2 Kings 22 (Part 1) Bible Study (Josiah Reigns in Judah) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Invite you to come to second Kings chapter 22, and I hope that you brought a copy of God's word with you tonight. This will make your experience here every week more meaningful as you see these verses and these truths with your own eyes in your own hands. And before we begin reading this new chapter, I'd like to ask you to pause and think about the types of attitudes, convictions, perhaps interests that the average 16 year old might have. I'll give you a few seconds to allow your imagination to capture the possibilities. The average 16 year old, what does their day to day look like?

Now let's fast forward a few years, and let's think about a 20 year old. I'm aware that some of you are that age or around that age. A 20 year old. What does a 20 year old preoccupy himself with or herself with? Now let's fast forward yet again and think about someone at the peak age of 26.

What kind of behaviors? What what kind of things does a 26 year old busy himself with? What kind of outlook? What kind of in look? What fills their calendar?

More importantly, what occupies their hearts? The common 26 year old. Now if you have those time stamps still in your head, I wanna explain to you why I bring it up to you. Because the subject of our study today is of an exceptional king by the name of Josiah. And the Bible provides us in great detail what Josiah was like at those key moments of his young life.

And it's important to mention that as we get closer to the end of the book of second Kings, there will be no other king after Josiah who will receive the level of attention that he does. And that is because this is technically the final monarch who will bring widespread reformation to the Kingdom Of Judah before the people will be taken away by the Babylonians. This is a significant individual, and his importance should not be a surprise to us for a couple of reasons. The main reason is because he has been prophesied about in great detail in former times. Does anyone remember where Josiah was mentioned by a prophet in the Bible?

Well, I I told you to turn to second Kings 22, but now go to first Kings chapter 13. We've obviously studied this passage a few months ago, but let's refresh our memories and consider a prophecy that was made by a man of God who came out of Judah to confront Jeroboam. This was fresh after the Kingdom Of Israel was divided into two. The Northern Kingdom Of Israel represented by the 10 tribes, and then the Southern Kingdom Of Judah represented by Judah and Benjamin. Here's what we read in first Kings thirteen one to three.

And behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make offerings and a man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, oh, altar, altar, thus says the Lord, behold a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name. And he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you. Oh, there is no doubt that we have here yet another autograph of divine authorship concerning the Bible. If you take into account the historical gap between this incredible prediction of Josiah's birth and reign and its fulfillment, you are talking about a span of likely and roughly three hundred to three hundred and fifty years.

This is glorious. We shall also keep in mind that very few individuals had been prophesied by name before they came into existence, which only adds to how remarkable this person is. And so he's been foretold, we've been anticipating him, and here's the fruition of it. And I'll be honest, earlier this week, as I was reviewing this chapter, I was initially thinking that we're gonna cover this chapter in its entirety in one setting. But then after I studied it, I've come to the conclusion that this evening, we're only gonna look at the first two verses.

The first two verses. And you'll see at the end of the study why. Now if we're gonna only cover the first two verses of chapter 22, then we already know something. We're gonna be visiting a lot of different other passages that will complement the introduction to King Josiah, and rightly so. There is much given to us that will make this a meaty Bible study if you and I are willing to do our part and traverse through the Bible, and look at the different passages, and see the fullness of the mind of God pertaining this man.

Shall we begin? We're not gonna be reading much, at least in the beginning of the study. Let's look at the first two verses and take into account with our minds engaged and our hearts open this wonderful biography. Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adia of Bozcath, and he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

So before we explore what Josiah did at 16, what he accomplished at 20, how he lived at 26, we are informed that he occupied the throne at the ripe age of eight. How is it someone so young is given such prerogative? And the simple answer is because his father was assassinated early in his administration. Look back at chapter 21 verse 19. Amen was 22 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem.

That's brief. Why only two years? Because the same context tells us that he was assassinated by his servants. And because he was killed, now the throne is vacant, the kingdom is vulnerable, so there needed to be immediate replacement. So Josiah takes his place.

