Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2020 15:23:02 GMT -5
Straight Ahead By: John Blase
Click on this link for the audio message
He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord . . . , not turning aside to the right or to the left.
2 Kings 22:2
Today's Scripture & Insight:
2 Kings 22:1–2, 8–13
It used to take the steady eye and the firm hand of a farmer to drive a tractor or combine down straight rows. But even the best eyes would overlap rows, and by end of day even the strongest hands would be fatigued. But now there’s autosteer—a GPS-based technology that allows for accuracy to within one inch when planting, cultivating, and spraying. It’s incredibly efficient and hands-free. Just imagine sitting in a mammoth combine and instead of gripping the wheel, you’re gripping a roast beef sandwich. An amazing tool to keep you moving straight ahead.
You may recall the name Josiah. He was crowned king when he was only “eight years old” (2 Kings 22:1). Years later, in his mid-twenties, Hilkiah the high priest found “the Book of the Law” in the temple (v. 8). It was then read to the young king, who tore his robes in sorrow due to his ancestors’ disobedience to God. Josiah set about to do what was “right in the eyes of the Lord” (v. 2). The book became a tool to steer the people so there would be no turning to the right or left. God’s instructions were there to set things straight.
Allowing the Scriptures to guide us day by day keeps our lives in line with knowing God and His will. The Bible is an amazing tool that, if followed, keeps us moving straight ahead.
Reflect & Pray
How is Bible reading a part of your daily routine? What Scriptures has God been using to keep your life on track?
God, the Scriptures are a gift that brings truth and freedom to our lives. Help me to hunger and thirst for Your words.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The young king Josiah isn’t the only one in the Bible who was so internally moved that “he tore his robes” (2 Kings 22:11). This practice, which is foreign to the modern West, was an indication of great anxiety and distress. The first incident in the Bible of tearing one’s clothing is found in Genesis 37:29 where Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn son, tore his clothes when he discovered that his father’s favored son, Joseph, was missing. Not long afterwards, a grief-stricken Jacob “tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days” (v. 34). Arthur Jackson
2 Kings 22:1-2
King James Version
22 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.
2 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.
2 Kings 22:8-13
King James Version
8 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.
9 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.
10 And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.
11 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.
12 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,
13 Go ye, enquire 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.
Click on this link for the audio message
He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord . . . , not turning aside to the right or to the left.
2 Kings 22:2
Today's Scripture & Insight:
2 Kings 22:1–2, 8–13
It used to take the steady eye and the firm hand of a farmer to drive a tractor or combine down straight rows. But even the best eyes would overlap rows, and by end of day even the strongest hands would be fatigued. But now there’s autosteer—a GPS-based technology that allows for accuracy to within one inch when planting, cultivating, and spraying. It’s incredibly efficient and hands-free. Just imagine sitting in a mammoth combine and instead of gripping the wheel, you’re gripping a roast beef sandwich. An amazing tool to keep you moving straight ahead.
You may recall the name Josiah. He was crowned king when he was only “eight years old” (2 Kings 22:1). Years later, in his mid-twenties, Hilkiah the high priest found “the Book of the Law” in the temple (v. 8). It was then read to the young king, who tore his robes in sorrow due to his ancestors’ disobedience to God. Josiah set about to do what was “right in the eyes of the Lord” (v. 2). The book became a tool to steer the people so there would be no turning to the right or left. God’s instructions were there to set things straight.
Allowing the Scriptures to guide us day by day keeps our lives in line with knowing God and His will. The Bible is an amazing tool that, if followed, keeps us moving straight ahead.
Reflect & Pray
How is Bible reading a part of your daily routine? What Scriptures has God been using to keep your life on track?
God, the Scriptures are a gift that brings truth and freedom to our lives. Help me to hunger and thirst for Your words.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The young king Josiah isn’t the only one in the Bible who was so internally moved that “he tore his robes” (2 Kings 22:11). This practice, which is foreign to the modern West, was an indication of great anxiety and distress. The first incident in the Bible of tearing one’s clothing is found in Genesis 37:29 where Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn son, tore his clothes when he discovered that his father’s favored son, Joseph, was missing. Not long afterwards, a grief-stricken Jacob “tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days” (v. 34). Arthur Jackson
2 Kings 22:1-2
King James Version
22 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.
2 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.
2 Kings 22:8-13
King James Version
8 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.
9 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.
10 And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.
11 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.
12 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,
13 Go ye, enquire 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.