We’re wrapping up 2 Chronicles beginning with Josiah, the last good king:

Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He ruled for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. He behaved well before GOD. He kept straight on the path blazed by his ancestor David, not one step to the left or right. (2 Chronicles 34.1, 2, MSG)

He begins by, what else?, cleaning out the Temple. Why/how does it always fall into disrepair? The sad truth is, we don’t have to deliberately destroy something. Neglect and time will take care of that. And what is the greatest neglect of all?

While the money that had been given for The Temple of GOD was being received and dispersed, Hilkiah the high priest found a copy of The Revelation of Moses. He reported to Shaphan the royal secretary, “I’ve just found the Book of GOD’s Revelation, instructing us in GOD’s way—found it in The Temple!” (2 Chronicles 34.14, 15, MSG)

The greatest neglect is not intentionally pursuing God through his Word. It’s a complacency that I’ve written about before.

They read the book and find out that their behavior is going to result in judgment.

When the king heard what was written in the book, GOD’s Revelation, he ripped his robes in dismay. And then he called for Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the royal secretary, and Asaiah the king’s personal aide. He ordered them all: “Go and pray to GOD for me and what’s left of Israel and Judah. Find out what we must do in response to what is written in this book that has just been found! GOD’s anger must be burning furiously against us—our ancestors haven’t obeyed a thing written in this book of GOD, followed none of the instructions directed to us.” (2 Chronicles 34.19 – 21, MSG)

Here I find it interesting that the priest Hilkiah consulted a prophetess Huldah who confirmed that judgment was indeed on the way:

Hilkiah and those picked by the king went straight to Huldah the prophetess…In response to them she said, “GOD’s word, the God of Israel: Tell the man who sent you here, ‘GOD has spoken, I’m on my way to bring the doom of judgment on this place and this people. Every word written in the book read by the king of Judah will happen. And why? Because they’ve deserted me and taken up with other gods; they’ve made me thoroughly angry by setting up their god-making businesses. My anger is raging white-hot against this place and nobody is going to put it out.’” (2 Chronicles 22 – 25, MSG)

As an aside, note that the priests went to a prophet, and a woman at that! In the Old Testament, we have the priests and the prophets. Priests were supposed to run the cradle-to-grave programs for the spiritual well-being of God’s people. When God wanted to give a special message, he used prophets, who rarely came from the priestly class. The Roman Catholic Church has the dioceses (networks of churches) and the orders (missionary societies like the Franciscans and the Jesuits). In our traditions, we have local churches and denominations, but special missions and ministries are often outside like the missionary societies and today’s “para-church” organizations like The Navigators or CRU or Missionary Aviation Fellowship.

Back to Josiah, even with negative news, he responded positively:

The king acted immediately, assembling all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem…priests and prophets and people ranging from the least to the greatest. Then he read out publicly everything written in the Book of the Covenant that was found in The Temple of GOD. The king stood by his pillar and before GOD solemnly committed himself to the covenant: to follow GOD believingly and obediently; to follow his instructions, heart and soul, on what to believe and do; to confirm with his life the entire covenant, all that was written in the book. Then he made everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin commit themselves…Josiah did a thorough job of cleaning up the pollution that had spread throughout Israelite territory and got everyone started fresh again, serving and worshiping their GOD. All through Josiah’s life the people kept to the straight and narrow, obediently following GOD, the God of their ancestors. Josiah celebrated the Passover to GOD in Jerusalem. They killed the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the first month. (2 Chronicles 34.29 – 35.1, MSG)

It’s never too late to repent. As with the revivals under Joash, Hezekiah, and others, the revival doesn’t hold as we’ll see tomorrow, but “follow God today” is always the right course.

Mark a life of discipline and live wisely; don’t squander your precious life. Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me, awake and ready for me each morning, alert and responsive as I start my day’s work. When you find me, you find life, real life, to say nothing of GOD’s good pleasure. (Proverbs 8.33 – 35, MSG)

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3.13, 14, ESV)