Sermon: Nevertheless Obedience

Tonight we are finishing out looking at the kings of Hesia in Josiah from the book of Second Kings 23. So if you grab a Bible and turn there, we'll be looking at the, the final section here of King Josiah.

We prepare to hear the word red. Let's pray. Uh, before we read the word, Lord, we thank you that we have the privilege morning and evening on this day to hear from you or thank you that you've given us your word. We pray that you would bring reformation to each one of us here tonight, that you would reform our hearts and our minds according to the words of your book. As we read these words tonight, we ask that you would give us understanding. Write this in Jesus name.

Amen. But we've looked at these two kings, hezeki and Josiah from, uh, this part of Second Kings, chapters 21 through 23. If you remember, there's one king in the middle King Manassa. We looked at him several weeks ago. King Manassa reigned for 50 years in Judea. See, it has [unknown] who is a good king and then King Manassa. And then Josiah King Manassa were told in chapter 21 did more evil in provoking God's people to

idolatry than even the Amorites. This wicked pagan nation, king Manassa provoked the people of God to do more wickedness, more idolatry than even this wicked nation we're told that Manassas shed very much innocent blood till he filled Jerusalem from one end to the other. So think about this for a moment. Try to imagine what it would be like to have an evil king, a wicked king, and all of his administration for 50 years committing this kind

of evil. And our day. It's, it's hard to imagine. We have the benefit of having elections and uh, hopefully Lord willing, our presidents bounced back and forth as some kind of a check against evil. But imagine if we had a president who came to office and him and his whole cabinet, the whole administration was like King Manassa. That would mean for us that he would've come or she would, whoever that would be. But this person would have came to office in 1970,

but from 1970 till now, imagine the effects in our society of 50 straight years of evil and idolatry. This, this is what King Josiah stepped into when he came to power. And if you remember, Josiah was nine years old when he became king. Pretty remarkable. So as we close out thinking about King Josiah's reign, if we pause here for a moment, I think as Christians we can relate at least somewhat to Josiah's situations, probably not quite as extreme as Josiah,

but we can look around at our culture, we see all kinds of evil, all kinds of wickedness, all kinds of idolatry. There's shedding of innocent blood from one end of our country to the other. We see people running after all kinds of false gods. And so like Josiah, we see a great need for reformation in our day, reformation in the culture, but reformation in our own hearts. So as we come to this final section from King Josiah,

there's a question that arises from this text. And the question is this, what should be our mindset as we think about pursuing reformation? What should be our mindset? What should guide our thinking as we seek reformation both out there, but also in here? That's what we will see from this section. So follow along. We're gonna read Second Kings chapter 23, beginning in verse 21.

And the king commanded all the people, keep the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of the Covenant. For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. But in the 18th year of King Josiah, this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem. Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the Neros and the household gods and the idols

and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that [unknown] 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, and with all his might according to the law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him. Still, the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath by which his anger was

king, was kindled against Judah because of all the provocations with which Manassa had provoked him. And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight as I have removed Israel and I will cast off this city that I have chosen Jerusalem and the house of which I said my name shall be there. Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they now written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah.

In his days, Pharaoh Neko, king of Egypt, went up to the king of Asr to the river Euphrates King. Josiah went to meet him and phono killed him at Medo as soon as he saw him and his servants carried him dead in a chariot from Meto and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb and the people of the land took Jehovah, has the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in his father's place.

This chapter of chapter 23 of Second Kings holds together as an accumulating list of all the accomplishments and faithful successes in Josiah's Reformation. We saw this a couple of weeks ago, but consider the list of accomplishments we see in this chapter. Look back, you can browse as I as I point these out. So in verse four, Josiah removed the pagan vessels from the temple. Verse five, he deposed all these pagan clergy and also corrupted priests

throughout all the land of Judah in Jerusalem. Then in verse six through 14, we see several rounds of Josiah as he goes out and he smashes and then also Desecrates pagan worship centers. Verse 15 is the ultimate example of this, where he destroyed Jer Bows center of false worship, which he had set up in the city of Bethel. And then verses 19 and 20 were told that he even purged the pagan idolatry and destroyed pagan priests in the northern cities,

