The Kings

Scripture

Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 31 years. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He lived the way King David had lived. He didn’t turn away from it to the right or the left.
~2 Chronicles 341-2, NIrV

Quote

You authority over others is temporal but your influence can last for a life time.

~Ya’akov

Josiah father was a sorry king and his grandfather Manasseh was the absolute worse. Manasseh put an Asherah pole in the Temple. The pole was a wooden carving of a man’s genitals. Yes, it was obscene and it made the LORD angry. Manasseh also sacrificed one son in the altar fires of Molech. He also practiced black magic and conversed with the dead. He was ruthless and brutal. He executed so many innocent people that the streets of Jerusalem were running with blood. He had Isaiah the prophet inserted into a hollow log and then the log was sawed in half. Josiah’s dad Amon was so sorry that he was murdered by some of his own officials. This is leads to one question: How did Josiah turn out to be such a good king when his father and grandfather were horrible.


You will note the historian gives us the names of the mothers when ever it has a bearing on the story. Josiah’s mother and maternal grandmother were apparently of godly parentage. Josiah’s mother was Jedidiah, a name meaning “the beloved of Jehovah.” His maternal grandmother was Adiah, a name meaning “the honored of Jehovah.” It is reasonable to infer that Josiah was tutored by his mother and grandmother. According to 2 Chronicles 34:3, in the eighth year of his reign at the age of 16, “he began to seek after the God of David, his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.


As a general rule, kings spent very little time with their children. Since they had multiple wives and lots of sons and daughters, the responsibility of nurturing the children fell on the mother and in Josiah’s case, this was a good thing. Rehoboam has 78 wives and 88 children. It would have been impossible for him to spend quality time with each child. In Josiah’s case, it was a blessing that his father and grand father had nothing to do with his upbringing. In some ways, he was the best king in Judah’s history. He did not possess David’s gifts or abilities but he had a pure heart and he hated idolatry.


The LORD just keeps blessing us with beautiful weather. We could use a little more rain. We got about 1/2 inch earlier this week. I saw my friend Jimmy Newby yesterday and he gave me some ROUND UP READY SWEET CORN. He has so gave me a no-till planter. God is good.


May 7th is Senior Adult Day and we will eat inside {John and I are delighted}. We are not having LCBS on the 7th and we will be having our AWANA AWARDS service after our lunch in the FORTE. The Awards service will be in the Sanctuary. I have volunteered to lead the clean up team.


Don’t forget to pray for our pastor. He is the one person in our church that we must pray for daily. He has more responsibility than you can imagine. Also: pray for Jimmy Hogan and his unspoken request.
 

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