Amen, so in chapter 1 there the Bible reads Josiah was 8 years old when he began to rain and he rained 31 years in
Jerusalem and his mother's name was Jedediah the daughter of a
Adia of Boscath and he did that which is right in the sight of Lord and he walked and all the way of David his
Father and notice this phrase here
And he turned not a sign to the right hand
Nor to the left and that's a phrase you often will see there when it's talking about a good king or somebody who did that
Which is right
it'll say that you know they they did all the things that David their father did or whoever their father did they walk in the
ways of Lord and they did not turn to the right hand nor to the left and
What I get from that and really this could be a whole sermon in of itself is that you know
There's there's a right way, and then there's wrong ways, okay?
There's a right way
And then there's wrong ways right because the right way would be to walk in all the way of David his father all the way
Of David his father, but there's that right way. There's that narrow path
There's the way that we ought to go in he did not turn on to the right hand or to the left
So there's a right way, and then there's multiple different wrong ways
And this is you know something we have to keep in mind in the Christian life
Is that there's more than one way to mess up your life in the Christian life in life in general?
You know we could have one thing down. We could have something really nailed down
We're good in this area, but if we're not careful. You know we might end up messing up somewhere else
It's it's good that we don't turn to the right hand
But we have to also be careful if we don't turn to the left hand either
We have to stay in that good and right way and walk there in we can't turn to the right or to the left
Okay, so there's more than one way to mess up. Okay, and if you would go over to Ephesians chapter number five
I'll turn over there with the Ephesians chapter number five and begin of course a very familiar passage
We have to be vigilant on all fronts
You can't just have this one thing down in the Christian life, but Christian life is composed of many different things
You know that's why it's important to be in church
So that you can get the all the counsel of the Word of God
That's why it's important to be
reading your Bible and to be praying and at having the Lord lead you and guide you in your own devotions and
Learning instructing all the things of God not just figuring out one doctrine not just figuring out one thing that you really are into
They're making sure that you're not turning the right hand or to the left
Okay, because there's more than one way to mess up. You know some people can get really into you know end times Bible prophecy and amen
That's that's always exciting stuff and they can become experts in that they can become experts on you know
The the reprobate doctrine they can become experts in all these kind of hot-button issues in our society all these really just you know
Exciting things out of the Word of God, you know, they're real careful about not turning the right hand
But then they live leave off the left, you know
They're not you know shoring up other things like church attendance like tithing like having a good marriage like raising their children
You know the more nuts and bolts the more just day-to-day just kind of stuff you have to sometimes grind out in life
You know, there's not gonna be a lot of times in life where your thorough knowledge of end times
prophecy is going to probably
You know apply and alleviate some thing in your life or give you some practical wisdom in your day-to-day life. It's all good
It's all all scripture is profitable for doctrine, right? We understand that but you know, there's some things in the Word of God that are more
You know
practical okay that are gonna help us in a more day-to-day way to live our lives as we ought to so we don't want
To be these imbalanced people. We don't want to be people that got the you know
We're not going down the right hand, but then we're real negligent about going down the left
No, it's it's neither. We want to make sure we're in the right way
Okay, and in order to do that, you have to be vigilant, right? You have to be vigilant on all
Fronts if you look there in Ephesians chapter number five. It says in verse 15 see them that you walk
Circumspectly and circumspectly meaning around think of you know to like circumnavigate the globe you would go around the globe, right?
So that's kind of what that that word means
Circumspectly meaning around okay walk, you know what see that you walk circumspectly not as fools
I don't think he's saying walk in a circle, you know
It's not saying just turn around or spin or something like that
What he's saying is you should have your head on a swivel and probably all some people probably heard that expression
You know, you're kind of going out in the world about your business
You should be somebody's kind of paying attention. What's going on around you
But spiritually, you know, we should also be vigilant. We should be careful. We were you know, we're saying oh, there's that right?
There's that right path. There's that right hand
I don't want to go down that way
But then we you know get so fixated on not going down that way we could end up accidentally going down to the left hand
You know
We got to make sure we are being vigilant on all fronts if we're gonna stay on that right and narrow way
We have to make sure that we're walking circumspectly looking about
Seeing what area of our life maybe is lacking maybe where we could improve things
Maybe where we could tighten some things up in our lives
Maybe some places where we've got inconsistent or maybe just frankly things we've never started at all
You know and and that's one thing that we're supposed to do
you know as preachers of the Word of God is just to preach the whole counsel of God and
Eventually, you know if you're here long enough something's gonna come along and just kind of say yeah
That's it right there and it's gonna hit you and you're gonna say that's what I need to work on
That's where I an area I need to improve in
We need to make sure that we're not turning the right hand to the left that we're walking circumspectly
Notice here at the end of that verse not as fools
But as wise so to be somebody who's not vigilant to be somebody who is not, you know vigilant in all fronts
You know being mindful of the right hand and also of the left is to be a fool
It's a foolish way to live to just go through your life, you know thinking that you know, you've got this down
You must be good to go right and this some people this is how they live their lives and I want to get to her
far ahead of myself, but
The point is this in the opening is that we don't want to be people who just fix our gaze on one point
You know we get one thing down
We got we got this area right and we just kind of we figure that's it all done
You know, that's not the Christian life. The Christian life is a continual process of having to get better
Sometimes it's having to go back and restart things or you know pick things up where we left them off
It's having to go back and fix things. You know, there's constant maintenance, you know, and there's this constant building one line upon another
We have to make sure that we're vigilant in order to in order to do that, you know salvation is
Pretty much, you know some people that's that's the one thing they get right in the Christian life. They get salvation, right?
