Josiah: An Example For Us (2 Chronicles 34)
Jul 12, 2018 16:19:22 GMT -5
John, frienduff, and 2 more like this
Post by tlsitd on Jul 12, 2018 16:19:22 GMT -5
We would do well to remember Josiah. That ought to be the reaction Christians have today when they read the words of the New Testament---the book with which they have taken such unauthorized license in their selective and customized preaching and teaching, and which they are choosing not to keep. If they would actually read it as though all of it were meant for them, today, and realize, as Josiah realized, that THAT is what God expects us to be living by, as He has always expected Christians to live by every word of it, however they may have or have not done so---and that He feels just as strongly about Christians neglecting to keep the law of Christ today as He did about the people of Israel neglecting to keep the law of Moses back then (and even moreso, because we have grace to keep the commands He gave us, which they did not)---one could only hope that a cry of Godly sorrow would rise to heaven throughout the land, that the merriment would dry up and the people of God would mourn, and the ministers would weep at the altar and plead for God's mercy.
Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. Not for the majority anyway. But there is hope for the minority, and God knows who they are. When they hear the words of this book, and they are pointed back to them by the prophets of God and by His servants who love Him, their eyes will be opened and their hearts will be pierced, and they will have a reaction like Josiah did, and will wash their robes, and they will receive God's mercy at the time He judges His saints.
Let us pray that that happens---because the wrath of God is indeed coming upon us, as it came upon the people of God before us in the time of Jeremiah. We will not be able to turn away the judgment by our prayers; that is already fixed. But we do have a choice as to whether we will reap the judgment ourselves, or whether we will be among the penitent who are spared---as we may need to repent. And we can do our best to warn and pray for our brothers and sisters to do the same.
(Remember the words of the book, people of God. They are still for us---every one of them---and you cannot do with them whatever you please or neglect to keep them without consequence. The eyes of the Lord are upon your ways. Turn back to Him while you still can---before He gives you hardness of heart for rejecting Him by stubbornly rejecting His word, so that you won't be able to return to Him, and what He has decreed for the impenitent rebels among His people comes upon you.)
Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. Not for the majority anyway. But there is hope for the minority, and God knows who they are. When they hear the words of this book, and they are pointed back to them by the prophets of God and by His servants who love Him, their eyes will be opened and their hearts will be pierced, and they will have a reaction like Josiah did, and will wash their robes, and they will receive God's mercy at the time He judges His saints.
Let us pray that that happens---because the wrath of God is indeed coming upon us, as it came upon the people of God before us in the time of Jeremiah. We will not be able to turn away the judgment by our prayers; that is already fixed. But we do have a choice as to whether we will reap the judgment ourselves, or whether we will be among the penitent who are spared---as we may need to repent. And we can do our best to warn and pray for our brothers and sisters to do the same.
(Remember the words of the book, people of God. They are still for us---every one of them---and you cannot do with them whatever you please or neglect to keep them without consequence. The eyes of the Lord are upon your ways. Turn back to Him while you still can---before He gives you hardness of heart for rejecting Him by stubbornly rejecting His word, so that you won't be able to return to Him, and what He has decreed for the impenitent rebels among His people comes upon you.)