For those who aren’t serial cleaners, it is shockingly fast how a house can get turned upside down in the matter of one day. I find whenever we leave the house, a tailspin of shoes, unmatched socks, switched out sweatshirts, schoolwork, dishes with no time to put away, and crumbs galore (because apparently plates and ‘leaning over’ aren’t a thing that work in my house) are left in a disastrous, chaotic trail. This may speak more to my lacking any awareness of time or to my insufficient planning abilities, HOWEVER, the fact remains a house needs to be cleaned on a daily basis. Yet, more importantly, is cleaning up your spiritual house ever on your radar screen?
It is not something I consider often from a fanatical view, but more so it’s often the little things will trigger a conscience effort to modify my life choices.
Don’t forget to download your copy of our Family Bible Plan. Sign up for our email list to walk through the Bible with us! It’s never too late to start….
The state of the world…
Hezekiah, a man of God, had a great-grandson who eventually served as King of Judah; there were two kingships in between in which God was forsaken, ignored, and angered (Manasseh and Amon).
Stepping into that time in Israel, another young king takes over, this time at 8 years old. Unlike Joash, following a good leader was not his prerogative.
Think of it though, in those times, they did not have Bibles floating around in every house, the nightstands were not left with dust-covered Bibles, nor were the plethora of stacked Bibles in different versions on the bookshelf a sight to see. The law (their Bible, essentially) was in the temple; they would hear and learn and remember that law when it was read by the Priests. They had just come out of 57 years of kings leading the people astray… even going so far as to build altars and Asherah poles INSIDE the temple!
And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.” And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers.
He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. And the carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. … But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations had done whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel. … Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
2 Kings 21:2-7,9,16
Not exactly a King who would be encouraging the Priests to diligently read the law of Moses to the people…. Not only that, it is oft forgotten that God is provoked to anger by our sins. It is not something to take lightly and not something that is easy to think about; however, if we are to understand the gravity and weight of our sin, this has to be part of our mindset. The grace and mercy of God is so great because the sin is so abominable… and this, all BECAUSE He is so holy!
And the Lord said by his servants the prophets, “Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols, therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. And I will forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.”
2 Kings 21:10-15
The pendulum…
So often in history, there are pendulum swings when new kings take over. In the case of Judah, for the most part, the Kings all walked in the ways of David (until the line of Ahab entered). After that, it sometimes went extreme evil to extreme good.
- Ahaz (evil in the sight of the Lord)
- Hezekiah (did what was right in the eyes of the Lord)
- Manasseh (evil in the sight of the Lord)
- Amon (evil in the sight of the Lord)
- Josiah (did what was right in the eyes of the Lord)
The pendulum is swung for the whole of the people by the leader. Notice though, each time a leader turned evil, the people followed suit. (Seriously, we need to be cautious who we are following! Yesterday, a Pastor told me that approximately 90-95% of people who hear his sermons take what he says as gold… they do not challenge it against the word of the Lord to ensure it is correct. Be like the Bereans and get into the Word–Acts 17:10-11. The Bible is a gift that so often gets forsaken and taken for granted.)
The pendulum swings back to it’s rightful place with Josiah at it’s helm.
Cleaning up the Lord’s House…
Oftentimes the passion with which Jesus overturned the tables in the temple is seen as extreme. Again though, when we consider the holiness of God and see how sin is abominable in His sight, it makes sense when His house is used by people who claim to worship Him. Josiah gives us an Old Testament picture of that same passion for the house of God. He was gung-ho for the Lord (a trait to look for in a leader, pastor, etc.) as well as for the proper sanctity for the holiness of the temple.
His journey began with the fixing up of the physical temple, the house of Judah’s God. During this time, the Book of the Law was found. As in, it was not in use.
What was Josiah’s response?
When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded … “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”
2 Kings 22:11-13, emphasis added
The drive to clean your house…
Josiah knew. He knew the disobedience and level to which all of Judah sinned.
How did God respond to Josiah?
But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king.
2 Kings 22:18-20
Josiah started with action, then when confronted with sin, he was penitent and humble. His heart was triggered to a spiritual response.
