The Spirit of Revival

INTRO

Everything we do at Time to Revive and Revive School is about revival. Scripture says we need to wake up to the truth that is inside of us in order to find transformation. In 2 Kings, under the leading of King Josiah, Judah was finally facing revival and the chance to renew their covenant with the Lord. Josiah had been suddenly awakened to the truth that his father knew from the Book of the Law that he had received. Are we ready to be revived through what we have been given (Hebrews 4:12)? It is time for revival!

TEACHING

In chapter 23, we’ll walk through Josiah’s religious reforms in Judah.

2 Kings 23:1-3: First, Josiah entered into a new covenant with the Lord. When he realized he had the Book of the Law, Josiah gathered the people of Jerusalem and Judah at the temple (v. 1). Then Josiah took them into the temple and read about the covenant God had made with Israel (v. 2). Josiah then stood by the pillar in the temple and made a new covenant in the presence of the Lord, reading aloud the commands, decrees, and statutes God had given them (v. 3a) (Joshua 8:34; 1 Samuel 7:2). All the people agreed to the covenant (v. 3b). When you have a heart that is humble and grateful, you have a recipe for revival.

2 Kings 23:4-20: Second, Josiah instituted religious reforms throughout the land. Once revival begins to break out, change occurs—there’s a desire to learn, to be in the presence of other believers, to have a new level of excitement about their faith, and a desire to share the Lord with others. Josiah responded to the revival by bringing about religious reforms:

• Josiah commanded the removal of all things inside the temple that honored pagan gods and he burned them outside of Jerusalem (v. 4). The ashes were then carried ten miles to Bethel to desecrate the site where Jeroboam had established his own pagan worship center (1 Kings 12:28–33).
• Josiah got rid of all the priests who had burned incense to Baal and others at the high places (v. 5).
• Josiah removed the Asherah pole from inside the Lord’s temple, burned it in the Kidron Valley, and threw the ashes on the graves of the common people there to show their disobedience (v. 6).
• Josiah tore down all the houses or booths of the male cult prostitutes and of the women who wove tapestries for Asherah that were inside the Lord’s temple (v. 7).
• Josiah had all of Judah’s priests defile the high places throughout Judah that had honored pagan gods (v. 8). The priests of the high places did not come to Jerusalem but ate unleavened bread with other priests (v. 9).
• Josiah had Topheth defiled so there could no longer be child sacrifices offered to Molech (v. 10).
• Josiah did away with the horses that were dedicated to the sun by former kings of Judah and burned the chariots (v. 11).
• Josiah destroyed all the altars on the palace roof and courtyards of the temple that had been built by evil kings (v. 12). They were smashed to pieces and thrown into the Kidron Valley.
• Josiah destroyed all the high places King Solomon built to honor the gods of his wives (v. 13).
• Josiah destroyed the sacred pagan pillars and Asherah poles and filled the places with human bones to defile the area so it could never be used for worship again (v. 14).
• Josiah destroyed Jeroboam’s altar and high place in Bethel, burned the bones of the priests buried there, and scattered the ashes to defile the whole area (vv. 15–16) (1 Kings 3:2).
• Josiah destroyed the altars and slaughtered the priests of the high places in Samaria and defiled them with human bones (vv. 19–20a).

Josiah found the monument to the man of God who had prophesied that these things would happen and left it alone (vv. 17-18). When Josiah had finished cleansing Judah of all non-Levitical priests, he returned to Jerusalem (v. 20b).

2 Kings 23:21-23: Third, Josiah reinstituted the Passover celebration. Hezekiah had led the people in a lavish Passover celebration (2 Chronicles 30). But Josiah offered two times the number of sacrifices Hezekiah had. Wiersbe says, “At least 37,000 small animals were offered, plus 3,800 bulls. The priests and Levites were cleansed and sanctified, ready to serve, and there were many Levites who sang praises to the Lord and played instruments.”¹

2 Kings 23:24: Fourth, Josiah continued his reforms. Josiah went on to remove mediums, spiritists, household idols, images, and anything left in Judah and Jerusalem that were not of God (v. 24).

2 Kings 23:25-27: Verse 25 says no other king had turned to the Lord “with all his mind and with all his heart and with all his strength according to all the law of Moses, and no one like him arose after him.” Here you see the surviving seed carrying out all that God wanted done. Yet, all Josiah did could not make up for the years of Judah’s disobedience against the Lord (vv. 26–27).

CLOSING

Dale Ralph Davis describes what Josiah did as “Josiah’s 12-step ‘de-Manasseh-fication’ Program.” Based on the Word of God, Josiah had to remove everything Manasseh and Amon and the other evil kings had brought to Judah. Likewise, we need to remove everything in our churches and our lives that do not honor our Lord. Let us keep our focus on Jesus.