Okay, but then that's it and if you would go over to Ephesians chapter number two Ephesians chapter number two
You know what's funny about that is you know you getting saved is no big
It's a big deal that you got saved obviously we're new creatures in Christ, you know, we're gonna we're gonna
It's an amazing thing to be born again
But it's no big deal in a sense that you didn't do anything
You know what it you're like, well, I got saved. It's like big deal, you know as far as like, okay
What do you want a cookie?
You know, you didn't do anything to earn that you didn't do anything on your part except believe the gospel
You basically did the easiest thing there is in the Christian life and you got saved
Honestly, that's like the easiest thing. It's like it's as easy as drinking water
It's as easy as you know, eating a piece of bread
I've seen some of you eat and it's been more of a struggle for some than others, but I was a little joke
I'm just kidding, you know
That's just like that's like a little tiny baby step when it comes to you living the Christian life
And some people can say well I got saved I got that one thing right they got they get fixated on this one point
You know, but then they end up going down the right hand they end up going down the left hand because they're not
Walking circumspectly. They're not thinking about how they're gonna live the rest of their life the things that they're going to
Have to be mindful of in order to live a life that is pleasing unto the Lord
You know, we have other duties to perform in Christ
You know our Christian life think about it when you're saved you're what born again, okay, that's just the beginning
You know when we have a child come in the world when a child is born, we don't just say well, that's it
Well, congratulations, you know, that's it. Life's over now. No life has just begun
There's a whole life laid out in front of that newborn baby. It's the same way for us spiritually
No, we're saved we're born again
There's this whole spiritual life
That needs to be lived and if we're not careful if we're not vigilant if we're not considering the right hand and the left
You know, it might not be said of us as it was of Josiah that we walked in the right way of our father
Okay, if you look there in Ephesians chapter number two verse eight
It says for by grace you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God not of works
Let's say man should boast
But notice verse 10 for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works
Which God that God which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them, okay
Meaning this that God has foreordained. Hey when you get saved by grace through faith now
There's works that I want you to walk in there's things that I want you to do as a child of God
Okay, and those things aren't automatic, you know when you get saved the sealing of the Holy Spirit
Automatic you're sealed on the day of your redemption
You're never gonna lose that but that doesn't mean you're automatically gonna become a Bible reading read Oh reader
automatically start attending church on a regular basis automatically start to fulfilling your role as
You know a husband or a wife or a father or a mother as a child as a you know
employee all these areas that
The Bible touches every area of her life. You're not gonna automatically live up to those works that God has foreordained for us
Unless we intend to it's not gonna happen by accident
It's not just gonna happen. You're not gonna stumble into the first life
Sorry, everyone in the back there
This is our high-tech PA system here. So here we go
Is this thing still on? All right
We're not gonna automatically do all these things. These are things that we're gonna have to work on in the Christian life
These are things you're gonna have to be vigilant about you're going to walk circumspectly
And make sure you're not veering off into the right hand veering off into the left hand. You got to keep it
On the straight narrow
You know salvation is just the beginning
God has given us all these other things and I'm gonna narrow in on some things keep something in Ephesians
But go back to where we were in 2nd Kings 22 there
There's some failures in Josiah's day that we see among the people that he's living amongst
In Josiah's day the men the spiritual leadership and the men of his day had failed at this point, okay
Look there in verse 3 it says and it came to pass in the 18th year of King Josiah that the king sent
Shaphan the son of Azaliah the son of the shalom the scribe to the house of the Lord saying
Go up to Hilkiah the priests that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of Lord
Which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people?
So it's kind of it's kind of a strange story when you think about it's not like
You know the worship the Lord has disappeared at this point, you know, it's still going on
Obviously, there's people
You know the the keepers of the door are taking the silver from the people that are coming to the temple
So there's this worship that's taking place
But notice here that
It's just kind of a strange story if you continue on to me that says and let them verse 5 delivered on the hand of the
Doers of the work that have the oversight of the house of the Lord and let them give it to the doers of the work
Which is in the house of the Lord to repair the breaches of the house under the carpenters and the builders and the masons to buy
The timber and hewn stone to repair the house
how be it there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand because they dealt faithfully and
He'll kind of the high priest. So the high priest is still there
So you have the month the people coming and giving the silver you have
You know the doers of the work you have people that have the oversight the high priest even is even there you have he said
Out to shape and the scribe you even have the scribes there
I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. He's found the Bible
So you have all this religious observance going into all this religious work going on the house of God is there
But then the high priest is saying I found this book of the law
Like me inferring that it was gone that they somehow they misplaced the Bible
Isn't that crazy to think about it's just it's kind of a crazy story when you think about there's all these
You know worship of the Lord going on without the Bible. It's like these like oh I found this book. I
Have found the book in the house of the Lord and he'll tie it gave the book to shape in and he read it
Okay, so you have all these elements there for the worship of the Lord. Obviously the house was in disrepair
They had to repair the breeches
There were some things they had to work on but you had all the major players you have scribes
You have the high priest you have the people there's offerings, but what's the one thing that they're missing here?
