REFORMATION:  GOING BEYOND THE OBVIOUS 

I KINGS 13:1-2, 2KINGS 22:1-2

          This prophesy given about Josiah was uttered 322 years before the actual birth of Josiah.  Now because of the studies we have had in Bible study some of you might be thinking well 322 years is nothing; the person who uttered the prophesy is probably still living.  Well not so.  If you will read through the books of Kings and Chronicles you will find statements like “Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to reign and he reigned 55 years.  That means he died at 67.  So the long life spans of 200 or more years are gone.  Thus the prophet who spoke of Josiah is dead and we will prove this later.  Now when this prophesy was spoken the Children of Israel both the Northern (Israel) and Southern Kingdom (Judah) were already headed on the path destruction.  God, having foreknowledge sent a prophesy of a coming reformation for Judah and that reformation was to come through a boy king named Josiah.  When I first started looking at this I thought I would be focusing on the question of generational curses because it keeps coming up.  You see Josiah was the 16^th of the 20 kings of Judah after Solomon.  What is recorded about most of the kings in front of him, even his own father and grandfather, is “and king _____ did evil in the sight of the Lord”.  But what is recorded about Josiah is that he did good in the sight of the Lord.  But we will have to save the generational curse for another day.  Because Josiah, the boy king, did something that no other king before or after him did.  He brought reformation.  He dragged the people out of idolatry and turned them back to God.  Today’s message is “Reformation:  Going Beyond the Obvious.”

2 KINGS 22:3-7

          Nothing is written about Josiah’s actions as king as a boy of 8 until he is a man of 26.  It is highly likely that his mother had a very strong influence in how the kingdom was run.  For sure she raised Josiah to know God and to do that which was right in his sight.  But at age 26 it appears that Josiah looks around his kingdom and decides that something is not quite right.  First of all the House of God, the religious center of the region is all run down.  Just like us, when in our lives we start to sense that something is not quite right, we start to look at what we might change and generally we start with what is obvious.  In our Christian walk we started with our obvious sins.  If something is wrong around the house, we start with the obvious.  We start cleaning the house.  If something is wrong at work, we rearrange the office, bring in more pictures and plants to liven up the place and make it more like home.  We try to fix the obvious in hopes that it will correct that sense that something is wrong or not quite right.  In Josiah’s case he sent word to the high priest that funds were to be made available to workmen to repair the temple.  The craftsmen were to be given whatever they needed to get the job done.  Josiah went to fix the obvious and that one step started him on the road to reformation, to complete change, because something important happened when the men he sent got to the temple.

2KINGS 22:8-11

          The Book of the Law has been found and read.  Now Josiah can see that it is not just neglect in the upkeep of the House of God that is a problem.  The whole religious system under which Judah was operating was completely wrong.  Josiah recognizes that in order to correct what is wrong in Judah he will need to go beyond the obvious of just repairing the temple.  When Josiah read the Law and saw how far off track they were he rent his clothes which is a sign of true repentance.  When Josiah sent to the temple he had no idea that the book of the Law was there and no idea of what was in it, but when he found out he showed evidence of true repentance.  Before we got saved maybe we did not understand what was wrong with our lives, maybe we even thought all was well, but when we come to God and come to know the true, we too should show evidence of true repentance.  Josiah rent his clothes, he uncovered himself, baring himself before the Lord.  This is the same evidence that God wants to see in us.  No we are not to run around physically ragged and naked, but we are to bare our hearts, minds, souls and spirits to him, that he might reform us.  So here Josiah finally sees what the problem is.  But what is to be done?

2 KINGS 22:11-14

          Recognizing that they were in big trouble with God because they were not keeping the Law and no one had kept it for quite some time, Josiah said “go ask the Lord what to do”.  (Note: that they went to the prophetess.)

