BACK TO BASICS. 2nd Kings 23 The Book of the Covenant mentioned in Exodus must have referred to events and instructions given previously by Moses. This passage of scripture included Deuteronomy and perhaps all the writings of Moses. We know it included the curses when the covenant was ignored. It was standard practice for goldy leaders in the Old Testament to assemble the people to hear the word of the Lord read publicly and to review the terms of the covenant.
Covenants are established when agreements are made between two parties, individuals, or groups. Each has to understand and accept the agreements. Then, the sincerity of both is tested by each dying to self-interest only and living with the welfare of the other covenanter as our basic objective. This is what is involved in our redemption. Christ died for us; we die to ourselves and live for Him. The same is true in marriage. One dies to a self-centered, self-occupied life and chooses to live with the interests and well-being of the one with whom we have formed the marriage covenant. When each fulfills the covenant terms, life has meaning, purpose, beauty, and happiness.
God had formed a covenant with Israel generations before Josiah became king. He was not aware of the terms of the covenant nor even understood how serious those terms were. Hezekiah was notable as a king for his faith. Josiah was notable for his obedience to the Lord. When he heard the words of the book found in the temple, he was frightened, humbled, and shocked by what God had said compared to what was going on in the nations he led. Even though he was a comparatively young king, he wisely called the nation together to hear what had made and kept them as a nation. The people came together, heard him read the word of God, and responded out of respect for Josiah, their leader, but never took it personally for themselves by repenting of their own guilt before God. Their worship was no more than a temporary change of religion. They pledged themselves to the terms of the covenant but not to God.
Standing by a pillar in the house of the Lord, Josiah carried out the function of a mediator of the covenant, like Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and Jehoida before him. The charge of the covenant was to follow the Lord, but the people pledged themselves to the covenant instead of the Lord. Their pledge was to be loyal to their covenantal obligations, and how they did that is not made clear to us.
It is possible to go along with that which is accepted because it is the easiest way to adapt to the present situation without having a personal relationship with God and thus the terms of the "New Covenant (Testament)." When one is truly humbled before the Lord and is conscious of the holiness of God and one's own sinfulness, that person realizes their need for cleansing from sin and new life in Christ. The gap between what God expects of us as His children and the honest recognition of who we are brings us down in repentance to where we put our personal faith in Christ. That, in turn, generates a desire in our hearts to obey and serve Him.
Learning the will of God is not a complicated or mysterious process that can lead to many mistakes and misinterpretations. All we need to know about God’s will is in the scriptures. To know the will of God, we must read the Bible and then obey what is taught there. His basic plans for us are in the written word, and then the Holy Spirit makes them real to us and guides us where and how to apply what we learn to what is before us.
When Josiah stood by that pillar and read the word of God to the people, there must have been a great silence as they listened and stood to pledge themselves to take action according to what they heard. From the lewd carvings that made up the "groves" in the "high places" to the grinding up of the images that had been placed in the temple, all the things that had led the people to idol worship were destroyed. Even spreading ashes over the graveyards was intended to rid them of the defilement of the sexual idolatrous practice in which they had been involved. There were altars to the stars on the roof that had to be destroyed; altars that had desecrated the temple to be thrown into the fires of "Gehenna" in the valley of Kidron. The "Mount of Corruption" was the Mount of Olives, where Solomon had built "high places" to worship idols.
When we realize things are wrong and the terrible state that sin caused brings God's work to a standstill, it is not enough to bemoan the state of affairs. Something must be done. Action is called for to correct the wrong. it is also important to do what is right even though it may have been ignored for years. To "clean house" of everything wrong in one's life or the life of an assembly - even a nation, leaves us "empty, swept and garnished." That leaves us open to the intrusion of satanic influence and worldly attractions that leave us in a worse condition than we were in before.
The "Great Passover" was certainly an indication of Josiah's desire to do what was right. It seems like the Feast of Passover was carried out in a way that seemed right. Instead of each family being responsible for doing what was right according to the word of God, the Passover was conducted in a setting in which the Levites killed the lambs, and the nation celebrated this in Jerusalem rather than in their homes as responsible families.
It is possible for us to forget the spiritual significance of an event and consider it a ritual we observe. When that happens, we are inclined to do what we do to suit ourselves instead of sincerely committing to recall the origin and meaning behind an observance. The intention of the Passover was to keep alive the memory of Israel's divine deliverance from bondage in Egypt, which was the foundation of their existence as a nation. It is good to a degree to observe holidays and their reasons, but unless there is a response in the hearts of those who participate, there will be very little impact on the lives of those who keep these days. The Lord's Supper in many "Christian churches" has been demeaned as being a mere ritual rather than a vital memorial of our Lord Jesus Christ - His death, burial, and resurrection.
