Thurs.’s Devo - Josiah

Read: 2 Kings 22:3-23-30; Acts 21:37-22:16; Psalm 1:1-6; Proverbs 18:11-12 When Josiah was 26 years old, he commanded the priests to use the money in the Temple treasury to restore the Temple of the Lord. As they were working they came upon a copy of the law. When Josiah read it, he tore his clothes in despair. He must have read the blessings and the curses and they definitely fell into the column of the curses. *** Josiah went about the greatest reform in history. He got rid of every trace of idol worship throughout the land of Judah. The way they desecrated the pagan temples was to scatter them with human bones. When he came to the graves buried around the altar in Bethel, he saw a monument built to a prophet. He asked who it was and found out it was the prophet who named him by name saying he would do this very thing. He had lived 200 years ago. Josiah allowed his grave and Isaiah’s to go untouched. *** Josiah reinstitute the Passover and had a celebration like never before. Even though Josiah led the people to give up their pagan practices, God was still angry over all the years the people of Judah had rejected him. He spoke through Huldah, a prophetess that all the words written in the law against Jerusalem would happen, but they would not happen until Josiah had died. *** God kept his promise. Josiah was killed by King Neco of Egypt. The king of Egypt and the king of Assyria had conspired together against Judah. Josiah was killed at Megiddo. His son, Jehoahaz was anointed to be the next king. *** In Acts, Paul had been arrested because the Jews in the city accused him of bringing a Gentile into the Temple. They were mainly upset that he was teaching the resurrection of Jesus as the Messiah. 
 *** Paul asked to speak to the commander who thought he was a revolutionary from Egypt who was over 400 assassins. Paul explained he was not that man but a Jew from Tarsus. He asked for permission to speak to the people. He let Paul down from their shoulders and he was able to speak to the people from the stairs. He spoke their language of Arabic. *** When they heard their own language, they were silent. He introduced himself and gave his background and his testimony to a rapt crowd. *** I think of the scripture that says, “And they overcame by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony and that they loved not their lives unto death.” This describes Paul to a tee. We all have a testimony that no-one else has. We are to share our testimony boldly. Lord, may we be faithful to share what you have done for us with those we meet and let our light shine.