Grow in the Word

Introduction

King Josiah Ordered the House of God Restored

2 Kings 22:1–7 KJV 1900

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. And it came to pass 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 sum the silver which is brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people: And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the house of the Lord: and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the house of the Lord, to repair the breaches of the house, Unto carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house. Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully.

Hilkiah Found the Book of God

2 Kings 22:8 KJV 1900

And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.

Shaphan Read the Book to the King

2 Kings 22:9–10 KJV 1900

And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the Lord. And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.

King Josiah Rent His Clothes in Humility

2 Kings 22:9–10 KJV 1900

And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the Lord. And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.

Why was the House of God in Need of Restoration?

The Land had been Filled with Idol Worship

2 Chronicles 34:3–4 KJV 1900

For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.

No one cared about the house of the Lord because they were too busy worshipping Baal and other gods. They built images and groves to other gods. Josiah was ready to get rid of it. Once he had accomplished this he ordered the House of God to be restored. While it is true that the house of God was in need of restoration and the land had been filled with Idol Worship there was a deeper problem to the culture that Josiah became king over.

The Land was without the Word of God.

2 Kings 22:8 KJV 1900

And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.

The people had lost care for the house of the Lord and had ventured away from Jehovah to worship Baal and other false gods because the Word of God was not in their minds or in their hearts or in their pulpit. In fact, no one knew where it was. The Bible says that Hilkiah found it indicating that the Word of God was lost.

DOES YOUR LIFE NEED MORE OF THE WORD OF GOD?

The Word of God is Moving

2 Kings 22:8–10 KJV 1900

And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the Lord. And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.

Hilkiah brought the Word to Shaphan and informed him that he had found it. Shaphan read the book of the law and realized that the king needed to hear its contents. Having read the Book Shaphan realized that the country was not acting obediently toward God. Shaphan understood the heart of the King and realized that the King would want to hear it so that he could make the necessary changes.

Shaphan was moved to bring the Word to the King.

DOES THE WORD OF GOD MOVE YOU?

The Word of God is Convicting

2 Kings 22:11 KJV 1900

And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.

DOES THE WORD OF GOD CONVICT YOU?

The Word of God is Needed

2 Chronicles 34:29–33 KJV 1900

Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood in his place, 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 with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book. And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. And all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.

Shaphan needed the Word of God. The king needed to hear the Word of God. The people needed to hear the Word of God. We need the Word of God in our lives. When they heard the Word of God they too were convicted to stand on and for the Word of God.

The reason why our churches do not stand for the truth like we once did is because we are not as immersed in the Word of God as we need to be. The reason why the House of God needed repair is because the people did not find the Word of God to be important and it led to them worshipping false gods and that resulted little to no attendance to the House of God.

The reason our culture is morally declining today is because we are not reading and applying the Word of God in our lives like we need it to. When the Word of God is not read and obeyed it results in a people that worship other gods, other religions, and other things than the one true living and Holy God.

DO YOU NEED MORE OF THE WORD OF GOD?

Conclusion

If we are going to Grow in Him we are going to have to learn to Grow in our Walk with God through reading the Word of God and applying his it to our lives.

We need to read more of the Word of God individually.

We need to read more of the Word of God as a family.

We need to listen to more of the Word of God through preaching.

We need the Word of God because without it we will be a wayward people that follows after wicked and worldly things.

IF we want to be a people that are Growing in Him we are going to have to be a people that are Growing in our Walk with God through the reading of HIS HOLY BOOK.