(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

We're there in 2 Kings chapter 22 and we're continuing our study through the Kings and so if you have your your Kings chart you'll see where we're at we're actually in to Josiah so we're coming to the very end here so actually we probably only have one or two more sermons dealing with this series and so we already did all the kings of Israel and now we're going we went through all the kings of Judah we're all the way down here at Josiah so we're almost getting into the Babylonian captivity and so next week we'll be doing at least Jehoiakim but I might be doing Jehoiakim one and then Zedekiah the next just because there's kind of two different stories going on with the same thing as far as the Babylonian captivity but we'll see if I have like a an eight line eight page outline for both of them then you know it's gonna be two sermons but anyway so so Josiah he's he reigns for 31 years and he's actually a really good King and so there's definitely a lot of good stuff that we're gonna see with his reign here and we'll just start off here in chapter 22 so you're in second King chapter 22 in verse 1 it says Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem and his mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adah of Boscath and he did that which was right in the side of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left and so what we're gonna see with Josiah is that he's very similar to Hezekiah but we're all he's also very similar to Joash at the very beginning of his reign and so Josiah is actually a very great King and he's gonna mess up at the end of his reign which is kind of a typical thing that happens where you have this good King who's doing great things then he just messes up and does something that he shouldn't be doing and so but Josiah is eight years old when he begins to reign so eight years I mean that's ripe old age there right now obviously that's a very young age to begin to begin you know a reign in the kingdom but remember Ammon was killed right so we had we had Hezekiah then we had Manasseh who reigned for 55 years so Manasseh and obviously he was very wicked kind of like Ahaz his grandfather but then he got humbled himself but then you remember Ammon he only reigns for two years and then there was conspiracy and then his own people ended up killing them and then they end up killing those people that killed Ammon and set up Josiah so so basically Ammon kind of had a premature death if you will so Josiah was only eight years old when he started reigning here but he reigns for 31 years and now look at go to 2nd Chronicles chapter 34 and as you know we'll be going back and forth between 2nd Kings 2nd Chronicles just getting different information in those passages the 2nd Chronicles chapter 34 gives us a little bit of information prior to that 18th year of his reign so there's a lot that goes on in the 18th year of his reign that with that we'll see as far as finding the book of the law and like that's a very famous thing that we'll be looking at the Passover that he does all these different things that happens in 18th year but we see in 2nd Chronicles 34 and verse 3 we see some stuff that's going on before that as far as you know him growing into the Lord and stuff that like that so in verse 3 there says for in the eighth year of his reign while he was yet young he began to seek after the God of David his father and in the 12th year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places in the groves and the carved images in the molten images and they break down the altars of Balaam in his presence in the images and that were on high above them he cut down he cut down in the groves and the carved images and the molten images he break in pieces and made dust of them and strode it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them and he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem and so did he in the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon even unto Naphtali with their Maddocks round about and when he had broken down the altars and the groves and had beaten the graven images into powder and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel he returned to Jerusalem now what you have to understand here because some of this stuff doesn't happen and so after the 18th year okay of his reign notice what it says in verse 3 there well after it says that he he when he in his eighth eighth year of his reign so how old would he be 16 right he's eight years old when he begins reign and eighth year of his reign he's 16 years old so he's just a 16 year old he's a teenager right that's when he started he began to seek after the Lord okay it was eight years in but then it says in the 12th year he began to purge so the key is there is that in the 12th year he's beginning the purge Jerusalem and all that so that started in the 12th year in the 18th year is really where it's gonna like pick up some really big steam because that's when he finds the book of the law they find the book of law in the house of God and so but he even begins he begins purging before that okay and so it's not a contradiction it's not like well when did this happen before the 18th year or after I believe it's giving you all this purging but it's basically just saying this started in the 12th year okay because we're gonna see some other purging that happens after the 18th year of his reign now to get into that going into go back to second Kings chapter 22 second Kings chapter 22 we're gonna get into that with 18th year of his reign so he would be 26 right at this point so he's 16 then he's 26 so you know at this point he's a young man but in verse 3 there of second Kings chapter 22 it says it came to pass in the 18th year of King Josiah that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azalai and the son of Mishulun the the scribe to the house of the Lord saying go up to Hilkiah the high priest that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the Lord which the keepers of the door have gathered for the people and let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work and have the oversight of the house of the Lord 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 unto carpenters and builders and masons and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house how be it that there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand because they dealt faithfully this is like literally reading what happened in Joash's day so the same exact thing happens in Joash's day because if you remember Joash was a child right he was saved from so it's very similar to Joash and the fact that you know he was eight years old you know or seven or eight when he began to rain because remember Athaliah rained for a little bit and he was safe you know Jehoiada saved him from being purged the you know purging all the the children of Athaliah but if you remember Athaliah or Jehoram and Athaliah they they messed up the house of the Lord they desecrated things all that stuff well Joash comes in and repairs all that stuff and I'm not gonna re-preach that whole sermon but Joash you know basically was all about them they're like why haven't you you know fixed the breaches and there's this whole back and forth that's going on there but the same thing that's being said as far as the fact that there was no reckoning made of the money because they dealt faithfully is exactly what was said with Joash it's like the same thing over again but obviously you remember remember that Hezekiah he fixed up the house of the Lord because remember that Ahaz his father had broken things down messed up with the altars all that stuff and he fixed it up then Manasseh came in and Amen so now Josiah is having to do the same thing over again where he's fixing up the house of the