Can You Go the Distance?
To rise to the top is hard, but to stay at the top is even
harder. It has also been said that to become a champion is one
thing but to stay a champion takes quite a bit more. There are
many people in life who have brilliant flashes, but can they go the
distance?
There is a record in II Kings of a man who lived a wonderful life, but
at the end there was a question.
Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.
And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
It is recorded that Josiah did that which was right in the sight of the
Lord and that he reined for 31 years. There were not too many
kings in those days that did right in the sight of the Lord. This
is especially notable since Josiah's grandfather, Manasseh, was one of
the most evil kings that ever ruled Judah. Manasseh set up alters
to other god's right inside the temple and did just about everything he
could to destroy the things of God.
As Josiah began to rule, he started to repair the damage done to the
temple and tried to get back to the things of God. During the
rebuilding of the temple, some of the workers found the scriptures
hidden away perhaps during the time when Manasseh was destroying the
things of God.
And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the Lord.
And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.
And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.
It is interesting that Hilkiah the high priest told Shaphan that they
had found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. Who knows
how long they had been without it, but now it was found. They did
not have a Bible in every home as we do; the written word was scarce
and now it was found. Yet when Shaphan goes to the king, he
reports on the work and gives account of the money and finally says,
"Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book….". A book?
This was not "a" book; this was the law of God. When the king
heard it, he knew what it was and he was very disturbed. But he
was willing to go to God and see what God had to say about their
situation.
And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king's, saying,
Go ye, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.
So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college;) and they communed with her.
And she said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,
Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read:
Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.
But to the king of Judah which sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;
Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord.
Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.
God recognized Josiah's humility and his heart. From this point on
Josiah did his best to clean up Judah and get rid of all the bad
influence set up by Manasseh.
And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.
And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.
And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.
There were idols in the temple by the house of the Lord. Until
Josiah took a stand everyone just accepted this and let it go.
Can you imagine how angry God must have been? Josiah was the
first one in a long time who stood up for God and made things
right. He walked according to the law of the Lord and God saw
that he was a great king.
Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.
And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.
So what happens next really makes you wonder. The ruler of Egypt,
Nechoh, comes down to fight the king of Assyria. For some reason,
Josiah goes out to fight the Egyptians and gets killed. That's
all II Kings says. We have to go to the book of II Chronicles
chapter 35 to understand what happened.
But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.
Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.
And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.
Necho told Josiah that God had sent him and that he should stay out of
the way, but for some reason, be it pride or ego, he did not listen and
it cost him his life. If he had doubted the Egyptian, Jeremiah
was around and Josiah could have checked with him but he did not.
Such a wonderful man, but for some reason he just did not finish the
course faithfully.
The Apostle Paul also made a mistake in the book of Acts, but he
quickly turned to God to find out what to do and was taken care
of. His mistake cost him and the first--century church quite a
bit, but he did stay faithful. At the end of his life he was able
to write by revelation from God that he had stood and finished his
course.
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
We will all make mistakes in our walk, but we must keep our hearts open
to God and do our best to stay faithful to Him so that we too can go
the distance and finish the course.
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