Good King Josiah (2 Kings 22-23)

Welcome, glad you're here. I'm glad to be here. So let's begin with a word of prayer. Father, thank you that we can gather here this morning. And what a beautiful day you've granted us to drive here and to see the beauty of your creation all around us.

We're reminded once again, that you are a good God. A God who lavishes upon his children, such beauty, such wonder. And Father, as we open the text this morning of scripture, we pray that your spirit would help us to be learners, help us to apply the text this morning and Lord to leave from this time together as a people who are committed to the scriptures, humbling our hearts before them, that through them, your spirit might continue his work of conforming us into the image of his beloved son, in whose name we pray, amen.

All right, well, here we are in third week of January or so and many of us recently completed an annual through the Bible kind of reading. I know a number of you, that that's kind of a pattern of your lives and it's really a commendable thing.

And I know that the Lord blesses that and brings great profit from that kind of continual and faithful time spent in his word. And so just thinking about all of that, I thought this morning we would do something a little bit different.

And that is, I would like to spend some time looking at an Old Testament narrative with you. And in the process of doing that, kind of demonstrate and look at how to principalize that text. In other words, from an Old Testament narrative, how do we draw lessons that are applicable to us living 3000 years removed from the events that are narrated there for us?

And so we're going to be looking at the life of the good King Josiah this morning, good King Josiah. And you know, a leader can have a positive or negative impact upon his people. And certainly a reading through the book of Kings makes that very plain.

Very plain.

And here we are. Like tomorrow is the inauguration. And we don't have kings, but there is an inauguration. It's a consequential inauguration, a consequential change of leadership in our nation. And certainly it's true for us as a people too.

A good leader is a blessing to God's people and a wicked leader is a curse upon them. Well, thinking about the good King Josiah, just a little bit of background to get us thinking that way. And you can find your way, by the way, to second Kings chapter 22.

Second Kings chapter 22. But upon the death of Solomon in 922 BC, the kingdom of Israel, which was a fragile kingdom, it had really only existed a little over a hundred years, was essentially forged by David, handed off to Solomon and Solomon's stewardship of that kingdom wasn't as good as it could have been or should have been.

And by the time it was handed to his son, it was on the verge of breakup. And that's indeed what happened. The nation divided. The 10 kingdoms became known as Israel, the 10 kingdoms of the North. And in the South, the kingdom of Judah Benjamin was the Southern kingdom.

And so we have this division within the nation. Israel herself, the 10 Northern tribes over the next 209 years, had a series of 19 kings, all of whom were wicked, bad. Judah, lasting longer for 345 years, had 20 kings of which eight of them are, we are told by the scriptures, were a good king.

So that's really not very good odds, actually, when you think about that. But among the good kings of Judah, none can compare with Josiah. None can compare with the good king, Josiah. He was the greatest king since his ancestor, David, who lived three centuries before him.

Now, Josiah was prophesied by name, interestingly, about 300 years before his birth. You'd find that in 1 Kings 13, two. And he ascended to the throne of Judah at the age of eight, at eight years of age.

He died an untimely death at 39 years old. Thus he reigned for 31 years as the king of the Southern kingdom of Judah. His reign stretching from 640 to 609 BC. So 31 years he reigned. Now, Josiah, like all Bible characters, like you and I, were men of their time, men and women of their times.

They were influenced by the events that were occurring around them. They're not two-dimensional flannel graph figures. They're real people, flesh and blood, subject to the events of the world in which they live.

And that was very much true of Josiah. Josiah found himself and his kingdom, and it's a small kingdom by this point. It has significantly been retracted from the great glories of David's kingdom. He found himself caught between two empires that were in locked-in mortal combat, as it were.

There was the kingdom to the north of Assyria, and the rising kingdom of the east, Babylon. Egypt also was a world power by that point, having previously been in decline during the ascendancy of David.

Egypt was now rising as well, and had allied itself with Assyria against the rising Babylon. Now, according to the scriptures, we're told that Josiah rather rashly and ill-advisedly allied himself with the rising Babylonian empire in opposition to the prevailing world empire of Assyria at that time, and he entered, along with the armies of Judah, into the war on the side of Babylon in an attempt to block Egypt, who was bringing her armies north through Palestine to join forces with the Assyrians in opposition to the Babylonian incursion.