which at this time were under the control of the Assyrians. And so in our text tonight, verse 21, we come to two more events in the work of Josiah's Reformation and these two deal more specifically with matters of worship. So first we see he reformed Judah's corporate worship. He did it by celebrating the Passover. Now, what's interesting about this account here in Second Kings is how briefly this is stated, Josiah commands the people,

keep the Passover. And then right away in verse 22, we read that no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges doesn't tell us really what happened. Now we know what Passover was. It was a feast. It was the high point of Israel's corporate worship. You can read about it. In Deuteronomy 16, this high point of their worship was a celebration of God's deliverance, how he delivered them from All their bondage and all their slavery in Egypt,

not in Second Chronicles 35. The Chronicle chronicler goes into much more detail about this Passover. There's 19 verses detailing what exactly took place during this Passover under Josiah. But here in Second Kings, the author doesn't focus on that. He just makes this statement that Josiah commanded for the Passover to be celebrated. And verse 22 tells us that they did it. So Josiah brought this reform to Israel's corporate worship.

We then see how Josiah brought reform to private worship, not just what they do when they assemble during this one feast, but he was concerned for what they did in every day of their lives. So in verse 24, we recce, we see his reform of private worship. What did he do? Well there it tells us that he removed household gods and idols and mediums in Nero answerers, which people would would've sought after as part of their daily worship or

daily ritual. These are smaller, more discreet idols that people would put in their homes. In the case of the mediums, in the Nero mans people would seek them out to get some kind of a fortune or some kind of an omen or blessing for their crops, or perhaps to keep them from getting sick or to help with fertility. Josiah here is concerned for their corporate worship, but he knew that wasn't enough. He then goes into their private worship as well.

So here's one of the first things we can say about Josiah's mindset as he pursued reformation. The chapter focuses us on this, that biblical reformation is always according to the book. It's always according to the book, it says it in both cases. So in the celebration of Passover, verse 21, they did it as it is written in the Book of the Covenant. And think about the private reformation that Josiah sought. It says there that he did it to establish the words of the law that were

written in the book. Biblical Reformation is always according to the book. B Carson has a wonderful book called A Call to Spiritual Reformation, and he says this, he says, the one thing we most urgently need in Western Christendom is a deeper knowledge of God. Carson then connects this to the book. He says, we urgently need disciplined biblical thinking. That's what true spiritual reformation is. It's having our minds and our hearts shaped most fundamentally

by the book, not by these other gods, not by these foreign objects of worship, but most fundamentally by the words of this book. This might be a good application for us thinking about corporate worship, what we do every Sunday morning and evening. Corporate worship is supposed to be, according to the book, not meant to be an entertainment service. It's not meant to be an analysis of culture. It's not meant to be structured according to our own ideas or felt needs.

God calls us to worship and he gives us the parameters for how we worship. And it's in the words of this book. If our worship is according to the book and we shouldn't see worship as boring or not interesting, if we do, then perhaps it's an indictment upon our own hearts that we need a spiritual reformation. We worship according to the book so that we ourselves might be reformed according to the book. And this happens week in and week out.

And think about private worship. Why do we read our Bibles and pray and memorize and meditate? It's because we need a daily reformation as well. We don't just need the weekly corporate reformation. We need this daily reformation to fill our minds with. The book is what pushes out idols, which can so subtly creep into our lives. Friends here in these verses, we hear the the voice of Josiah as it echoes forth through 2000

years of history. He tells us, return to the book. Now it's clear in this chapter, chapter 23, that the author here is intentionally walking us through these reforms and he's building as he goes, building in intensity until we get to verse 25, where we read this superlative description of Josiah. We're told that 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 arise like him after him. This is a description of Josiah's personal reformation. He had discovered the God of Israel. According to the book, Deuteronomy six, four here, oh, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And what flows from knowing this true God, this one Lord, Deuteronomy six, five, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. Josiah had been personally reformed and transformed by

this God. This one God had gripped him, had transformed him. And in this way, the author of Kings is pointing out to us how, how, how unique he truly was. He called him the best of Israel's kings better than all who had come before him. Even Clipse hezeki, we can say David as well. And even after him there was no king like him. So we reached this crescendo here in this chapter, which makes then verse 26 rather remarkable.

