King Josiah - Heart of Obedience

What was the most “painful” punishment you have experienced?  Spanking, grounding, time out, loss of privilege, detention?  All of these might be described as forms of wrath, painful consequences for disobeying authority.  We have all experienced some or all of these punishments as a result of disobedience.  I remember one spanking I received growing up.  My brother and I were lying in front of the TV, my dad asked me to do something, and I either didn’t do it or complained about it, and without warning, I got swatted.  When we disobey, we deserve punishment.  Complete obedience is necessary if we are going to avoid the punishment God rightfully gives as a result of sin.

Josiah was 8 years old when he became the sixteenth king of the southern kingdom of Judah (640–609 bc).  In his 18th year as king the “Book of the Law” (Deuteronomy or Pentateuch) was discovered while repairs were being made on the temple.  Hilkiah, the high priest, found the book and gave it to Shaphan, the secretary, who read it to King Josiah. Upon hearing the message of the book, Josiah became aware of his and the people of Judah’s disobedience and tore his clothes and humbled himself before the Lord. 

READ:  2 Kings 22:13, 16-17, 23:1-3

In order to be right with God, we need to be OBEDIENT to His commands!  God demands obedience, anything less than perfect obedience demands punishment.  As soon as Josiah heard the Book of the Law he knew that in order to be right with God he and the people of Judah needed to start doing the things He commanded them to do!  What do we learn about obedience from king Josiah?

1.  The consequence of disobedience is God’s WRATH (2 Kings 22:13, 16-17) – In Max Lucado’s book “In The Grip of Grace” he describes God’s hatred for evil as a, “holy hostility, a righteous hatred of wrong, a divine disgust that destroys His children.”  The word God uses to describe His hatred and overall attitude toward sin and resulting punishment is WRATH!  God’s wrath means that He intensely hates and punishes all sin.  During Josiah’s reign the people were sinning and not even aware of it and were subject to God’s wrath.  Upon discovery of the Book of the Law Josiah quickly responded to avoid God’s wrath.  There is no easy way around it, our sin makes all of us objects of God’s wrath (Eph. 2:1-3).  When we disobey the commands of God, His purity and holiness allows for no other response than righteous punishing anger. 

2.  Obedience requires READING the Word of God (2 Kings 22:11, 23:1-2) – When Josiah realized the consequences of sin and disobedience to God’s commands he quickly exposed the people to the Book of the Law and read it to them.  Josiah immediately eliminated the possibility of ignorance as an excuse for their disobedience.  If we are going to be obedient to the Word of God there is no substitute for spending time reading, studying, and memorizing it.  Not just the bits and pieces that we like or agree with, but ALL of God’s Word.  From Genesis to Revelation we need to be reading “the book” and being obedient to the truths we discover inside!

3.  Obedience is a pre-determined decision based on COVENANT (2 Kings 23:3) – After hearing the Book of the Covenant, Josiah and the people of Israel committed to being obedient to God in everything He commanded them to do.  Our culture has lost the idea of covenant.  Covenant is an indissolvable relationship between two parties where each is unconditionally committed to the other.  Being in covenant with God is not a casual “in one day, out the next” relationship. Relationship with God is an unconditional commitment knowing Him and being obedient to His Word. 

Jesus Christ is a King who was 100% obedient to His Father!  Philippians 2:8 says that Jesus, “humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  Jesus’ obedient death on the cross makes it possible for us to be forgiven in the midst of our disobedience.  There is no way that we can be perfectly obedient, that is why we need Jesus’ perfect obedience and Him bearing the wrath that we deserve for our sin.  Jesus bore God’s wrath on the cross, the punishment we deserve, so that we can be forgiven.