Not enough to just think about it…
Josiah does not merely let the words go in one ear and out the other. He doesn’t sit like a lukewarm ‘Christian’ on a Sunday hearing the word, then going about a reckless lifestyle the other 6 days of the week. The Christian faith is not passive, it is active and alive. If this does not describe your walk, start praying!
(This completely defined my walk by the way, and when tragedy struck, I knew I needed God in a way that I had failed to recognize until that point. I prayed for God to come alive and teach me how to live for Him… because I had no idea how to do that on my own.)
I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
Proverbs 8:17
Josiah had every single word read to the people. That was not enough though. He also renewed the covenant with the people. The people that were left, that is. See God had already allowed Israel to be wiped away for their sins… taken out of His presence.
In those days the Lord began to cut off parts of Israel.
2 Kings 10:32
Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only.
2 Kings 17:18
Renewing the heart of the matter…
God had already mentioned multiple times that there would be a remnant. As in, only a few would be spared and preserved as His people.
And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.
2 Kings 17:18
Again, the people followed their leader.
Cleaning up your spiritual house…
There was no rebellion when they:
- burned the idols up and carried their ashes away (2 Kings 23:4)
- did away with the priests who worshipped and encouraged others to worship idols (2 Kings 23:5)
- burned, beat to dust, and cast the dust of the Asherah onto the graves of the common people (to show defilement of the gods, not an insult to the common people) (2 Kings 23:6)
- destroyed the houses of male prostitutes and where women worked for Asherah (2 Kings 23:7)
- desecrated the high places (finally, a King took down the high places) (2 Kings 23:8)
- demolished Topheth “that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech” (2 Kings 23:10)
- got rid of the horses and the chariots they had that were dedicated to an idol (2 Kings 23:11)
- broke down the altars and spread their dust (2 Kings 23:12)
- destroyed more high places that had been in place since Solomon built them (2 Kings 23:13)
- broke the pillars into pieces, cut down the Asherim, and covered the site with human bones (2 Kings 23:14)
Not only did Josiah seek to cleanse Judah, he moved up into the territory that used to be Israel and worked his way through the entire Promised Land:
- pulled down and burned the high place set up by Jeroboam (first king of Israel) (2 Kings 23:15)
- burned the Asherah (2 Kings 23:15)
- took the bones out of the tombs (likely the priests at Bethel), burned them on the altars to defile their gods (2 Kings 23:16)
- removed the shrines in Samaria (2 Kings 23:19)
- sacrificed the priests themselves on their own idolatrous altars (2 Kings 23:20)
Clean first, then celebrate…
Once our hearts are in alignment with God, our worship changes. We see here, that once the idolatry was cleansed from the Promised Land as a whole, the Passover was celebrated like never before (since the time of the Judges). Act. Repent. Cleanse. Worship. Continue.
Not only did they celebrate the Passover, they continued to cleanse the land of idolatry. They didn’t claim a ‘once and done’ cleanse was enough. They continually sought to purify themselves from all idolatry.
Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers (spiritists) and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.
2 Kings 23:24
What goal do you have…
Let us reach for that same goal, that in the end, God will say well done, good and faithful servant. We have ONE life to live. One. Are you living it by actively turning your heart to the Lord like Josiah did? Is this your goal?
Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.
2 Kings 23:25
Are you continuously cleaning up your spiritual house?
Last Week
Anchored Truth Tuesdays
~It is appreciated but not required that you follow my social media accounts
~A new Anchored Abode podcast (iTunes) has been started, and I would love for subscribers and positive reviews (SoundCloud)
~I do ask that you use the Anchored Truth Tuesdays logo above on your site somewhere or on the post itself; if you click on the picture above a new window will open with html instructions
~ Family friendly posts only (I reserve the right to delete any that are deemed inappropriate); with a direct link to a specific blog post
~It is appreciated if you spread the blogging love to those around you in the Anchored community by visiting their sites, following them, or liking/sharing posts
~We have a Pinterest group board, Anchored Truth Tuesdays, where all who link up are welcome to also upload their content–you’ll just need to like Anchored Abode first, and then request to join
~By submitting a link, you are agreeing to be added to our email list as well as allowing the use of pictures/content as featured posts on our social media accounts
Merry Christmas! Thank you for your faithfulness here every week!
Oh merry Christmas to you, too, Michele! And ditto on being a faithful blogger yourself! Becca