6/24/2011 8:52:23 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time
Focus: Josiah—humbled
by God’s Word PT-3
(Discovering
the Scriptures)
Bible Reading
& Meditation
Reference: 2Ki. 22:8-20;
2Chro. 34:14-28
Message of the verses: “8
Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have
found the book of the law in the house of the LORD." And Hilkiah gave the
book to Shaphan who read it. 9 Shaphan
the scribe came to the king and brought back word to the king and said, "Your
servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have
delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house
of the LORD." 10 Moreover, Shaphan
the scribe told the king saying, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a
book." And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.
“11 ¶ When the king heard the
words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest,
Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and
Asaiah the king’s servant saying, 13
"Go, inquire of the LORD for me and the people and all Judah
concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath
of the LORD that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the
words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us."
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 (now she lived in
Jerusalem in the Second Quarter); and they spoke to her. 15 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 bring
evil on this place and on its inhabitants, even all the words of the book which
the king of Judah has read. 17
"Because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other
gods that they might provoke Me to anger with all the work of their hands,
therefore My wrath burns against this place, and it shall not be
quenched."’ 18 "But to the
king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the LORD thus shall you say to him,
’Thus says the LORD God of Israel, "Regarding 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 should become a desolation and a curse,
and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard
you," declares the LORD. 20
"Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will
be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the evil
which I will bring on this place."’" So they brought back word to the
king.”
“14
¶ When they were bringing out the money
which had been brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the
book of the law of the LORD given by Moses. 15
Hilkiah responded and said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the
book of the law in the house of the LORD." And Hilkiah gave the book to
Shaphan. 16 Then Shaphan brought the
book to the king and reported further word to the king, saying,
"Everything that was entrusted to your servants they are doing. 17 "They have also emptied out the money
which was found in the house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hands
of the supervisors and the workmen." 18
Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king saying, "Hilkiah the
priest gave me a book." And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the
king. 19 When the king heard the words
of the law, he tore his clothes. 20 Then
the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah,
Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, 21 "Go, inquire of the LORD for me and for
those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book
which has been found; for great is the wrath of the LORD which is poured out on
us because our fathers have not observed the word of the LORD, to do according
to all that is written in this book." 22
So Hilkiah and those whom the king had told went to Huldah the
prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, the
keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter); and
they spoke to her regarding this. 23 She
said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ’Tell the man who
sent you to Me, 24 thus says the LORD,
"Behold, I am bringing evil on this place and on its inhabitants, even all
the curses written in the book which they have read in the presence of the king
of Judah. 25 "Because they have
forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me
to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore My wrath will be poured
out on this place and it shall not be quenched."’ 26 "But to the king of Judah who sent you
to inquire of the LORD, thus you will say to him, ’Thus says the LORD God of
Israel regarding the words which you have heard, 27 "Because your heart was tender and you
humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and
against its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before Me, tore your
clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you," declares the LORD.
28 "Behold, I will gather you to
your fathers and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, so your eyes
will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place and on its
inhabitants."’" And they brought back word to the king.”
There
is an endnote in Dr. Wiersbe’s book that explains that some think that this was
like a trick on the part of some of the leaders in Jerusalem to get Josiah to
read this part of the Law, but because Josiah had been seeking the Lord for
some ten years now there would have been no reason for them to deceive
him. When Manasseh did all of the evil things
that he did in the temple of the Lord perhaps these scrolls were hid so that
they would not be destroyed. It is
probable that the portion that was found was the first five books of the Bible
and the portion that was read to the king was probably the book of
Deuteronomy.
Josiah
was greatly disturbed about what was read to him and if he would not have been
seeking the Lord perhaps he would not have reacted in the way that he did. The next thing that he did after weeping and
tearing his clothes was to seek the Lord and see what was going to happen to
the people of Israel. Jeremiah and also
Zephaniah were prophets at this time in Jerusalem and both of them were
probably not in the city at this time so the king’s leaders went to a
prophetess named Huldah, whose husband was the one who took care of the
wardrobes for the palace. John MacArthur
mentioned this woman’s name in a recent question and answer time at the church
that he pastors in reference to whether or not it was right for a woman to
preach. His answer was that the Bible
teaches that women are not to preach in a church or anyplace where they would
be preaching to men. Other women and
children would be fine. At any rate
there were a number of women prophetesses in the Scriptures including Miriam,
Deborah, Naodiah, the wife of Isaiah the prophet, Anna, and also the four
daughters of Philip the evangelist.
The
words that Huldah gave to the king were in two parts and the first one was to
Josiah the man and the second was to Josiah the king. God was certainly going to destroy the nation
as was written in the book of the Law, but God would spare Josiah from seeing
it because he humbled himself before the Lord and tore his clothes.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: In a recent sermon that I listened to by John
MacArthur he tells of twelve things that can be done to glorify the Lord and
one of them was to hurt over something that the Lord hurts over and this is
what Josiah did when he heard the words from the Law of the Lord. This is something that I also am to do
whenever I hear or see things that are displeasing to the Lord. I don’t mean to tear my clothes like the king
did but to tear them in my heart over distressful things would be good to do.
My Steps of
Faith for Today:
1.
Romans 12:1-2
2.
Proverbs 3:5-6.
3.
Philippians 4:11-13.
4.
Psalm 139:23-24.
5.
Ephesians 6:10-18.
6.
Hurt when the Lord hurts.
6/24/2011 9:46:06 AM
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