They says well, I have found the book of the Lord indicating that they had lost it
They'd lost track of the Bible. They lost it it where in the house of the Lord
I mean, it's like under his nose like what where do we put the book of the law?
Hmm, where could that have gone?
You know, is it in the upper pool? Is it some gate somewhere?
Did someone take it to Samaria and lose it there? Where did that Bible go?
You know, it's like oh, maybe we should check in the temple
Maybe we should check in the house of the Lord of all the places that you could find the Bible. It's in church, right?
Meaning this it was where it belonged right, but he wasn't okay, you know
The Bible was there, you know, the the law was there, but he was not
And this is a failing a failure among the men at that date
I'm failure among not just men but also the spiritual leadership and look we see this today and churches all across this land
Don't we?
You know spiritual if he looked at them, you know, there'd be holes in their wall. They'd have a bunch of breeches
They'd have you know, the things would be falling apart and there would be people there who don't have the Word of God
I mean, there's a lot of other things maybe going on
They've got the smoke and the mirrors and the songs and though they're what you know out there waving out
They're waving their armpits for Jesus, you know airing out there the Holy Ghost or whatever
You know, they're out there just having a good time
Singing the same song, you know
Same lyrics repeatedly for 20 minutes on end and anyone who's been to these type of churches knows what I'm talking about
You know, you get tired. You can take a break and get yourself a coffee in the lobby. It's only five bucks, right?
You go buy some coffee, you know, it's these fun houses
There's a lot maybe something going on, but what's missing is the law, right?
And it's not even that they're missing the physical book like that back here in Josiah's day
They were missing the literal physical book. That's what they found
I mean, they might even have a King James probably not that's a bit of a stretch there, right?
But they don't even have you know, even if they had the Word of God
They wouldn't want to touch it with a 10-foot pole today
They certainly aren't going to turn to the law a lot of places. They're not going to turn to certain passages and you know
Genesis judges Deuteronomy
Leviticus they're not going to touch any of that stuff because it's not going to be popular
So this is a failure in the spiritual leadership of that day it's a failure among the men of that day
What I you know what I really want to kind of drill down and get into the tonight with this story
Is that you know men are to be the spiritual leaders, okay?
Obviously women are spiritual leaders too in their homes with their children and things like that
But the burden the responsibility for spiritual leadership falls squarely upon the shoulders of men, okay?
And there's just you know towards the end we see that there's hold of you know, this prophetess that is referred to you know
But that's an indication that men are again dropping the ball that they're not doing what they should be doing
Men should be leading their homes spiritually if you're still in Ephesians look at chapter number five in verse 22
It says wives submit unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. How is a wife to submit unto her husband as
unto the Lord
You know so what degree should a wife be submitted to her husband as she would submit unto the Lord
There's a popular message. There's another one. You're never going to hear in the you know the the Chuck E. Cheese Church
Verse 23 for the husband is the head of the wife
Even as Christ is the head of the church, and he's the savior of the body
Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be under their own husbands and everything
You know a lot of times
We'll turn this passage and really get after the ladies say yeah
See just as much as the church here supposed to be subject subject unto the Christ you ladies
Are supposed to be subject on your husband's and amen, that's that's what the Bible says
But you know it's really easy to preach that and not also preach that means men that you are responsible for
Leading your family you are responsible for the spiritual condition of your home
Because there's this cut. There's this kind of this
Connotation out there. There's this idea out there that people think sometimes that you know religion or going to church
It's kind of this feminine thing. It's not a masculine thing to go to church
And honestly you know the state of some churches
I could see why some people might feel like that
when they see the pastor getting up there in a pair of skinny jeans and everything else and
Talking all feminine. You know churches some churches have been definitely you know feminized
You know they've become a feminine okay, but you know the Bible is not a feminine book
God is a man the you know and this certainly is no feminine church. You know we've got it old-fashioned
Pulpit we got a man behind the the pulpit preaching the King James Bible right down the line
You know, but that's not the majority of that's out there, right
That's most churches aren't like that you know and there's this idea
That's kind of gotten out there that you know church is just for soft people
It's just for it's something the wife likes to do you know it's something that my wife will go do she'll take the kids
And it's something that she does
But you know that's not what the Bible teaches the Bible teaches that men are responsible for leading their homes spiritually
They can't just pass that off on the under their wives and say well. You know you you you do the spiritual part
I'm just gonna make money
You know it's actually both. You know we have to be the breadwinners
We got to bring home the bacon, but we also you know physically
But we also have to bring back to bring home the bacon spiritually, too