He attempted to intercept them there in the valley of Megiddo, and indeed they did, they engaged in combat, and Josiah himself was killed.

He was killed.

His death marked the final beginning of the end, or maybe we should say the final end, of the kingdoms. Both the kingdom of the north had 100 years before been taken away by the Assyrians, and now the kingdom of the south rapidly collapsed.

Josiah as a king was so loved, and this is really kind of amazing, he was so loved by his people that their mourning over his death became an illustration of the depth of the mourning that someday will overtake the nation of Israel when she comes to terms with her own unbelief and rejection of her Messiah.

And it is spoken of, and I will turn you there just so you can be reminded, in Zechariah 12, the prophet Zechariah, in Zechariah 12, and beginning in verse 10, writing about Israel's repentance and mourning when she finally comes to terms with the reality of what she's done at the end of the tribulation, where he says in verse 10, I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication so that they will look on me whom they have pierced and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son and they will weep bitterly over him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.

In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem like the mourning of Hadrad mid-Rome in the plain of Megiddo. That is a reference, and we won't track it down here, but you can just mark it in 2 Chronicles 35, 24 to 25, that is a reference to the mourning of the nation at the death of their good king, Josiah.

And it becomes paradigmatic for what Israel herself someday will do as they mourn the reality that they killed their own Messiah. Now, we're back in 2 Kings 22. And this is what I'd like to do. I'd like to read it.

I'd like to read the account for you of Josiah and then make some rather quick observations. And from it, draw out nine lessons from the life of the good king, Josiah. These are gonna be quickly, gonna come at you kind of quickly.

But each and every one of them would be a tremendous study in and of itself and worthy of further contemplation. So I'm doing this in a way to just sort of suggest some things for you for your own study.

But let's pick up the text. In 2 Kings chapter 22, Josiah was eight years old when he became king. And he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jediah and the daughter of Adeah of Bosca.

He did right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the way of his father, David, nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left. Now, in the 18th year of King Josiah, the king sent Shephan, the son of Azaliah, the son of Mashulam, the scribe, to the house of the Lord saying, go up to Hilkiah the high priest that he may count the money brought into the house of the Lord which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people.

Let them deliver it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord and let them give it to the workmen who are in the house of the Lord to repair the damages of the house.

So the carpenters and the builders and the masons and for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the house. Only no accounting shall be made with them for the money delivered into their hands for they deal faithfully.

Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shephan the scribe, pardon me, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shephan who read it. Shephan 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.

Moreover, Shephan the scribe told the king saying, Hilkiah the priest has given me a book. And Shephan read it in the presence of the king. When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.

Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahakim the son of Shephan, Akbor the son of Melchiah, Shephan the scribe and Isaiah the king's servant saying, 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. So Hilkiah the priest, Ahakim, Akbor, Shephan, Isaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shalom, the son of Tikva, the son of Haras, keeper of the wardrobe.

Now she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter and they spoke to her. And she said to them, thus says the Lord God of Israel, tell the man who sent you to me, 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.

Because they have forsaken me and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger for all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath burns against this place, it shall not be quenched.

But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus you shall say to him, thus says the Lord God of Israel, regarding the words which you have heard, 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.

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.

And the king sent and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. The king went up to the house of the Lord and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great, and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.

The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book.

And all the people entered into the covenant. Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the doorkeepers to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.

He did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places, pardon me, in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the host of heaven.

He brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the Kidron and burned it at the Kidron and ground it to dust and threw its dust on the graves of the common people. He also broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord where the women were weaving hangings for the Asherah.

Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and he broke down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the governor of the city, which were on ones left at the city gate.

Nevertheless, the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. He also defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the sons of Hinnom that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for Molech.

He did away with the horses, which the kings of Judah had given to the son at the entrance of the house of the Lord by the chamber of Nathan-Melech, the official which was in the precincts, and he burned the chariots of the son with fire.

The altars which were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, but the king broke down and he smashed them there and threw their dust into the brook Kidron.

The high places which were before Jerusalem, which were on the right of the Mount of Destruction, which Solomon, the king of Israel had built, pardon me, for the Asherah, the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, and for Milcon, the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled.

He broke in pieces the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherah, and filled their places with human bones. Furthermore, the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel, Sin had made even that altar and the high place he broke down.

Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah. Now, when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it according to the word of the Lord, which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things.

Then he said, what is this monument that I see? The men of the city told him, it is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.

