“I Have Found the Book!”

“I Have Found the Book!”

A Study of 2 Chronicles 33 – 35

I want to
tell you the story of a great leader, a man whose example can change our lives.
He was one of the greatest leaders of history, though you may not even know his
name.

It
isn’t Alexander the Great, who conquered the world and died at age 32.It
isn’t Napoleon Bonaparte, who tried to conquer the world and died in exile.It
isn’t George Washington, who was a Christian and the father of our country.It
wasn’t Abraham Lincoln, who most likely became a Christian before his death.

This is
the story of the biblical king Josiah, whose story is told in 2 Chronicles 33 –
35.

Notice the
way chapter 33 begins: Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king,
and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. He did evil in the eyes of the
Lord….

This chapter tells us about King Manasseh of Judah, who was the Adolf
Hitler of his day, diabolical, savage, ruthless and brutal—evil in every way. I
don’t have time to describe the terrible atrocities he committed, but here’s
the interesting thing. He was invaded and captured by the Assyrians.

Look what happened to him. In his distress (Manasseh) sought the
favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his
ancestors. And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and
listened to his plea; so he brought he back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom.
Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.

In the Old Testament there is one man we never would have expected to
come to faith in God—Manasseh. In the New Testament there is one man we would
never have expected to come to God—Saul of Tarsus who became the apostle Paul.
We have these two great examples in the Bible to tell us that no one is beyond
the power of the grace of God. If you’re worried about someone, don’t give up
on them. Keep praying. The Lord is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than
we can ask or imagine. The worst of sinners can become the greatest of
testimonies.

After Manasseh came to faith in God, he had six years with his
grandson, who was named Josiah. I can’t prove it from the text, but I can infer
that Manasseh poured his newfound faith into his grandson. Don’t ever
underestimate the power of a grandparents faith. How many people are servants
of God today because of the influence or prayers of a grandmother or
grandfather.

Manasseh died, his son became king but was shortly assassinated, and
little Josiah, who was only eight, rose to the throne of Judah. He obviously
had a regent or prime minister who exercised power. But the text focuses on
Josiah. Look at chapter 34:

Josiah
was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one
years. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed the ways of
his father, David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. In the eighth
year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his
father David.

He was sixteen. As he began to assume real power, he decided to do it
as a spiritual man. Where did he get that impulse? There’s only one place I can
think of—from his grandfather, who must have told him, “One day you will the
king of this land. Don’t do what I did or make the mistakes I made. From your
first day on the throne, serve the Lord Jehovah-Yahweh.”

People often ask me if there will be another revival in American
history, and I believe it could happen with young people, as it often does.

Look what happened when Josiah was twenty-four. Look at verse 3: In
his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah
poles and idols. Under his direction all the altars of the Baals were torn
down; he cut to pieces the incense altars that were above them, and smashed the
Asherah poles and the idols….

It’s very interesting how the writer points out Josiah’s age at every
point. Look at verse 8: In the eighteen year of Josiah’s reign, to purify
the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah and Maaseiah the ruler
of the city, with Joah son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the temple of the
Lord his God.

On the acropolis above Jerusalem, Solomon had built the great temple of
Jehovah, and there God’s presence dwelt in the Most Holy Place. But during the half-century
reign of Manasseh, the site had been desecrated. King Manasseh had promoted
satanic worship, child sacrifice, and he had built some kind of demonic image
and placed it in the temple. According to biblical prophecy this is what the
antichrist will do during the Tribulation. Manasseh apparently moved out the
Ark of the Covenant and put in a demonic statue. The entire complex fell into
deterioration and dilapidation.

It’s easy for the work of the Lord to deteriorate and become
dilapidated in a church or in a nation, but the right person can come in the
power of the Holy Spirit and change things. Look at verse 9: They went to
Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the
temple of God, which the Levites who were the gatekeepers had collected from
the people of Manasseh, Ephraim and the entire remnant of Israel and from all
the people of Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Then they
entrusted it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the Lord’s temple.
These men paid the workers who repaired and restored the temple. They also gave
money to the carpenters and builders to purchase dressed stone, and timber for
joists and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to fall
into ruin….

The same thing is happening right now at Notre Dame in Paris. As you
know, it nearly burned down and restoration experts have launched a long term
renovation process. Now suppose as the workers in Paris were exploring all the
areas beneath and above the destruction, they made a great archaeological
discovery?

