TOPIC: Scripture; Apostasy, Bible, Consecration, Covenant, Word (of God)
TITLE: DUST ON THE BIBLE: Go Find The Book!
TEXT: 2 Kings 22:1-23:3
Politicians were corrupt to the core, even good politicians lack ethical and moral depth. Religious figures were no better … it was rare that good was done publicly in the name of the Lord. False religions and cults abounded. Right was wrong and wrong was right; black was white and up was down.
When King Josiah, the grandson of Manasseh, was 18 (perhaps as old as 26) he began a project to restore the run-down, cluttered temple that had been abandoned during his father’s horrible reign.
Hilkiah, the High Priest, had done some Temple Spring-cleaning and discovered a hidden copy of the law of Moses. He turned it over to the scribe Shaphan who had been sent by the king to prepare the administration of the Temple for the needed improvements.
Shaphan read the scrolls and reported to the king on what had been found. The king, a righteous man, ask that they be read to him. After they were read he came under conviction for his nation and himself. The result was a mighty revival.
TRUTH CLAIM: There is an old gospel song that has a stanza which says, “Dust on the Bible, Dust on the Holy Word, the words of all the prophets and the sayings of our Lord.” (Kitty Wells)
How is it possible that we allow dust to collect on God’s Holy Word? I continue to be amazed at how little Bible reading goes on among God’s people; I am equally amazed at how often I am asked questions that are fundamental in nature.
And yet right here in Scripture is an example of a prior time when the same thing was taking place.
Now please don’t misunderstand, I would much rather the questions be asked than not asked. It just surprises me that certain questions are asked by solid believers. And I am equally surprised at how few people want to know more about the Bible.
FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What Does the Story of Israel’s Rediscovery of God’s Word Suggest To You And Me?
EXPANDED OUTLINE:
PRINCIPLES
TITLE: DUST ON THE BIBLE: Go Find The Book!
TEXT: 2 Kings 22:1-23:3
(1) Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. (2) And he did right in the sight of the LORD and walked in all the way of his father David [and] he did [not] turn aside to the right or to the left.CONTEXT: Manasseh’s evil reign had brought Israel to its knees. Though money was everywhere it only flowed in the hands of the rich, the privileged, or the powerful. The poor were considered a necessary evil. The nations’ leaders were self-serving.
Politicians were corrupt to the core, even good politicians lack ethical and moral depth. Religious figures were no better … it was rare that good was done publicly in the name of the Lord. False religions and cults abounded. Right was wrong and wrong was right; black was white and up was down.
When King Josiah, the grandson of Manasseh, was 18 (perhaps as old as 26) he began a project to restore the run-down, cluttered temple that had been abandoned during his father’s horrible reign.
Hilkiah, the High Priest, had done some Temple Spring-cleaning and discovered a hidden copy of the law of Moses. He turned it over to the scribe Shaphan who had been sent by the king to prepare the administration of the Temple for the needed improvements.
Shaphan read the scrolls and reported to the king on what had been found. The king, a righteous man, ask that they be read to him. After they were read he came under conviction for his nation and himself. The result was a mighty revival.
TRUTH CLAIM: There is an old gospel song that has a stanza which says, “Dust on the Bible, Dust on the Holy Word, the words of all the prophets and the sayings of our Lord.” (Kitty Wells)
How is it possible that we allow dust to collect on God’s Holy Word? I continue to be amazed at how little Bible reading goes on among God’s people; I am equally amazed at how often I am asked questions that are fundamental in nature.
And yet right here in Scripture is an example of a prior time when the same thing was taking place.
Now please don’t misunderstand, I would much rather the questions be asked than not asked. It just surprises me that certain questions are asked by solid believers. And I am equally surprised at how few people want to know more about the Bible.
FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What Does the Story of Israel’s Rediscovery of God’s Word Suggest To You And Me?
EXPANDED OUTLINE:
I. IT SUGGESTS WE SHOULD NEVER NEED TO REDISCOVER GOD'S WORD! (vv. 3-8a)APPLICATION/CHALLENGE:II. IT SUGGESTS WE SHOULD GO READ THE BOOK TO KNOW ITS CONTENTS! (vv.8b-10)Now it came about in the eighteenth year of King Josiah that the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam the scribe, to the house of the LORD saying, "Go up to Hilkiah the high priest that he may count the money brought in to the house of the LORD which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people. And let them deliver it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD, and let them give it to the workmen who are in the house of the LORD to repair the damages of the house, to the carpenters and the builders and the masons and for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the house. Only no accounting shall be made with them for the money delivered into their hands, for they deal faith-fully."(8a) Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD."What place does the Word of God have in your life? Is it abandoned in your home like it was in Israel in the days of the evil king Manasseh?[BIBLES] Bibles per capita in the world as a whole is estimated at less than half of a Bible per person. Yet in the USA we average over five bibles per household. An average household is 2.2 people. That’s over two Bibles per person in America.GO FIND THE BOOK! GO FIND THE BOOK!