As one commentator says, this verse is supposed to slap us in the face. It's striking and incredibly sobering. So look back at verse 26. This verse starts out with the word still or as some older translations would say. Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath by which his anger was kindled against Judah because of all the provocations with which Manassa had provoked him. And the Lord said,

I will remove Judah also out of my sight as I have removed Israel and I will cast off this city that I have chosen. The great surprise of this chapter is given all these reforms that have happened under Josiah, nevertheless, the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath. To the author of this chapter has walked us through this topical survey looking at all that Josiah has accomplished. He's building in intensity,

he's building in its reach to get us to these verses, verse 26 and 27, to remind us of a very important truth that our obedience and even our reformation does not guarantee societal transformation, yet it's still worth the effort. So here's a second mindset as we think about and pursue biblical reformation. Biblical reformation is accomplished through nevertheless obedience. Biblical reformation is accomplished through nevertheless obedience.

See, this phrase gets at the hearts behind reformation it, it gets at the motivation of it. So again, think about Josiah's situation. What did Josiah know about the fate of his kingdom, about Ju, about Judah? Did he know that Judah's fate had already been sealed, that disaster was coming, that the Lord's destruction was sure to come? If he did not know, then we might think that Josiah here is aimed at reform for the purpose of renewing Judah to take it back to the strength that it once had.

But if he knew that Judah's fate was sealed, then it makes his reforms that much more surprising. Why would he work so hard? Why would he work so diligently at reform if he knew that God's plan of judgment was a certainty? So what can we say to this? Well, I think we can see it back in chapter 22. If you flip back there, or if you, or if you recall in 22, this was the account when the book of the law was found, they had found the Torah, especially the book of Deuteronomy.

And Josiah receives it. He reads through it and after reading it through, the text tells us he's mortified by what he discovers. So there in chapter 22 verse verse 13, he instructs the priest, he says, take your officials, go and inquire of the Lord from me concerning the words of this book. In other words, Josiah is asking I, I read what this says. I read about blessing, I also read about curses. It seems like God's judgment, God's curses are coming for us.

Go and ask of the Lord, what? What should I make of this? So then we see in verses 14 through 20, the account where [unknown], the priest goes to Hilda, the Prophete. And if you'll glance back, you'll see this repeated refr repeated refrain from Hilda where she says, these are the words of the Lord spoken to Josiah. And here's what the Lord is saying. He says, I will bring disaster upon this place. My wrath will be kindled against this place.

It will not be quenched. God sees Josiah's repentance. He sees his reformation. So he gives him this glim glimmer of hope. He says, I will gather you to your forefathers and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace and your eyes will not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place. So in other words, we can summarize this message with this. The message from the prophet to Josiah is there is some mercy for you,

but there's no hope for the nation. In other words, make no mistake, judgment is coming and it will not be averted. There's a reminder here that there is such a thing as the unquenchable, unstoppable, unalterable, wrath of God against sin. So coming back to Josiah, why would Josiah expend so much of his time and energy to the work of reformation knowing that God's judgment was fixed? This wasn't simply out of his own self-interest because look at the extent of

Josiah's reforms. He didn't just reform his own house or the kingship or the temple, things that he had immediately control over. Rather, he goes out into all the land, even into the northern kingdom where asy was actually in control at this time. And what does he do as he goes out through all the land? Well, he tears down these altars in in these high places, but he doesn't just tear them down. He actually desecrates them.