This should always be our approach to fixing the wrongs in our lives, in our society, in our world.  Lord, what are we who are supposed to be following you to do about this?  So often we assume that we know how to fix the problem and we set out to do what we believe to be right.  Again acting in this way is acting upon the obvious.  We need God to show us that which is not obvious to us because true reformation will often require going beyond the obvious.

        I am going to skip the reading of the prophetess’s reply but I will tell you this.  She did not tell Josiah how to fix the problem or even that he should attempt to fix it.  She told him that God was angry and that there was no way to turn away his anger.  Judah was to be destroyed she said but because Josiah’s heart was tender and he humbled himself before God, God was going to let him die before destruction came.  At that point Josiah could have done as many of us would do.  He could have just thrown his hands up in the air, had a pity party, crying and pouting, saying God did not tell me how to fix this and I don’t know how to.  He has already set his mind on destroying us so there is nothing I can do.  He could have just given up, left things as they were and allowed the people to continue on along the path they were traveling.  But that was not good enough for Josiah.  He wanted change.  Not because there was a promised blessing in it, but because his heart wanted to do right by God.  So what did he do?

2 KINGS 23:1-3

          The first thing that Josiah did is called all the people together, small and great, powerful and common, prince, priest and popper and he read the law to them.  He instructed the people.  Somewhere along the line someone had dropped the ball and the Book of the Law had not been read in the ears of the people.  Moses warned the children of Israel in Deuteronomy chapter 11 that because he was not speaking the law to future generations it would be needful for them to be taught the law.  He said, in Deut. 11:19-21, “And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when you sit in thine house, and when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.  And you shall write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.”  Somewhere the ball got dropped and the word had not been spread. They were way off track and did not even know it. The way chapter 22 reads it appears that even the high priest did not know until the law was actually found.   So Josiah set out to instruct the people.  To let them know of the sins they were committing and why God was so angry with them. 

          The second thing that Josiah did was led the people in making a change.  It is one thing to know what is wrong it is a totally different thing to know what to do about it.  Sometimes we can’t figure out what is wrong and thus we can not make a change.  Sometimes we can know what is wrong and still not be able to make a change because we don’t know what to do.  The prophetess did not give Josiah any specific instructions, but Josiah set out with a mind to make a change, to go beyond the obvious and make reforms. So he led the people in changing.  Verse three says he made a covenant with God to live according to all that was written in the Law.  Sometimes when things are wrong we get stuck because we say we don’t know where to start to fix them.  Well if God does not give you a different starting place, how about go back to where you got off track and start there.  The people got off track because they did not know the Law and were not committed to keeping it.  Josiah re-introduced them to the Law and joined them in a covenant with God to keep the law.

2 KINGS 23:4-6

          The next thing that Josiah did to bring about reform is he cleaned out the House of God.  He removed all vessels that had been used in idol worship.  He removed all idolatrous priests who by the way had been appointed by previous kings for the sole purpose of worshipping idols.  He removed and burned all idol statues and totem poles.  In starting over sometimes we have to clean house so that we can start afresh.  You may need to get rid of some things that are holding you back.  They may not necessarily be noted as sinful but still they are keeping you from growing and moving with God.

2 KINGS 23:7

          Part of idolatrous worship always included sexual perversion.  The enemy knows that he can trap you in sin by using your body against you.  So to insure that these worship practices would continue and grow he made them cater to actions that are pleasing to the flesh.  That is why many struggle with getting and staying saved today; because, Christianity goes in just the opposite way.  It allows no room to cater to the flesh.  In fact it requires that we commit to dieing daily to our fleshly desires by deny the fulfilling of them.  So Josiah tore down the sex house where the men who were used in temple worship live and the women used to entice men worked.  The house by the way was right next to the temple.

2 KINGS 23:8-9

          The high places were unauthorized places of worship.  They were sometimes places were Jews went to offer sacrifices and pray rather than have to go back to Jerusalem.  Josiah tore these down and sat the priest who ran these places down from service.  They were defiled.  They were still allowed to take their meals with the other priest, but were not allowed to assist in temple duties. 