Fortunately, Amen did not have great influence over his son, Josiah. And that is proven to us because of what we read in verse two of our text. Look back at second Kings 22 verse two. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn his side to the right or to the left. The first part of that verse, the language is very familiar to us.

Right? It's the latter part, the latter comment in that verse that is quite unique. What does it say? And he did not turn aside to the right or to the left. That phrase appears quite a few times in the Old Testament, but there's one instance where it is mentioned that helps us understand how special Josiah is in light of and in comparison to the other kings.

We've turned to this passage many, many times in our study of first and second Kings. It's worth looking at it again. It's that place in Deuteronomy where God gave instructions to the future kings of Israel, specifically how they were to have a copy of the law in their own hands. And they were to read it and they were to obey it, and he follows it up with the promises and the rewards of doing so. So in Deuteronomy 17, again, let's turn there and look here beginning in verse 19.

This is before the people even enter into the promised land. And the Lord anticipating that they would request kings gives some parameters, some precepts. What does he say in Deuteronomy seventeen nineteen? And it shall be with him, that is a copy of the law with the king, and it shall be with him, and he shall read it in all the days of his life. By the way, pause.

That's where I get my cue to read my Bible every day, among other places. And he shall read it in all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them. That his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers and that he may not turn aside from the commandment either to the right hand or to the left. So that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children in Israel. The connection is clear, isn't it?

Second Kings chapter 22 echoes this expression from these instructions to tell us what? That king Josiah embodied the kind of king that God desired. And so what you find here is that he was unwavering in his commitment to the will of God, that he never deviated from it in any way. This is a man with a general summary of his life who was consistent. He was absolutely faithful to the Lord all of his days.

This is a wonderful reminder to us that it's possible to live for the cause of Christ from the moment you said yes to him to the moment that you will see him. It's possible. It happened with Josiah. And though it's not entirely clear how much of the word of God Josiah was exposed to, especially when you consider in this chapter how he will make the discovery of the book of the law in the abandoned temple, there is no doubt that there were righteous influences in his life. And just how remarkable his faith is is demonstrated by a parallel account where we see those time stamps that I mentioned early on and how he utilized that time well.

So in second Kings 22, we go from eight year old Josiah in verse three to the eighteenth year of his reign, which would make him 26. But there's another passage that fills the gap. Second Chronicles 34. Let's go there. If we do the work, we'll be rewarded.

Second Chronicles thirty four one to three. It was at this point when I went to visit this passage where I realized we're not getting past verse two. The first two verses will be familiar. Second Chronicles 34 beginning in verse one. Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty one years in Jerusalem.

And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in the ways of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. Okay. We we read that already. Look at verse three now. For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father.

And in a twelfth year, he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherom, and the carved and the metal images. Read verse three very carefully. We're told in the eighth year of his reign, not when he was eight years old. So if he began as an eight year old boy, and now we're talking about the eighth year, he's how old? Very good.

We do math at this bible study. 16 years old. More importantly, what does he do as a 16 year old? Here's how to understand this verse. Josiah made the personal decision to seek after God and to know him for himself.

At 16, I'm afraid that in modern Christianity, we've made a lot of excuses for the apathy that young men generally have towards the Lord. As though hormones, temptations, distractions somehow make it impossible to cultivate an all consuming love for Christ. Josiah proves otherwise, and it's through our encouragement. Remember, Josiah is not a 16 year old in a nice suburb in Illinois. Josiah is a 16 year old king who is surrounded by unspeakable pollution, compromise, filth, perversion that has been made normal and culturally acceptable.

In a time, listen, as the context suggests, where the Bible was not widely recognized. So much so, that when people who are working in the temple found it, they didn't even recognize the book. And yet, at 16, and the Bible underlines, while he was yet a boy, the ESV renders it, I'm gonna seek after God. Here's what this means for us. You and I should never hesitate to challenge and inspire youth to joyfully dedicate the peak of their strength and energy to know God and to make him known.

