Thought from today’s Bible reading from 2 Kings 22-23; 2 Chronicles 34-35.
When repairs were being made to the house of the Lord during the reign of Josiah, the book of the law was found. It was brought back to the king and read in his presence.
“When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. 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’” (2 Kings 22:11-13).
Upon hearing the law – God’s divine standard for the nation of Israel – Josiah could see that they had not lived up to this standard. But rather than try to make excuses, he began a restoration. Two elements are necessary for a successful restoration, whether it was Josiah’s restoration or the Restoration Movement that began in earnest two hundred years ago in this country.
- That which is wrong must be eliminated.
- That which is right must be reinstituted.
This is why Josiah destroyed all elements of false religion (2 Kings 23:4-20) and reinstituted the Passover “as it is written in the book of the covenant” (2 Kings 23:21-23). Mixing the right and wrong practices would not have worked. He needed to follow the pattern exclusively.
This is what the Restorers set out to do in this country and what we must continue to do today. If there are any practices that are contrary to God’s word, we must eliminate them. If there is anything that the New Testament instructs us to do that we are not currently doing, we must reinstitute that practice. We cannot mix the right and the wrong. We must follow the New Testament pattern exclusively (2 Timothy 1:13; Colossians 3:17).
Tomorrow’s reading: Zephaniah 1-3
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
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