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Chronicles 34 reminds me of the process we go through in our own
spiritual maturation. All of us were once babies spiritually. As we
experience God’s tender mercies, we are changed. See if you
recognized your own “age” as we read. The chapter begins,
“Josiah
was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem
thirty-one years. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord…
not turning aside to the right or to the left“.
Young children are open to learning. Notice by his teen years the
King is searching on his own.
“In
the eighth year of his reign (now
16),
while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father
David“.
I believe we all have a built in yearning to know God, but without
guidance, we can be deceived. The next phase is the “do good
things” phase, a time of personal effort to do the right things.
“In
his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high
places… he tore down the altars and the Asherah poles and crushed
the idols to powder and cut to pieces all the incense altars
throughout Israel“.
Outwardly he did all he could. “In
the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign“,
now in his twenties, the king began to expand his impact, “to
purify the land and… to repair the temple of the Lord his God“.
Lots
of young adults get very busy of activities and causes. In this case
the king began a “Save the Temple” campaign. Josiah
“went
to… the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought
into the temple of God, which the Levites who were the doorkeepers
had collected from… the entire remnant of Israel… for the
buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to fall into ruin“.
As a side note, this was all done to honor God and “The
men did the work faithfully“.
In the process of honoring God, “Hilkiah
the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord that had been given
through Moses“.
Their society had gotten so far from God they did not even have
God’s Word available. (Sound familiar?) Listen to what happens
when someone “discovers” the Word of God. They read it, and
share it.”I
have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord… He gave
it to Shaphan… And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the
king“.
When we actually hear God’s Word applied to us, we react. “When
the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes“.
The king realized how far he and those he ruled had strayed from the
will of God.
The
king did not stop there. He continued to desire to know God more
completely. “Go
and inquire of the Lord for me… about what is written in this book
that has been found“.
He recognized righteousness of God. “The
Lord’s
anger that is poured out on us because our fathers have not kept the
word of the Lord; they have not acted in accordance with all that is
written in this book“.
God spoke through a prophetess, “because
you humbled yourself before me and tore your robes and wept in my
presence, I have heard you, declares the Lord. Now I will gather you
to your fathers, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not
see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place and on those
who live here“.
The Bible speaks of a time of tribulation in the end times. But I
believe, like the king, those who accept Salvation by faith will be
snatched up out of the earth before the judgment. 1 Thessalonians
4:16 says, “For
the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command,
with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and
the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still
alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air“.
Notice the king desired to share the Word with everyone, “Then
the king called together… all the people from the least to the
greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the
Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord“.
Finally, the Student became the teacher. After the king’s
example, “Then
he had everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin pledged themselves to it;
the people of Jerusalem did this in accordance with the covenant of
God“.
Have you found God’s Word for yourself?