December 9, Word of God

Joshua 1:8 (WEB)
This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.

For many years, God spoke to his people Israel through the prophets.  Sometimes the people listened to these prophets and obeyed God, many times they didn’t.  But regardless of whether they listened or not, God continued to send His message to the people.

After the prophecies of Malachi, however, this prophetic communication ceased, and for a period of about 400 years there was no new prophetic word from heaven recorded for the nation of Israel.  Perhaps God had already said all they needed to know. Through the prophecies of Daniel, they had a step by step accurate prophecy about what would happen to the people of Israel from the time of the Persian kings when the Israelites where in Babylonian captivity, to the time of the Greek and Roman occupations. By this point in Israel’s history they also had the words of God preserved well in both Hebrew and Greek. It was during the 400 Silent Years (the period of history between the Old and New Testaments of the Bible) that the Old Testament Hebrew writings were translated into Greek in Alexandria, Egypt, to become what we know today as the Septuagint. If they really desired to follow God, it would seem they had the resources for knowing how to follow Him.

There had been a time in Israel’s ancient history when the people had actually lost their scriptures. This happened when the people of God neglected the Word of God. While the Israelites and their kings invested their time and wealth and children in the worship of the despicable foreign gods the Lord had forbidden them to worship, the Word of God became of little value to them. It was disregarded, unread, and assigned a place in an obscure area of the Temple until it was forgotten. The Temple itself alternated between a state of disrepair or a place of worship to foreign gods. No longer was it a place of worship dedicated to Yahweh. It got so bad that it seemed no place was left untouched by their idol worship, from their homes to their hillsides, and even the valley where child sacrifice was performed, their worship became worse than the people of Canaan whom they had disposessed. (Jeremiah 7:30-31, 2 Kings 2:9)

Then, a young King of Judah, named Josiah, came on the scene. He was only 8 years old when he became king. And it says in 2 Chronicles 34:3 that when he was 16 years old, he began to seek God. God honors Josiah’s heart, and when, at the age of 20, he begins a restoration project of the Temple, the Book of the Law is found and sent to him. The scriptures had been lost for so long that they did not know what they contained. So when the scribe read the Words of the Law to Josiah regarding what God required of them and what the consequences would be for disobedience, he tore his robes in dismay! For his people had sinned greatly. He then begins a revival, the likes of which these people had never seen! Taking every word of the scriptures seriously, he tears down and desecrates every altar to false gods he can find. He destroys the area where the people sacrificed their children. He removes the altars on the rooftops of the homes and the hillsides of their towns. The Temple is cleaned out and proper worship to Yahweh is re-stablished following the directions in the Book. You can read about it yourself in 2 Chronicles 34-35.

This is the Israelites’ last chance to repent. And Josiah gives it everything he’s got: his time, his money, his possessions, his comfort. The Book of the Law is read in the presence of the leaders and people at a grand Passover celebration! They cannot now say they do not know what is required of them. Josiah is commended and honored by God for his amazing zeal for God. I would like to say that the hearts of Josiah’s people were changed, too. But after Josiah’s death, the people revert to their pagan ways and judgement falls in a few short years.

We are some of the most blessed people in history. Because of the ease of printing, we have amazing access to God’s Word. And we often take it for granted. I have worked with people from other countries where access to the Scriptures is very difficult and dangerous. Many have put their lives on the line to just get a portion of scripture to read for themselves. Many go to prison for printing it and distributing it. To them, the scriptures are treasure indeed, more precious than life.

I hope you treasure and value the Scriptures you have. It is the Word of God to you. Were it not for the deprivations and hard work of the men and women who valued it enough to preserve it throughout the many ages, you would not have a copy of it today. Be like Josiah and seek God with all your heart. As Jeremiah, a contemporary of Josiah, said, “You shall seek Me, and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 (WEB)