Well, that’s what happened in this chapter. Look at verse 14: While
they were bringing out the money that had been taken into the temple of the
Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord that had been
given through Moses. Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the
Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan.

Biblical scholars are uncertain about the exact nature of this book,
but I have a theory. I believe this might have been the original copy of
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—the first five books of
the Bible, known as the Pentateuch or the Torah or sometimes just as the Law.
These books had been written by Moses during the forty years of wandering in
the desert. He probably wrote it on animal skins or possibly papyrus, using a
homemade ink.

That original copy would be call the original autograph and it must
have been carefully preserved. Copies of it had been made, of course, but they
were few and far between because of Manasseh’s reign of terror. I’m sure
Manasseh had sought to destroy every copy of the Word of God. But some brave
priest had hidden the original copy in some ingenious place within the temple.
I suspect this is what the builders found.

Look at verse 16: Then Shaphan took the book to the king and
reported to him: “Your officials are doing everything that has been committed
to them. They have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and
have entrusted it to the supervisors and workers.” Then Shaphan the secretary
informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read
it in the presence of the king. When the king heard the words of the Law, he
tore his robes.

He broke out weeping and sobbing. To see those precious scrolls, to
hear the words, and realize how far his nation had sunk, to realize the judgment
they were facing—it broke the king’s heart and he tore his robes and cried a
baby for the sins of his people.

He gave orders to his aids: “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and
for the remnant in Israel and Judah about what is written in this book that has
been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that is poured out on us because those
who have gone before us have not kept the word of the Lord; they have not acted
in accordance with all that is written in this book.”

Hilkiah
and those the king had sent with him went to speak to the prophet Huldah, who
was the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the
wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the New Quarter.

In the Bible, there were times when great women of God played a
critical role, and here was the wife of the man who kept the wardrobe, either
kept the royal wardrobe for the king or the temple wardrobe for the priests. This
woman had a special relationship with God. Look at verse 26:

Tell
the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord,
the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: Because your heart was
responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard what he spoke
against this place and its people, and because you humbled yourself before me
and tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the
Lord. Now I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace.
Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place on
those who live here.’”

So they
took her answer back to the king.

The king did something extraordinary. He called together all his people
and stood by one of the great columns of the temple and raised his voice as
loud as he could and read from the ancient words. The people—from the youngest
to the oldest—dedicated themselves to Jehovah-Yahweh, to love Him, to serve
Him, and to obey Him forever.

Imagine if the President of the United States gathered the members of
Congress together, and the governors, and the mayors, and all the people tuned
in by television, and he said, “I have just discovered in my own life the power
of the Bible, and this Book is at the heart of America’s story, and if we don’t
rediscover it, our blessed nation will be judged like ancient Sodom, ancient
Judah, ancient Rome. And what if the entire nation began singing, “Have Thine
own way, Lord, have thine own way.”

It may not happen exactly like that—but America needs a spiritual
awakening before she sinks beyond redemption point. If it happened in the days
of Josiah, it can happen now.

But the story’s not over. In chapter 35, the entire nation followed up
on their commitment by celebrating the festival of the Passover. Look at verse
1: Josiah celebrated the Passover of the Lord in Jerusalem, and the Passover
lamb was slaughtered on the fourteen day of the first month. He appointed the
priests to their duties and encouraged them in the service of the Lord’s
temple. He said to the Levites, who instructed all Israel and who had been
consecrated to the Lord: “Put the sacred ark in the temple that Solomon son of
David king of Israel built….”

Apparently wicked Manasseh had taken the sacred Ark of the Covenant out
of the Most Holy Place and replaced it with his vile image or statue. Josiah
had the Ark restored to its rightful place.

Verse 7: Josiah provided for all the lay people who were there a
total of thirty thousand lambs and goats for the Passover offering….

This festival commemorated the night the Children of Israel escaped
from Egypt because the blood of the slain lambs protected them from death. The
Passover Lamb is the Bible’s great preview of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. On
that day in Jerusalem, there were 30,000 reminders that Jesus Christ was coming
into the world.

Verse 10 says: The service was arranged and the priests stood in
their places with the Levites in their divisions as the king ordered. The
Passover lambs were slaughtered and the priests splashed against the altar the
blood handed to them.

This is predictive of the spilled blood of Jesus Christ, as the hymnist
has said:

Would
you be free from your burden of sin?

