What does the Bible Say?

Josiah was the king of Judah from approximately 640 to 609 B.C. His reign in Jerusalem is discussed in 2 Kings 22–23 and in 2 Chronicles 34–35. Josiah was the son of King Amon and the grandson of King Manasseh—both of them were wicked kings of Judah. But Josiah was a godly king because of the upbringing of his god-fearing mother, and Josiah was also known as one of the world’s youngest kings. He began his reign at only 8 years old after his father was assassinated.

One of the greatest accomplishments of Josiah, was his rediscovery of the Law of the Lord. Second Kings 22:2 tells us “And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.” So from that we know that Josiah was also from the line (or seed) of King David.

During his eighteenth year as king, when he was about 26 years old, Josiah raised money to repair the temple, and during the repairs the high priest named Hilkiah found the Book of the Law. He gave it to Shapan the scribe (or secretary) who read some of it to Josiah, and in (2 Kings 22:10–11) the king tore his clothes, a sign of mourning and repentance

King Josiah called for a time of national repentance. The Law was read to the people of the land, and a covenant made between the people and the Lord: So today I’ll be focusing on 2 Kings 23, especially verses 1-3

Beginning in 23 verse 1

Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. ² And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. 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 perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.

There is a very old parable, this one written by a man, not Jesus, but it is relevant to today and it goes like this:

One day there was a barnyard full of geese ands these geese were very proud that their creator gave them the awesome and wonderful ability to fly, to soar into the heavens and look down upon the less fortunate earthbound creatures of the world. On every seventh day they gathered together in a secluded corner of the barnyard and sung praises to their creator for the remarkable talent they were given. The most gifted of all of them would preach about their wonderful gift, and when he finished they would all say “amen” and applaud, but there was one thing they never did.

They never flew.

Why? Because the barnyard was secure from predators, and the feed was good. They never stretched their wings, they never used the remarkable gift that they were given. We could spend all day talking about how this parable reflects the days we live in today with regard to the government dependency of many, But there is also one way that this is a powerful charge or accusation against all of us at one time or another…. It can expose all of us, as being similar to the barnyard geese.

We are all aware of the remarkable and perfect gift God has given to each one of us. That perfect gift is The Holy Bible. We are no doubt ready at all times, and in all places, to praise and be grateful for the precious gift of His Holy Word. We often seek it and bow to it’s authority….We treat it with the most respect. And most, if not all of us acknowledge it for what it truly is, the Word of God.

The only writings in the World, that are NOT by the mind of men, but Words of absolute truth, inspired by the very Holy Spirit of God.

But there is one thing I am afraid we do not always do. We do not always use it as it should be used.

For all the purposes that God gave it to fulfil our needs in the midst of this world full of dangers and pitfalls. The text from 2 kings teaches us that even if we treat the Bible with reverence and respect, and acknowledge that it is Holy, The one thing we may not have learned well enough, is to continually research the scriptures and in every situation continue to ask. “what does the Bible say”?

For many years before the reign of King Josiah, the Word of God was completely lost and forgotten. It was buried either in dust or among the debris of the unused or at least underused temple. We can gather this because later in (2 Kings 23:22) we can read   ^“For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah”. 

The light that is the Word of God had gone out, and spiritual darkness had overcome them through this neglect. God’s Word was silenced, or choked off, and by ignoring the scriptures for so long, there was no guidance, and nothing to curb their evil desires.

When this happens even today, His Word is no longer heard, but plenty of “other words” are heard even when you do not want to hear them. This is the continual and loud noise of the world.

When we hear people of the world speak, we are left with no wonder why the world is in the state it is in. God’s Word is not often consulted, but in todays world, just as in that time nearly 2700 years ago, other voices were consulted.

At that time, as well as now. There were fortune tellers, worship of the stars, not only in the sky, but today even in Hollywood, and the worship and sacrificing to false gods. Today, many are in need…… lonely………… empty……. scared, and even desperate, but they only hear the voices of darkness, and in hopelessness, it is no wonder that when only the demonic voices of the world are heard, all kinds of vice, shame, divorce, abortion, gender dysphoria……..you name it, are prevalent. Many of these things are even practiced in the name of religion.

In the days of Josiah the question, “what does the Lord say”, was no longer part of their vocabulary.

With God’s Word silenced and lost, idols were built for worship, even the temple became a place of all kinds of immorality, sex crimes were a part of religious ritual, children were offered as sacrifices to the idol Molech,

The most miserable times in history are when people and their leaders stop asking “What does the Lord say”? That is clearly evident even today.

Then finally King Josiah arrived on the scene, and he, being a man of God, began making repairs to the temple, the long lost Book of the Law was found by the high priest Hilkiah, the book of the Law, the scriptures, the Book that told of the covenant relationship between the people and God.

When Josiah saw this book and read, in keeping with the longstanding tradition, tore his garment in humble repentance to the Lord. He knew the Lords great wrath was raised against his people due to the neglect of His Word. In his repentance, Josiah in a righteous anger, spread his reforms across the land to all the places in his control.

Verse 25 of this chapter describes Josiah this way “²⁵ 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”. Wouldn’t I like someone to write that about me? But I of course fall way short of that mark. But king Josiah then ordered a mass assembly of all the people, and the lost scriptures were read to them. and King Josiah renewed the covenant with the Lord and agreed to keep all His commandments, and the people agreed to enter the covenant with him.

Verse 3 tells us “ALL” the people joined in the covenant.

Remember the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16 said “Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life? This very question is asked today and has been asked by many from generation to generation. In fact every religion askes this same question in some way.

