Mon.'s Devo - Restoration of Holiness

Read 2 Kings 22:3-23:30; Acts 21:37-22:16; Psalm 1:1-6; Preovervs 18:11-12 Josiah had reigned 18 years when he sent his court secretary to the Temple to count the money the gate keepers had collected. He wanted them to use the money to restore the Lord's Temple. He trusted the supervisors so much that he didn't evern require them to keep an account of the moeny the received because he had chosen honest men. As they were restoring the Temple, they found a written copy of the law and brought it to the king. He read the words and was distraught becuase he realized the Lord was greatly angry with them because they had not obeyed his commandments. He was angry with all the pagan gods they worshipped. The king summoned the elders and all the people of Jerusalem and Judah to come to the Temple where he read to them all the words of the book. The king renewed his covenant with the Lord that they would keep God's commands with all their heart and soul. Then the king told the high priest, Hilkiah, to remove all the articles of Baal and Asherah worship out of the Temple. They carried them down to the Kidron Valley and got rid of the idolatrous priests that had been set up by the previous kings of Judah. They tore down all the pagan places of worship and brought all the priests of the Lord back to Jerusalem. The priests who had officiated at the pagan shrines were only allowed to eat unleavened bread with the other priests but they were not allowed to serve in the temple. They removed all the places where they had done child sacrifices to worship Molech and all the altars that Ahaz and Manasseh had built and the shrines that King Solomon had built to worship the gods of the Sidoniians, Moabites and Ammonites. He desecrated these evil places of worship by scattering human bones over them. Josiah even burned the golden calf at Bethel that Jeroboam had set up. When Josiah came to the tomb of the man of God that had prophesied all these things, he told them not to disturbe his bones. When Joshiah had rid the land of idolatry, he returned to Jerusalem and told all the people that they must celebrate the Passover to the Lord, their God. They had a Passover that was greater than all the Passovers ever celebrtated in Jerusalem. Even so, God was not happy with all the wicked things Manasseh had led Judah to do. God had already planned Judah's destruction. Josiah was killed when the king of Egypt and Assyria met at Megiddo. After Josiah died, his son Jehoahaz became king. In Acts, Paul had been arrested in Jerusalem for causeing a riot. As he was being led away, he asked the Roman commander if he might have a word with the people. He asked him in Greek which surprised the officer since he thought Paul was an Egyptian who had led a rebellion against the Assyrians. Paul told him he was a Jew so the commander allowed him to talk. Paul quieted the crowd then gave them his testimony. He spoke in Aramic, their language. Paul told them who he was and how he had become what he was now. He had been a devote Pharisee but had become a passionate believer in Jesus. He had been called to tell people everywhere about Jesus and how to be saved and baptized. We will read about their response tomorrow. Lord, may our repentence for our nation bring a change of the heart and the soul. May we return to the God of our nation and our Creator and Lord.