Now, that occurred 300 years earlier, by the way. He said, let him alone. Let no one disturb his bones. So they left his bones undisturbed from the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord.

And he did to them just as he had done in Bethel. All the priests of the high places who were there, he slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them and then returned to Jerusalem. Then the king commanded all the people saying, celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God as it is written in the book of the covenant.

Surely such a Passover had not been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah. But in the 18th year of King Josiah, this Passover was observed to the Lord in Jerusalem.

Moreover, Josiah removed the mediums and the spiritus and the teraphim and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book, which Hewkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.

Before him, there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his might, according to all the law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him. However, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of his great wrath with which his anger burned against Judah because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him.

The Lord said, I will remove Judah also from my sight as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off Jerusalem, this city which I have chosen and the temple of which I said, my name shall be there. Now, the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

In his days, Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates, and King Josiah went to meet him. When Pharaoh Necho saw him, he killed him at Megiddo. His servants drove his body in a chariot from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb.

Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, and anointed him and made him king in the place of his father.

Thus says the word of the Lord.

Okay, so now, what do we make of all of this? Other than it's a fascinating story, it occupies a considerable amount of pen and ink on the pages of the Old Testament. There's a lot of press given to this king.

I mean, we didn't go to, at least not yet, to second chronicles and the chroniclers accounts, which also occupies almost two chapters for this king. He is a significant figure. So it seems to me that we ought to be able to make something of this.

And so let me suggest some things for you, okay?

So here we are.

These are nine lessons that I told you. They're very quick, just kind of quick ideas. But nine lessons from the life of the good King Josiah. And the first one is this. Parenting is not destiny. That's the first observation I have for you, is that parenting is not destiny.

What do I mean by that? Well, what I mean by that is that the grandfather of the good King Josiah was Manasseh. Manasseh was his grandfather. Manasseh reigned as the King of Judah for 55 years. Let that sink in for a minute.

He reigned in wickedness for 55 years. And notice if you'll flip back to 1 Kings 21, verses 16 to 18 is good. Says, moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin with which he made Judah sin and doing evil in the sight of the Lord.

Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did and his sin which he committed, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? Yes, they are. And Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzzah, and Ammon his son became king in his place.

So his grandfather was an exceedingly wicked king, lasting 55 years on the throne. He was followed by Ammon, who is the direct father of Josiah. Ammon only served for two years. He spent two years on the throne.

He also, I guess we'll stay there in 21. You see in verse 19, Ammon was 22 years old when he became king. He reigned two years in Jerusalem and his mother's name was Mashulameth, the daughter of Haruz of Jatba.

If you say it fast, nobody will question you. He did evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh, his father had done. Like father, like son. For he walked in all the way that his father had walked and he served the idols which his father had served and worshiped them.

So he forsook Yahweh, the God of his fathers and did not walk in the way of the Lord. And the servants of Ammon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house. So his father was murdered in his bed, as it were, by his own servants, likely because he had allied himself with the anti-Assyrian party.

In other words, that he was favorably disposed towards rising Babylon. We speculate that that was the reason they killed him. But being whatever it is, the true reason, nevertheless, a wicked king, last two years, murdered.

And then comes Josiah. And then comes Josiah. Wicked grandfather, wicked father, righteous king, one of the most righteous kings, arguably after David, to serve on the throne of Judah. What do I draw from that?

What I draw from that is parentage is not destiny. In other words, that the stock we have come from, the sins of our fathers, our grandfathers, do not pass down automatically to us. We stand before the Lord as an individual.

Ezekiel 18, right? So there you go. You can think on that on your own, develop that idea further, particularly if you come from a situation that has got some really dark stuff in your heritage. So parenting is not destiny, or parentage is not destiny.

Second, second idea. Spiritual formation can and should begin early. Spiritual formation can and should begin early. So back to chapter 22, 2 Kings, look at verses one and two. He was eight years old when he became king.

He reigned 31 years. His mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Bosca. And he did right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the way of his father, David, nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left.

We keep that idea in mind. And flipping over to 1 Timothy, excuse me, 2 Timothy chapter one, where Paul, not 2 Timothy, sorry, it is 1 Timothy. It's not, oh, I hate it when that happens, help me out. It's 1 5, oh, there we go, thank you.

For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that is in you as well. And then in chapter three, where he says you've learned from childhood the sacred writings, which are able to give you wisdom.

