Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20040704.htm

1 AND 2 KINGS: ENJOYING GOD'S BLESSING IN AN APOSTATE ERA
Part LX: Blessing By STAYING Careful To Heed God Once We START To Do So
(2 Kings 23:4-30 with 2 Chronicles 35:20-27)
  1. Introduction
    1. Many a believer wants to live for the Lord with all his heart, and many start out that way.
    2. Yet, as we "get on a roll" in heeding God only to see Him bless us, we can begin to think such blessing means we have "arrived" so that we fail to keep checking His Word on ongoing issues, a dangerous step!
    3. The godly king Josiah had his reign cut short since he failed to heed God's will carefully once he got onto a wonderful "roll" in obeying God; this fact offers a key lesson on staying vigilant in our walk with God:
  2. Blessing By STAYING Careful To Heed God Once We START To Do So.
    1. As we learned in our last lesson, king Josiah is categorized in Scripture as a king who followed the Lord with all of his heart even though it took 18 years for him to learn what God required of him, 2 Kings 22:1-3 (with 22:8-11 and 2 Chronicles 34:3).
    2. Then, after learning what God required of him by his first exposure to the Law, king Josiah sought God's personal instruction on what to do now that he had learned the nation stood ripe for judgment for disobeying the Law, cf. 2 Kings 22:11, 12-14.
    3. Upon learning God would not punish Judah in Josiah's day because of his desire to follow the Lord's will, Josiah dedicated himself to follow God and led the nation into marvelous spiritual renewal:
      1. Hearing of the message from the prophetess, Huldah that God would not punish Judah in his day, but after his era for its massive violations of His Law, Josiah made a covenant before God and the nation to follow the Lord with all his heart, 2 Kings 22:15-23:3.
      2. Thereupon, he started to cleanse the land of idolatry in marvelous, extensive ways, 2 Kings 23:4-20:
        1. Josiah worked to exterminate idol worship throughout the land of Judah, 2 Kings 23:4-14.
        2. Since he had taken the ashes of idolatrous vessels he had burned that once were in the temple and disposed of them at Bethel in the Kingdom of Israel north of Judah (2 Kings 23:4), while at Bethel, Josiah demolished the false idol Jeroboam had set up so many years before him, 2 Kings 23:15.
        3. In the process, he discovered the nearby graves of the false priests of that altar, and so he unearthed their bones and burned them on that altar in fulfillment of the prophecy of the man of God made at that spot 290 years before, 2 Kings 23:16, 20 with 1 Kings 13:1-2; Ryrie St. Bib., KJV, ftn. to 13:2.
        4. When Josiah next saw the nearby grave of the prophet who had predicted Josiah would desecrate this altar, he ordered his grave to be left untouched, 2 Kings 23:17-18. The prophet who had lied to the original, lion-slain prophet had directed his own body be buried in the slain prophet's grave in faith that Josiah would also leave his bones alone, 1 Kings 13:29-32. This faith was rewarded as Josiah left the grave bearing these two bodies alone, honoring both of these prophets, 2 Kings 23:18.
      3. Josiah ordered the Passover be observed, and this observance became the greatest in history, 23:21-23.
      4. He exterminated the cultists and spiritists from Judah, 2 Kings 23:24.
      5. Thus, he became the greatest of the kings of Judah re: his level of obedience to the Lord, 23:25.
    4. However, Josiah failed to be careful to continue to heed God's will regarding his relationship with Pharaoh, and so had his reign cut short with an untimely death, 2 Kings 23:29 with 2 Chronicles 35:20-27:
      1. We read in 2 Kings 23:29 that Josiah was killed by Pharaoh-necho. 2 Chronicles 35:20-22 reveals that Josiah failed to prove whether Pharaoh's claim that God had led him into Judah was God's truth.
      2. For failing to test Pharoh's words by seeking prophetic advice as he had in 2 Kings 22:12-13 and thus errantly disbelieving Pharaoh's claim, Josiah attacked Pharaoh who was led of God to march through Judah, and that brought Josiah under God's discipline which cost him his life, 2 Chr. 35:22-24.
      3. The tragedy of this event is evident as even the godly Jeremiah grieved Josiah's death, 2 Chr. 35:25.
Lesson: Though Josiah had a MARVELOUS BEGINNING and WHOLEHEARTEDLY followed God to where he was known as the king who MOST FULLY followed God, he FAILED to FINISH WELL by failing to be CAREFUL to TEST the claims of a pagan king to see GOD'S WILL in relating to him!

Application: May we not only START to heed God well, but FINISH well by being CAREFUL to STAY SURE we KNOW the will of God THROUGHOUT our lives, and thus avoid Josiah's tragic end!