Lord fixing up the breaches doing everything they should be doing to get everything back in order so you see this kind of stuff being repeated that's going on there but it the the similarity between him and Joash are very close especially sense of how young they were when they started to reign and then happen to fix up the house of the Lord and I you know that there's a great truth to that and I know I already preached it I don't want to spend a whole bunch of time on that and how you start in the house of the Lord you get you get in the house of the Lord you get that fixed up you get the foundations right and then everything else will take care of itself you know how are you gonna win how you gonna get this world how you turn this world upside down go to church preach the gospel to every creature that's how you're gonna turn the world upside down you get people saved you get them in the church you teach them to do likewise that's how you're gonna change the minds of the world it's not gonna be some political campaign that's out there it's not gonna be some protests it's not gonna be some March it's gonna be preaching the gospel to every creature and getting them in the church and getting them to realize what the word is you know and and there's so much truth to this as far as how's it always start with the house of God you know it's it's always repair the house of God first and everything takes care of itself and I see that with Joash I see that with Hezekiah I see this with Josiah and again I kind of preached on that before so I don't want to really go tread on that again but it is a great truth I think in there now go to you're in 2nd Kings chapter 22 I think still go to verse 8 and we're gonna see that Hilkiah is gonna find the book of the law and so in verse 8 there and this is really just a Bible study there's so much about Josiah that I'm just gonna have to go I'm just going through his his life and just things that he did and and so it's not gonna be maybe this bombastic sermon that you're looking for but we're gonna go through some information as far as what happened here with Josiah and in verse 8 there it says in Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord and Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan and he read it go to 2nd Chronicles chapter 34 that same account that's gonna be said there I always read this I'm like really they just found the book of the law like you know what were you reading like no one's reading the book of the law like oh I found this over here in the corner it was collecting dust but truth of the matter is this is most most Christians today you know where's the Bible oh we got it over here it's it's you know it's a coaster it's just collecting dust listen you can have all the Bibles in the world but if you're not cracking and open and actually reading it's not doing you any good you're not gonna get it by osmosis because it's next to you right you've got to read that thing you got to listen to it however you want to get that information into your mind you need to do that and I think of Christians here is like oh I found I found the book of the law he's okay shouldn't you have already had it you've already been reading it like what in the world is going on but it does show you why the state of Judah was you know why it was so bad with Ammon and Manasseh you know the book of law is just not being opened it's not being read it's not you know no one's no one's hearing the word of the Lord so you know the lack of knowledge but in 2nd Chronicles chapter 34 in verse 14 it says and when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses and Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord and Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan so you know same thing but what I want you to see is that Hilkiah well in in 2nd Kings he was the high priest here it just says he's a priest but obviously high priest would be a priest Hilkiah who's Hilkiah I believe that Hilkiah is actually the father of Jeremiah the prophet go to Jeremiah chapter 1 Jeremiah chapter 1 now if you remember Hezekiah in the days of Hezekiah you definitely had Isaiah right because there's whole chapters in Isaiah about Hezekiah and Zanacharib and all that stuff that's going on with Assyria well Jeremiah started his you know prophecy if you will and his preaching during the time of Josiah okay and obviously he goes past Josiah all the way into where they go into captivity but Jeremiah is a prophet at this time I'm going to prove to you at the 18th year which is where they're at right here Jeremiah is is physically a prophet he's not just a young person or alive but he's actually a prophet at that time in that moment of time that we're reading so in Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse 1 the words of Jeremiah the son of who? Hilkiah of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Ammon king of Judah in the 13th year of his reign so 13th year we're already past that in the story that we're at an 18th year so he's already a prophet at that point but it's Jeremiah's dad that found the book of the law right and and so I just seeing that I love seeing that link you know that family you know of like Hilkiah finds the book of the law and they bring it to Josiah and all that and Jeremiah is obviously a prophet at that time and prophesying there and so go go back to 2nd Chronicles chapter 34 because Shaphan is going to read the book of the law to Josiah so Hilkiah finds it gives it to Shaphan Shaphan takes it and reads it to the king so you kind of get the picture of what's going on here so in 2nd Chronicles chapter 34 and verse 18 then Shaphan the scribe told the king saying Hilkiah the priest have given me a book and Shaphan read it before the king and it came to pass when the king had had heard the words of the law that he rent his clothes and the king commanded Hilkiah and Ahicham the son of Shaphan and Abdon the son of Micah and Shaphan the scribe and Esai a servant of the kings saying go inquire of the Lord for me and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah considering the words of the book of the book that is found for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord to do after all that is written in this book so Josiah it has a very good heart here and we're gonna see that obviously God sees that he has a tender heart but he hears that he's just like rips his clothes he's just like what in the world are we doing like what why haven't we been following this and I love the wording there it says do to do after all that is written in this book and I don't have a written but you can look at Deuteronomy 27 I believe and this makes me think of this this past week Deuteronomy 27 is like all the curses right you know curse would be the man cursed this but look at that last thing that said and Deuteronomy Deuteronomy 27 in verse 26 cursed be he that conformeth not all or confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them and all the people shall say amen and this is actually quoted in Galatians 3 first it is a man that continues not in all things which are written in the book of law to do them because yeah good luck if you're trying to get to heaven by your good works then you're gonna do it all but you know in this fact he's saying you know rats on it because we didn't do it all and that's the keys because throughout these Kings they were do some things you know they would do some things at the book of the law said but they weren't doing at all it really needed to be all or nothing you're either keeping all of it you're doing everything that you should be doing and keeping it to the T or you know the Bible says right there and this is the old covenant obviously where they needed you know do the sacrifices and the feast they need to do all these different