Last Chance

 

II Kings 23:1-3

 

    Josiah was eight years old when he became king of the southern kingdom of Judah, succeeding his father, Amon, who was murdered, probably by someone within his own palace.  Josiah's grandfather was Manasseh, who reigned for at least 45, possibly 55 years.  The Biblical history condemns Manasseh as one of the worst kings ever as he made alliances with other nations and introduced foreign idols to the people of Judah to worship.  Things had gotten so bad in the land that the word was out that God was going to destroy the nation.  But the people didn't believe it because the temple was standing and the king was from the line of David.  As long as the temple and the king were in place, they took God's steadfast love for granted.

 

      Josiah took seriously God's word of judgment against the nation.  Even though the word was that there was no hope, Josiah began a reformation anyway with the hope that God would have a change of heart.  Josiah was able to begin the reformation because the power of Assyria was waning.  While the reformation began slowly, it picked up steam when a scroll was found in the temple area by the high priest, Hilkiah.  It is believed that the scroll was a part of what we now know as the book of Deuteronomy.  It was read before King Josiah.  He rent his clothes because he realized that the nation had not been faithful to the word of the Lord. 

 

       The scroll, which was called the book of the covenant, was then read in the hearing of all of the people.   King Josiah then made a covenant before the Lord to walk in the way of the Lord and keep God's commandments with all his heart and all his soul.  That sounds much like the great commandment, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind and all your strength.  The people then joined in the covenant. 

 

       The people joined Josiah in affirming the covenant.  Their response is similar to that of the people in the time of Moses and Joshua.  When Moses led them out of Egypt, just before they were given the law, the people responded, "All that the Lord has said, we will do."  After Joshua led them into the promised land they responded, "We will serve the Lord."

 

        Now about six-hundred years later, they are making a covenant to walk after the Lord and keep God's commandments.  One of the things we learn is that we are good at making covenants but we are not very good at keeping them. 

 

       Josiah's plan had political as well as religious implications.  He would rebuild Israel by being faithful to the Torah.  This involved destroying all of the idols, worshipping God and God alone, and being faithful to the law of God.  Josiah also included the northern kingdom of Israel in his plan.  He hoped to unite Judah and Israel and return to the glory days of King David.  Josiah reinstituted the observance of the Passover which had not been done since the period of the Judges, over three hundred years.  It would be like generations of Christians never observing Communion.  No wonder they were having trouble remaining faithful. 

 

       All of this sounds good.  And at first Jeremiah, the prophet, supported the reform.  Then it appears he was silent for a while.  But as time went on Jeremiah began to speak out against it.  What he saw was an external reform that was not bring about internal change.  It looked good on the outside but could not last because there was no spiritual renewal.

 

        Everything seemed to be going well until Josiah was killed in battle in 609.  And they everything fell apart.  Josiah's death was a sign of the death of the community.  Twelve years later they were overrun by the Babylonians.  Josiah was unable to undo all of the destructive things that his grandfather and father had done.

 

         The Kings of Judah and Israel had an interesting choice to make.  Do we compromise with foreign powers and worship idols in order to survive or do we repent and obey the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?  Do we make unholy alliances with foreign powers and practice idolatry or do we trust in the power of God?

 

         For much of its history the kings chose to survive, to make alliances with foreign nations.  The question that comes up is when do we become sorry enough to change?

Josiah had reached his limit.  He realized that if they were to have any hope at all they would need to change.  Oftentimes we do not make that decision until things have become so bad that we have no choice.  It becomes change or die. 

 

          The word we use in the church is repent.   I think there are some similarities between Josiah's reformation and repentance.  Repentance involves change.  What about us?  Has there been a time in our lives when we were sorry enough to change.  Isn't that what repentance is all about?  It is not continuing to take the love of God for granted.  It is recognizing that if we are to have any hope at all, we need to change.  Are we compromising our faith and our values to that we will survive or are we choosing to repent and obey?  Do we just want to fit in somewhere in the world or do we want to be faithful to God? 

 

         I think for the most part this message falls on deaf ears.  People are fairly satisfied where they are.  There is nothing wrong with being satisfied, as long as we are being faithful.  We need to keep in mind that that people of Judah were satisfied, they saw no reason to change. When the people of Judah finally woke up it was too late.  It makes me wonder where we fit into the story Jesus told about the ten virgins waiting for the bridegroom.  Five were not prepared and had no oil to light his path with.  Five were ready with their oil.  The five who were not prepared were not allowed into the marriage feast.

 

         As Jeremiah observed it was not just about outward reformation.  It is about inward change.  It is not just about affirming the right creeds,  it is about receiving the mercy of God in such a way that our lives change.  It may be time for us to covenant again and affirm that we will walk in the ways of the Lord, and really mean it!!!