And those efforts will only be a possibility if we start by believing that it's possible for this demographic to actually view and experience Christ as their surpassing treasure, all satisfying good. And if you are here listening in person or online, and you are under the age of 20, if you've never heard this before, hear it now. Remember your creator in the days of your youth. All the trinkets and all the persuasions and all the opportunities that this world has to offer, as much as it may seem like it's purposeful and it's pleasurable, are cheap and deceiving. You were made to walk with God.

And not to put that off once you've experimented with the world, but to give what you have to give even as a young man or as a young woman. Because that is a window of time in your life that will present unique opportunities that cannot be regained in later years. Those who are older can attest to that. So we should see this as an encouragement, not just for those who find themselves in a similar stage of life, but for those who are older and and look upon a generation and think they're doomed. No.

They're not doomed, actually. Have Have you considered Josiah? His environment. Oh, yeah. But, you know, there's a lot of broken Oh, so, having a father who was assassinated and he did he left a terrible legacy, that that's not traumatic?

It's pretty traumatic to me. Anything is possible with Christ. And you and I have to believe that. Not just for ourselves, but for those who seem unlikely candidates. But that's not all that we learn about Josiah in this verse.

Look again at verse three. And in the twelfth year, he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah and the carved and the metal images. So all this means is four years after he made a decision to nurture a personal relationship with the Lord, he launched the nation's cleansing from idolatry. 20. A 20 year old.

What a thought. It's almost hard to imagine that you had a man so young, so green in life, leading the charge of reformation unlike any other. But there should be no doubt that this man is the initiator and the supervisor of this effort. Look at again at verse four now. Second Chronicles 34 verse four.

And they chopped down the altars of the bales in his presence. I love those three words. In his presence. And he cut down the incense altars that stood above them. And he broke in pieces the ashram and the carved of the metal images.

And he made dust of them and scattered it over the grays of those who had sacrificed to them. In his presence, why is that mentioned there? I believe it's mentioned because Josiah twenty held his subjects accountable to carry out God's commands. And listen, he personally oversaw this campaign. He showed up at the sight of these evil and wicked shrines and altars to make sure that they were done properly, that they were destroyed effectively in his presence.

This took courage. You gotta imagine, again, righteousness is not popular at this time. Believing in one God, the true God, the God of Israel was not widely accepted at this time. And you have a 20 year old who had his father assassinated. You can imagine the things that he was possibly worried about, but there's no sense of that.

Fearless. And he made sure that God was honored. So Josiah was no surrogate. He was not a puppet trying to fulfill somebody else's righteous cause. No.

He was doing this. He owned it. Notice how much the word he appears in this one verse, and it continues in this section. He, he, he, he. This was his desire at 20 years old.

But as always, this is not just for inspiration. We're not just looking back at history saying, oh, this is wonderful that Israel had a guy named Josiah at one point. No, no, no. This is for our instruction. And let me offer a cup, a couple of observations.

Number one, the fearlessness and drive for Josiah to do what we see here, This external impact for the Lord can only come from the overflow of one's devotion in secret to the Lord. What he did for the Lord. Right? This courage, this incredible zeal came from what we read earlier. A nurturing and a cultivating of a personal experience of God in private.

And that happened between the ages of 16 and 20. I am absolutely persuaded, and nobody has convinced me otherwise up to this point in my own pilgrimage, that the key to stimulation and steadfast motivation and service to God is spending uninterrupted time with him. And to do so long enough until you catch glimpses of his glory and are marked by them, I'm reminded of Peter and John in Acts chapter four. Some of you know where I'm going with this, where they were commanded to no longer teach or preach in the name of Jesus. And what was the rebuttal?