Where did the spiritual formation of Josiah come from? The text doesn't tell us. It tells us who his mother was. I think we can make an inference that perhaps she was the spiritual voice of reason in his home, considering the heritage of his on the father's side of the family.

But whatever it was, it began at a young age for him. And I think that's the idea of it all, is that an eight-year-old can be on the path of righteousness that will lead them their entire life. And therefore, spending time in the scriptures with our children and our grandchildren from a young age can and will pay dividends.

Spiritual formation begins early. Don't wait, don't wait. Third, deep piety doesn't come by accident. Deep piety doesn't come by accident. Look at chapter 23, verse 25, where it says, before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.

And then the author of Chronicles in 2 Chronicles 34, and where am I looking now? Well, it says in the eighth year of his reign, verse three, so he's at 16 years old, while he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father, David, and in the 12th year began to purge Judah and Jerusalem, some of the high places, the Asherim, the carved images, and the molten images.

Now, I want you to just kind of reflect for a minute on back on 2 Kings 23, 25, no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, and think about that for a moment.

Where have I heard that before? Where have I ever heard or read that expression before? And you would think to yourself, oh, I know. It's in Deuteronomy, and indeed it is. It's actually Deuteronomy chapter six and verse five, right?

Deuteronomy 6, five, where we read,.

Beginning in verse four, in the Shema, here, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. Here is one who did that.

Here is one who did that, and it didn't come about by accident. And in fact, the opening of the book of Proverbs, in chapter one, verse eight, you hear, hear my son, is the lead-in to that whole book, right?

In other words, the piety of a young person is not some accident. The Lord grants salvation, yes. It is by grace through faith alone, yes. But the religious training and upbringing, if I can say it that way, makes a difference.

It makes a difference.

And here was a child who was intimately acquainted with the requirement of the law, the very summation of the law, was to love God with your entire being.

And he did.

And he did.

So, parentage is not destiny. Spiritual formation can and should begin early. Deep piety doesn't come by accident. Fourth, opinions talk, convictions act. Opinion talks, convictions act. What do I mean by that?

What I mean by that is, Josiah was a man of active faith. Joshua said at the end of his years, Joshua 24, 15, you remember that, where he says, as for me and my house, what? We're gonna serve the Lord.

We're gonna serve the Lord. So, Josiah, a child, really, but still a child of deep religious conviction, deep piety, deep love for Yahweh, begins to act. It begins to manifest itself in terms of conviction.

And so, we read, for example, that he oversees the entire rebuilding of the temple after years of neglect, years of neglect. Go to 2 Chronicles again, 34, 11, talking about the workmen here, and it says, and they in turn gave it to the carpenters and to the builders to buy quarried stone and timber for couplings and to make beams for the houses which the kings of Judah had let go to ruin.

In other words, the kings, his ancestors, his father, his grandfather, and those before him had allowed the temple of God to fall into ruin. And here is Josiah as a young man, as a young man, now acting upon his faith, upon his conviction, and arranging for the rebuilding of this temple, the refurbishment of it.

Beyond that, we read that he began a purge by the time he was 20 years old. There's a purge beginning in the same chapter, let's just pick it up in verse one. He purges the leaven from centuries of apostasy and idolatry from the nation.

Verse 34, Josiah was eight years old when he became king and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem. He did right in the sight of the Lord and walked in the ways of his father David and did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

Or in the eighth year of his reign, so he's 16, right? While he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father, David, and in the 12th year, he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the ashram, the carved images, and the molten images.

They tore down the altars of the Baals in his presence and the incense altars that were high above them were chopped down. Also the ashram, the carved images, and the molten images, he broke in pieces and ground to powder and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to him.

Then he burned the bones of the priests on their altars and purged Judah and Jerusalem. In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, even as far as Naphtali, and in their surrounding ruins, he also tore down the altars and beat the ashram and the carved images into powder and chopped down all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel.

Then he returned to Jerusalem. Now think with me for a minute. How hard is it to go against the bureaucracy? I just call it a bureaucracy, okay? You can call it a deep state if you like, I'll call it a bureaucracy.

Entrenched interests, priests, politicians, wealthy people, who for centuries have been gradually and then first secretly and then openly and then in a very bold sense turned away from Yahweh to the pagan idols that had surrounded them.