things they weren't doing it okay and so I love how he rewards that because you can imagine he picked up on that Deuteronomy 27 and if he's reading the book of Moses what's the last book that he's reading is Deuteronomy right Deuteronomy 34 obviously the last chapter but 27 is pretty close to the end and I can imagine that he just got done hearing the whole first five books of Moses and then he's just like cursed be this person cursed to be this curse would be him that continues not in all things which are written in the book of law to do them and all the people shall say amen and you know I just kind of think about what is going through his mind as he's like what are we doing you know and just thinking about it Hosea chapter 4 and verse 6 that makes me think of this as far as the fact that why is Judah in such a bad place at this point with Manasseh and with Ammon is because of lack of knowledge the Bible says in Hosea chapter 4 and verse 6 my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because thou hast rejected knowledge I will also reject thee that thou shalt be no priest to me seeing that thou hast forgotten the law of thy God I will also forget thy children oh you can imagine why he's saying that because the book of the law is just hiding in the house of the Lord somewhere no one's reading it and I think he'll Chi is the blame here too I mean he's the high priest why wasn't he reading it it only took to the point where they're actually like fixing up the house of the Lord they're like oh by the way as we were cleaning up everything and getting stuff moved around it's like oh we found this box over here and I'm paraphrasing don't take this to the bank you know but there's like this box over here I had to take all the stuff off and here's the book of law what in the world is it doing down there it should be the the first and foremost in the house of the Lord is the Word of God and by the way the Levites part of their job the priests were to teach the Word of God that was their job their full-time job was to go around and they were they lived in different provinces of Israel and Judah and their whole prerogative was they need to teach everybody the Word of God and guess what they got paid for that because they didn't have an inheritance and so you know that's why they got the tithes is to do that and they weren't doing it and today there's a lot of people that are being destroyed for lack of knowledge and you know God forbid that our church would be known for that you know when it comes to coming here and not hearing the Word of God but how many here have said sat in a church and you I think I've sat through a service where not one verse was even mentioned you know it's like story time or something like that and let it not be so I mean we read a whole chapter when we start start off the service but that shouldn't be it you know the the sermon should be just filled with Bible verses and by the way that's all I got written on here is Bible verses and the thing is is that it should be that way it should be the fact that you are expounding the Word of God the whole point of preaching is so that you'd preach the word and that you'd show the sense you know as it says in Nehemiah that they show the sense of the word meaning that you're showing you know when you say does that make sense right you're showing them like how it makes sense with everything else and you know I don't want to hear your poem and you're pretty you know soliloquy at the end of your sermon you know I want to hear the Word of God I want to hear what God has to say on the subject and I don't really care if you're this great or you're this great poem writer or you can make me cry at the end of the sermon you know a lot of times this is emotionalistic stuff that gets pointed out there you have the altar call up here and it's all about making these decisions that no one ever does because they're not actually seeing the Word of God for what it says and it's just like well I need to come out you know come down to the altar and do this and that and it's always this emotionalistic you know call up here usually it's a show to show hey I'm righteous I'm godly I'm coming up here to show that I'm serving God but where's the knowledge at where's the Word of God at and you know this isn't a sermon of why we don't have an altar call but all I have to say is that hey the Bible needs to be in the forefront and what in the world is it not even being mentioned in the house of God and they have to go find it in a corner somewhere so Josiah you know he he rends his garments and he has a good heart about it he's just like we need to inquire to the Lord we need to see what in the world like what God has to say about this you know what do we need to do you know what state are we in are we just doomed you know I can imagine what's going through his head but go to 2nd Chronicles chapter 34 and verse 22 they're gonna go to hold of the prophetess now I had a whole little section here to talk about a prophetess but I just don't have enough time to go into it so that's gonna have to be a sermon for another day dealing with you know prophetesses in the Bible but I did find out you know Miriam was called the prophetess and you have obviously a Deborah the prophetess and and also Isaiah his wife was a prophetess because he went in unto the prophetess and she conceived and there there came mayor shallow hashbaz so if you want to know the longest name in the Bible that's it Isaiah's son so anyway all I say is that it's another sermon for another day getting into that and you know all this but I do believe that this woman does give a legitimate prophecy meaning like he's she's telling the truth I don't believe this is like he's getting wrong information here or anything like that and so but in verse 22 it says in Hilkiah and they that the king had appointed went to hold of the prophetess the wife of Shalom the son of Tikva the son of Hazra keeper of the wardrobe now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college and they spake to her to that effect and she answered them thus said the Lord God of Israel tell ye the man that sent you to me thus said the Lord behold I will bring evil upon this place and upon the inhabitants thereof even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah because they have forsaken me and have burned incense unto other gods that they may that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place and shall not be quenched and as for the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord so shall you say unto him thus said the Lord God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard because thine heart was tender and now this humble thyself before God when thou heardest his words against this place and against the inhabitants thereof and humbled thyself before me and this rend thy clothes and weep before me I have even heard thee also said the Lord behold I will gather thee to thy fathers and now shall be gathered to the thy grave and peace neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place and upon the inhabitants of the same so they brought the king or again so we see here that basically she's giving the condemnation right the condemnation is there as far as the fact that Judah is going to be destroyed now we already knew that was gonna happen because of Manasseh right Manasseh sinned and that pronounced the pronouncement of judgment was already made back when Manasseh sinned and all that stuff but then you know obviously Manasseh humbled himself and so God didn't bring it to pass in his days and then you know Ammon only lived for two years right he only reigned for two years and then you know he died so but it could have very well happened to Josiah's day if he didn't humble himself right because it's gonna happen in his son's