We have to put some spiritual meat on the table as well as the physical meat it all falls on our
On our shoulders as men
You can't fail in Syria. I mean is that not what it's saying here. He says in verse 25 of Ephesians 5
Husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it
You know Christ was our is our head Christ gave himself for the church
Christ cared for the spiritual well-being of us and we as husbands are to love our wives even as Christ loved the church and
Sacrifice ourselves for it and not just you know say well. Hey, that's your that's your thing you want to go to church
That's your thing. That's fine. You want to read the Bible the kids. That's fine and look obviously
certain responsibilities are going to
Be handed off onto the wife simply because of the fact that dad
Isn't going to be there to teach the instruct the Bible you know several times throughout the day
You know moms can do that wives can do that they can have Bible times with the children that my wife does that daily
She has a Bible time with the children
Teaches them you know the the basic things out of the Word of God
But we as God's people go to Deuteronomy chapter number six we as as men should still
Look out for the spiritual well-being of our family for instance. Let's say you know my wife were to stop
You know having devotions with the children
You know it would be wrong of me to say oh, that's that's fine. You know if you don't want to teach you kids the Bible
No
It's just kind of a nice thing to do I'd say no these kids need to learn the Bible
You know and I obviously I can't stop what I'm doing every day to do that
We can get involved to a certain degree if we want to but you know dad's out working nine-to-five or whatever
You know mom might have to be the one to pick up the slack there and teach the Bible
but it's dad's responsibility to make sure that's getting done and
Not only that we as men should be looking for opportunities
You know look for the teachable moment right to instruct our children in the ways of the Lord
And it's not just a designated time
You know people like to just kind of say well
It's we're gonna talk about the Bible for 15 minutes a day
You know we're gonna go to church once or twice a week, and then that's it you know that that's not the Christian life
This and listen that's how people get off on the right hand or the left hand because they're not being vigilant
They don't understand that you know we have to constantly
Be looking for opportunities to teach the Word of God by our example and through instruction and things of that nature look at
Deuteronomy chapter number 6 verse 4 here
Oh Israel the Lord our God as one Lord and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart with all thy soul
With all thy might and these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart and thou shalt teach them
Whenever you feel like it thou shalt teach them when it's convenient thou shalt instruct them and teach them
You know if it's something that you're into you know if that's your lifestyle. No it says you shall teach these things diligently
You're gonna you're gonna be diligent you're gonna make it you're gonna be purposeful you're gonna be
Consistent you're gonna be diligent and teaching these things unto thy children and shall talk of them when thou sittest in thine house
But and that's it
You know just sit down for a few minutes every day, and then that's it and as soon as Bible times over
We don't think about the Lord. We don't talk about the Lord. We're done with the Lord
No when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way and when thou liest down
And when thou risest up, I mean, I think he just covered everything right
It's sitting down. It's right when you're walking when you're lying down when you get up
It's just from the time you go to bed to the time you know you wake up you live your life
You're walking you're sitting you're going by the way you're teaching and diligently instructing
until you lay your head down, and then you get a break while you're sleeping and
Thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes
And thou shalt write them upon the posts of the house and on thy gates
You know these things we need to not just write them up on the posts of our house
Not just put them on the wall not just have a nice little framed picture of our favorite Bible verse
But these things have to be in our heart if we intend to teach them diligently
meaning we have to keep these things in front of us and this is the
Responsibility of men obviously it's thou meaning men and women
but men are responsible for the spiritual well-being of
Themselves of their homes and in Josiah's day even as a nation right who dropped the ball in Josiah's day
It was the men
Because that's whose responsibility it was and look when when when men skirt this responsibility
You know it makes you wonder how much they really love the Lord
right
because you know that's where I think an unwillingness to do this a lot of times stems from an
Unwillingness to lead spiritually stems from a lack of love for God
You know my opinion. I mean isn't that why he starts out verse 5 and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart
Look if we love God
And then we're gonna want to obey his commandments if we love God the way we're supposed to love God
It just seems that it would follow that we would want our children and our wives to do the same
We would want to lead them in the things of God
We would want to diligently teach them and instruct them the things of the Word of God
And not just you know well. You know the preacher said I got to do it
Well, you know the Bible says it's my responsibility look if it's if we're struggling in this area
We ought to ask ourselves is how much do we really love the Lord?
You know what's the what's our love like what is what is quenching that love potentially?
What is you know a squelching out that love for God in our lives?