How easy is it for a young king to go out and confront it all and to have the fortitude, the conviction, the gravitas to cut it all down, to grind it all up, to pulverize it?

This is a man of conviction.

This is deep conviction. This is not just opinion. This is not just saying, yeah, there's a lot of evil stuff out there and it really ought to stop. This is a man of conviction. By the time he's 26 years old, he gathers the elders of Israel and he renews the covenant, okay?

2 Chronicles 35, let's pick it up there. 2 Chronicles 35. Verses 18 and 19. It says, there had not been celebrated, listen to this, there had not been celebrated a Passover like it in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet, nor had any of the kings of Israel celebrated such a Passover as Josiah did with the priests, the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present and the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the 18th year of Josiah's reign, this Passover was celebrated.

He's 26 years old. He renews the covenant with Israel after the discovery of the book, the rebuilding of the temple leads to the rediscovery of the book of the law, which had previously been either just lost or more likely hidden from his grandfather Manasseh.

It's recovered, it's read, he humbles his heart before it and he begins to institute the reforms required from it and then renews the covenant with the nation in a way that had not been accomplished since Samuel, Samuel the last of the judges that had completely preceded the kingdom.

Opinions talk, convictions act. Fifth, submission to scripture draws the favorable gaze of God.

What was the source of his power? What was the source of his strength?

Where did his conviction come from that would enable him to stand as really a young man, one might even say a mere youth in the face of all of this opposition? It was his submission to the word of God.

One of my favorite verses, Isaiah 66 and verse two, it's actually the second half of verse two, but to this one, I will look to him who is humble and contrite of spirit and trembles at my word. You wanna draw the favorable gaze of God to be humble, to be contrite of spirit, to tremble before the word of God,.

That draws his favorable gaze.

And that was this amazing king. Again, notice in 2 Chronicles 34, 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 Yahweh.

It was a young man. Again, think about young men. What characterizes young men? It is not the word humility. It is not the word humility. And yet it characterizes this young man. This discovered scripture, likely the book of Deuteronomy, perhaps the entire Pentateuch, as I said, found during the remodeling of the temple, perhaps hidden by a few faithful priests from the ravages of his grandfather Manasseh.

I mean, we read about, there's idols in the temple itself, whatever it was. When it was found, when it was read to him, he tore his clothes, he humbled his heart,.

And he drew the favorable gaze of God.

That's a lesson. That's a lesson for us.

Sixth, external reforms do not equal repentance. This is probably one of the sad lessons.

From this whole thing.

External reforms do not equal repentance. Again, in 2 Chronicles 34, beginning in verse 31. Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord to walk after Yahweh and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul to perform the works of the covenant written in this book.

Moreover, he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand with him. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. Josiah removed all the abominations from all the lands belonging to the sons of Israel and made all who were present in Israel to serve the Lord their God.

Throughout his lifetime, they did not turn from following the Lord God of their fathers. Now that sounds good, doesn't it? And then we go over to chapter 36. And beginning in verse 15. Yahweh, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by his messengers because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.

But they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised his words, scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of Yahweh arose against his people and there was no remedy. When Josiah died, there was great mourning.

And then the reality that amongst the nation itself, there had been reforms, incredible reforms, profound reforms, but it was external. They were external reforms. It was an external righteousness, a coerced righteousness one might even say.

And it didn't stick. It wasn't repentance. Because reform is only skin deep, but repentance flows from the heart. Repentance flows from the heart. And upon his death, rapidly the nation went right back like a dog returning to his vomit.

Back to the idolatry that had so characterized them. Again, I'm just reminded of children. Reform is not repentance. Don't settle for reform.

Drive all the way to repentance. Drive all the way to repentance.

What does repentance look like? Well, I think one of the clearest illustrations is found in Ephesians chapter four actually. I'll just remind you of that. The entire chapter really, but we're gonna in particular just look at verse 28 because I think it does such a good job of summarizing it.

He who steals must steal no longer, but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good so that he will have something to share with one who has need. When is a thief no longer a thief?

When he stops stealing? No. When he stops stealing, he is merely a thief waiting for an opportunity. That is reform. Repentance for a thief is when he stops stealing, begins producing, and shares the fruit of his own labor with others.

That is what repentance looks like.

And that didn't happen in Israel. And beloved, all too often as parents, we settle for the external, for the reform, without going all the way to repentance.

You can think on that for a while.