{"id":3483,"date":"2019-06-10T20:00:22","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T03:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=3483"},"modified":"2019-06-04T01:48:02","modified_gmt":"2019-06-04T08:48:02","slug":"2kings_23_1-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2kings_23_1-20\/","title":{"rendered":"The God of Revival"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 Kings 23:1-20 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today’s passage is 2 Kings 23:1-20.\u00a0 In this passage,\u00a0King Josiah of Judah has just discovered the long lost Book of the Law (consisting of the first five books of the Old Testament, also known as the Pentateuch).\u00a0 He realizes that he and his nation of Judah have not lived up to God’s commands contained inside that book.\u00a0 So King Josiah assembles the nation of Judah, reads the Book of the Law to them, has them pray and pledge in the presence of God that they will obey God’s commands.\u00a0 He then proceeds to get rid of all the shrines, altars and sites used to worship idols in Judah.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth noting that before Josiah, three other kings of Judah had tried to cleanse Judah of these idolatrous shrines, altars and sites — Asa in 1 Kings 15, Jehoshaphat in 1 Kings 22 and his grandfather Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18.\u00a0 But Josiah’s efforts are far more extensive.<\/p>\n

What is happening here?\u00a0 God is using Josiah to usher in a time of revival in the land of Judah.\u00a0 What is revival?\u00a0\u00a0Revival is a spiritual awakening that takes place in a group of people, such as a family, church, city or country.<\/strong>\u00a0 When there is revival, people are more passionate about worshiping God, more focused on pleasing God with their lives, more inclined to confess their sins and seek God\u2019s help, and more courageous in sharing Christ with others.<\/p>\n

This passage is full of great lessons about experiencing revival.\u00a0 I’ll share some of them with you below.\u00a0 I\u2019ll share some others with you today at THRIVE Church\u2019s Sunday services:<\/p>\n

2 Kings 23:3 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the\u00a0LORD–to follow the\u00a0LORD\u00a0and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 3:\u00a0 Here King Josiah leads his people in returning to God with prayer and repentance.\u00a0 What is repentance?\u00a0\u00a0To repent means to change your mind.\u00a0 It means to realize that you\u2019ve been going the wrong way and to agree with God that His way is the right way.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0If you want to experience revival,<\/strong>\u00a0turn to God in prayer and repentance.<\/strong>\u00a0 There is no revival without prayer and repentance.\u00a0 If we desire for God to work in our ilfe, we need to confess to God those attitudes, habits, and thoughts that we know do not please God and agree with Him that His way is the right way.\u00a0\u00a0 As Isaiah 30:15 says, \u201cThis is what the Sovereign\u00a0LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength\u2026\u201d
\n
\n2 Kings 23:13-14 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption–the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the people of Ammon.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 13-14:\u00a0 Josiah is going from place to place in Judah, removing the altars, shrines, and sites that have been used for idolatry.\u00a0 He comes to the \u201cHill of Corruption\u201d. What is the Hill of Corruption?\u00a0 It was the place where some of the most vile forms of idol worship took place in Judah, including child sacrifice to the idol Molech.\u00a0 Josiah removes the altars, shrines and sites located there.\u00a0 It\u2019s worth noting that approximately 600 years later, this Hill of Corruption would be known as the Mount of Olives and would become Jesus\u2019 most famous spot for prayer to the Father, the place where Jesus would surrender to His Father and say, \u201cNot my will, but Yours be done\u201d.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 \u00a0When you remove idolatry from an area of your life, you give God room to bring revival to that area of your file.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>God can turn that area of your life that used to be filled with idols into a place of worship that glorifies Him, a place that He can use to meet you, to speak to You and to glorify Himself.
\n
\n2 Kings 23:15-16 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin–even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance with the word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 15-16:\u00a0Josiah has already cleansed the nation of Judah of idols.\u00a0 Now he has been asked to go to the neighboring kingdom to the north, the kingdom of Israel, and cleanse the city of Bethel there of idols too.\u00a0 Eventually Josiah will even go to Israel\u2019s capital city of Samaria to get rid of idols there (v19-20).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Revival can be contagious.<\/strong>\u00a0 It starts in one place, person or community but can go on to affect the places, people and communities around it.
\n
\n2 Kings 23:17-18 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The king asked, “What is that tombstone I see?” The men of the city said, “It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.”
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Leave it alone,” he said. “Don’t let anyone disturb his bones.” So they spared his bones and those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 17-18:\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Approximately 300 years before Josiah gets rid of idols in Bethel, a man from Judah prophesies that one day a son named Josiah will be born to the house of David and will destroy the idolatrous altar in Bethel (1 Kings 13:2).\u00a0 When Josiah is getting rid of idols in Bethel, he comes across this man\u2019s grave and tells his servants to leave that grave alone.\u00a0 What is Josiah doing?\u00a0 He\u2019s respecting those who have gone before him to speak the word of God.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 If you want to experience revival,\u00a0respect those who speak the word of God to you.<\/strong>\u00a0 Realize that any experience you have had on God is largely because we are standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before us in faith.<\/p>\n

How well do you show respect to those who speak the Word of God to you?\u00a0\u00a0When we respect those who speak the Word of God to us, we\u2019re laying the foundation for God\u2019s revival work to happen in our lives.<\/strong>\u00a0 As Hebrews 13:7 says, \u201cRemember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You for being a God of revival, a God who wants to awaken my home, my church, my community, my city and my country, beginning with me.\u00a0 Holy Spirit come and fill me today that I would courageously return to You in prayer and repentance, be intentional about removing idolatry from my life, and respect those who have gone before me to speak the Word of God to me.\u00a0 Come revive us, O Lord.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,
\n\u00a0
\nToday’s passage is 2 Kings 23:1-20.\u00a0 In this passage,\u00a0King Josiah of Judah has just discovered the long lost Book of the Law (consisting of the first five books of the Old Testament, also known as the Pentateuch).\u00a0 He realizes that he and his nation of Judah have not lived up to God’s commands contained inside that book.\u00a0 So King Josiah assembles the nation of Judah, reads the Book of the Law to them, has them pray and pledge in the presence of God that they will obey God’s commands.\u00a0 He then proceeds to get rid of all the shrines, altars and sites used to worship idols in Judah.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nIt\u2019s worth noting that before Josiah, three other kings of Judah had tried to cleanse Judah of these idolatrous shrines, altars and sites — Asa in 1 Kings 15, Jehoshaphat in 1 Kings 22 and his grandfather Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18.\u00a0 But Josiah’s efforts are far more extensive.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nWhat is happening here?\u00a0 God is using Josiah to usher in a time of revival in the land of Judah.\u00a0 What is revival?\u00a0\u00a0Revival is a spiritual awakening that takes place in a group of people, such as a family, church, city or country.\u00a0 When there is revival, people are more passionate about worshiping God, more focused on pleasing God with their lives, more inclined to confess their sins and seek God\u2019s help, and more courageous in sharing Christ with others.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3484,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3483"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3485,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3483\/revisions\/3485"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}