As it was in the Days of Josiah

As it was in the Days of Josiah

Wait until you hear about a young King over the kingdom of Judah.  He was a good and righteous king, and many have heard of him, but did you know there is a connection between Josiah and the days we are living in right now (currently January 2016).

Around 931 BC -

1Kings 13:1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; “Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee”. 3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out”. 4 And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, “Lay hold on him”. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him. 5 The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. 6 And the king answered and said unto the man of God, “Entreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again.” And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.

Then, around 640 BC (almost 300 years later) -

2Ki 22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath. 2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.

2Kings 22:3 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…

2Kings 22:8 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…10 And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.

2Kings 22:11 Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, 13 "Go, inquire of the LORD for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us."

2Kings 22:14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke with her.       15 Then she said to them, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'Tell the man who sent you to Me, 16 "Thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants-all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read- 17 'because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath shall be aroused against this place and shall not be quenched.'"'

2Kings 22:18 "But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, in this manner you shall speak to him, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel: "Concerning the words which you have heard- 19 "because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you," says the LORD. 20 "Surely, therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place."'" So they brought back word to the king.

There are two points I want to make:

1. What Josiah experienced when he read the Book of the Law (the Torah) he realized that his fathers before him had ignored the commandments of Yehovah and were due to receive His wrath.  Now, I don’t think he was upset as much about the “wrath” part, as he was about the fact that the God of Israel had given them a book; centuries before given to Moses.  They all knew that had happened, but had forgotten the book and what was in it.  They had gotten to the point where they didn’t think the Law of God was relevant anymore.  Generations had gotten farther and farther away from God’s Laws and hadn’t even realized it.

2. What Josiah went through is EXACTLY what I experienced about 8 years ago now.  When I was introduced to the Book of the Law, I was shocked.  When I read it for myself, it was SO CLEAR that the words contained there were the TRUTH from Almighty God.  They were not “done away with” – a lie the Devil has been telling God’s people for centuries – and quite successfully.  

I began to realize that there were things in God’s Law that not only should I be doing, but I could do them.  They were not difficult and yet were very important to God – or He would not have commanded us to do them.  The more I learned, the angrier I got at the “church” of Jesus Christ for “forgetting, ignoring and telling people the Law was no longer relevant”.  The people of Josiah’s day had done the same – his father, grandfather and perhaps further back had all bought into that lie.  They didn’t even know they HAD the Book of the LAW in the House of the LORD (Yehovah)! 

For me, I had the Book of the LAW right in the very same King James Bible I had been reading and studying from for the past 24 years!  It was right in front of me but I had inherited lies from previous generations.  First I got angry, then a little scared but mostly ashamed that I had acted so shamefully toward my God.  I had been no better than the people of Israel and Judah thousands of years ago. 

My GOD deserved so much better than that.  This is MY GOD who sent His “Only Begotten Son – Yeshua” to die a horrible death on that cross on a hill outside Jerusalem.  He died for me.  He paid the penalty that was due by me for all my sins!  This God who found me, I didn’t find Him – he searched me out and opened my eyes that I might receive salvation from Yeshua!  He forgave me of all my sins.  He placed His precious Holy Spirit inside me to “seal the covenant” and to teach me, guide me and direct my path. 

And yet, after I had received this AMAZING GRACE and free gift from God, I continued in the way of my fathers.  I continued following false teachings, false doctrines, and lies about the LAW of God.  

I was not alone.  I know and have met many more believers who went through the same thing.  They too were deceived. They too believed the lies.  Then they found the Book of the LAW of Moses.  They started to read it.  They learned things about their God that they had never known.  They learned what He calls “righteousness”.  They learned how He defines “holiness”.  They also learned what He calls “SIN” – the transgression of His Torah!

Just like Josiah, many of them became angry.  Many became ashamed.  They never knew they had profaned the Name of their God by defying His Ways.  No one had ever told them that before!  Why not?  Because just as the people of Josiah’s day, they had forgotten they even had God’s Law and dismissed it, ignored it and considered it irrelevant.

Well, guess what?  If you are even remotely part of Western Christianity, you are in the same place.  You too have believed the lies. You too have ignored the Book of the LAW of your God.  You probably are hearing this and saying, “He’s wrong.  That is done away with!” Yep, that’s what you’ve been told.  If you went to your pastor today, he would tell you the same thing.  He might even be able to bring up 1 or 2 Bible verses that he thinks prove his point.  For most people, that is good enough and they can go right back to sleep.

YOU however need to be different!  YOU need to consider what Josiah did and what he discovered.  What if I told you that thousands of people all across the world have been discovering the same Truths that Josiah discovered – for about the past 10 years or less? This is a relatively recent thing that God is doing.  You are hearing about this because God is calling His people back to His “ancient path”.  

NONE of this is some “new-fangled” attempt to get you to like church.  MY GOD.  This is exactly what God did with king Josiah.  Someone found the Torah (the first 5 Books of Moses); gave it to the king and he read it.  You have this same Book of the Law in your very own Bible right now.  Go to the beginning of the Book and read Genesis through Deuteronomy.  Learn things about the God you claim to love and serve.  Be ashamed when you find out how you have ignored His Ways.

That is actually “prophesied” in the Torah that God’s people would turn away from Him over time, and eventually would realize their error (SIN) and they would be ashamed, then they would TURN back to God.  He calls this turning back “REPENTANCE”.  That word is thrown around a lot in church circles, but biblically it means to “Turn back to the commandments of God”.  

I know this can seem overwhelming. Read his Book of the Law for yourself.  Believe all that it says and realize “like Josiah” that you and your people have failed to keep God’s ways. Cry out to God and confess your SIN. Ask Him to forgive you by the same “Blood of the Lamb – Yeshua (Jesus)” (I John 1:9) Then start learning how to keep His ways.  There are lots of good teachers out there who can help, BUT, remember, God has given you the BEST possible teacher you could have.  He has given you the GIFT of the HOLY SPIRIT.  

Ask God to open your eyes and teach you wondrous things from His Word.

Psalm 119:18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. (KJV)

He will teach you by His Spirit.  Never forget the salvation that Yeshua (Jesus) provided for you.  Believe it or not, that salvation is the only Way that you could even be free of your sins so you COULD turn back to God.  Without Yeshua, you would just be a lost sinner without any “Atonement”.  In the old days, animals were sacrificed to “pay” or “atone for” your sins.  Josiah had “only” that system to “cover” his sins.  We now have “ONLY” the “ONE WAY” provided by the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

HE paid the price SO THAT you could return to God.  They only way to actually show you have “returned” is to keep and do the commandments of God.  These are actually the “works of righteousness” that we are taught in the New Testament we should do.  Nothing has changed.  God’s Laws are eternal.  

Do as King Josiah did.  Read the Book of the Law.  Begin the “rest of the story” of your adventure with God.  In a nutshell I’ll just say:

RETURN TO YEHOVAH!