2 Kings 22:1-20 I Need a Personal Reformation

2 Kings 22:1-20 I Need a Personal Reformation

“Josiah was eight years old when he became king and reigned 31 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. He did what was right in the Lord’s sight and walked in all the ways of his ancestor David; he did not turn to the right or the left.” (2 Kings 22:1–2, HCSB)

A whitewater river guide once told me that the secret of whitewater canoeing is to stay in the “tongue,” or the center, of the river because there are currents to the right and left that ultimately lead to a cracked canoe. That’s what Josiah did. He didn’t go to the right or the left. So often we, as Christians, can go off to the right. We can become very legalistic, thinking we alone are “right.” The Pharisees veered off to the right. Or we drift to the left and become so liberal in our theology that we stand for nothing. The Sadducees did this. That is why the Lord calls us, like Josiah, to remain in the center.1

Josiah was a young man who followed God. He did not turn to the right or to the left. This came as a result of the teaching of his mother: Jedidiah (Beloved).

Like his great-grandfather Hezekiah, Josiah received the rare unqualified commendation of the author of Kings. The final grade on his royal report card was an A+.2

In 2 Kings 22-23, we see:

SEVEN NECESSARY STEPS FOR REVIVAL AND REFORM

Today, we will deal with the first four steps in 2 Kings 22. Next week we will deal with three more steps in 2 Kings 23.

Repair the breaches. This requires that we repair our love quotient. (22:3-7)

“In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent the court secretary Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the Lord’s temple, saying, “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest so that he may total up the money brought into the Lord’s temple—the money the doorkeepers have collected from the people. It is to be put into the hands of those doing the work—those who oversee the Lord’s temple. They in turn are to give it to the workmen in the Lord’s temple to repair the damage. They are to give it to the carpenters, builders, and masons to buy timber and quarried stone to repair the temple. But no accounting is to be required from them for the money put into their hands since they work with integrity.”” (2 Kings 22:3–7, HCSB)

Step one is that the people repaired the breaches in the temple. According to Paul, we are the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16). We are living stones, Peter tells us, being fit together into a holy habitation (1 Peter 2:5). The Lord does not work where there is not love. That is why the first step on the road to revival is to repair the breaches. Jesus said that it was our love for each other that would identify us as His disciples (John 13:35). Love is patient and kind, not easily provoked. Love thinks no evil, believes all things, bears all things, and endures all things. Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13).3

2 Kings 22:1-7 Josiah is king and he rebuilds the temple. He uses the same practices as Joash in 2 Kings 12.

When you’re seeking the Lord at the altar, listen for Him telling you how to repair the breaches.

Rediscover God’s Word. (22:7-9)

Following the repair of the breaches, the second step on the road to revival is the rediscovery of God’s Word.

It intrigues me that the Word of God was lost in the house of God. But, in a sense, that’s what often happens today. Churches meet, but there is no emphasis on studying or knowing the Scriptures. As a result, the Word is lost in liturgy, buried in ritual. Manasseh attempted to destroy the Word, but he couldn’t, for the Word of God is everlasting (Matthew 5:18).

“Then Shaphan the court secretary went to the king and reported, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the temple and have put it into the hand of those doing the work—those who oversee the Lord’s temple.” Then Shaphan the court secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book,” and Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.” (2 Kings 22:9–10, HCSB)

This single copy of the Law wasn’t placed in an airtight container inside a museum. No, it was read. The key is to read the Bible, not just have to own one.

Repent from Error (22:10-11)

“When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.” (2 Kings 22:11, HCSB)

Repentance from error is the third step on the road to revival. Realizing how far off course they were from where they should have been, Josiah tore his clothes in a sign of brokenness.

“Then Shaphan the court secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book,” and Shaphan read it in the presence of the king. When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.” (2 Kings 22:10–11, HCSB)

History—renewal needed
2 Kings 22:10–11; Acts 19:9–10
The Need of Renewal
She stood in New York Harbor for ninety-seven years, welcoming seventeen million immigrants to her shores. As her century birthday approached, it was obvious that the Statue of Liberty needed restoration. Two thousand iron bars within her superstructure had deteriorated to less than half their original thickness. The skin had been thinned by acid rain and air pollution, and pieces of her torch had fallen off. Americans gave millions of dollars to restore the lady in time for the nation’s 112th birthday, July 4, 1986.
Human monuments, history, life, and morals must be constantly reinforced and resupplied, fixed and repaired. Everything in creation suffers constant deterioration. Likewise, our Christian lives demand constant reinforcement to serve at optimum strength. Always subject to influences that bear us away from God, we cast an anchor into his Word to hold us steady. Knowing that spiritual fervor is lost from slow leaks, not blowouts, we must constantly check our spiritual pressure by feeding daily on God’s Word and renewing our life through prayer. Revivals aren’t just convenient intervals in otherwise normal lives; they are essential reclamation projects for our souls.4

Request Instruction (22:12-13)

“Then he commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the court secretary, and the king’s servant Asaiah: “Go and inquire of the Lord for me, the people, and all Judah about the instruction in this book that has been found. For great is the Lord’s wrath that is kindled against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this book in order to do everything written about us.”” (2 Kings 22:12–13, HCSB)

At this time, both Jeremiah and Zephaniah were on the scene in Judah. Yet when Josiah heard the Word, he sought out Huldah, a woman who had insight and sensitivity to the Spirit of God.

A request for instruction is the fourth step on the road to revival. Paul did the same thing. On the road to Damascus, he was knocked to the ground by the Lord. When he realized he was talking to Jesus, Paul said, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6). I don’t know what the Lord would have you do when He brings revival to your soul. Maybe He’ll have you start a Bible study at your job or in your neighborhood. Maybe He’ll have you visit people in the hospital or take care of some kids in the nursery. I do know that as you seek Him, He’ll show you something to do practically if, like Josiah, you request instruction.

2 Kings 22:15-20 – Because Josiah listened to the words and repented, God postponed his judgment on Jerusalem. He will still punish Jerusalem, but He will postpone it until after Josiah dies.

In any revival, there are three kinds of believers. Some are rowboats who must be pushed to move in any direction. Others are sailboats who keep changing course depending upon the direction of the wind. But a third group are steamboats, people who make up their minds and go in a given direction regardless of wind or weather. Josiah was a steamboat. He had a heart for the Lord, a love for God, and was determined that nothing would pull him to the right or left.
At this point, if I were Josiah, having heard Huldah’s prophecy, I’m afraid I would have said, “If judgment is coming, forget the revival.” And yet in chapter 23 (as will see next week when we examine the change from personal revival and reformation to corporate revival and reformation), he continues bringing about reforms, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord.
Rowboat, sailboat, steamboat—which boat are you?5

Footnotes:

¹ Jon Courson, Jon Courson’s Application Commentary: Volume One: Genesis–Job (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2005), 1085–1086.

² Russell Dilday and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, 1, 2 Kings, vol. 9, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1987), 443.

³ Jon Courson, Jon Courson’s Application Commentary: Volume One: Genesis–Job (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2005), 1086.

⁴ Virgil Hurley, Speaker’s Sourcebook of New Illustrations, electronic ed. (Dallas: Word Publishers, 2000), 101.

⁵ Jon Courson, Jon Courson’s Application Commentary: Volume One: Genesis–Job (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2005), 1087.