What cares of this world are creeping in and choking out the Word of God in our hearts that is making us unfruitful
This is the type of stuff that we have to walk circumspectly about and not as fools that we have to be wise
Redeeming the time because the days are evil
You know we have to be wise about these things we have to think about these things
We have to keep them in front of us, or we're gonna wind up going to the right
we're gonna end up going off the left I
Got to move on with the story though, let's go back to 2nd Kings 2nd Kings chapter number 9
So we have Shay fan here and he's
He's you know commissioning the repairs of the house of God and he'll hire the high priest
He says unto Shay fan describe
I found the book of the law verse 8 where the house of Lord and he'll kaya gave the book to Shay fan
And he read it
And it says in verse 9 and Shay fan the scribe came to the king and brought the king word again and said
Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house
and they had delivered in the hand of them to do the work to have the oversight of the house of the Lord and Shay fan the
Scribe showed the king saying he'll kaya the priest has delivered me a book and Shay fan read it before the king
And it came to pass and the king had heard the words of the book of the law that he rent his clothes
So this is like he's not it's like he's hearing this for the first time
You know, he's picked up some things, you know from Manasseh his his grandfather there's some things that have been passed along
He's learned some things about worshiping the Lord to some degree
But he doesn't understand everything about what it means to love the Lord and to worship God
Yeah, it's like he's hearing this the first time and he's hearing these words and when he hears what he what's being read to him
You know, it's makes him in his heart and he ends up renting his own clothes, you know
That's a that's how they used to show, you know, the fact that they were upset about something
You know, they would tear their clothes
You know and not because there were Hulk Hogan or something, you know, they're getting them
I know it was because back then obviously clothing was very hard to come by, you know
And if you're if you see somebody renting your clothes back then
You'd say this person's upset about something. They're so upset that they're you know, inflicting, you know
I won't say bodily harm, but they're doing damage to their own personal well-being their own goods, right?
This is just you know a reaction that he has when he hears the Word of God and
he rents his clothes it says and
it says in verse 12 and the King commanded he'll kite the priest and
Hike him the son of Shaphan and act bore the son of Micaiah
Micaiah and Shaphan the scribe and asa hiya a servant of the king saying so he gets these men together, right?
He hears the Word of God and he gets these guys together
It says go ye inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all
Judah now again, this goes back to my point
I'm making that it's the responsibility of men to lead spiritually, right?
Because he's not he doesn't just say go inquire the Lord for me not for my sake on my behalf
Because of the things that he's heard right he's hearing from the Word of God and he's hearing we as a nation have failed
We are not doing what we're supposed to be doing
He's inquiring because he's taking on the spiritual
Responsibility that is his for the people and for all Judah concerning the words of this book that is found
So again, it's an example of somebody who understands that spiritual leadership is the man's responsibility
It cannot just be pawned off on the wife. It can't just be skirted, you know for for others
We have to take responsibility for this
I
Notice he goes on and says for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us
Because our fathers have not hearkened under the words of this book again
It's our fathers that have failed not, you know, boy mom. Mom dropped the ball. All these ladies didn't get it, right
No, it's our fathers the men of our society the men that came before us that have dropped the ball
They're the ones that are being held responsible here
That's why there's the wrath of God is kindled against us because of our fathers
And they have not done what to do according to that which is written
concerning us
so he'll tie the priests verse 12 14 rather and a high come and act board shape and and as a higher went on to
Hold up the prophetess the wife of Shalom the son of Tikva the son of Harhas keeper of the wardrobe now
She dwelt in Jerusalem in the college and they communed with her
So notice he doesn't say go to her right? He doesn't say hey go find hold up down at the college
Okay, he just says go inquire for me
He gets these guys to say, you know, you guys I've been around longer, you know
The who's who's in place where you know, what's up go find out what's going what do we need to do?
Go go talk to somebody go inquire and they just instinctively go to this woman this prophetess hold up and they communed with her
Because they already know that you know, it's the high priest who found the book. He's no use
He's not gonna he just found it. He's probably hopefully gonna get a read through it once
You know, he's no help either our fathers have already filled the men have already dropped the ball and you know
Here's the thing and I said this so many times is that power?
Authority does not operate in a vacuum if men don't do the job. They're supposed to do women will naturally step up and do it
Maybe not to the full degree that men can do it and maybe you know grudgingly maybe not because they want to but simply because
They have to because somebody has to do the job. Somebody has to
You know make sure that there's the bills get paid that the children get clean that you know
The work gets done that needs to be done. Okay
So they're they just know hey, well, we can't go to the other men. They've dropped the ball. Let's just go talk to hold up
The prophetess
Now it says there and I'm gonna touch on this real quick because some people can get confused
It says she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college
now obviously today when we think of college we think of you know, the dictionary definition of
Educational institution of higher learning right like the university that we have here the college, right? That's what you would think now
Maybe that's what that was back then. I kind of I don't really think it was
Jerusalem University over there, you know JU
Jew
university, right
Was U of J. I guess J use better because it sounds like you it's ju you right
That I don't think that's what's going on here
Maybe but I think because another definition for college is an organized group of professional people
particular aims duties and privileges
So, I think that's more what's going on here is that it's just when it says college is talking about the organized group of people
With particular duties, right because that's kind of how she's described if you noticed
She's described as wife the wife of Shalom the son of Tikva the son of Harhas keeper of the Wardrobe
It doesn't say she was the keeper of the Wardrobe
It says she was the wife of the man who was the keeper of the Wardrobe. Okay, so you have he's part of this college
There these group of men that are responsible like the high priest
The the ones that are there to do the work in and out of the house of house of God those that are overseeing work
You have this group of people this college of people that are there that are
Organized and have particular duties right in the house of God. They're a college. That's what you would call them