From the beginning of Josiah's reign under the teaching and influence of godly mentors to the end, he did not stop bringing reforms and renewal to the Lord's people. With total dedication, he served the Lord by doing all he could to cleanse the land from the polluting influences of idolatry and spiritual decay. He recognized sin for what it was and acted to eliminate the sinful practices that had become commonplace. But he went a step further in that he went after the causes of sin to remove the sinful practices and those that made them happen in the first place.
Josiah had the idolatrous priests who previous kings had ordered to offer sacrifices in a lot of places, including the Mount of Olives, to be removed and any vestiges of idolatry that were in the temple to be ground to dust and put on graves at Bethel to desecrate the place where golden calf worship had polluted Israel. Priests who were not divinely appointed could have a share of the unleavened bread like priestly families with physical defects.
Relationships formed with other people who do not want God to interfere in their lives are a cause for departure on the part of a child of God. Our practices, including our habits, daily routines, and the patterns of living we have accepted, also cause departure and must be rejected and/or changed or totally forsaken. The world, the flesh, and the devil constantly place temptation before us with the objective of bringing us down and defeating the covenant relationship God has made with us.
There are consequences to actions taken even if a person has been forced into doing wrong. The holiness of God does not permit residual effects of any kind to desecrate that which is holy. Even the bones of those who had in some way defiled God’s people had to be eliminated in the same way corrupting influences on God’s people cannot be allowed to continue.
When the Passover was celebrated under the edict of Josiah, the Levites killed the lambs, and he followed the law more closely than Hezekiah did when he had decreed a Passover. Hezekiah was a king who trusted the Lord without equal among the kings, and Josiah was a king who righteously obeyed the Lord. His reign held back divine judgment for a while, but Judah had gone too far into sin, and despite all Josiah did, it was too little, too late.
Unfortunately, Josiah ignored the prophetic warning against going out to battle against the king of Egypt, and he died in Megiddo. We are never immune from self-will and can make serious mistakes even though we may have done much good. The results of revival and renewal do not remove the consequences of acting independently of the will of God. The respect people had for Josiah was only outward, and in a short time, under the leadership of Josiah's sons, who did not have respect for the word of God, the people returned to their old ways and were taken away as captives. One son became a captive in Egypt, and another was a greedy, dishonest, and unjust leader whose name was changed and ultimately became a captive in Babylon.
Evil has a way of permeating everything when it is allowed to continue. When one or two generations have lived in a certain way, or an assembly has practiced some unscriptural things for a long time, they may change back to what is right for a time, but the taste and effect of self-will and compromise don’t go away. All it needs to revert to evil is certain conditions, and people who said the right things and did the right things will return to what pleases them the most. People can respond and change to the right principles for a while, but when there is no change in the hearts of the people, it will not last.
As much as we desire the best for our children and teach them the word of God in the hope that they will accept Christ for themselves and live for God, we cannot make that happen. Our will for them is not the controlling power in their lives. They have their own will. If they personally choose to take responsibility for their own sin in the light of God's word, if they repent of sin and turn in faith to Christ for salvation, and if they are obedient to the Lord and God's word - they will find what they need, and we will be glad. But it is not in our power to make it happen. "Salvation is of the Lord." "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land," Isaiah wrote.
THE BIBLE READING: From the city and the countryside, they came together, father and mother, daughter and son, to hear the word of God read publicly by the king. In a voice loud enough for everyone to hear so all could heed what God had said to His people in the past, the king read the word of the Lord. They would understand that the covenants of God with His people were made to last. God did His part, but the people had failed to do their part. God intended that each and every one of them should hear the positive and negative results of a covenant with reverential fear.
Now, in our city, they come in companies of one or two to the Bible reading if it is convenient and they feel like it, or the game they were watching is through. Far too often, someone asks where we read last week. Then, some people thumb through their Bibles, trying to find some verses to compare the reading with those in another place. Instead of reading the passage, taking its meaning in context, and applying it, they give elaborate explanations for something very plain and easy to understand, missing the simple truth they would learn if they read it again.
A number of old men walk in with big Bibles and mount a platform before watchers who think, “These men know how to dig out spiritual things we, the common people, are bound to miss.” The impression is created that we need to hear their explanations if we will properly assess the scriptures. The impression is that those of us who live and work among the world's people won’t get the point if we don’t know the tenses of the verbs or the Greek or Hebrew meaning of the words. This may result in young people breaking down the fences of separation. Then everything fails miserably because they don’t understand all the explanations many old men give.
Why not go back to the early reading where people listened to God make things plain to His people as a king read God’s Word aloud? Perhaps people will pay heed to His will by applying the simple truths given in writing, and by the careful, respectful reading of it reveal the worth of acting on what we already know. Then, come back for more so we are not relegating or relating scripture to ancient folklore but accept it as relevant to our present day and age. When our minds and hearts are open to finding truths to live by on every page, we will act on what we have heard and learn the value of the word of God when we practice it in everyday living.