More Bibles are used as coffee table decorations or bookshelf fillers than are used in Bible study.
God did not ordain the written word in order that we have a record of what He has said, nor as a book of dos and don’ts, nor as a reference work. The Bible is God’s way of reminding us of who He is and that His word is sure and true!
The old saying, “Out of sight, out of mind!” applies to the Word of God. It was not the cause of Israel’s rebellion, nor the cause of their unrighteousness. Their hardened hearts and stiff necks were the cause of their apostasy.
When the word of God was rediscovered by His people they were reminded of Him, when they were reminded of Him they were reminded of their great apostasy, when they were reminded of their condition they were brought under conviction.
Now just because someone is brought under conviction does not mean they will change, change comes about after a person has broken and pleaded for forgiveness.
GO FIND THE BOOK! GO FIND THE BOOK!III. IT SUGGESTS WE SHOULD HEAR THE BOOK! (vv. 11-20)(8b) And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan who read it. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought back word to the king and said, "Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD." Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king saying, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.GO READ THE BOOK! GO READ THE BOOK!
God’s people not only discovered the word but they uncovered the word. They rolled open the scrolls and read what God had said to His people. They rejoiced to hear from the living God. They came from every corner of the nation to hear form their Lord.
In general they broke as a nation and repented of their errant way of life. The turned from their evil ways and determined to follow after their God.
GO READ THE BOOK! GO READ THE BOOK!
A dusty Bible says it has not been read. A dusty Bible says “I don’t care what God says.” A dusty Bible says “I know everything it says, it can offer me nothing new.” A dusty Bible says, “This book is old fashioned, it doesn’t apply to today, it’s not relevant.IV. IT SUGGESTS WE SHOULD SHARE THE BOOK! (vv. 23:1,2)And it came about when the king heard the words of the book of the law, that he tore his clothes.GO HEAR THE BOOK! GO HEAR THE BOOK!
Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king's servant saying, "Go, inquire of the LORD for me and the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the LORD that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us."
So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter); and they spoke to her.
And she said to them, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'Tell the man who sent you to me, thus says the LORD, “Behold, I bring evil on this place and on its inhabitants, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods that they might provoke Me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore My wrath burns against this place, and it shall not be quenched.”
But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the LORD thus shall you say to him, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘Regarding the words which you have heard, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what 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 truly 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, neither shall your eyes see all the evil which I will bring on this place."'" So they brought back word to the king.
The Bible says, "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." [Romans 10:17]
GO HEAR THE BOOK! GO HEAR THE BOOK!Then the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up to the house of the LORD and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant, which was found in the house of the LORD.The Gospel of John begins by identifying the Lord Jesus Christ as the Word, the writer of Hebrews identifies Him as the Living Word!
GO SHARE THE BOOK! GO SHARE THE BOOK!
V. IT SUGGESTS WE SHOULD OBEY THE BOOK! (23:3)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 carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.We need to heed: “When all else fails, follow instructions.” When we survey the panorama of contemporary American life we must conclude that we have failed. We need to read the instructions and determine where we have gone wrong.
GO KEEP THE BOOK! GO KEEP THE BOOK!
The Bible says,But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does.GO KEEP THE BOOK! GO KEEP THE BOOK!James 1:25
[DAVID AND GOLIATH] The Rev. Frank Morgan reported in a recent issue of Reader’s Digest that …Let me suggest to you that the quickness of this man’s response was a function of his personality and character: his self-esteem was in place, he was confident and he knew his bible.
“My daughter’s boss, Gene, a commercial appraiser of short stature, arrived in court with a bulging briefcase. The lawyer for the other party was a Goliath of a man who, when he caught sight of Gene, cried out across the courtroom, ‘Well, little man, what have you got in that briefcase?’
Without looking up, Gene replied, ‘Five smooth stones.’”
PRINCIPLES
- It is possible for God’s people to abandon His word!
- It is possible for religion to go on without His word!
- God abandons those who abandon His word! Scripture suggests that God blesses those who humble themselves, pray, fast, repent, and turn from their evil ways!
- Scripture suggests that leaders must be involved in revival and spiritual awakening!
- Scripture emphasizes the hearing of the Word!
- The bottom-line is man’s heart!
Posts