We cannot help but speak for what we have seen and heard. You understand what the apostles were saying there? That the reason why they were the they were willing to risk their lives as no name disciples, to tell other people about this Jesus was because they were recipients of life giving revelation that compelled them to. We have seen things and we have heard things and this is the means, this is the energy, this is what propels us to embrace even persecution, because Jesus is worth it. And we have tasted of him, and we are calling all men to repent and to turn to him.

The times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Josiah is flowing in that same equation. At 16, he sought God. In that short amount of time, his heart was stirred now to actually introduce him to an apostate nation. If you're waning in your desire to serve God, perhaps it's been some time where you have seen something or heard something concerning him.

The second thing to note is how Josiah's ministry began at home. What do I mean by that? Look at verse three again. And in the twelfth year, he began. Where do you begin, Josiah?

He began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places. Now in verse six, eventually, he's gonna go to the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon and even as far as Naphtali. The the the tribe that is furthest north, he's gonna cover even what was known as the Kingdom Of Israel. He wants to purge every corner of the promised land. But I find it encouraging that he started nearby.

Do you know why I find that encouraging? Because I think there's a principle there for believers who are eager to serve God. There are many believers who are under this impression that unless they abandon everything that they've ever known, and pack their bags and travel to some uncharted territory, some foreign nation, and start fresh, they can't really do anything impactful or meaningful for God. And I believe that God does call some to relinquish everything, to stop where they are right now, and to go to these places. But that's not the commission of every man.

And if that is unclear to you, and you have no such commission from Christ, I adjure you through Josiah's example. Be passionate and zealous where you are. Exactly where you are. Where was Josiah? In Jerusalem.

Where did he start? In Jerusalem. And he worked his way out. And that's helpful for you and I to consider. Now, we look at this and we might think, okay, we're ready now to return to second Kings 22 and skip over to the eighteenth year of his reign.

But we can't do that. Do you know why? Because there's more than second Kings and second Chronicles relating to Josiah. So let's recap. Eight years old, he takes the throne.

16 years old, he begins to own his faith. 20 years old, he actually starts a purging in the land. When did the purging in the land take place? In the twelfth year of his reign. Good.

We're all on the same page? Excellent. Something happens in the thirteenth year of Josiah's reign. And it's a detail not found in second Kings. You won't find it in second Chronicles.

Does anybody know where we can find a very instrumental part of Josiah's reign, specifically a year into his reformation, and what book it's found in? I'll give you five seconds to think about it. Say it loud. What book? What book?

Would you believe if I told you that it is in the first chapter of the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter one. Let's look at the first two verses together. And this is where I really knew we're not going past verse two in second Kings 22. Jeremiah one one to two.

I'll wait for those pages to stop turning. Let's read it together. The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who are in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. When I found this, I got so excited. I was thrilled.

And then I calmed down. And then once I calmed down, a very deep question emerged. And it is this, why? That's my question. Why did God summon Jeremiah a year into Josiah cleansing the land of idolatry?

That's a good question. Right? I would say so. And upon meditation, I believe there are at least three observations that we can make from this wonderful insight. So here's number one.

God called Jeremiah the prophet in order to support and encourage king Josiah, especially after Josiah made the decision to bring reformation. How can we conclude that? By looking at different parts of Jeremiah's writings and to see how highly he respected Josiah and how he praised his piety. Can I show you one example? It's worth seeing it so that we can dispel any doubt.

Scroll to Jeremiah 22 and look at verse 11. Now why I'm reading verse 11 is so that we can confirm when this prophecy was made. For thus says the Lord concerning Shalom, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah, his father. So this is a prophecy made to one of Josiah's son, which implies that Josiah is dead at this point. And who went away from this place, he shall return here no more.

But we have to skip over to verse 15 now. Remember, he's speaking to Josiah's son. And what does he say in part? Do you think you are a king, in verse 15, because you compete in Cedar? In other words, do you think you're really a king because you sit in a palace?

Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy, then it was well. Is not this to know me? Declares the Lord.

What is Jeremiah implying by reminding his son, Josiah's son, of his father? One main point, at least here. You don't know God. Your dad did. You think you're a true king.

No. Let me tell you who a real king is. Your father. He modeled what it means to be a true servant of God. And I love here how Jeremiah makes a connection between knowing the Lord and acting in a certain way.

Because your behavior and mine, especially in our treatment of others, is a massive indicator of the authenticity of our relationship to God. Right? Josiah, what did he do? He judged the cause of the poor and the needy. He did justice and righteousness and he and and he says, isn't that what it means to know God?

In other words, your knowledge of God will produce such fruit. And so, we find here, because that's not the main point of how Jeremiah thought of Josiah. And if this is how he spoke about the king after he died, what kind of words did he offer him while he was alive? In fact, you can turn there if you'd like, but you don't have to. Just write it down as a reference and visit it later.

In second Chronicles 35, 25, and the context there is Josiah's death, we read Jeremiah also lamented for Josiah. Jeremiah loved this man. Jeremiah understood, I'm sure, in part, that God raised him up at that specific time to come alongside this king. And we don't have the record of conversations necessarily or what Jeremiah did to help Josiah, but I'm sure Jeremiah's ministry gave extra fuel to this king. And that's precisely the point here.

How does this relate to us? Well, I think in this, when you and I, like Josiah, decide to give ourselves fully over to knowing God and serving God, one of the blessings that we will receive, one of the things that God will do for us, is bring into our lives like minded people who are, who will encourage us on that path. That's a pattern that you see throughout the the Bible, both in Old and in the New Testament. And and sometimes in ways that we don't even notice. So we're studying second Kings in my own reading.

I just finished Judges and I'm now revisiting first Samuel. But there is a detail in Judges, in the life of Gideon, that makes us more true. Gideon, he was always fearful from the moment we met him. He was not like Josiah. Right?

When he was when he was called to tear down the altars of Baal, he didn't even wanna do it during the day. He wanna do it at night. He wanted his friends to come with him. And the Lord's like, okay, fine. I'll be merciful to you.

And after the Lord brings out the number of his army down to how many people? 300. This this man can't imagine that he's gonna go up against hundreds of thousands of enemies. And And so the Lord says, listen, Gideon, I want you to go down to the camp of the enemy and I want you to experience something. I have a treat for you.

I have something that will give you the confidence for this war. And then he says this, this is in Judges seven verse 10. I'm paraphrasing, but he says, and if you are afraid to go down, behold your servant, Purah, will go down with you. Now you read down, you just you might be tempted to just read on. But no, no, there's something massive there.

How is the Lord going to alleviate the fear of his servant? Not by performing a miracle. He says, I'm highlighting your servant. Let him accompany you. Let him walk down there with you.

And I think that's just an old testament glimpse of the wisdom of Jesus when he sends out his disciples in what? In pairs. Go two by two. I don't know about you, but I'm much more bold to preach the gospel when a fellow believer is with me in a restaurant or in an Uber ride. And so we see here that God raises up a prophet to help the king.

That's wonderful. Remember, there are three observations about Jeremiah's inclusion in the story. Number two, I believe realizing Jeremiah being called at this point says something about how God enjoys raising up young people to do great things for God. We've all determined that Josiah was very green when he became king. Right?

What about Jeremiah when he was called as a prophet? Was he an adult? No. Famously, we know the passage in Jeremiah one six. What was his protest?

The prophet. I I can't there's no way that can fill the office of a seer because I'm what? I'm unskilled in speech and I'm I'm a youth. And the Lord responded in the the following verse, do not say I am only a youth. Now famously, Jeremiah one is often preached to young people to inspire them that God is willing to recruit them and and send them out despite their inexperience.

