Word: 2 Kings 23 (abridged)(NLT)
2 And the king went up to the Temple of the Lord with all the people …, along with the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. There the king read to them the entire Book of the Covenant that had been found in the Lord’s Temple.3 The king took his place of authority beside the pillar and renewed the covenant in the Lord’s presence. He pledged to obey the Lord by keeping all his commands, laws, and decrees with all his heart and soul. In this way, he confirmed all the terms of the covenant that were written in the scroll, and all the people pledged themselves to the covenant. . . .
15 The king also tore down the altar at Bethel—the pagan shrine that Jeroboam son of Nebat had made when he caused Israel to sin. He burned down the shrine and ground it to dust . . . .
19 Then Josiah demolished all the buildings at the pagan shrines in the towns of Samaria . . . .They had been built by the various kings of Israel and had made the Lord very angry . . . .
21 King Josiah then issued this order to all the people: “You must celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as required in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 There had not been a Passover celebration like that since the time when the judges ruled in Israel, nor throughout all the years of the kings of Israel and Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.
24 Josiah also got rid of the mediums and psychics, the household gods, the idols, and every other kind of detestable practice, both in Jerusalem and throughout the land of Judah. He did this in obedience to the laws written in the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had found in the Lord’s Temple. 25 Never before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of Moses. And there has never been a king like him since.
The king of ancient Israel had two significant responses when the Word of God was re-discovered after having been lost for centuries. First, he goes throughout the country—even beyond his own borders—and destroys every semblance of false religion that he could find. He is not tolerant of idolatry, of immorality, or any of the cultural icons or rituals that have sought to replace the Truth that was lost. He even goes so far as to seek out the very root of national dissipation, the national shrine that his ancient predecessor Jeroboam first created as the first step away from Truth.
But destruction only leaves a vacuum. Josiah is wise enough to re-institute the worship and national celebrations that God had proscribed, both of which had been lost with the Word. National memory needed to be restored as well—the recollection of what God had done for the nation.
Tearing down national idols is essential—but not enough. Being against the loss of national morality, fighting cultural norms, opposing historical lies, these are all part of what God’s people do when Truth takes hold, but demolition and attack is not enough—not nearly enough.
Perhaps today it is reminding us that Thanksgiving is about thanking God for every good gift, that Christmas is a time for reminding the nation that Jesus came to bring peace on earth, good will toward men, or that Sunday is still the Lord’s Day, not the NFL’s sacred day.
Restoring the ancient national celebration of Israel was as important as removing the idols. Is this a Truth that we as a nation have forgotten?
Prayer: Lord God of Heaven and Earth. What have we forgotten as a nation? Teach us again, Lord, what to destroy and what to restore. Give us the passion to oppose everything you hate, but also the joy to celebrate all that you love. Amen.
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