He does so by burning some of the bones of the priests in these places of pagan worship, he makes these places so disgusting and so reviled that the next generation would have no desire to return to this place and rebuild these ruins. And so with great effort and cost to himself, Josiah sought to bring reformation as far and as wide as possible. Here's the thing, even though he knew God's judgment was still about to fall upon

the nation, so why did he do all of this? Well, clearly Josiah is doing it for the sake of others to see reformation spread to them just as he has experienced it. But I think we also see that Josiah did it. It's not just for others, but simply because he knew it was the right thing to do. In other words, he pressed on simply because God and the words of the book demanded it. This is what nevertheless obedience is as an older commentator.

Put it, Josiah wanted to go ahead with the reformation solely for the sake of the honor and righteousness of the Lord. This is reformation. This is obedience that is neither pragmatic nor utilitarian. He's not just doing it because it's going to gain results or be the best thing. Rather, this is never the less obedience. The author here of Second Kings 23 wants us to see that Josiah's never the less OB obedience is one that says, I will walk the path of obedience.

I will pursue reformation even if the culture or the society or my community isn't changed by it. I think for our own selves, reading our Bibles, praying, meditating upon the word, being active in corporate worship, all of these things they're worth pursuing. Even if we don't see a cultural reformation, they are worth doing. Not simply because I benefit from them, though I do, but most fundamentally because they bring honor and glory to Christ.

I think there's a parallel here between Josiah's story and our own situation. As believers in Christ, we have been promised the imminent return of Christ. And when he returns, we know this will be a day of great judgment. We see this all over the pages of the New Testament. One example is Acts 17 verse 31. God has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed. And of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the

dead. You see, we have this promise of judgment that is coming, this final judgment which is coming. I think we can also say that we have a sense of national judgment, not not in the way that Israel was judged, being in covenant with the Lord, but in the same way that God judged other nations for their evil and for their idolatry. So too God will judge our own nation for our own idolatry, for our own wickedness. You could say that perhaps his judgment is already upon us.

So how should we think about our own lives in the face of this coming judgment? Well, like Josiah, we con, we continue to seek reformation. We reform ourselves, we reform our churches. Not because this guarantees some massive societal change, but simply because it's good for us. It's what God's words demands from us. It's what gives God honor and glory. And if God decides to ripple this reformation out and bless the surrounding

culture, then we praise God for that. As we're reminded in the books of first and second Thessalonians, in light of this judgment, in light of this imminent return of Christ, or to stay awake, to be sober minded or to stand firm, we're to hold to the apostolic traditions. We encourage one another, we build one another up with the words of this book. We also work hard. We're not to be idle. We do not grow weary in doing what is good.

This encompasses all that we do in our worldly pursuits, but it certainly encompasses the work of spiritual reformation. So like Josiah, don't grow weary in doing good, pursue obedience, pursue reformation solely for the sake of the honor and righteousness of the Lord. For in this righteousness he will come to judge the world. Well, in brief, let's look back to how our text ends. See this in verses 28 through 30, we're given this grim and straightforward account of Josiah's death.

In verse 29, we're introduced to a new figure, this Pharaoh from Egypt, Pharaoh Neko. This was actually Pharaoh Neko ii who began to reign in Egypt in six 10 BC. At this time in world history, the as Sirian empire is beginning to lose its ground, to lose its strength. And so Assyria enlists the help of Egypt as they are fighting against the rising nation of Babylon. And so we're told here in verse 29 that this Pharaoh is on his way

north going along the highway that would've traveled just to the west of Jerusalem. He's going north to join with the Assyrians in their fight against Babylon. The text tells us that King Josiah rode out to meet this pharaoh at the city of Jido. Jido is the city that was right along this highway, and it controlled this highway from Egypt and these nations in the north. So whoever had control of Meto could have great influence upon these

nations as they fought against one another. Now, in second Chronicles 35 were given more detail about what happened. Apparently, as Pharaoh Neko is traveling up this highway and Josiah is coming out to meet him, Pharaoh sends a message to Josiah and it's listed there as a prophecy. It's this curious prophecy where Neko says to Josiah, God has commanded me to hurry, be supposing God who is with me, lest he destroy you. This is a, remember the words of neko to king Josiah.