day so it's not like it's far off here and we're in 18th year so we're not far from where it's gonna happen we're talking like you know not even just over 20 years or so because it's like the 11th year of Jehoi come that they're taking captive and so it's not far off but what we see with this is that Josiah stays the hand of judgment okay and this is something that you know we need to be thinking about when it comes to our country right because we can get caught up in this you can get we can get very depressed when you look at our country and how wicked it is and you think about the abortion you think about the sodomy you think about all these things that are going on you just get kind of get down there's like odds there's no coming back there's nothing like that listen I'll say this the judgment of God's coming on our country that's gonna happen I mean it's going to happen just as much as when he said that the monastic that was gonna happen on Judah guess what that hasn't changed because in Josiah's day he said this is gonna happen just not in your days and so that's what you need to be thinking about when you're when you're thinking about the fact of you know our country where we're at right now is can we stay the judgment of God for a little bit longer meaning this you know why hasn't God come yet because he waited for the precious fruit of the earth and you know as much as I want the Lord to come and I'm ready for that kingdom you know to me like I you want to just cease from your labors and you want to see Christ reigning amen to that but at the same time I want to see more people saved I want to have more time to win more people to Christ and I know that's God's heart obviously but if a righteous remnant can stay the hand of God and it says that about Israel it says unless you have left us a remnant we should have been in a Sodom and Gomorrah right so what are they saying meaning that if there was no remnant if there wasn't 7,000 men that have not bowed the knee to Baal then he would have completely wiped them out like Sodom and Gomorrah and so guess what I believe we have more than 7,000 people in America and if you want to look I mean you say wow there wasn't 300 million people in Jerusalem at the time granted but you know even if you looked at the you know millions of Christians that are in America if those millions of Christians stood up or even thousands hundred thousand Christians stood up and stood on the Word of God and you say well how are we gonna get all those people that get right with God that are Christians that aren't doing anything how about we win some people to Christ and we'll get them right with God if these other Christians don't want to get right with God because I find that those that get saved end up wanting to do more things for God than those that have been sitting in dead churches their whole lives but I'm all for those that are sitting in those churches to get right with God and start you know getting on fire and and going soul winning but you know so beat if we have to find another generation out there and win that first generation of Christians to the Lord so that they can go out and win people to Christ and so Josiah is kind of I love this story with Josiah because it's relatable today isn't it and the fact that we live in a wicked country and it's going downhill but it doesn't have to stop here you know and and nothing's gonna stop that ball from rolling eventually meaning that even if we are righteous nation I mean righteous remnant that the Antichrist is gonna take power and we're gonna but it also says we're gonna do great exploits at that time as Christians and so you know I just want to put that out there as far as you know when I see this I just see something that could apply straight to our day today and let us be that generation of Josiah that rents our clothes and says Lord you know you know what are we gonna do and and I believe God will see that heart now going back to second Kings chapter 23 second Kings chapter 23 I know we're going back and forth between second Kings and second Chronicles but there is some things where it says it in second Kings and then it skips something that said in second Chronicles and then it skips something in second Chronicles that says in second Kings so I'm trying to give you the chronological order of events here okay so the next thing we see is that after he hears this information he's the King Josiah is going to read the book of the law to all the people and I love this this is a leader right here he doesn't just say hey okay Shay fan you read it to me go read it to them to know he gets up and reads it himself and so I did the King Josiah read read the Bible well he did it in front of everybody at least right and he heard it once before that and and so in second Kings chapter 23 in verse 1 it says and the king sent and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem and the king went out went up into the house of the Lord and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him and the priests and the prophets and all the people both small and great and he read in their ears though all the words of the book of the Covenant which was found in the house of the Lord so he read it all he just read I mean Genesis to Deuteronomy and it says in verse 3 in the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul to perform the words of this Covenant that were written in this book and all the people stood to the Covenant so he made a covenant to the Lord that he's gonna follow it with all his heart with all his soul and then all the people that were there listening to it did the same they stood to that Covenant we see the same thing happening with Hezekiah remember that Hezekiah you know gets the whole nation right with God and what happens after that they all go into there they brought people down from Manasseh and Ephraim and all that and then he's they went back to their homes and they got rid of all the idols all the graven images and they got everything out of there but notice that it started in the house of God and it's and it's starting here with reading the Word of God because after that you know it started started purging Jerusalem and Judah of all these things when it went in his 12th year 18th year kick that up a couple notches right when they start and they had the Word of God behind them doing it because I believe that Josiah understood that that was wrong right you know he didn't need the Bible to tell him like worshiping this idols wrong when we worship the God right but when you had the Bible backing up and saying cursed be in and then he shows all these curses you know because that's what he brings up he's like how you know we're the escape from all these curses that are written in this book you say well you know what what curses you talk about Deuteronomy 27 how about you read Leviticus chapter 36 but Deuteronomy 27 28 are all a bunch of curses and Leviticus chapter 26 is just a whole bunch of curses and what did it have to do with following other gods and guess what that's what their big thing the big problem here is is they're following other gods which obviously leads them into all a bunch of other sins like sacrificing their children sodomy all the witchcraft wizardry all these different things now I go to second you're in second Kings chapter 23 and verse 3 or verse 4 so we're just continuing on there so he continues that purge remember he started in the 12th year but this is the 18th year he's continuing that purge but a lot of that stuff that was said and you know second chronicles where it says in his 12th year he started to purge all this stuff a lot of that stuff didn't happen until later and it's kind of getting into that now in verse 4 there it says and the king commanded Halki the priests and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the