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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