2 KINGS 23:12-13

          He removed any and all forms of idolatry.  Notice here that the previous kings had played a big part in leading the people along this path.  The kings had set up altars to other God in the temple and it had started way back with Solomon.  The children of Israel had been warned to stay away from strange women but Solomon did not listen.  1 Kings 11:1-3 says, “But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.” All these strange women worshipped strange gods and in an effort to keep them all happy Solomon made place of worship for each of them.  So the people had been on this path to destruction since Solomon brought in strange women as wives.  Do you know that this same thing has happened to America.  He are no longer a Christian country.  As we have allowed those from non-Christian cultures to come in to our country our own standard of belief has dwindled and been swallowed up.  In an attempt to be open minded and appease all peoples who flock to this country, we Christians have been forced to make concessions and changes in our routines.  At public functions we do not pray in the name of Jesus, because many who are ‘spiritual’ do not believe in Jesus as savior.  So in an attempt not to offend anyone we are asked to change our behavior.  That is exactly what happened with Solomon’s wives and 300+ years later, the people don’t even know what their own beliefs are.  You know what I find strange.  The Pilgrims came to America and forced the Indians who had a set of beliefs of their own to accept Christianity.  They brought slaves into America and forced them to leave their own religious beliefs and accept Christianity.  But now we go out of our way to be all inclusive and accept everyone’s religion.

2 KINGS 23:15-20

          This thing of burning bones on the altar and crushing them was to defile the place so that no-one would come back and rebuild the altar.  But here Josiah also finds the grave of the Prophet who over 300 years ago had prophesied that he would reform the religious practices of the people.  The last thing Josiah did in cleaning house was to tear down the sexual worship houses throughout the land and slay all priests dedicated to worshipping idols.  After reading the Law, Josiah realized that renovating the temple was the obvious thing to do but it was not nearly enough.  He had to also get rid of anything that defiled the temple and hindered one from following the Law.  As Christians, cleaning up the outside of the temple is the obvious thing to do, but it is not nearly enough.  It is a good start, but you must also rid yourself of anything that defiles the temple and keeps you from living a holy life.  Mark 7:21-23 says, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”

2 KINGS 23:21-23

          After cleaning house the third thing that Josiah did was to restore the Passover.  Now that he had stripped the people of their idols he needed to again point the people towards relationship with the true and living God.  Passover helped them to focus on the great deliverance God had provided for their ancestors and who God was to the nation of Israel.  During this reformation Josiah had removed the worship of idols from among the people but unless he replaced it with they would soon, like pigs run right back to wallow in the mud of idolatry.  Matt. 12:44 says, “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he finds it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goes he, and takes with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”  It is important that we as Christians remember that it is not only required that we put off a life style of wickedness but that we also put on the character and behavior of God.

2 KINGS 23:24

          Up to this point Josiah had put away evil objects and the persons who were practicing idolatry with these objects.  His final act is to put away evil itself.  To put away witch craft, familiar spirits and all of the occult forces is to attack the enemy’s camp.  This action was equivalent to kicking the devil and his evil spirits out.  To bring about real reformation and affect real change you must deal with and conquer the root cause of the problem which mandates that you go well beyond the obvious. 

2 KINGS 23:25

          The final testimony of Josiah is that this young king did what no other before him or since him had done.  He turned to the Lord with all of his heart, soul and might.  He cleaned the land of idolatry and turned the people back in the direction of God.  He took one obvious step that in the end led to a great reformation in Israel.  I want to encourage you today to push beyond the obvious to find areas where today you can affect reformation.

          As I finished my notes for this message God had me to look up the word reformation.  Webster says ‘a reforming or being reformed; the 16^th century religious movement that aimed at reforming the Catholic church and resulted in establishing the Protestant churches.  The next reformation will reform the Protestant churches into the true church of Jesus Christ.  If we are to reach our goal of individually and collectively being members in the true church of Jesus Christ we must press beyond the obvious and be truly reformed.