Learning about King Josiah this morning. Dude was a beast. King Josiah The only textual sources of information for Josiahs reign are from the Bible notably 2 Kings 22-23 and 2 Chronicles 34-35. The life of Josiah is summarized in 2 Kings 23:25: Before him there was no king like him who 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; nor did any like him arise after him (NASB). CONCLUSION For the word of God is living and active (Hebrews 4:12 NIV) is not a concept we only find in the New Testament. In fact, texts like these drew their inspiration from stories in the Old Testament such as Josiah. In his righteous reign we see the simple power of the direct Word of God. Armed with the Book of Deuteronomy, he leads an entire nation back to responsible faithfulness to Yahweh, proving the ability of the Bible to direct all courses of life. CHALLENGE THE KING . . . 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 (2 KINGS 23:3). The first element of Josiahs call to covenant was to walk after the Lord. This was meant to vividly express the manner in which the nation was to be wholly obedient to the Lord. The direction of the nation would not be determined by self-centered human perception but by the Lord. It was a general introduction to the nature of the other elements of the covenant. The covenant called the people to keep the Lords commandments, testimonies, and statutes. Keep comes from a Hebrew word which emphasizes observing and preserving. The nation was covenanting to integrate and to perpetuate the will of the Lord. Commandments, testimonies, and statutes indicated different ways in which God had communicated the Law. Commandments were those principles God had set up and appointed to be obeyed by His people. Testimonies were those accounts and parts of the Law which reminded the people of the works of God. Statutes were the decrees the Lord had established for their guidance. Each of these had a different emphasis. Commandments emphasized God as the source, testimonies stressed the work of God, and statutes highlighted Gods guidance. The next part of Josiahs covenant was that they were to follow the things of the Lord with all their heart and all their soul. This emphasized the need for heartfelt sincerity and personal motivation. Heart stressed the emotional motivation of the people. Soul in this context emphasized that devotion to God was to be at the center of their lives. Even though God had provided the covenant, it would only be applied to the people of the nation as they kept the covenant with all their heart and soul. The final part of the covenant highlighted the importance of action. They were to perform the words of this covenant. In other words, they were to live in such a way that the principles of the Word would be reflected in their conduct. The term perform in this context means to cause to stand. Only by doing the commandments would the principles stand and be effective in the lives of the people. A sincere heart is foundational for faithfulness. However, that faithfulness must be completed through actions that reflect the Word of the Lord. Taken from the article m.biblestudytools/bible-study/topical-studies/josiah-rediscovering-the-word-11636193.html
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 14:38:16 +0000
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