10/08/2012 - The Word of God shook Josiah

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Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, 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 took a stand for the covenant.

II Kings 23: 3

Josiah began to rule at the age of eight and he died relatively young after he had taken over the throne for thirty one years. He was so used in the great revival among the people of God that, in The Bible, it is written that there was no other king who would be converted to The Lord with such intensity, with all his soul and with all his strengths, according to all the Law of Moses not after him did any arise like him. (II Kings 23: 25).

The writings in the Book found during the restoration of the temple which was subsequently read by Shaphan, the scribe, was “The straw that broke the camel’s back” for Josiah, the king, causing him to cleanse the land of the people of God of all its spiritual filth (II Kings 22:8). When a servant of The Most High is touched by that Word they must put into action immediately afterwards what they reckon The Lord wants them to do. Having such divine wisdom in mind they will then be able to fulfil what they had been told.

Since Salomon’s slip-up, the Israelites were ruled by kings who gave themselves into spiritual dissolution. So, in the land of the people of God, the devil began being worshiped and served as he wished. The truth is that some kings of Judah did serve The Most High, but others did not pay any notice to The True God. For instance, the sentence of The Lord saying that He would not spare Judah came during the ruling of the ungodly Manasseh.

How sad and serious is what is going on with many families who have been helped by The Gospel: it seems that some people are bewitched by Mammon considering that all they are looking for are riches. How can someone forget what God has done for them? Tragic will be the end of those who give themselves to dissolution; adultery and other practices as evil as those; after all, “everything that man plants that he will also reap” (Galatians 6: 7 b).

Those who live their lives without the divine presence are missing a great deal. That is the reason why Josiah called up his people and than he made an allegiance before The Lord based on what is written in The Holy Book: they would walk with God with all their heart and all their soul. Now, no allegiance will ever be accepted by The Almighty if it is not for man to walk by Him. Therefore, the people of Israel were committed to take attitudes based on that covenant and, in doing so, the prophecy which had been handed out about one hundred and fifty years before, by the prophet who, later on, was killed by a lion, was fulfilled (I Kings 13). When they took out the bones of the priests to burn on the altar done by Jeroboam – the altar which the prophet had said would be profaned with the burning of the bones of the priests – the king did not allow anybody to touch the tomb where the bones of the prophet killed by the lion was lying (II Kings 23: 16 – 18). It is a good thing to respect the memory of those who are used by The Lord!

In Chirst, with love,

R. R. Soares