door to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal and for the grove and for all the host of heaven and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Caidron and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel and he put down the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the palaces or in the places round about Jerusalem them also that burned incense on the bale to the Sun and to the moon and to the planets and to all the hosts of heaven and he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord the grove so just all these things that that's happening it's almost like you didn't realize what all was there and now when they're cleaning it up it's like oh here's all the stuff that was in there right without Jerusalem unto the brook Caidron and burned it at the brook Caidron and stamped it small to powder and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people so he's grinding this the power it reminds you of Moses remember he grind he ground the however you say that I grinded the golden calf it was grinded in the powder and remember he made him drink it and I always read that I'm just like man that's rough you made that drink that you know like it's just very it's a rough punishment right but you kind of see the same thing because Caidron I just imagine people are drinking this stuff you know out of the river that they're grinding in the powder and throwing in there and then in verse 7 here this is unpopular today but it says and he break down the houses of the sodomites that were by the house of the Lord where the women wove hangings for the grove so people ask you know do you want to have you will you allow gay people into your church listen Josiah broke down the houses that were near the house of God why do you think I would want them in the house of God the reprobate the predators they're twice dead plucked up by the roots or nose hope for them so why would I ever allow them in here especially having children in here they're a bunch of wicked perverts and today they just want you to bow the knee to that garbage but you know we saw that Asa did that which is right inside Lord what do you do he took the sodomites out of the land and then Jehoshaphat his son did that which was right inside Lord and he took rest of the took of the rest of the sodomites out of land and then Josiah is just following in the footsteps of some good kings and he got rid of the houses that were near the house of God and so by the way is anything bad at this point you know well he shouldn't done that you know well I guess you shouldn't got done rid of all those idols and all this other stuff and he should have got rid of the wimp the the hangs of the grove too right but then he goes on here and says in verse 8 and says and he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah and defiled the high places where the priests had burnt incense from Geba to Beersheba and break down the high places to the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren and he defiled tophat which is in the valley of the children children of Hinnom that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech so this is remember Manasseh did this Ahaz did this with this valley of Hinnom and this is the kind of the picture of hell if you will people are being burned alive you know people are you know being sacrificed in this fire and tophat and he defiled it you know he defiled that that wicked place where they were sacrificing on the Molech and if you remember God was gonna God I believe still hasn't done it yet he defiled it but remember that valley is gonna be called no longer to the valley the son of Hinnom but the valley of slaughter because Judah is going to be destroyed and if you don't believe that it's bad read Lamentations and read the read Jeremiah as far as how bad it was when Babylon not only took them away captive but when they came and burnt Jerusalem to the ground and I believe that that valley was the valley of slaughter it's gonna be the valley of slaughter eventually and he took away the horses in verse 11 that the kings of Judah had given to the Sun at the entering into the house of the Lord by the chamber of Nathan Melech the Chamberlain which was in the suburbs and burnt the chariot burned the chariots of the Sun with fire there's just so much stuff you did you know there was chariots to the Sun that they had to the Sun like just craziness right and you read through here and you're like why is he so angry you know and it's like because he's not mentioning every little thing that they've been doing and you read it you're like yeah and I didn't know there's this Grove stuff in the house of the Lord didn't know there was the Sun they were like worshiping the planets the Sun the host all this stuff we're not done yet I mean he's still got other stuff he's purging here so imagine God's long-suffering you know you think of our country and everything that's going on this is what he's been dealing with with Judah and in verse 12 it says in the altars that were on the top of the the upper chamber of Ahaz which the kings of Judah had made in the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord did the king beat down and break them down from thence and cast the dust of them into the book Brooke Cai drawn in high places that were before Jerusalem which were on the right hand of the Mount of corruption which Solomon the king of Israel had built it for Ashtoreth now we're getting in all the way back to Solomon you know it's which his sin right he married all his wives he started making all these idols and in these groves for his wives and their goddesses and so Solomon king had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon did the king defile and he break in pieces the images and cut down the groves and filled their places with the bones of them so he's doing some work okay he's cleaning house going all the way back to I didn't even know that Solomon's groves were even still there right like I said you're reading through this you're like man I didn't know that was still there I didn't know that was there you know like what in the world because Hezekiah cleaned house if you remember but it didn't mention Solomon's stuff you can imagine because Solomon was one of the greatest kings in Israel right I mean he was the greatest king besides the Lord Jesus Christ obviously but as far as wisdom and riches go Solomon was up there I mean even Jesus looks you know like Solomon but he says there's a graded greater than Solomon that's here so Jesus was the only one that was above Solomon and wisdom but but basically you can imagine they probably held those things up with reverence oh that's Solomon's oh we don't want to mess with that and but Josiah's like nope that's gone gone gone gone now go to uh we're gonna see this go back to 1st Kings chapter 13 1st Kings chapter 13 because he's gonna go into Bethel and he's gonna take out the altar remember that what was the sin of Jeroboam son Nebat he's gonna take care of that because the altar that he made in Bethel and Dan with the golden calves the two golden calves and I want you to see this that Josiah is a fulfilled prophecy of 1st Kings chapter 13 so 1st Kings chapter 13 I'm not gonna go through the whole story of this man of God but this man of God remember he's the one that died by a lion because he listened to the other prophet that said come and drink and eat with me and he lied to him and all that so in chapter 13 and verse 1 it says and behold there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Bethel and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense and he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord and said Oh altar altar thus saith the Lord behold a child shall be born unto the house of David Josiah by name