There’s
power in the blood.

Verse 18: The Passover had not been observed like this in Israel
since the days of Samuel; and none of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated
such a Passover as did Josiah, with the priests, the Levites and all Judah and
Israel who were there with the people of Jerusalem. The Passover was celebrated
in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign.

Josiah was only twenty-six, but he had brought spiritual reformation to
his people. He had another thirteen years to lead his people politically and
spiritually before he was tragically killed in battle at the age of
thirty-nine. From that point, the nation of Judah spiraled downward like
airplane out of fuel. Josiah was their last, best hope—and he provided hope for
his generation.

Three Propositions

Let me leave you with three propositions. Our nation and our state and
our city and our schools and our homes are in trouble, and we need a revival
like that of Josiah. What were his secrets.

First, rekindle the burden. Even as
a boy, Josiah was burdened for the Lord and His work. He wanted God to use him.
We can’t do anything without a burden, and God gives each of us a different
burden or set of burdens. I’ve been reading a book by my friends Jim and
Shirley Combs. They were serving as missionaries in Brazil when a little
poverty-stricken boy named Marcos showed up at church to get a chocolate Easter
egg. Like Josiah, his heart was tender and he wanted to learn more about what
he heard in church that day. He found Jesus Christ as his Savior and was
baptized.

One day Marcos didn’t show up at church, and Shirley went looking for
him. She found his ramshackle dirty little home and knocked in the door and
went in. He was standing there silent. His mother sat in the only chair,
covered with blood. The boy’s father was in a rage, and Shirley had to leave.
But Shirley said, “I have never been able to leave that scene. It influenced
personal decision and personal commitments” as it related to their future
ministry. Marcos was rescued and became the first of many. That’s how God gave
Shirley a burden.

Let God give you a burden for His work, and don’t bury your burden.
Without some kind of burden for this world, we can never change it. Josiah had
the burden.

Second, rediscover the Book.
Everything changed with the rediscovery of God’s Word. Without the Bible,
there’s no revival—no global revival, no national revival, no personal revival.
I’ve devoted my life to the supposition that this Book is the Word of God incarnate
in human language.

The American Bible Society told of a man who was a patient in an
American hospital in the nation of Turkey, and while there someone gave him a
copy of the Bible. He was released and went back to his home town and showed it
to his friends. A Muslim teacher snatched the book out of his hand, tore out
its pages, and threw them into the street. A grocer was passing by, and he
picked up the papers and started using them as wrapping paper for his produce,
and in this way the pages of that Bible were spread all over town. People read
the page they had and wanted more. Sometime later, a Bible colporteur came into
town and was amazed to find a hundred people lined up to purchase a copy of the
Bible.

People who read and study their Bibles every day with a prayerful,
humble heart and qualitatively different from those who don’t. If our nation is
going to experience an awakening, it will only come through the faithful,
steady, accurate, piercing study of the Word of God.

Third, rely on the blood. After Josiah developed the burden and discovered
the Book, he instituted the Passover where the blood of the Passover Lamb was
shed, forecasting the death of our Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary’s cross and the
redeeming blood that flowed from His back, His brow, His hands, His feet, and
His side. And without the blood, there is no remission of sins.

You cannot recover your life for God without
going through the blood of Jesus. I don’t know what it’s that way. I have some
understanding based on the teachings of Scripture, but we can never fully
fathom the purpose and the power of the blood of Christ. It resides in the
deepest mysteries of the counsel of the Triune God.

But this we know–His precious blood is

a
medicine that cures us from every everlasting ill.an acid
that burns away our deepest stains.an
ointment that heals our deepest scars.It’s the
fuel of our faith.A
liniment of life.An
elixir for joy.A lotion
for peace.It’s a
vaccine that immunizes us against all the diseases of the devil.Most of
all, there’s a foundation filled with blood drawn from Immanuel’s veins, and
sinners plunged beneath that blood lose all their guilty stains.

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

When you combine the burden, the Book, and the blood, you have the
blessings of God on your life, your family, your city, your nation.

Is there one of those elements missing in your life?

If it’s the burden, ask God for it until He gives you the specific
burden that reflects His will for your life.

If it’s the Book, make a renewed commitment to read and study it every
day.

If it’s the blood, you can do something about that right now by asking
God to forgive your sins, wash your inward stains, and give you everlasting
life through the Lamb of God.