261
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
July, 1935
INTERNATIONAL LESSON Commentary Outline and Exposition Blackboard Lesson Children’s Division Golden Text Illustration Object Lesson B y B. B. S utcliffe B y B essie B. B urch B y H elen G ailey B y A lan S. P earce B y E lmer L. W ilder Points and Problems B y A lva J. M c C lain , Ashland Theological Seminary, Ashland, Ohio
There is a wonderul opportunity pre sented by this lesson to call the people of this generation to the true worship o f the living God. _________ Points and Problems Before teaching this week’s lesson, the teacher should study carefully chapters 22 and 23 of Second Kings, and also chapters 34 and 35 of Second Chronicles, to get the story of Josiah. 1. Moral conditions had become ter rible beyond description, so bad that “ sod omites” had been brought into the temple o f God to practice their unspeakable or gies. See 2 Kings 23:7 in the American Revision. They were housed, not “ by the house of the Lord,” but actually “in the house of the Lord.” Now what had hap pened to produce such a degraded situa tion? The answer is found in the pre ceding chapter: The nation had utterly forgdtten the Word of God, so completely that they had lost the book which contain ed it. When men neglect and forget the Holy Scriptures, they are headed for the pit o f moral disaster. 2. King Josiah had more good sense than many o f our modern reformers dis play. They would begin by trying to clean up the “sodomites.” But Josiah put first things first. He knew that no permanent reforms could be accomplished without laying a spiritual foundation. The first thing he did, therefore, was to call the whole nation together, and “he read in their ears all the words o f the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord” (2 Ki. 23:1, 2). After the Word of God had been given its proper place of authority in the nation, the king turned to deal with the results of its dethronement. 3. Josiah took the pagan altars and idols and beat them into fine dust. Some mod ern archaeologists think that this was a great pity; and doubtless these objects would have been interesting for us to study, had they been preserved. But Jo- siah’s instinct was right. It is never safe to keep anything which has associations with an evil past in our own lives. Better not save the card decks and the tobacco pipes and other idols that belong to the old life, lest they call us back to the former “desires of the flesh.” Golden Text Illustration In the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, there is a representation'of the Battle o f Ivry, in which Henry IV of Navarre is waging war. Up in the right-hand corner, one can see which of the contending armies will win, for there, is pictured a group of an gels with drawn swords, the guiding divine force that will win the day. No wonder one can be strong and o f good courage when he can feel a power with him like that! It is Gpd on our side. Caleb and Joshua felt that certainty when they said, “Let us go up at once, and possess it.” Cromwell’s men felt it when they con quered everything before them, for their battle cry was, “God with us.” And dis couragement will flee like the shade of night before the rising sun when we can
AUGUST 4, 1935 JOSIAH •( A Religious Reformer) 2 K ings 2 2 :1 to 23:30
found teachings and practices which have no place there. In some cases there is ac tually a denial o f the existence of the One to whom the houses have been dedicated. Third, Josiah “put down the idolatrous priests” (v. 5). There was no false charity shown by Josiah. It would be useless to put away the instruments o f false worship and leave the priests who had presided over them. When all opposition to the true wor ship, of God had been removed, the way was opened for the return of the people fo true service in the sanctuary. This condi tion was what the king desired. In Josiah there is an example o f the employment of the right method to be used to bring about needed reformation in the individual life and in the assembly. There must be a return to the Book. There must be an acceptance o f all its principles. There must be a renunciation of, and separation from, all that is counterfeit. It is not kind ness but weakness that permits servants o f Satan, who parade as true ministers of God, to remain in our churches, unrebuked, while they lead the people farther and far ther away from God. III. T he C onsummation of the R eformation (21-23). The passover was the basis of Israel’s worship. The . recurrence of the feast recalled to the people their early days in Egypt, and their deliverance from the land o f bondage at the hand of the Lord. Direc tions for the keeping of the passover were plainly written in “the book o f this coven ant”—the covenant into which all the people had enthusiastically entered. And such was their enthusiasm as they prepared for this celebration and entered into it, that it could be said: “ Surely there was not holden such a passover” as this. The occasion would serve the threefold purpose of recalling the people to an under standing of their constant dependence upon the One who had chosen them and had brought them out o f bondage, of re minding them that only as they continued in obedience to God would blessing and maintenance be granted, and of revealing to them how far astray they had wandered in following the idolatrous practices into which they had fallen.. It would emphasize, moreover, the simplicity o f true worship. BLACKBOARD LESSON
Lesson T ext: 2 Ki. 23:1-5, 21-23. Golden T ex t: “Thou shall worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matt. 4:10). Outline and Exposition I. T he C ommencement of the R eformation ( 1 . 2 ) . T he previous chapter reveals that the “book o f the law” had been hidden away in the temple and forgotten until Hilkiah, the high priest, found it and showed it to Shaphan the scribe. Shaphan brought it to the attention o f the king. Through the Word, the king was told that the Lord was about to bring judgment up on the nation because o f the conditions which prevailed therein. The king’s heart was at once humbled before the Lord, and because of his contrition, the king was told that the threatened judgment would be postponed. This exhibition of divine patience and mercy caused Josiah to desire to see a return to the Lord on the part o f the nation. Accordingly, Josiah called for “ all the people, both small and great” to meet him in Jerusalem. If any reformation was to be accomplished, all the people, as well as the leaders, must see the advantages of, as well- as the necessity for, the change. To this vast assembly, Josiah read “all the words of the book o f the covenant,” in order that the hearers might understand what the Lord required. After such a read ing of the law, it would be unnecessary to inform the people that they stood in danger o f the judgment of the One whose Word had been treated with such indifference that it had been wholly forgotten and was unknown among them. They knew they were the Lord’s people, blit the downward trend had been so gradual that they were unaware of the distance that they had wandered from the Lord. Any attempt at reformation would be valueless until the people saw their position before God and recognized the absolute necessity of a return to Him in full obedience and un hindered fellowship. II. T he C ontinuation of the R eformation (3-5). First, Josiah presented the covenant to the people for their acceptance (v. 3). The people agreed to keep the command ments o f the Lord and to do all that the Book of the Law required of them. Second, the people having whole-hearted ly entered into the covenant, the way was opened for Josiah to inaugurate the next step in the needed reformation (v. 4). The instruments of false worship were brought forth from the house o f the Lord and were publicly burned. It may seem strange that such things could be found in the house of the Lord in that day. But in our own times, in houses dedicated to the wor ship of the living God, there are often
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