This is just my understanding because I have a hard time believing
It was like a university like we think of it today and you kind of read the context
That's what it seems to be saying at least to me, you know, it's obviously it's a very
Very small point in the Word of God. We don't have to agree on
But I believe that latter definition fits with the context of the details of the story
She's hold up the wife of Shalom who's the keeper of the Wardrobe because you have to remember they're all priestly garments all the all
These different, you know uniforms
They probably had somebody had to wash that you had the priests coming in by course and going out
So they're not just they're probably not taking the clothes home with them
That would you know, they have to make it they would get it there
They would leave it there would get washed
somebody has to do all these practical things someone has to be the keeper of the wardrobe and
All she is holda is just the wife of that man of Shalom the keeper of the wardrobe. That's how I understand it
And you see again, there's this organized group with the scribe the high priest the doers of the work so on and so forth
They all have these duties including Shalom
So that's kind of quick explanation right there of how I understand that word college but
the other thing I want to point out about this passage is when they go to this woman is
That you know and this is an important point to understand too because sometimes we'll get accused of you know
Because we preach the Bible we preach what the Bible says that a woman's place is in the home and that she's supposed to be
Raising children and to be keepers of the home, right? That's what the Bible says
That somehow we're looking down on them or that's a very degrading thing, you know
If we're not if we're not gonna get up and say hey women should be able to just go out there and just you know
Work, whatever career they want and just they can go be the president. They can be a lawyer. They'd be a doctor
You know if we don't affirm that
If we don't agree with that if we don't go along with that then somehow we're degrading women
It's kind of ironic because it's saying you're you know, we don't value women because we don't want them behaving like men
When you think about it
It's like oh we don't believe women are of any value because they because we don't want them to behave like men
So you're saying women are only of any value if they behave like a man they do that which is a man
Look, I get it. We're living, you know in 2023 America. This is gonna happen, you know, obviously we
Look where we're at as a nation as well
You know, it's not exactly going well and why has it gotten to the place where you know, we have all this
Liberalism and feminism that has taken over is the why hat why did that all that happened because men drop the ball
Because men are fathers, you know spiritually when when the feminists started coming around all went coward and said, oh, no, that's fine
You know
That's what the Bible says
But we don't have to read that and hid behind their pulpits and didn't want to preach the Word of God. Okay
I'm trying not to go off on this but my point is this is that
You know just because we say that a woman's place in the home we're not saying that somehow women are inferior
Okay, because one
Housekeeping and raising children as an incredibly difficult job if you're gonna do it, right if you're gonna do it
Well, if you're gonna turn out if you're gonna take on the responsibility of turning out responsible
Productive members of society and not just turn that over to some system to hopefully get that done for you
You
Know that you're taking on that responsibility as a woman you say I'm gonna homeschool my children and turn out, you know an educated
Capable young adult to go out and function in society that that's a huge responsibility
You know and it's it's all it's very hard work to care for young children, you know
It's very hard work to teach and educate children. You know, we're not saying that women are somehow inferior rather the opposite
We're saying they have this very
Specialized skill they have this this job this duty that requires
You know a certain level of ability to be able to perform. It's a very difficult job. Okay
No wonder they don't want to do it
No wonder so many women today would rather go out into the workforce
Right and just say just ship them off. Just send them today the the daycare send them to the the school system
Let them deal with it and and we'll just make a bunch of money and and have two vehicles and whatever
Whatever people are into these days
So again women, you know, they have this very
Specialized job and what we see here with this story is that holda notice the men are coming to her
She's not butting in she's not going up and saying well, I'm gonna show you. Oh, let me tell you what's going on guys
You know, it's not like she stood up and called me. He said, okay
Then sit down. I'm gonna tell you how this they came to her
Right, she's just there in the college. She's at the temple in Jerusalem with her husband going through their course or whatever
You know just doing their duty
Obviously, he's maybe he's from somewhere else and has come to you know
They're coming there and just kind of living there while they're doing their duties and she's there and they and she's just kind of gotten a reputation
Apparently of a woman who has some wisdom
You know women have a lot of wisdom to offer
you know just because we you know a
Wife stays at home and raises children. That does not make her
Stupid or something and I don't know where people get this idea
Like that's what like do we you think that's how we think about our wives that they're dumb
Well, you know, you're not good for anything but staying at home
No rather the opposite, you know, we're saying look you teach the children you educate the kids
You take care of their nutrition you take care of their well-being
That requires wisdom that cries a lot of practical wisdom that quite frankly has gone by the wayside today, hasn't it?
It's kind of place today where you know, we're having to relearn all these things random relearn
You know the basics of nutrition rather relearn, you know how to do all these things that women for generations just knew
They just understood. Oh your child has this symptom. Here's what you need to do. You're try this try to do that
They had all this knowledge. They had all this wisdom. They had all this understanding and
It's kind of gone by the wayside. They have wisdom to share
Practically and in this story they even had she has this
Spiritual wisdom to share, you know women have spiritual insight
Women hat can have spiritual insights, you know, Paul often talks about the women that labored with him in the gospel
You know that they were to be respected and appreciated and looked after
You know, it's not like they were second-rate citizens or something like that
far from it
The reason why it's playing out like this and this story
the reason why when this group of men are sent by the king to go find out what's going on with the word of the
Word of God where they're at say go go go figure out what it is that we need to do
The reason why they have to go to hold of the prophetess is because the men aren't doing the job. They're supposed to do
It's because they failed it's because the men lack the wisdom to understand. Oh, this is what we need to do
Mm-hmm, you know, so thank God that there was a somebody at least with that was there
it's a shame to the men of this day and age of
Josiah's day that there wasn't some man there
It's a shame that the high priest was like found the Bible was kind of like oh, what's this?
