And no you can't choose Jesus.
The one time where Jesus doesn't count... is now.
And no that's not blasphemy... I checked.
Jesus is cool with this idea.
Most people would pick Paul. Or Peter.
Both awesome choices...
Some would choose one of the other Apostles, or Timothy, or Luke.
I know someone who would choose Mary the mother of Jesus.
Another who would choose Mary Magdalene.
Some would choose the writer of Hebrews, just so they could know who it was.
And here's the thing... I said the entire Bible... and very few of us would think of the Old Testament.
How about just the Old Testament then...
I know my friend Jacob would pick one of the judges... just because he thinks their stories are so cool.
A lot of people would then say, Abraham, King David, Solomon, or Daniel... because their stories get a lot of attention... you don't have to be a Christian to know those men's stories. Some women may pick Esther... and honestly she's in the top three of my list as well... but the guy I think I would choose is King Josiah.
Now I know I already wrote a post on this guy... but he's one of my favorite characters in the Old Testament so... I'm allowed.
Josiah is a great role model when it comes to leadership.
Josiah is a great role model when it comes to responding to God's word.
And I wonder how many of us have ever heard the entire story of Josiah... because though I have been a 'fan' of the guy for a long time, it was only recently that I have actually heard the entire story...
2 Kings 22:1-2 tells us,
Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
Verse 2 is of extreme importance and stands out like crazy... because before and after this all we read is about how all of these kings did what was evil in the sight of the LORD... constantly.
King of Israel did evil...
King of Judah did evil...
Back and forth.
And then there is Josiah, a kid, becoming king... with only his grandpa as an example of how to rule. And his grandpa, Manasseh, was cited as being the most wicked king in all of history. Now it is true that he had his father too... but Amon just followed in Manasseh's footsteps, and was so evil that he only reigned two years. His servants conspired against him and killed him.
So this leaves Josiah. A king expected to continue in the footsteps of his father and grandfather... hand selected by the people of Judah among all of Amon's sons to replace the dead king.
Then the servants of Amon conspired against him, and killed the king in his own house. But the people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon. Then the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place. -2 Kings 21:23-24
But here is where I want to bring up a theological question...
Did the people choose Josiah?
Or did God?
Is Josiah a great example of remaining steadfast to God despite every family circumstance... despite the fact that he had no Godly men in his life... and maybe, just maybe, a Godly mother... but even that isn't certain.
Or is Josiah a great example of God's grace and his selection, his choosing of us despite our past, our circumstances, and our failures?
Remember this guy is only 8 years old when he begins his reign.
What 8 year old do you know capable of running a business, let alone a country?
I won't answer the question... because I do not have the answers but I want to pose it to make us all think about the mystery that is our God.
So why bring up the question...it's a deep question about predestination and free will at the heart of it... because the full story of Josiah actually starts generations before Josiah was even thought of, generations before he was born... back in 1 Kings 13...
And for some side knowledge 1 Kings and 2 Kings used to be one large book. In translation, the Greeks split it into two.
1 Kings 13:1-10 reads,
'And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, “O altar, altar! Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burned on you.’” And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the LORD has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out.”
So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Arrest him!” Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself. The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. Then the king answered and said to the man of God, “Please entreat the favor of the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.”
So the man of God entreated the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as before. Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.”
But the man of God said to the king, “If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. For so it was commanded me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.’” So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bethel.'
This man of God... who remains nameless, dies later that day, due to a lie by another prophet of God... and ends up disobeying... he returns to Bethel and gets killed by a lion just passing through.
Something I've noticed about God... every time he has to do something that He dislikes, such as killing people... or taking out an entire nation... He does it awesomely. He does it like no person could.
I think God also has a sense of humor regarding it all.
A hungry lion was just passing through.
But back to the story...
The other prophet then has this to say, 1 Kings 13:31-32,
So it was, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I am dead, then bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. For the saying which he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the shrines on the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, will surely come to pass.”
This man of God, prophesies that a son of David, a king in the future named Josiah, will destroy the altars on the mountains, and will truly rid the land of idolatry.
And this other prophet... who was a little sketchy because he lied... but nonetheless still a prophet of God, states that what the man of God cried out will come to pass... just reiterating that God is at work doing something bigger, and that what he declares will come to pass.
What we can pull from this, is that even though we don't have prophets walking around declaring things and people that will lead up to Jesus... because He has already come, fulfilling all prophesies and we have His written word as our only needed guide... we can know that God is behind the scenes, and sometimes standing right in front of us doing something bigger.
Something more.
Something that He wants to involve us in.
Something that is about reaching the world.
In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the LORD, saying, "Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money that has been brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people. And let it be given into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD, and let them give it to the workmen who are at the house of the LORD, repairing the house (that is, to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons), and let them use it for buying timber and quarried stone to repair the house. But no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly."
And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, "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. And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, "Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD." Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read it before the king. -2 Kings 22:3-10
Something happened here.
And it happened because of construction to the temple of the LORD.
A copy of the Law, what most scholars believe to have been the Pentateuch that had countless copies destroyed under the idolatrous reign of Mannaseh... had been uncovered.
These were the copies King Solomon had placed in the foundation of the temple when it was first dedicated to the LORD, as was custom to do in that time... a practice that still occasionally occurs today, (ie: Yankee Stadium, when in construction laid a few jerseys in the foundation)
But Hilkiah the priest found it, because Josiah decided to put money into fixing the temple. Josiah chose God and God's house before anything else. He then made clear that there was to be no accounting.
No accounting because the people deal honestly.
No accounting... because Josiah doesn't care how much money it takes.
He knows the people will make the repairs to the best of their ability, and that they will only take their fair share... Josiah didn't set a price.
Josiah didn't say only certain repairs.
Josiah wanted the whole temple repaired.
It had been in decay for three generations of Kings.
And Josiah didn't care what it cost him, or the kingdom.
'When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, "Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us."
So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter), and they talked with her. And she said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'Tell the man who sent you to me, Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD. Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.'" And they brought back word to the king.' -2 Kings 22:11-20
Josiah hears the word of the Lord and rips his clothes. A symbol of his heart being ripped, a symbol of repentance and deep remorse. He hears the literal word and law of the God he is worshiping, he understands who this God is that he is worshiping.
All this time he had been worshiping a God...
That he did not know.
God revealed himself.
Josiah is a great role model when it comes to leadership.
He put God first. He put the temple of the LORD first. He gave the temple his best and his most.
And people followed him.
Josiah is a great role model when it comes to responding to God's word.
We have the Bible around us all the time. We have a full canon of scripture.
When we read it and it speaks to us, do we react the way Josiah reacts?
Do we go to inquire of the LORD in those times?
This is not even half of the story.
This post doesn't cover half of the main story. Not even half of the underlying story.
I hope you can stick with me through the story of King Josiah as we ponder many of the questions, and themes of scripture. I think God reveals himself multiple times and in very many ways throughout his story.
To be continued...
(All Scripture in this post was from the English Standard Version)
