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Tara Leigh Cobble
Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Leigh Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. We're continuing to wrap up the final days of the southern kingdom of Judah. We're not too far off from the days prophesied by Isaiah where this kingdom will be overthrown by the Babylonians. But as for now, we've got eight year old King Josiah on the throne. Forgive me, but I can't help but picture a little half sized throne made of Legos. Josiah is a good king once he grows up a bit. He tells his servant Hilkiah to make financial arrangements for the house of God to be repaired. And at some point during the process of restoration, Hilkiah finds the Book of the Law, which is likely a reference to the scroll of Deuteronomy. It's somewhere in the temple. We don't know exactly where he found it, but given the state of the temple, it's probably shoved behind some idol somewhere and covered in dust. It's been a long time since anyone has read or reflected on the words of the Law. Most people have probably forgotten what it says, or maybe even that it exists at all. It seems like no one was looking for it or felt distraught that it was missing. They were all just doing their own thing, living their lives and fighting their wars and making their decisions, all without the guidance of God. Hilkiah passes the book along to the secretary who reads it, then brings it to Josiah and reads it to him. And Josiah is wrecked. He realizes just how far off track their hearts and lives are and how the kings before him have led the people astray for generations. As it turns out, what you don't know can hurt you. When we forget that truth exists, when it gets covered in the dust of our busyness, our hearts can't help but go astray. Josiah tells his leaders to seek God and see how they should proceed. So the priests and his team go to a local prophetess named Huldah. She tells them that God is going to bring disaster on Judah for its sin, but that God will spare King Josiah. Since his heart was repentant, he will die before the disaster comes. Josiah's heart is so burdened by the whole thing that he gathers all the elders and priests and prophets and people and has them come to the temple where he reads the Book of the Covenant to them. Then he makes a covenant before God to obey him with all his heart and soul, and the people join in. At some point during all this, he sets out like a man on a mission. He removes and destroys all the idols in the temple, he fires a bunch of wicked priests and gives the death penalty to some others, and banishes the mediums and necromancers. By the way, we've been seeing that word a lot lately, and if you aren't familiar with it, it just means a wizard or a warlock or someone who practices a kind of magic that's specifically related to communicating with the dead. Josiah also desecrates all the places of idolatry, and in my favorite move of all, he turns those places into graveyards. 23:14 says he broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men. It feels so fitting that these places of idol worship are turned into places of death. This reminds me of when Jehu turned the House of Baal into a bathroom in 2 Kings 10, Josiah follows God with all his heart and mind and soul. According to 2325, he reestablishes the Passover feast, which has once again fallen by the wayside. You may recall that King Hezekiah celebrated the Passover too, but he did a makeshift Passover since it was the wrong time of year and the people were unclean. But for Josiah, it's all happening according to God's commands and schedule. The people of Judah follow God for as long as Josiah is alive. He's the one good king we've read about so far who never has a phase where his heart turns away from God. He remains faithful unless you consider his final actions to be motivated by pride, which some do. His death comes in a strange and unexpected way. Here's how it goes down. While the Egyptian pharaoh Necho is coming to join forces with Assyria and confront the Babylonians, Josiah decides he wants in on the action. The pharaoh warns him to stay away, but Josiah disguises himself and goes up to the battle anyway, where Pharaoh Nico fatally wounds him. More on that in a minute. Josiah is the last good king Judah will have. After he dies, his son Jehoahaz replaces him on the throne. Jehoahaz is a wicked king, and he's eventually captured and taken back to Egypt by the same Pharaoh who killed his dad. He dies there in captivity. The Egyptian pharaoh kind of rules the roost at this point, so he appoints another one of Josiah's sons to be king instead. His given name is Eliakim, but Pharaoh Necho is like, I don't like that name. Let's call you Jehoiakim instead. Jehoiakim isn't a great king either. He's Necho's puppet now taxing the people to send money back to Egypt. What was your God shot today? Mine was. In the events surrounding Josiah's death, who would have seen it coming? That one of Judah's best kings would be taken out because he didn't listen to an Egyptian Pharaoh. Not me. I would have been like, whatever the Pharaoh says, disregard it. But according to 2 Chronicles 35:22, Pharaoh Niko was actually speaking the truth. This reminds me of how God used the pagan king Cyrus as his servant too. It all serves as a reminder that God can even work and speak truth through the mouths of those who oppose Him. He's not limited to working through just those who are his kids. He can use anyone and everyone to point to Himself and His truth somehow, which should make us both more humble and more discerning. I'm not saying we should go around receiving everything anyone says as truth from God. Rather, I'm noticing that what this text reveals is that we can't dismiss something as a lie just because we don't like the person who said it. You may remember that God spoke to Balaam through his donkey. And today God spoke to Josiah through a pagan. First of all, I love that he wants to speak to us. Because of that, I pray he gives us wisdom as we try to discern what things line up with the truth of his word. Seeking him is the best place to start. When we're seeking truth, he's where the joy is. We're starting a new book tomorrow, Zephaniah, and as usual, we want to give you a short video overview that will help it all come together for you quickly. We've linked to that five minute video in the show notes today. Hey Bible readers, it's time for our weekly check in. I've got to tell you, you're doing great. For real. Look at how far you've come in Bible reading. We're well over halfway through and I have no doubt that your love for God has grown as your understanding of him has grown. Like I said in today's episode, what you don't know can hurt you. When we forget that truth exists, when it gets covered in the dust of our busyness, our hearts can't help but go astray. So I'm glad you're here getting to know God more. You aren't letting the busyness of your life steer your heart. You're keeping your heart on track by being in His Word. And I'm here to cheer you on. So let's keep going.