. Here with today's episode of the Bible
in a year, We're always glad to open God's Word together.
In our previous episode, we were introduced to King Josiah.
He began to rule Judah at a very early age,
but his constant search for wisdom and godly instruction led
him to rule with honor, faith, and integrity. He tore

(02:49):
down the altars of the false gods and restored the temple,
and during the restoration, the scroll of the Law of
Moses was discovered. God's word. When faced with the reality
of Judah and Israel's unfaithfulness. Josiah sought a prophet of
God for insight on how to make things right. And
even though the prophecy he received foretold judgment and captivity,

(03:12):
Josiah committed himself and his people to live in obedience
before God. Today we'll hear about all the reforms that
Josiah enacted in Judah, cleansing the land and God's people,
cleansing them from sin and idolatry that had kept them
in slavery. So once again, let's listen to the word

(03:32):
of God.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
Midday was beginning to turn into dusk. The sun was
grazing the top of the Holy Temple. The gold adorned
on the pillars spread the light into a hundred different directions.
Josiah climbed the smooth steps into the House of the Lord.
Behind him were all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. All people
young and old, followed their king as their ancestors followed

(03:57):
Moses to the tent of meeting. There, Josiah knelt before
the Lord. He beat his chest and lamented the sins
of his forefathers. The people watched their king weep over sin.
It was a new feeling for them. They had spent
several decades with kings hell bent on destroying all forms
of holiness. To see a king bow before God was

(04:19):
an odd sight. They wondered, if this is what David
looked like all those years ago. Josiah read before them
the Law of Moses and exhorted them on the love
and justice of God. The sea of faces were somber
and contemplative as they listened to their king. When Josiah finished,
he closed the scroll and sighed. He raised his hands

(04:42):
high into the air in front of his people and
cried out to the Lord on their behalf. King Josiah
made a covenant with God that he and the rest
of his people would seek him alone for their worship,
that they would hold fast to Him and his statues
with their whole hearts and souls. Josiah fell to his
knees and prayed to God, his hands still lifted in praise.

(05:06):
A hush fell over the vast crowd. Then one by
one they all began to bow as well. For the
first time in nearly four hundred years, God's people bowed
to him in reverence and worship. After a while, the
people returned to their homes. The torches were snuffed out
and the city became silent. Yet Josiah remained. The echoes

(05:29):
of his slow breaths filled the empty sanctuary. Josiah remembered
how close the Lord had been to him as a child.
Josiah would not have been able to survive being king
as a boy if it weren't for the comfort of
love and God. Josiah rose to his feet and called
for a few of his men to be gathered. Although

(05:49):
it was late, there was still much work to be
done before Judah was truly free. Josiah stood outside the
temple with his most trusted men in front of him.
The sun had set completely and they all stood with
torches lit in a circle. Josiah looked to the high
priest Hilkiah, and ordered him to take his servants back

(06:10):
into the temple. There were still some old idols and
shrines in Bale and Asherah dwelling there. He wanted them
removed and burned. Outside the city. He looked to some
of the city guards and ordered them to scour the
city for the priests of Bale. Once they were all found,
they were deported out of the city. Lastly, he had

(06:31):
his generals break down the homes of the male colt
prostitutes who lured men and women into the temple to
fornicate on the altar of Asherah. Once all of the
men departed, Josiah took a few of his guards to
the hills that is where his grandfather and other worshipers
would kill and burn their children. The woods were silent,

(06:52):
the trees swayed slightly to the breeze. As Josiah and
his men walked, Josiah looked around. He could see fire
pits and altar in different parts of the woods. Charred
infant bones were illuminated in the moonlight. Josiah remembered his
father coming here often. He had lost brothers and sisters
to these wretched rituals. Looming over the charred ground were

(07:14):
large twenty foot wood altars to Moloch. A righteous anger
filled Josiah as he peered up at it. How many
innocent lives were given for this false God. How many
children burned in these forests, all for the vain pleasure
of wicked men. Josiah could hardly stand it. Some of
the altars were much older than others. It was Solomon

(07:37):
himself who first erected altars in the high places. Josiah
gestured to his men, and they tore down the pillars.
They crushed them and burned them. Then they went into
the small shrines and filled them with dead men's bones
to defile it. Josiah wanted to make sure that no
man or woman would come to this place for worship again,

(07:59):
so he could not simply destroy these shrines. He had
to make the ground itself unclean. Josiah descended down from
the high place back into the city. There he lay
in his bed, praying for the Lord to spare him.
In his people, Don's light was covered from the lingering
smoke of burning asher poles and ceremonial brothels. Yet Jerusalem

(08:21):
seemed cleaner than it had ever been before. Priests were
making sacrifices in the temples, and people were freely entering
into the temple's gates to worship. Men who had made
a living corrupting the minds of young people were gone.
Families were restored to one another, Broken marriages were beginning
to mend, and a selfless culture was beginning to blossom.