You know, it's too bad. He couldn't you know instruct
But they had to go to the woman
Thank God there was someone there
Let's see, where am I at here
so the book is found and they go to her and they get the wisdom from her and
and
She's giving the instruction
And what does she say?
Verse 16 thus sayeth the Lord
Behold, I will bring evil upon this place and upon the habitants thereof even all the words of this book
Which the king of Judah hath right now. She's you know, I wouldn't say she's preaching but man she's ripping some face
You know hold it here is letting him have it
Sweetie you might want to sit down for a second make you some tea
She's just like look God's gonna bring evil upon this place. He's gonna judge this place
I mean she's preaching a lot harder than a lot of men preach today a
Lot of so-called men of God that get it behind a pulpit. They would never even begin to say something like that
They would just say well things are bad
No, it's not good
You know and that's okay
She's like God's gonna bring evil upon this place and upon the inhabitants of there are
You're gonna get it even all the words of this book, which the king of Judah hath read
Oh, yeah, everything you read that's got you quaking in your boots everything that's got you, you know
Scared about what's gonna happen everything that's got you rending your clothes and weeping and and and being afraid
Yeah, that's all gonna happen. Your worst fears are gonna come true. This is the message she's preaching
You know, she's hardcore holda is hardcore, you know, she's just letting it rip
Mmm, and she goes on explains why because they have forsaken me and have burned incense unto other gods
But they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands
Therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place and shall not be quenched like you can't stop it
It's gonna happen. It's too late
Too much has happened too much innocent blood too much idolatry
God's saying I've had enough had your chances. That's it. That's the message that hold those preaching
You know and she's preaching a harder message than a lot of men today are willing to preach in pulpits across the nation
You know, she's and she's just kind of hanging back, you know, just you know
Do you and she it's not like she's surprised by any of this, you know, think about her
She's just kind of she's just this wife
She's there with her husband this group of men comes to her. It's like she already knows all this
She's like this isn't news to me
You know, and she's just kind of they're keeping it to herself. But hey, oh, did you want to know?
Did you want to know what's going on? Well, let me tell you what's going on
God's gonna judge this place and everybody in it and there's nothing you can do about it
Now have a nice day
Wanna cookie, you know
But that's you know, that's you know, she was letting him letting him have it
And again, it's a shame because the men had to go to her because they couldn't find another man who was willing to just tell
Him like it is just preach it the way it is
And it's a shame today when we're in the same situation in our own nation in the same situation in this country
Where you know, there's some godly wife or mother sitting in some pew somewhere that knows more about the Word of God
And the reality of God's wrath and some so-called man of God behind a pulpit
You know, he might have thousands of people coming he might you know
Might have a lot of silver coming into the house of God
There might be a lot of people that are do a lot of work and look busy
But they couldn't tell you the first thing about who God really is. Meanwhile, there's some godly, you know
Housewives and godly mother who's just kind of a hold just kind of sitting back just saying yep
God's gonna burn it all God's gonna judge it and she could probably preach a more hardcore sermon
That's more boldness and more and it's more brave and that's more wisdom to tell it like it is than some
You know coward that gets behind a pulpit with a yellow stripe down his back
He's too afraid of setting people because he might say the wrong thing
So she's just ripping face here he's like this shall not be quenched this wrath is kindled verse 18
It goes on but to the king of Judah, which sent you to inquire of the Lord
Thus shall you say to him thus saith the Lord God of Israel as touching the words which thou has heard
Because thine heart was tender and thou has humbled thyself before the Lord
when thou hurt us what I spake against this place and the inhabitants thereof that they should become a
Desolation and a curse and as rent thy clothes and wet before me. I also have heard thee saying the Lord
There's this great lesson here that even when we're in the midst of a perverse and crooked nation
If our hearts are right with God, God will still show us mercy
You know, God will still protect us God will still hear us God will still be with us I mean
Josiah here. He's in the midst of I mean a spiritually backward nation
They have they don't even they're like, oh, is this the Bible? Oh, we found the Bible
Wow, what you know, what a novel thing. What does it say? Oh
Nothing good. Well, apparently we're in trouble. Well, what should we do? I don't know. Let's go ask hold up
Right, he's in this completely backwards nation spiritually
But because of his reaction because of the fact that he had a tender heart as it goes on and says
Because he humbled himself when he heard those words
You know because of the his attitude the way he reacted to that news. God said you know what I've heard you
and he goes on and says
Verse 20 behold therefore. I will gather thee under thy father's meaning. You're not gonna be taken captive
I'm not gonna allow you to get hauled off into Babylon. You're gonna live out your life here in Jerusalem
You're gonna die and you're gonna be buried with your fathers and thou shall be gathered on that grave in peace
right, you're not gonna it's not gonna be you know, some unnatural death and
Thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I shall bring upon this place
So notice he's saying a part of the mercy that he's gonna extend on him to towards Josiah
Is that he's not going to see all the evil, right?