But where is the focus of this question? The focus is on what must “I” do? and that is the fundamental error.

The question was wrong in asking what “I” must do. Because nearly every religion and even most Christians, base the answer to this question on some kind of behavior, some moral action, or some kind of religious ritual that must be performed in order to earn the crown of eternal life.

When they asked this question all those years ago in Judah, what answers did they get? Burn incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, or the stars, or make your sons pass through the fire to Molech. or enter into some sort of immoral ritual in the name of religion….. it was not much different from today.

And what then? It brought the wrath of God against them because of their sinful idolatry. Only the one true Lord can give the right answers that satisfy our every need. But even more, only the Lord can give us the right question.

It is often not only do we not know the right answer, but that we don’t even know the right question. When we ask……….“What does the Lord say”?  We learn that the question is NOT what must I do to be saved, but what has God done so that I may be saved, and the entire Bible is devoted to answering THAT question.

The scriptures are centered on the story of God’s saving grace in and through Christ. The Bibles first and highest purpose is to make one wise to salvation through faith in Christ and leads us to

(2 Timothy 3:16-17) which says ¹⁵ and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  ¹⁶ All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of Godmay be complete, equipped for every good work.

And in (John 5:39) Jesus told us ³⁹ You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me.

From Genesis through Revelation the scriptures present Christ as the way, the truth, and the life. and He is the only one through whom we have access to the Father. Scripture tells us what God has done for us and for our salvation. And gives us the assurance of (Romans 5:8) that says ⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Just last week I mentioned the reformation, and we remembered again the sad state of the church about 500 years ago, when human speculation, replaced the divine truth and the Word of God was all but lost under a pile of human traditions and ideas. And at that time the emphasis was again, “what must I do” These were the answers given at that time.

Do penance, purchase indulgences, make pilgrimages, burn candles, pray through the saints………….. How did the reformers correct this for much of the church? The Bible itself gave the answers..

(Romans 3:28) sums up almost all the correction that was needed. ²⁸ For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. The questions of that time were more like “what does the Pope say?What does tradition say? But like Josiah, the question restored to “What does the Bible say”

This simple change, to asking the right question, was what brought the church back on course and recentered Christianity on Christ. The Lord requires more from us than that we simply respect His Holy Word. We should research it, and ask the same question daily. What does the Bible say. This is the mark of true Christian discipleship.

Look at just some of these, (John 14:23)  “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word,  (John 8:31) “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, And (John 10:27) “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me”.

When we are not living in His Words and promises, it is not long before we surrender to the voices of darkness that fill the world and search for wandering souls. Then we begin to praise our own goodness, our own decency, we begin to hold ourselves high, and that leads us to wonder how much more must I do to be saved…. Because through our works, there is NO assurance.

When that happens, we have moved from the true faith that says “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved than Jesus”. (from Acts 4:12)

There are many other questions that we must ask with regard to our lives every day, but these questions can all lead to the ultimate question, “What does the Bible Say”?

For example: There are an incredible amount of books on how to have a better marriage. There are marriage councilors across the country, and throughout the world, (many of whom are divorced by the way)…. It is a multi-billion dollar industry.

So is the question, Who is the best marriage counselor?? Or better yet, How do I get my wife, or husband to make me happier? Well, that leads to the question; What does the Bible say?

Lets find out in Ephesians 5 beginning with verse 1: Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. ² And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us,

Then clearly related to that in the same chapter we read in (Ephesians 5: 22-30) ²² Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.  ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Many men and even most discussions stop there, but more importantly, it continues, ²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, ²⁶ that He (Christ)might sanctify the church, having cleansed His church by the washing of water with the word, ²⁷ so that He might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. ²⁸ In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, ³⁰ because we are members of His body. 

A marriage is a sacrificial relationship. It is NOT a negotiation. A wife has been given her commands, and a Husband has been given his commands.
The wife does not do her part “IF” the husband is perfect, but she does as she is commanded by the Word.

The Husband does not give all of Himself to His wife “IF” she is perfect or makes him happy, He does as he is commanded by the Word.

Our duties as husbands and wives are not dependent on what our spouse does, but they are our unconditional responsibilities.

There is now NO justification for divorce except as given in (Matthew 19:9) and (1 Corinthians 7:15).

Sorry, for the industry, but there is no need for Marriage counseling or countless books.
Just ask what the Bible says. We must ask the right question, but then we must trust the answers.

For generations children have sung, Jesus loves me this I know………. You know it right? How do they know, “because the Bible tells me so”….

That’s all. That simple. We as adults can trust the Bible for the same reasons, because it tells us so. The Bible is God speaking to us. When we read today, the Lord is speaking to us today. The Bible is the Word of God,

The story the scriptures tell us did not originate from the minds of men, or from the church, or our parents………or even a saint or angel from heaven. It is the full and complete revelation of God Himself for us

Revelation 3:6 tells us of the church today ^“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”

Josiah gathered all the people together and read the Words of the book of the Law to them. That answered the question for them all.

“What does the Bible say”?

He read…………. They all heard.

When we gather together to research the Words of the scriptures we too are finding answers to that same question. The Word of God lights the path for every step we take, and in fact Psalm 119:105 tells us the very same thing “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”.

His Word does not show us our futures like a search light. But it lights our path for our feet, every step we take can be guided by the Word, or we can go it our own way. So we must be continually letting that light of the Word shine for us.

Remember when the boy Samuel was woken by the Lord, He simply said, Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.

And by continually searching the scriptures, you will know for certain the good Word the Lord has to say to you today and every day.

The peace of the Lord be with you all.

Amen