and upon thee shall he offer the priests to the high high places that burnt incense upon thee and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee and he gave a sign the same day saying this is the sign which the Lord hath spoken behold the altar shall be rent and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out now he'd already been doing that with these other altars and these other images but he's gonna go fulfill that prophecy so go back to second Kings chapter 23 second Kings chapter 23 and I know this is long-winded and as far as going through all this stuff but I just want you to see all the stuff that Josiah did that I mean this is a lot of work that he's doing here I mean he's cleaning house but it all started with fixing up the house of God and getting into the Word of God right and he started I mean I know he started purging before that in the 12th year of his reign but he was seeking the Lord and going into that and I'm sure he was hearing the prophets right after the 12th year you least had Jeremiah preaching and all that but he had other prophets back then too that he was hearing the Word of God but once he got the law you know the written law that was there and he was reading that then he really knew the extent does that make sense like I'm sure he knew that you shouldn't worship other gods right but to the extent of how bad it was and the curse that it was applied to that I don't think he saw until they dug up the Word of God but the altar at Bethel so in 2nd Kings chapter 23 verse 15 moreover the altar that was at Bethel in the high place was Jeroboam the son of Nebat who made Israel the sin had made both the altar in the high place he break down and burned the high place and stamped it small to powder and burned the grove and as Josiah turned himself he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mouth and sent and took the bones out of the sepulchres and burned them upon the altar and polluted it according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed who proclaimed these words so remember that's what he said he was gonna do he literally took the bones of these people and just burned them right because they were already dead a long time ago but but in verse 17 it says then he said what title is that that I see and the men of the city told him it is the sepulchre of the man of God which came from Judah and proclaimed these things that thou has done against the altar of Bethel so basically they found where that man of God remember the man of God that said ultra altar and and then the line came and slew him in that whole story that's where we're at here is he finds that that man and his burial there in verse 18 it says and he said let him alone and let no man move his bones so that prophet didn't get desecrated with the rest of them you know he made a mistake and he ended up dying for it but the end in the end his bones were kept there now notice what it says after that too it says so they let his bones alone with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria so even the prophet that lied to him and said come and eat with me you make because if you remember the story remember he said lie me down next to that prophet when that guy died right he told his son you know put me lie me down next to him and he you know you see well why did he want to lie down next to him well he wasn't desecrated with the rest of them so and I don't believe that guy was reprobate or something like that the guy that told him you know the angel came to me I think he just lied to him because he wanted that guy to come eat with him it was wrong but anyway but going off from that instead of verse 19 and all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger Josiah took away and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel and he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars and burned men's bones upon them and returned to Jerusalem so he went on a journey up to Israel and just took care of place now you say well where was the king of Israel they're already gone okay Israel has been taken captive at this point I mean that happened in Hezekiah's day so Israel is no more a nation they've been scattered you know Assyria took them out and all that now after all this is when Josiah's gonna keep this Passover and so I go back to 2nd Chronicles chapter 35 2nd Chronicles chapter 35 2nd Chronicles chapter 35 verse 1 I'm not going to go through all the stuff that said about this Passover in this passage if you want to get that then read it all the details and everything that's going on but in verse 1 there so 2nd Chronicles chapter 35 verse 1 it says moreover Josiah kept a Passover unto the Lord in Jerusalem and they killed the Passover on the 14th day of the first month now if you remember Hezekiah kept the Passover right but he had to do it on the second month which was according to the law if you were defiled but remember they were they were they were cleansing the house of God during that first month so while you know basically the house of Lord had been fixed up they're reading the book of law then he goes out on this tirade a tirade I guess it was a this mission to go get rid of all these idols and everything and you know when he comes back to Jerusalem you know it's in time you know they're gonna do this Passover so the house of the Lord had been fixed up before this okay whereas in Hezekiah's day they were in the process of fixing up the house Lord they couldn't do it in the first month and in verse 35 I'm sorry chapter 35 verse 18 it's gonna state that there hasn't been a Passover done like this since the judges so that tells you something because Hezekiah did a Passover right and he did you know it talks about it being obviously a very righteous thing that he did but it just makes you think like what in the world was Solomon doing what was David doing you know what were all these other kings doing they weren't doing what they should have been doing and so this has been going on for a long time and when you look at in Nehemiah it's either Ezra and Nehemiah it talks about how they didn't do the the Feast of Tabernacles since Joshua I mean we're talking coming out of the wilderness and they just never did the Feast of Tabernacles and then you think about the long suffering of God you say well I mean he was so strict with Israel was he I mean they were never keeping the Feast of Tabernacles and they hadn't kept a Feast of the Passover like this since the judges and since Samuel now notice in verse 18 there says and there was no Passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a Passover as Josiah kept in the priests and the Levites and all Judah and Israel that were present in the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the 18th year of the reign of Josiah was this Passover kept so this is all being done in this 18th year right found the word of Lord you know they they they fixed up the breaches of the house well they fixed up the breaches found the word of Lord and now he's you know basically purging all this stuff and then they keep this Passover and it's not since Samuel it says here but if you look at second Kings chapter 23 you don't have to turn there but you can if you got your finger there second Kings chapter 23 in verse 22 it says surely there was not holding such a Passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel nor in all the days of the kings of Israel nor of the kings of Judah we say well Samuels a judge okay maybe it's just back to same but I just reckon to say that probably even back in the judges day because there's so many times that they were you know captive on the Philistines and all these different things I'm sure they weren't keeping the Passover like they should for like 40 years or whatever it was and so but that shows you you know that