Because look it's a hard thing to sit there and watch people be judged by God
it's nothing pleasant about that and
Now imagine being a leader and saying well and knowing that's like it's like getting the news
Hey, there's a there's a there's an earth killing asteroid, you know an earth destroyer an
Extinction level event right is that when they say heading towards earth?
You know we're all gonna die
You know that'd be a hard thing just kind of sit back and just know there's nothing you can do about it
And then to see and just know people are gonna suffer right the mercy is getting here is hey
You know what at least you're not gonna see all of it
It's gonna happen, but because of the way you reacted because of your attitude, you know
You're going to be spared from having to watch this play out. That's part of the mercy that God extends towards Josiah
He doesn't say oh, you know what never mind, you know, we won't do that. Well, I'll change my mind
I'm not gonna my wrath all subsided. I'm not gonna pour it out
You know, I'll give you guys another chance. He said no, it's too late. It's gonna happen. I've had enough
You know, I've been waiting a long time for Judah to get right, you know
You didn't get right when you saw what happened to your treacherous sister Israel
And now you know, you're just as worse as bad as they are if not worse
You're worse we saw last week than all the heathen nations that were in this land that you cast out before me
So you're worse than all of them
But you know what Josiah because of the fact that it bothers you because you were disturbed by what you heard you were concerned about
The spiritual welfare of this people. I will spare you from having to see them suffer
He says you'll be gathered and you won't have to see this evil what she's going to bring upon this place
But notice it's because he humbled himself before the Lord
And look if we want to spare the spiritual suffering of those around us
You know if we want to spare people, you know
Unnecessary pain in our lives and we might have to just admit that we failed in some area
You know, it would be a real shameful thing to sit there and watch your family, you know
struggle spiritually
It'd be a real shameful thing for a man to just stand idly by and watch his children go off to the devil
You know what? Just say hey, you know what? I
Know I'm saved I'm going to heaven, you know, my kids are saved
But as far as you know living for the things of God, you know
As far as being in church and being a soul order reading my Bible. I'm just not really into it
You know or you know living a separated life with some standards, you know
It would be a real shame for that to be like
You know Manasseh right two weeks ago or he's just like well as long as it's peace in my days
You know just well as long as everything's good with me and my children end up eunuchs so be it
You know his grandson here actually has a different attitude Josiah, doesn't he he hears about what's gonna happen. He's been living for the Lord
He's not some wicked King, but he hears what's coming and he's he's actually burdened for the future generations
He's actually burdened for what's gonna happen to them
It'd be it'd be a real shameful thing for us as men to drop the ball in our families and just let our families
Suffer spiritually needlessly and look if that's the situation that we're in
Here's the answer humility and you know what humility can do it can admit when it's failed
They can say I'm wrong
I've messed up that goes for any one of us
What any one of us gets out of sorts with God?
Any one of us has kindled the wrath of God in our lives so to speak any of one of us has gotten out of sorts
With the Lord the first thing we need to learn is humility because it takes humility to say I'm wrong
It takes humility to say I'm wrong God's right and want to get right with God, but here's the great thing about humility
Humility, you know, obviously it can emit failure. But in doing that it also what it creates the opportunity for hope
It creates the opportunity for hope humility leads to hope
Look if we can admit we're wrong if just like Josiah here if he could admit look we our fathers have
Dropped the ball spiritually they've messed up
You know, we're backwards as a nation
We don't we're we deserve everything that's coming to us
If they have the humility to admit that then he has the hope of well, I'm gonna go to my grave in peace
I'm not gonna have to see the suffering
Humility admits it's wrong and it what it creates the opportunity for hope. That's why it's important to be a humble person
And be able to be somebody who can admit that you're wrong
That you best up. Okay
So that's kind of a few just a few lessons we can get out of this story tonight
Is that you know, it's men's responsibility to lead their homes to lead in the church to lead us in even in a nation
And when things get out of sorts, you know, you know
It's it's a shameful thing when it's when that responsibility is pawned off or put upon
Women who already have you know another responsibility
It's like hey raise the children and also be the spiritual head of the home
You know just continue to do my do your job and mine as well
That's not fair to the women and it's a shameful thing for us men
and look if that's the case in our home, then we need to be humble enough to admit that and fix it if
It's that case, you know, it'd be great and I'm not holding my breath for old China Joe to get up and say, you know
It turns out the Bible is true, you know, and and we as a nation need to turn to God, you know
That's probably not gonna happen anytime soon
And I doubt they'll ever be any any leader in this country that occupies
The White House that those those words or anything like that ever, you know are uttered from his lips
That hey, we need to get right with God and actually mean it like a Josiah
But you know, it'd be great if it was because that's that's uh, that's what we need to be willing to do with men
admit that you know when the ball has been dropped if the responsibilities aren't being taken care of that we need to be the ones to
do it and
Step up to the plate
That's for every single one of us if we can be humble enough to admit that we're wrong
Then that humility will create an opportunity for us to get right and we can have hope
That God is going to restore us and and and help us. Let's go ahead and pray