Bible In One Year-Day 175 (Tuesday, June 24, 2014)

Commentary: 2Chronicles34-36. King Josiah was a pleasant king who loved the Lord, the God of his ancestor, David, with the whole of his heart.

2 Chronicles 34:2 “And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.”

When he heard the word of God, his heart was troubled, knowing very well that his fathers had wronged the Lord and the repercussion would be terrible. He humbly sought the face of the Lord for what to be done to avert His judgment. His attitude made him to win favor in the face of the Lord;

2 Chronicles 34:27 “Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.”

Josiah’s attitude was a positive attitude; this is what we call “born again” He never trivialized God and His instructions afterward. He made all his subjects submit to God and cleansed the land of all abominable objects.

2 Chronicles 34:33 “And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. And all his days they departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.”

Josiah delighted in the word of God than giving worship to the ark of the Lord. He preferred the people to be taught the word of God. The purpose of the word of God is to change us and the first place it works on is the heart. Once the heart is circumcised the whole body would be changed and dedicated to the Lord.

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

The greatest weapon for the Holy Spirit to work with is the word of God. Carrying the Bible about without reading will not make one to be holy or qualified to be a candidate of heaven, but regarding the content in the heart. To regard is to heed and observe according to Deut28:13 and this is what carries the blessings. Josiah loved the old path. We read that no king ever observed the Passover as he did;

2 Chronicles 35:18 “And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”

Josiah did good jobs in the land. Unfortunately, his death was not of good report and this caused Jeremiah the prophet to lament over him. God can use anybody to carry out His assignment. Neco was the king of Egypt then and the Lord wanted to use him to fight Carchemish in Babylon He asked for favor to pass through Josiah’s jurisdiction, but Josiah, instead, went into war against him. Neco told Josiah that he was answering God’s calling but Josiah did not turn back from fighting him. This was what killed Josiah. The message of Neco to Josiah was this;

2 Chronicles 35:21 “But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.”

This warning was clear enough. There are some things we need to know and understand about God; God is not a respecter of persons, He could use anybody for His work and He does not need anybody’s permission to call or send anyone on errand. However, any hindrance to His course could lead to self destruction just like Josiah. Neco was a gentile. Perhaps Josiah thought God has nothing to do with him being a gentile or it was not possible for God to relate with a gentile. The moon and the sun are over all people of the earth. Christians, pastors, bishops, overseers and superintendents who run down other callings are absolute doing the wrong work which is outside their assigned job. God does not need to contact or take permission from any of them before He assigns His job to another person. Whoever answers a call is answerable to God only. Any ministry not under the administration of the Holy Spirit will not last. Josiah really did a good job but was not sensitive to God in another person’s ministry. All other kings after his untimely death did wrong in the sight of the Lord also and this led to their captivity in Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar;

2 Chronicles 36:20-21 “And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.”

It is a dangerous mission to stand against God’s course.

Let us seek for the old path where we could find rest. Let us listen to the trumpet’s sound, wherewith we could escape the calamity to come. Our reading for today is Lamentation1-3. Keep the fire burning and alive.

Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth to righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.

2 Corinthians 3:3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

NOTE: THE LAMENTATION OF JEREMIAH AND THE PEOPLE OVER JOSIAH ISN’T THE SAME AS THE BOOK OF LAMENTATION.

Pastor Supo Abayode

+1-302-230-6792

Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries

Delaware, USA