(08:42):
It was then when Josiah restored the Passover feast as
a national tradition. It had been forgotten with the age
of wicked kings. Yet Josiah brought it back as a
reminder that God is the source of true freedom. After
Josiah's period of reform, he marched into battle against Egypt
to protect Judah from further harm. The two armies raged

(09:04):
against one another, and Josiah leaped into battle with his men.
Josiah was not a mighty man of war like his
ancestor David. He was a gentleman, but noble and filled
with courage. Nekko, the king of Egypt, spotted Josiah from
the other end of the battlefield. Neko rode through the
enemy lines, toppling Judaeans in his way. Neko held his

(09:26):
spear high and sent it whistling through the air. Before
Josiah had a chance to even see it, the spear impaled.
Josiah's heart stopped beating before he could even hit the floor.
Thus ended the rule of Josiah. Never had there been
a more righteous king before him. He pursued righteousness and

(09:47):
loved his people. Yet all men must face their end,
So Josiah was buried with his ancestors.

Speaker 3 (09:59):
Today. Scripture passage is a fantastic scripture when king Josiah
gathers the people for a tremendous, momentous occasion. The Book
of the Law of Moses, God's perfect word of instruction
and guidance to his people, has been discovered. But this
was no museum relic. This was the living word of God,

(10:21):
the word of God without error, inspired by God himself,
which is the key to living right before the Lord
and others. Josiah knew that people needed to hear the
word of God. Like David, the Psalmus and the King.
His delight was in the Law of the Lord, and
if the people would only hear it and read it
and open their hearts, healing could begin. In Judah, God's

(10:46):
Law expresses God's love, his incredible love for his people
to protect them and to provide for them. It was
how Israel and Judah were set apart from all the
nations of the world. The Word of God is how
the Jewish peace people became the people of God. After
reading the Book of the Covenant, Josiah renewed his promises

(11:06):
with God as we read in Second Kings twenty three
and verse three. And the King stood by the pillar
and made a covenant before the Lord 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 perform the words of this Covenant that were written
in this book, and all the people joined in the

(11:29):
Covenant don't miss this. Just as an evil king turns
his people away from God, a righteous king who seeks
the Lord shepherds God's people back to the Lord. It's
a spiritual principle for all of us. As parents, we
are to live godly lives and serve as an example

(11:50):
to our faith for our family. As pastors and church leaders,
as national leaders and governmental leaders, we are to turn
from our sins. We are to renew our hearts always
before the Lord, and call people to follow the Lord obediently.
But Josiah knew that this was just one part of

(12:10):
the process. Evil needed to be rooted out and the
land rid of the idolatry that had plagued the people
for so long. He had already torn down these evil
altars in the city and destroyed symbols of pagan gods.
But the country was large, and in the shadows of
the forest were altars and idols hiding, waiting to seduce
people away. From the One True God. Again, these were

(12:33):
demonic altars that needed to be destroyed. He sent his
men through the woods, taking down the places where these
horrible evil things happened. Places where women and children were
offered to bloodthirsty gods, shrines that trapped men and women
with empty promises and powerless deities. What a lesson is

(12:53):
this for us to learn? Though you may not have
an altar or an idol in your life, often dark
and hidden places where temptations lurks that demand our attention
that we need to destroy. If we are wise as
Josiah was, we will pray for the cleansing fire of
God's spirit to burn through any of these dark places

(13:16):
in our lives that threaten to rob us of the
joy of the Lord. Josiah was truly committed to cleansing
the land, and when the work was done, he called
the people to a celebration that reminded them of how
God is all about releasing the captives and freeing his
people from slavery. They observed the passover, glorifying God for

(13:36):
their new found freedom. Our reading ends with the end
of a life very well lived. Josiah, the most righteous
king in Judah, ultimately died in battle. Never in all
of his years did he stray from seeking the Lord.
This does not mean that he was a perfect man,
but he was God's man, and God had his heart

(13:58):
to his last day. Dear God, we thank you for
good King Josiah, for his life and his legacy. We
also pray that we will live for you to our
last day till our very last breath. That we will
live in obedience to you and follow you all the
days of our lives until you take us home to

(14:19):
be with you forever. Thank you for the strength of
your spirit to do this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank
you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
I'm pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Let me encourage
you to download Theprey dot com app and always make
Bible reading and Bible study a priority in your life

(14:40):
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(15:02):
dot org. God bless you,