and what were they doing before that I'm not saying they never kept the Passover but it wasn't kept like this like according to all the words of the law right you think of like all the intricacies that they had to do with the Passover as far as on the tenth day of the month they had to find the lamb right and then on the 14th day of the month and even they kill the lamb and all this process that had to go on the unleavened bread and all that stuff I don't believe they were doing that right or they weren't doing it to the tee for all those years and so second Chronicles chapter 35 here's an interesting tidbit this is the last time the Ark of the Covenant's mentioned and so search Raiders for the Lost Ark we're going on a mission guys your final argument covenant this is this is one reason we're gonna get into Pharaoh Nico this is one reason why they think Pharaoh Nico or why it's in Egypt right anybody watching Indiana Jones they're they're digging for it in Egypt or whatever but this is kind of a reasoning why you know there's some truth to that maybe I guess but all I have to say is that in second Chronicles chapter 35 this is the last mention in Josiah's day as far as them seeing or doing something with the Ark of the Covenant okay and so in verse 2 there and it says and he set the priests in their charges and encouraged them to do the service of the house of the Lord and he said unto the Levites that taught all Israel which were holy unto the Lord put the holy Ark in the house which Solomon the son of David David king of Israel did build it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders serve now the Lord your God and his people Israel and prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers after your courses according to the writing of David king of Israel and according to the writing of Solomon his son so this is the last mention of it which is interesting okay that doesn't mean I don't think that necessarily means that Pharaoh Nico had something to do with it but what we'll see is Pharaoh Nico's that actually an after Josiah dies spoiler he's gonna die here soon in the story but Pharaoh Nico sets up the next King right that so they set someone up and then he took him out of place and put in Jehoi come actually as being King so you can see how Egypt actually had an influence over what was going on in Jerusalem at the time or in Judah so it's possible that he did but go to Jeremiah chapter 3 Jeremiah chapter 3 is some interesting said about the Ark of the Covenant I should probably do a whole sermon on the Ark of the Covenant I'm gonna be an interesting study and how when you open it like your head explodes no I'm just kidding so in Jeremiah chapter 3 and verse 16 if remember to that Jeremiah starts off saying that he started prophesying started preaching in the 13th year of Josiah then it went into Jehoi come and Zedekiah okay so at this point it can very well be in Josiah's day that this is being said although I do believe it's a prophecy that's being said as well so in Jeremiah 3 and verse 16 it says and it shall come to pass when you be multiplied and increased in the land in those days that the Lord they shall say no more the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord neither shall it come to mind neither shall they remember it neither shall they visit it neither shall that be done anymore at that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord and all the nations shall be gathered unto it to the name of the Lord to Jerusalem neither shall they walk anymore after the imagination of their evil heart now I think there's a dual prophecy in this because I believe this kid this is very well talking about all nations coming to Jerusalem because of Jesus Christ coming the first time but this is also a correlation with the thousand year reign of Christ okay but one thing that I want you to see if you find it show it to me but I don't believe it's there I've never seen in the Bible where they ever mentioned the Ark of the Covenant when they built that second temple show me that in Haggai show me that in Zechariah show me that in Ezekiel show me that anywhere you know and maybe I'm wrong about that maybe you can find it for me but I haven't found it you know this is the last mention that I see of the Ark of the Covenant being mentioned and isn't it interesting to Jeremiah saying hey that's not gonna be done anymore and that's not gonna be you're not gonna even say you know the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord so that's kind of an interesting thing that's being said here and I believe this is in the days of Josiah and it's the last time you see it mentioned because the last time you see it in the house of the Lord is in Solomon's the temple that Solomon built which is gonna be destroyed here soon and then obviously they're gonna rebuild the temple but I believe the Ark of the Covenant is gone at that point so just something interesting to think about you know if you want to go on a journey and find the Ark of the Covenant good luck you know but it's either in Babylon or no I don't know who knows you know they could have taken to the Babylon and someone else took it and someone else took it or they just burned it or it's completely gone but it doesn't really matter because the Ark of the Covenant does matter is in heaven right now because there is an Ark of the Covenant that still exists in heaven because the Ark of the Covenant they built that Moses built was a pattern of what's in heaven okay so yeah I mean there is still is Ark of Covenant so going on from that he purges out the wizards and witches so in 2nd Kings chapter 23 puts on the Salem witch trials no but obviously the Bible does teach in the book of the law what suffer not I suffer not a witch to live okay so he's applying this all these things that the book of the law says in verse 24 it says moreover the workers with familiar spirits and the wizards in the image images and the idols and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and Jerusalem did Josiah put away that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that he'll kaya the priest found in the house of the Lord and like unto him was there no king before him that turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might according to all the law of Moses neither after him arose there any like him that's a strong statement even has a kaya David you know he did after David but he's following this more than David was as far as all the stuff that he's getting out of land and all this stuff going on from there it says notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath where with his anger was kindled against Judah because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him with all and the Lord said I will remove Judah out also out of my sight as I have removed Israel and will cast off the city Jerusalem which I have chosen in the house of which I said my name shall be there so he's saying listen yeah not in Josiah's day but remember why why is he destroying Judah Manasseh we already saw that from our sermon with Manasseh that that's why it's being destroyed Jeremiah says that's why and even here it's saying because of the provocations of Manasseh now we get into the end of the story with Josiah and the fact that Pharaoh Nico so Nico the king of Egypt go to 2nd Chronicles chapter 35 and you can find it in 2nd Kings as well but 2nd Chronicles 35 gives a little more information so if you're reading 2nd Kings it's pretty much like you know Pharaoh Nico goes up the war against the Assyrians Josiah goes up against them and dies it pretty much tells you that but here it kind of gives you a little more information of the back and forth that's going on like I said this is probably why people think you know the Ark of the Covenant would be in