In this lesson we return to the kings of Judah. After the good king Hezekiah died, his son Manasseh reigned. "And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them. ... And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. ... And Manasseh seduced them [the children of Judah] to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel. ... Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord." (2 Kings 21:2-3,6,9,16)
Then because of all this great evil, the Lord said by His prophets: "Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever hears of it, both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipes a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down." (2 Kings 21:12-13) "And the Lord spoke to Manasseh, and to his people; but they would not hearken. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria [Esarhaddon], which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon." (2 Chronicles 33:10-11)
He was released, however, after a while, and at his death his son Amon reigned. "And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh did. ... And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house. And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead." (2 Kings 21:20,23-24)
Thus it was that young Josiah--only eight years of age--came to the throne. And he found the land full of iniquity and abominable idolatry:
• altars reared to Baal;
• images of Ashtoreth in the high places;
• places of worship for horrid Moloch;
• horses and chariots dedicated to the sun;
• priests of Baal, and of all the idols, burning incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the planets, and to all the host of heaven;
• the house of God shut up;
• the worship of the Lord forsaken, and the book of the law forgotten; this had been the condition of affairs for nearly fifty years. In the eighth year of his reign he began actively the work of reformation--to break down the altars; to break in pieces the images; and to burn the chariots of the sun. Thus he did throughout all Judah. "And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about." (2 Chronicles 34:6)
While these things were going on, the Levites were at the same time gathering money from all the people, "of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to Jerusalem. And they put it in the hand of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of the Lord, and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the house of the Lord, to repair and amend the house." (2 Chronicles 34:9-10) "And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying, Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people. ... And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, 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 scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again. And Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king's, saying, Go you, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us." (2 Kings 22:3-4,8-13)
These messengers went immediately to Huldah the prophetess, who "dwelt in Jerusalem in the college," (2 Kings 22:14) and when Josiah received the answer from the Lord, he gathered all the people together, "small and great: and...read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. And the king ... made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments, ... with all their heart and with all their soul. And all the people stood to the covenant. ... And like unto him was there no king before him, that 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; neither after him arose there any like him." (2 Kings 23:2-3,25)
Josiah did a grand work, and it is a grand commendation of the Lord that he received because of it. But this was not written for his sake alone. Those who tremble at the word of the Lord, and turn from their transgressions, as did King Josiah, the Lord will accept and commend as readily as He did him.
This reformation by Josiah is only an illustration of the power of the word of God. When Luther found a Bible chained in the library of his monastery, its precious word touched his heart, and by it caused a revolution in all Europe. When Wesley began to obey that word "with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might," (2 Kings 23:25) the power of the word could not be kept back, but it fairly turned England and America "upside down." So it will be ever. Only let a few men, or even a solitary man, walk in the way of the commandments of God, with all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their might, and they can move nations. "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)
The work of reformation is not yet done. The noble duty of covenanting to walk after the Lord and to keep His commandments, did not cease with this act of Josiah, nor with Luther, nor with Wesley. Even now the Lord sends a message to all people, saying with a loud voice, "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." (Revelation 14:12)
Even now iniquity and idolatry, prevail as really as in the days of Josiah, Luther, or Wesley. And now it is the duty of those who fear God to covenant to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and testimonies and His statutes, with all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their might, to perform the words of this covenant that are written in the book.
As it was in the days of Josiah, that the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth and the honor of the sun, had supplanted the worship and honor of Jehovah, even so now the worship of the beast (the papacy), and his image (the so-called National Reform), and the honor of the "venerable day of the sun" are fast supplanting the worship and honor of Jehovah. Even now, as of old, the Lord cries out, "If I be a Father, where is my honor? if I be a Master, where is my fear?" (Malachi 1:6)
Men who make their boast of the law, through breaking the law are dishonoring God. "You that make your boast of the law, through breaking the law do you dishonor God?" (Romans 2:23) "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words: Then shall you delight yourself in the Lord." (Isaiah 58:13-14) "Them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." (1 Samuel 2:30)--Signs of the Times, December 24, 1885--Notes on the International Lesson, January 3--2 Kings 22:1-13
A.T. Jones