But that point becomes even more powerful when you connect Jeremiah to who? Josiah. You know why? Because he didn't just raise up a young prophet, he partnered him with a young king. Think about that.

The two spiritual giants that were leading the kingdom of Judah were young adults. You and I generally and naturally are skeptical of young people who claim to be determined to serve God. You know who isn't? God. God.

He takes delight in it actually. And so he raises up a young prophet and he puts them in the same ministry as a young king and he says, take over the kingdom of Judah for my glory. Go. And they did. And so that's an encouragement to you and I, I hope.

And we have a final thought to consider. And this is the most important one. Why did God raise up Jeremiah a year into Josiah's reform? As much as he was introduced to the king to hearten Josiah, he was also raised to confront the people of Judah. What do I mean by that?

A year into Josiah's reforms, the Lord summoned a prophet to expose the insincerity of the repentance. Come with me to Jeremiah three to see what I'm talking about. Again, in Jeremiah three verse six, this is to set the context, the timing of this prophecy. The Lord said to me in the days of king Josiah highlight that. In the days of king Josiah, have you seen what she did, That faithless one, Israel.

How she went up on every high hill and under every green tree and there played the whore. So he's talking about the Northern Kingdom Of Israel. Have you seen it? Obviously, we have. But notice how he continues in verse seven.

And I thought, after she has done all this, she will return to me, but she did not return and her treacherous sister, Judah, saw it. Again, pause. When does this prophecy be made? In the days of King Josiah. And he calls Judah treacherous.

Verse eight. She saw that for all the adultries of that faithless one Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister, Judah, did not fear, but she went too went but she too rather went and played the whore. Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land committing adultery with stone and tree. Verse 10 is the main verse.

Yet for all this, her treacherous sister, Judah, did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord. Again, for you to feel the weight of this, you have to remember that this pronouncement was made in the days of Judah in the days of Josiah while Judah was being reformed. And we see here that during that time, Judah truly did not learn from Israel's mistakes. Even after they were exiled, even after the Assyrians took them from their land, they didn't take it to heart. Judah didn't they did not heed.

They didn't see the warning. They did not fear, God says. In fact, they were so curious and they were so intrigued by the ways of their northern neighbors that they adopted their practices, dismissing the judgment that fell upon them and were willing to take the risk to explore on a path that they thought would be better than trusting the Lord and living for God. And while Josiah is trying to motivate the nation to truly give their hearts to God, they failed. It was all in pretense.

Yeah. They they crushed their idols, but they didn't really renounce their sins. They did so reluctantly. Perhaps they did so out of fear. Josiah is the king.

We'll obey him. Look, we're not gonna put up a fight. So what does the Lord do a year into? Remember the thirteenth year, Josiah started the twelfth year? He raises up a man with x-ray vision to expose the hearts of the people for their hypocrisy.

You're not wholehearted. This is all in pretense. And here's something very important to take from this. I'm looking at this from Jeremiah's perspective. A true messenger of God will never be satisfied with superficial religiosity, surface level spirituality.

Now a a true servant of God, especially one who proclaims God's word, will understand what God really demands of his people, and he will call such people to the standard that the Bible prescribes relating to righteousness and relationship with God. I mean, think about how many people would be happy with the sight of one tribe after the next destroying all their idols. Success. And then God raised a a prophet and says, you're all a bunch of fakes. This is all pretend.

This is all shallow. And so I see in great part why, after giving them a year to really repent, he raises up a man to speak the word of the Lord and to wake them up. And that's what we exactly are in need of today in America. I'm persuaded of that, especially in a country where, Christianity is accepted as a cultural norm, not really as a personal conviction. We need more Jeremiahs who are able to see through all the baloney and all the churchianity.

And say, where where is your heart really at? Well, what is all this facade? Repent of your external consecration and really give yourself over to God. That's what Jeremiah's ministry was. And and as we heard earlier, he is going to outlive Josiah.