Egypt because this is the last mention of the Ark of the Covenant and the last thing that's going on with Josiah is dealing with Egypt so in verse 20 there after all this when Josiah had prepared the temple Nico king of Egypt came up to fight against Karkimesh by Euphrates and Josiah went out against him so this obviously is the 31 year rain mark right because he rains for 31 years so this it says that after the temple was prepared it's obviously after that but it's not the 18th year right we're talking the 31th year 30 31st year verse 21 it says but he sent ambassadors to him saying what have I to do with thee thou king of Judah I come not against thee this day but against the house wherewith I have war for God commanded me to make haste forbear thee from meddling with God who is with me that he destroy thee not now you remember rapture key that that invoked God well Nico actually is right in this case so Josiah is meddling with thing with stripe not belonging to him and you remember what happens when you take the dog by the ears you get bit right and so the the idea is that these and listen America needs to read this passage you know meddling into wars that don't belong done to us and getting into this trouble and Josiah is gonna pay for it with his life because he's gonna end up dying because of this but notice in verse 22 because I just want to prove to you that Nico is doing what God told him to do right and he's warning Josiah not to mess with what's going on in verse 22 nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him but disguised himself that he went that he might fight with him and hearken not unto the words of Nico from the mouth of God that's the narrator from the mouth of God and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo now another tangent with that is that I believe this is synonymous with Armageddon if you look at Megiddo and Armageddon all that stuff doesn't know the words say for another day but all that to say is that you know Nico he wasn't out to kill Josiah he wasn't out to make war with Josiah Josiah is just like hey there's a war up here I don't like Egypt let's go after them and that's exactly what our country's doing it's what our country's been doing for years decades now and you will try to justify the war with Iran with me or Iraq or I began a stand or any of these wars that were in none of that they're like well it's for our defense hogwash you go go you listen pass the bread around the bologna has already been passed right you know the fact is is that we're over there nation-building we're trying to build an empire and the the military industrial complex is strong in our country meaning that war means profit and war also keeps the citizens at bay and you know what I I'm not buying it I'm not buying any of this stuff you know when it comes to Iran and and all this well you know they have nukes and all this other stuff you know how many nukes we have compared to them I mean you have to be an idiot to try to nuke us you know and the fact that you would use that whole place would be completely annihilated and so anyway you get off that I'm gonna get on tangent on that don't want to get fired up about the unjust wars that we're in right now but going on from that so Josiah is gonna die from this from an archer verse 23 it says in the archers shot at King Josiah and the king said to his servants have me away for I am sore wounded his servants therefore took him out of the chair out of that chariot and put him in the second chariot that he had and they brought him to Jerusalem and he died and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his father's and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah so that's how he died and he was and you know if he was eight years old when he began to rain he rained for 31 years he was only 39 years old he's young that's young to die and so young man that was a great king what were you doing meddling with strife not belonging to you and so Josiah is a great example of a good a good man getting in the strike that doesn't belong to him and it makes me think of well I don't get off on tangents I need to I need to close getting off on tangents that's the worst yeah that's where I get in trouble and I preach for like an hour and a half so but in in second chronicles chapter 35 and verse 25 you know going on from that it says in Jeremiah lamented for Josiah and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day and made them an ordinance in Israel and behold they are written in the Lamentations so I believe there is stuff in the Lamentations written about Josiah but one thing that I that I think in in Lamentations which is my favorite one of my favorite verses that would apply to Josiah remember he sought the Lord in his eighth year of his reign when he was 16 years old and in Lamentations 3 Lamentations 3 in verse 25 it says the Lord is good unto them that wait for him to the soul that seeketh him it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Lord it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth and I believe that's Josiah right there you know he started following the Lord when he was 16 and he started purging things out and when he you know and then 26 years old he was just just doing great things for God and then he meddled with strife not belonging to him and just on another note you know it's just something for something for your reading and just to get the timeline Jeremiah obviously was at in the time of Josiah when he was prophesying but so was Zephaniah so Jeremiah and Zephaniah the major prophet Jeremiah the minor prophet Zephaniah were in the days of Josiah and I just read Zephaniah 1 1 it says the word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushai the son of Gedaliah the son of Amoriah the son of his Kaia in the days of Josiah the son of Ammon king of Judah so when you're reading through there you can definitely see and you can definitely see the correlations between Jeremiah's preaching and his preaching and and the stuff that's going on but that's Josiah I mean a great king you know one that sought the Lord at a young age but died young for meddling in the things that don't belong to him so that should be a warning to us to not get into fights that don't belong to us you might die at a young age you know or you might just you know ruin relationships ruin things that you shouldn't ruin and you know why get into wars that don't belong to you and if the war comes to you then fight the war but there's no reason to get into battles that don't belong to you so if there's something going on on the other side of the country and you're like well but I like this person I like that person and you know all this stuff are you involved in it is it something did they come to your door and that and are you the one that they're attacking or you know then stay out of it and you remember this unsought advice is rarely heated so you know unless someone asked me their advice I rarely give it and I'm not usually going up to people and like listen you need to do this you know because they're normally not gonna hear that but if someone comes up to me and says hey I need your advice on this then okay you asked for it so but let's end with the word paradigm father we think of today thank you for all these kings that we can learn from thank you for the the stories with Josiah and Lord how we can emulate our lives to his but also learn from his mistakes at the end of his reign and Lord just thank you for this study and just prayed to be with us as we finish it up with the final Kings here and getting into the Babylonian captivity and Lord we just pray thank you for the souls that were saved this week and just prayed to be with us throughout the rest of this week and Lord help us bring the Lord to your name in Jesus Christ name amen