Now there's, there's some debate. Is this a true prophecy from the Lord or is this Pharaoh just using this idea of God speaking to him to turn Josiah away? We're not sure. But in that account, the very next verse, we read this very ironic statement. It says, nevertheless, Josiah did not turn away from him but disguised himself in order to fight with him. So what happens? Josiah disguises himself so they wouldn't know who the true king was.

He rides out to this battle. The Egyptians see them coming, their archers raise their bows, they shoot and they hit Josiah and he falls dead there in the plains of Jido. His body then is taken back to Jerusalem. So why, why this detail? Why, why focus on this part of the text? Well, there's a a deep irony here in this account. I think maybe you, you can see it just by hearing the words. Here's the irony. Josiah's nevertheless,

obedience led him to be this great catalyst for reformation in Judah. And yet this same nevertheless obedience led him to his death at the hands of Pharaoh Neko. I think in this we see a precursor to Esther, right? You hear that phrase in the book of Esther obedience that would say, if I perish, I perish. He was unfazed in his desire for reformation, even being willing to fight against Egypt, knowing that there was little hope for victory. And in this way,

God fulfilled what he had spoken through hold of the prophet. Josiah would not live to see the disaster that is coming upon Judah. So in closing, what can we take away from this final account in the life of Josiah? But here's the first thing we can learn from his reformation mindset. A biblical reformation is according to the book. And the motive for biblical reformation is this, nevertheless obedience I will obey even if our

society, our culture is not transformed. So ask yourself this question. Do you have this mindset for biblical reformation? Is your heart and is your mind aimed at biblical worship? If so, you need, I need to be rooted in this book and aimed solely at the honor and righteousness of the Lord. So that's our first takeaway. We can learn from his reformation mindset. There's one final takeaway from this account. It's something we skipped over this theme that we see back in verse 27.

So look back there in verse 27. God says a very remarkable thing. He says, I will cast off this city that I have chosen Jerusalem and the house of which I said my name shall be there. There's a a redemptive historical thing happening here in our text. It's unfolding right here before us. The theme is picked up, picked up in the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a contemporary during Josiah's day. Jeremiah was their prophesying.

You go back and read the first few chapters of Jeremiah and it's all about this situation here under Josiah. In chapter seven of Jeremiah, he picks up this theme about God casting off his, his name from this nation and from this place and through the prophet Jeremiah. God asks this question, says this, as this house, which is called by my name become become a den of robbers in your eyes, you hear that question from the Lord.

It should sound familiar, right? Jesus quotes these same words as he stands in this very same place, this temple area. And what is he doing when he quotes these words? Well, he's driving out those who are treating it as a place for business rather than for prayer. In two Kings 23, we see God casting off the place that he had chosen Jerusalem and the house where he had chosen to put his name, the temple. He cast these places off as his judgment is about to fall.

But in this very same place, the city of Jerusalem, 600 years later, we see another temple, Jesus himself, where God's name is fully and finally revealed. And it's upon this temple, Jesus, that God's judgment would fall upon his own name. You see, king Josiah pursued biblical reformation and he accomplished a lot, but he ultimately died an inconsequential death. But Jesus, the son of David, the son of Hezekiah, the son of Josiah, came and brought true reformation.

He did it by becoming the true temple, the true city of Jerusalem. And Jesus himself re received the full wrath against God, a against sin. And Jesus himself would triumph over the death, the judgment of death, and he would rise to vindicate the name of God.

He did it for what He did it so that we might receive the name of God, that it would be placed upon us no longer as objects of wrath, but rather as objects of his great mercy, Josiah's life, his reformation, even his death point. Us forward to this, that we might receive the name of God because of what Christ, the temple who was crushed in judgment has done for us. And God's name will never be cast off from us. And so we too can have the mindset of Josiah's reformation as we look to

Jesus, the true fulfillment of his reformation and the ultimate aim of all of our reformation. With that, let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for sending Jesus to die in our place, satisfying your wrath against our sins so that our hearts might be truly reformed. We pray. Would you reform us yet again, that we might live and worship as people of the book, as we look to Jesus? The word of this book who has made flesh for us, it's in his name,

we pray and.