And that message that began in the days of Josiah will continue. He's gonna continue to call the same people to repentance until they eventually are exiled for the lack of repentance. And now this brings us to our final point of the study tonight. As important as righteous legislation might be, as crucial as removing corrupt ideology and practices from our culture may be demanded. That will never provide long term and lasting solution.

Never. Josiah being the king for this people was a good thing. But you know what was more important? The people determining that God will sit on the thrones of our hearts. And when they fail to take advantage of Josiah's influence, he raises up a prophet to remind them of it.

And I I'm not here advocating that we should not engage in community service or that we shouldn't try to infuse virtue into our politics. What I am saying though, is that if we're not careful as Christians, we might be putting band aids on a disease that reaches far deeper than the symptoms that we're trying to subdue. The gospel alone offers true heart transformation. And no matter what we do in our efforts, what we do in our posts, what we do in our protests, or our prayers, whatever the case may be, we must always point people to the gospel. Always.

And that is precisely why Jeremiah came into the scene, to deal with the heart. Everything outside looked wonderful. But that would that would last as long as Josiah was alive. So what does Jeremiah do? He preaches God's word.

And here's really a summary of it. If you're there still in Jeremiah, look at chapter four. And look what he says to Jerusalem in verse 14. Oh, Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you?

Can you imagine saying that to a nation? We're on the the news every night. You're learning now the tribe of Naphtali is destroying the Asherah and the Baal. You would think, what are you talking about Jeremiah? Wash your heart.

That's what God is after. Our hearts. Our hearts. Not just mere behavioral modification, not just attendance, not even your wallet being put into that plate every week. Your heart and my heart being washed.

And there's nothing in the old covenant that is potent enough, that is real enough to be able to deliver what Jeremiah was asking for. That washing force would only come through someone that Jeremiah would prophesy about later in his book, Jesus Christ. After a Bible study like this, you have to be willing to accept that it's possible that in a Bible study like this, there might be some whose hearts are not really right with God. I I I I'm not of those who find every opportunity to challenge people to examine themselves. There's an appropriate time for such a message.

And when you touch on a text like this, it presents an opportunity. I wonder if perhaps there's someone here who from the outside, you look good. In fact, you look even impressive. Your heart, has it really experienced change? Can you really testify that Christ reached into my bosom, and he removed that heart of stone, and he put in it a heart that longs for his ways, that yearns for his presence.

You know, Christianity is not about instantaneous perfection, but it is about radical new direction. Not immediate perfection, but definite new direction. What do I mean by that? Your values, your affections, your longings, your convictions, your standards shift. And you recognize that in yourself.

You say, I know that this is not me. I know that this is a miracle of God. And you may stumble along that path, but you can say with confidence that the direction of my heart is different. That's what the Lord is after. And he can offer you that tonight.

If you are here and you're thinking, that's me. I know that's me. I have nothing to offer you myself. But you can call upon the name of the Lord. And in a very real way, he can he can change that heart of yours.

Can we thank him for it? Let's do that as we come to a close tonight. Father, indeed, it is truly fascinating how in two verses, you can steer us into so many different directions. Thank you again for showcasing to us the harmony of your word, how bountiful it is, How profound it is. We pray for the believer that this study would provide fresh inspiration to read every part of this book.

And we ask, Lord, for the person who's here, who under compulsion might be here, who under compulsion or wrong fears might perform their faith, but it does not come from a place of true heart change. We ask, Lord, that you would use tonight's study as the means to catapult them to the foot of the cross, and that they would allow that precious blood to wash their hearts and to redeem them. We thank you for how you've spoken to us. And, Lord, we know that this is just the beginning of a testimony that you have clearly preserved for our benefit. So, Lord, continue to guide us as we study this man, Josiah.

And may only bring us closer to Jesus. We ask these things in the precious name of your Son, the one whom we love and adore, Jesus Christ. Amen and amen. Let's stand and worship him. As we stand in awe of his word.