Thurs.’s Devo -Josiah’s Reforms

Read: 2 Chronicles 33:14-34:33; Romans 16:10-27; Psalm 26:1-12; Peocervs 20:19 When Manasseh returned to Jerusalem after being imprisoned in Babylon, he came back a new person. He undid the evil he had done and tore down the altars to Baal and Ashtarah he had set up. He took them down to the Kidron Valley and burned them. Then he restored the worship in the Temple to the Lord and encouraged the people to turn to the Lord also. When he died, his son Amon became king. *** Amon only ruled for two years and he was not devoted to the Lord but to other gods. He was evil and his own officials had him assassinated in his palace. He was replaced by his son Josiah who was only eight years old when he became king. He began to seek the Lord at a young age and at 16, he began to purify Jerusalem and Judah by removing all the pagan shrines and pagan instruments used in idol worship. He burned the bones of the false priests on their own altars. He also purified the towns of Manasaseh, Ephraim and Simeon all the way to Naphtali. *** When he was 26, Josiah began to repair the Temple and the parts that had fallen into ruins. In the process, Hilkiah the priest found the book of Moses and the Law. He read it to the king. Josiah realized how much Judah was under the judgment of God over all the idol worship they had been involved in. Hikiah and other priests went to consult the prophet Huldah and she gave them a word from God. God said that he would bring disaster on Jerusalem but since Josiah had repented and followed the Lord, it would not happen until he was dead. *** Josiah called all of Judah’s leaders to Jerusalem where he had the law read to them and they entered into a new covenant with the Lord to serve and worship him alone. They removed all the detestable idols from the entire land of Israel and required everyone to worship the Lord their God. There was rest in the land during Josiah’s lifetime. *** In Romans, Paul continued listing the people he gave honor to and the people who sent their greetings to Rome and the church there. In the middle of this he gave a warning to watch out for those who caused divisions and upset the believers faith by teaching things contrary to what they had been taught. These teachers were not servants of Christ but they were servants of theirselves and their own interests. They would use flowing words to make their message sound good, but their motives were evil. One day God would crush Satan under their feet. *** Lord, help us to stay true in our hearts to the pure message of Christ. May we understand the basic foundation of the gospel of peace and not be enticed to stray from it in any way.