(REFLECTIONS ON 2 Kings 23:1-37)

Josiah having heard the words of the book of the law, fulfilled his role as king of Judah and rather than standing up in his royal authority, came down and humbled himself before the Lord.

As Josiah read the book of the covenant that was found earlier in the house of the Lord, he 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 carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book.”

And all the people then entered into the covenant. What followed was religious reformation through the southern kingdom of Judah. Interestingly in many places that the idols once defiled the land, we read that it was now Josiah that defiled these places of idol worship making sure idol worship could not continue.

In today’s Scripture, we read regarding Josiah,

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.

Despite all these efforts to reverse the curse, judgment would still come to Judah for their past sins. No reformation could change the trajectory of Judah, but may Josiah’s reforms stir in our hearts today to honestly come before the Lord and examine what our faith has become.

Unlike Josiah who could only do so much to reverse the curse, we have a Savior who did not merely begin the work of reversing the curse, but accomplished it completely through His death and resurrection.

Brothers and sisters, when we hear the word of the Lord preached, shared, and when we read it on our own, do we enter into the covenant established by Jesus Christ, our Lord? Do we then come before the Lord in humility and repentance and allow the Holy Spirit to make changes in our life?

Will we enter into the covenant of the Lord, or will we continue on the path that we are on? Will we reverse the curse by the grace allotted to us by God through Jesus in the Holy Spirit, or will we continue to perpetuate it?

Every time we hear God’s word is an invitation to repentance and transformation. Will we receive His grace with humble obedience, or will we try to take advantage of His grace and continue in our old ways? God’s grace was never given to excuse sin but to transform sinners.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: 2 Kings 23