Sunday: The Book of the Law
King Josiah of Judah, who was eight years old when he became king, reigned 31 years (640 B.C. — 609 B.C.) before his death on the battlefield. In the eighteenth year of his reign, something happened that, at least for a while, changed the history of God’s people.
Read 2 Kings 22:1-20. What lessons can we learn from this incident?
Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com
Scholars have long concluded that the “Book of the Law” (2 Kings 22:8) was Deuteronomy, which apparently had been lost to the people for many years.
“Josiah was deeply stirred as he heard read for the first time the exhortations and warnings recorded in this ancient manuscript. Never before had he realized so fully the plainness with which God had set before Israel ‘life and death, blessing and cursing’ (Deuteronomy 30:19) … The book abounded in assurances of God’s willingness to save to the uttermost those who should place their trust fully in Him. As He had wrought in their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, so would He work mightily in establishing them in the Land of Promise and in placing them at the head of the nations of earth.” — Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 393.
All through the next chapter, we can see just how seriously King Josiah sought “to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul” (2 Kings 23:3; see also Deuteronomy 4:29, Deuteronomy 6:5, Deuteronomy 10.12-13). And this reformation included a cleansing and purging of “all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD” (2 Kings 23:24).
Deuteronomy was filled with warnings and admonitions against following the practices of the nations around them. The actions of Josiah, and all the things that he did, which included the execution of what must have been idolatrous priests in Samaria (2 Kings 23:20), revealed just how far the people of God had strayed from the truth entrusted to them. Instead of remaining the holy people who they were supposed to be, they compromised with the world, even though they often thought, We are just fine with the Lord, thank you.
What a dangerous deception.
| In our own homes or even in church institutions, what things might we need to purge thoroughly in order truly to serve the Lord with all our heart and soul? |
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As you can probably guess, I have a couple of rather complicated cameras. They are so complex that their user manuals are about 400 pages long. Now, I happen to be pretty familiar with the cameras because I use them all the time and seldom refer to the manuals. However, if I was new to photography or had not used cameras for a long time, I would be very dependent on those manuals.
When Josiah became king at 8 years of age, the Kingdom of Judah had had a run of bad kings, The bible describes them simply; "They did evil in the sight of the Lord!" They have virtually descended into anarchy with conspirators killing Amon, the previous king and the anti-conspirators killing the conspirators. They had lost the instruction manual through neglect and self-interest. They had essentially lost the plot on good government.
Josiah (probably with the help of his mother) changed all that and tried to run the nation properly. It did not happen overnight. It was in the eighteenth year of his reign that they found the instruction book.
We need to understand that it's not like today. If I want to read my camera instruction manual, I simply go online, find it and read it. But in Josiah's time, books were a scarce commodity, and the ability to read them was also limited. The discovery of the Torah wasn't a call to legalism but rather a return to a state of order. There were some tough times ahead for the kingdom as they sorted out how to love God and care for one another again.
The Ellen White quote within today's contains the following statement:
While Ellen is specifically referring to the book of Deuteronomy, the same statement accurately describes the core theme of the entire Bible.
What does placing one's trust fully in God involve? It involves both (a) an abiding trust-based relationship (like a child trusting a trustworthy parent: Matthew 18:3) AND within that relationship (b) intentional choice to live in harmony with what God has truthfully outlined as the truth/reality of the only way abundant life is possible (eg Deuteronomy 30:16). This is what God, via Moses, outlines in Deuteronomy - the way you can live that will inherently lead to death (perishing) versus the way that you will need to live if you wish to have true life (Deuteronomy 30:15,19).
Whether we are aware of it or not, we are choosing one of these two options by the way we live our everyday life. If our daily living is underpinned by other-focussed, other-benefiting love, we are in harmony with God and with the only way that is abundant and eternal life (Deuteronomy 30:20; Luke 9:23). If our daily living is instead underpinned by self-seeking, we are unfortunately in harmony with the way that can only lead to perishing/death (Deuteronomy 30:17-18; Romans 8:13; 1 John 2:15-17; Proverbs 14:12).
What was the biggest realization when they discovered the Book of the Law? That they had mingled pagan rituals with their worship of the Creator. They did evil in the sight of the LORD by worshipping "other gods".
They took pride in being the "chosen people" but they continually chose other gods. They assumed the LORD would continue to "save" them from their enemies, that - per EG White - "He would work mightily in establishing them in the Land of Promise and in placing them at the head of the nations of earth.” in spite of their choices.
What does it mean to you and me to be " saved"?
I believe it is the privilege to be transformed into His image and to enter into the 'kingdom of heaven' - where we acknowledge the LORD as King and live by His Principles of Life.
Matt 18:3
Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are changed and become humble as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
Rom 10:9-10
if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Matt 1:21
you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.
What does it mean to you and me to be saved?
Ephesians 2:8-9 is one of my favorite passages.
Revelation ◦ Chapter 3...14"To the messenger to my children in the church in Laodicea, write:
This message is from Jesus–the consistent, reliable, faithful and true Witness–who is the origin of God's creation:15I know your choices. I know that you are neither on fire with love, nor do you appear cold with selfishness. I wish you were either on fire for my kingdom, or clearly opposed to it!16But because you are a lukewarm mix of cold hearts practicing selfish methods while appearing to be on fire for my kingdom, you misrepresent me and make me sick to my stomach. I am about to vomit you out.17You claim to be spiritually rich and full of heavenly treasure, thinking you have the truth and are in need of nothing, but you are so self-deceived that you don't realize you are devoid of my character of love. You are decrepit, pathetic, bereft of true godliness, with minds so closed that you can't even comprehend truth. You stand naked and exposed.18My prescription for you is to exchange your corrupt motives for the gold of godly love purified through fiery trials, so that you can be rich in what heaven values. Exchange your filthy, selfish characters for the perfect character of Christ — pure and white — so that you can cover the shame of your imperfection. And apply the salve of the Holy Spirit to your minds, so that you can see and understand the reality of your own condition, and that of God’s kingdom of love.
19"It is those whom I love that I diagnose and provide these therapeutic interventions, so take ownership of yourselves: turn away from destruction, and apply the Remedy.20I am here now! I am standing at the door to your hearts, knocking with truth and love. If any hear my voice and open their hearts, I will come in and commune with them, and they with me.
21"Everyone who prevails by completing the treatment, and lives in harmony with my methods of love until the end, will sit enthroned with me–just as I overcame, and sit enthroned with my Father.22Those whose minds are open to truth will understand what the Spirit reveals to the churches."
Moses commanded the Levites to put the book of the law in the side of the ark of the covenant, (see Deuteronomy 31:24-26). In 2 Kings 22:8 Hil-ki'ah the high priest found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.
The Lord had preserved the book for just when it was needed most. Praise the Lord!
The law has given us so many basic morals to live by. But I am blessed by God's amazing grace that He has saved me, an ordinary woman, nothing special, not popular, not significant to anyone but my loved ones. It is not an abandonment of my morals and high ideals to say that I go to bed every night with the blessed assurance that Jesus is mine, and that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
Though others my see you as "an ordinary woman, nothing special, not popular, not significant to anyone but my loved ones", and you may possibly even see yourself this way at times, this is exactly the opposite to how God sees you - extraordinary, uniquely special and infinitely significant. Hence you rightly have the blessed assurance that Jesus is yours - and you are His.
It is so true that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved - none will be rejected.
I have often wondered why and how kings like David and Josiah, who were such godly men, have children who seemed universally determined to commit their lives to sin and iniquity with destructive abandon. It is like the "preacher's kid" syndrome in spades.