2 Kings 22

CHAPTERS 22 AND 23THEME: Josiah’s good reignIn chapter 22 and 23 we find that Josiah, who begins to reign when he is eight years old and reigns for thirty-one years, is one of the best kings who reigned after Solomon. During his reign a great and needed revival comes to the nation. Hilkiah, the high priest, is his counselor, assistant, and adviser.

2 Kings 22:1

JOSIAH’S GOOD LIFENotice how young these kings are when they begin to reign. Why are they so young? Well, Papa got killed. God removed him.

2 Kings 22:2

The sun has come up again; the light is shining once more in the land. Josiah has come to the throne. He led a movement that resulted in the greatest revival these people ever had after David and Solomon. It is my firm conviction today that the only thing that can save our nation is revival. It is either going to be revival or revolution. There is corruption in government on all levels. There is corruption in all organizations today. Immorality and lawlessness abound. Sex, liquor, drugs, filthy magazines, foul pictures, scandals, and riots reign.

This nation is wallowing like a pig in a swine’s sty. We are like the prodigal son in a far country in the pigpen with the pigs. Without revival, revolution stares us in the face. Socialism is creeping in today. Political parties are willing to sell the birthright of this nation in order to stay in power. The church today is under the blight of apostasy.

Liberalism controls the organized church. There is a brazen denial of the Word of God even in so-called evangelical circles. The Word of God has been lost in the church, and there are atheists today in the pulpit. The first thing Christians need to recognize is that revival is personal and individual. I don’t think revival has ever begun as a mass movement. What we need today is not politicians calling other politicians crooks. We need politicians who will say, “I have been wrong. I am going to get right with God.” It would be a strange thing, and I suppose it would frighten our nation, but it’s what we need. Josiah, the man at the top, did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. The revival began with him.

2 Kings 22:3

THE TEMPLE IS REPAIREDThe second thing that Josiah did was to repair the temple. Apparently, the temple was not in use when Josiah came to the throne. It had become sort of a warehouse, a storage area for odds and ends.

2 Kings 22:5

He tells the people to get busy and repair the temple. The church today is very much like the temple in Josiah’s day. It is in great need of repair. I am not speaking of church buildingsthere are many beautiful church buildings. I stayed in a motel back east some time ago, and there was a church right across the street from my room. I was told that it cost one-half million dollars to build. The week I was there I noticed on Sunday morning, as I was leaving for my speaking appointment, that there were about twenty-five cars parked by the church for the Sunday morning service. There weren’t any more than twenty-five cars for the evening service, and the rest of the week the church was dark. That place needs repairing, let me tell you! Our conservative churches today are torn asunder by strife and bickering. They are huge and attractive. But is the Spirit of God there? The church is not witnessing. True believers should be out telling people about the Lord. You frighten Christians when you talk about witnessing for Christ. We do not need any more pious platitudes, saccharin sweetness, back-slapping, and hand-pumping. Let’s let these service clubs do that. They are better at it than we are anyway. What we need today is to get the church straightened out on the inside.

2 Kings 22:8

THE BOOK OF THE LAW IS DISCOVEREDThe third thing that brought revival to the nation was a return to the Word of God. They had lost the Bible, and they had lost it in the church. But they found the Word of God and put it back into their lives. The Word of God is the only thing we have as a weapon, friend. It is God’s Word that is alive, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb_4:12). There is no short cut, no easy route, no new method to revival.

We have a flood of books today on Christian experience. I have looked over quite a few of these books and find them as dead as a doornail. What is the problem? They present a method instead of presenting the Word of God. They are not saying, “Let’s get back to the Word of God.” We don’t need So-and-So’s book; we need the Bible. We don’t need the book of the month; we need the Book of the ages. How many churches today in this land really rest upon the Word of God and preach it? Although there are still many faithful pastors, there are many who have departed from the faith. They have lost the Bible in church. Remember when Jesus was a boy, Mary and Joseph lost Him in the temple. Believe me, Jesus, as well as the Bible, is lost in the church today. Hilkiah, the high priest, found the Word of God. Did he find it out on the dump heap? No! He found it in the temple. It had been lost. A return to the Bible has to be the beginning of a revival. I was with a fine young preacher not long ago. He was questioning me about my method of study. I found out that he had read all the latest books. In fact, he rather embarrassed me when he asked, “Have you read So-and-So? Have you seen this book and the other book?” I said no to each one. He asked, “Have you quit reading books?” I said, “Well, I’m pretty much read up, and the new books coming out don’t seem to interest me because they are presenting a method.” He said, “What do you read then?” I told him that I read the Bible.

Then I asked him the pointed question, “How much time do you spend each week in the Word of God?” His answer was amazing. He spent less than one hour a week studying God’s Word! He had already told me about the problems he was having, and it was very easy to give him a remedy. He needed to get into the Word of God.

2 Kings 22:9

Imagine this! Now Josiah is hearing the Word of God for the first time!

2 Kings 22:11

The fourth step toward revival is repentance. The reading of the Word of God brought repentance. When the king heard the Word of God, he tore his clothes as an expression of deep emotion. Why? Because the Word of God revealed their sin. Without the Word of God they did not realize how far they had strayed from God’s Law. A return to the Word of God brings revival. It wasn’t like some of these nice little groups I often hear about today that are going to have a “revival” campaign. They have a banquet and call in all of the preachers. The object is to talk sweetly and optimistically and get everyone together. My friend, real revival does not come unless there is true repentance. I heard of a man, a very fine Christian, who stood before a group of church officers and told them, “What this church needs is for this group of officers to get down on their faces before God and repent!” Do you know what they did? They got rid of him. They didn’t want him around. Oh, if we would really come to the Word of God, it would bring conviction. There would be weeping and rending of clothes and a real revival.

2 Kings 22:13

Josiah is frightened because he knows they deserve God’s judgment. The message God returns to Josiah through Huldah the prophetess reveals both God’s justice and His grace.

2 Kings 22:16

Now notice God’s grace to Josiah.