Just like Josiah

Imagine finding something earth-shatteringly important.  Like when looking through old paper work, you discover that years ago you inherited a mansion, or that you had a twin brother that was taken away at birth.  What would your reaction be?  Would you seek that thing out with every bit of energy you possess?  How far would you go to make sure that you had the information correct?  To what lengths would you go?

Something like this happened in ancient Israel.  For years, the kings of Israel had been drifting farther away from the Lord and towards syncretism, idolatry, and sin.  The kingdom that David had established had been divided after the death of Solomon and, while the northern kingdom had always been sinful, overtime, even the southern kingdom fell away from what God had desired of them.

In fact, the people had become so idolatrous and sinful that even the Torah, the Book of the Law, which was the foundation for all of their faith had been lost.  Not even the priests, the keepers of the Law, knew where the Book had gone.  Throughout the Book of the Kings (1 & 2 Kings), Israel and Judah become increasingly apathetic and apostasy, eventually being deported at the hands of the Assyrians, and later the Babylonians.  It is at this point in the nation's history when a young, God-fearing king ascends to the throne.  His name is Josiah and his story is told in 2 Kings, chapters 22 and 23.

Eight years old when he begins his thirty-one years reign in Jerusalem, the Word says that Josiah, "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 (2 Kings 22:2)."  He was a good, godly king.  In the eighteenth year of his reign, he decides to spend some money and for some much needed repair of the Temple.  It is at this time that while doing the repairs, the Book of the Law is found.

Although it is both shocking and appalling to think that the Israelites had become so idolatrous that they had actually "lost" the Book of the Law, what is remarkable about the story and about Josiah is his response to the Book's finding.  Josiah does two stunning things in reaction to discovering the Book of the Law that have immediate contemporary applications for us.

The first thing that Josiah did was to have the Book read in its entirety both to himself and to the whole nation.  Josiah understood immediately that the Law was God's Word for Israel and, though their forefathers had abandoned it, he intended to reinstitute it as the Book for Israel's faith.  He didn't do this half-heartedly.  No, he knew that God's Word demands full allegiance with no hint of turning.  Moreover, Josiah was excited and energetic to do this.  We should take a mind like this when we consider instituting God's Word in our lives.  And we should do so with as much fervent intent and energy as Josiah.

The second thing he did was to destroy all the idol worship that had pervaded Israel.  He destroyed altars, killed priests, and purged the nation of the sin of idolatry.  This is huge.  Think of the effect of such a decision.  Not only was his move bad for the economy, as idol worship was big business, but also it challenged all of the Israelite idol worshipers to get their act straight.  We should do this same thing, definitively purge the idolatry and sin both from within ourselves and from within our churches.  While we should do so with grace and gentleness, we are commanded to take seriously God's call to purity and holiness.

Again, the Old Testament should not be neglected for its antiquity but studied for its usefulness and worth.  All of Scripture speaks to the glory of God and Christ Jesus.  Therefore, we need to put on our miner's hats and interpreter's tool-belts to dig into the Scripture for the endless worth thereof, both practical and theological.  Let us then be like Josiah, exalting the Word of God and striving with all passion to live it out!

21st Century Paganism

The first-century world was rife with widespread paganism.  Across the mediterranean world, nearly every major port or city had its own patron deity and the various cultic activities that went along with it, including sacrificed food, temple worship, widespread sacred prostitution, and the sale of cultic artifacts and worship trinkets.  Needless to say, this was big business.

Now consider Christianity, which needs no external devices of worship; no trinkets, no sacrifices, and definitely no sacred prostitution.  Because of this difference, Christianity, as it made major inroads into the hearts of converts across the world, dramatically challenged and changed the religious landscape.  Additionally, because the sale of cultic paraphernalia was such a large industry, when the previously pagan consumers converted to Christianity in droves, the purveyors of the apparati of paganism lost their reliable sources of income and rose up in opposition to Christianity.

Consider the ordeal at Ephesus, chronicled by Luke in Acts 19:21-41, when a silversmith, Demetrius, riled up the craftsmen guilds in protest of the Christians who had so dented the major part of their respective industries, which was idol worship.  As a result of Demetrius' rabble rousing, whole city of Ephesus was stirred into a rioting mob, aimed squarely at the Christians who, because of their eschewing of idol worship, had decreased their bottom lines by converting their pagan-worshiping consumers.

This is one example of many.  It would seem that this was so widespread that nearly every New Testament book deals directly with the threat of paganism and syncretism (syncretism defined: when pagan worship practices are incorporated into Christianity to create an amalgam that supports Christianity with paganism).

As indicated above, the context of the first-century world was one of pervasive and prevalent paganism and idol worship.  So, as people repented of their paganism and converted to Christianity, idol worship and paganism also decreased.  In truth, the 21st-century world is not altogether different in this regard to the first century.

There is still widespread paganism, extensive idol worship, and continued syncretism.  All of these elements are especially prevalent in America today.  From shows about musical idols, 24-hour sports worship, and the syncretism of materialism, believers need to be aware of the risk of falling prey to syncretistic idolatry.

In a very real sense, believers' idol radars require continual sharpening and Spirit-led alignment in order to protect us from the continual bombardment of paganism and syncretism.  When we repent of our previous pagan, unbelieving, idolatrous self, we turn to God in faith desiring to worship God alone.  God is jealous for our worship; the first and greatest commandment is still in play today as much as it was in the time of Moses.

Jesus' teaching in John's Gospel (15:19) and the exhortations of Peter (1 Pet. 4:1-5) seem quite applicable and appropriate to this dialogue.  God wants us wholly, every single nook and crevice of us is to be dedicated to the Lord.  If and when we commit to this kind of focused and singular devotion, it will look odd and obsessive to the world, because the world cannot understand the true value of God.  In response to the oddity of our obsessive love for God, the world will persecute us because when we highlight God, the world is condemned for its sin.  This should come as no shock but should compel us to press on in faith and perseverance.

Paganism and idolatry is subversive and subtle in this world but it is also widespread.  Moreover, no matter form it may take, it is still sin that draws away from God.  We need to be aware and on guard against such as this so that we would not disqualify ourselves from our intended fruit-bearing potential.  Let us then pursue the Lord in full and abandon the world for its worthless idols!