March 5th, 2024
This week, I want to share with you a story that has been on my heart for weeks. I’ve written before about King Josiah, the last good king of Judah before Babylon conquered Jerusalem. He reigned from 640-601 B.C. and the Bible says in 2 Kings 23:25, “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.” What a powerful statement to be made about your life!
Josiah was only 8 years-old when he began to reign and at 20 years-old he began purging the land of the abominations of idolatry, destroying pagan temples and sites of idol worship. When he was 26, he commissioned the repair of the temple (2 Chronicles 34:9) and at that point the Book of the Law, the Bible, was found in the rubble. Hilkiah, the priest, gave it to the king’s secretary who read it to King Josiah and Josiah immediately tore his robe and began to weep. He sent his men to inquire of a prophetess for the word of the Lord and God told him he wouldn’t see the destruction of Jerusalem because is heart was tender in response to the word of God, but he wasn’t satisfied with that! He gathered all the people and let them hear the word of the Lord. They made a covenant with all their heart and soul and they didn’t turn away all the days of Josiah. They kept the Passover like it hadn’t been kept since the days of Samuel which was over 400 years. It was truly a revival and cultural reformation! If you don’t know the whole story, read 2 Chronicles 34-36 in its entirety!
Unfortunately, this portion of Judah’s history doesn’t have a happy ending. After Josiah, his son took the throne and did not keep the word of God and then a series of wicked kings reigned until finally Judah was conquered. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed, and everyone who wasn’t killed was taken into Babylonian captivity.
What I want to focus on though is 2 Chronicles 36:15-16 which says,
“The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy.”
God was merciful, compassionate, and persistent. He sent persistently by the mouths of His messengers, pleading with His people to turn.
He called out to them until there was no remedy, because they refused to listen. However, there was a remedy, and it was so simple. If they had just turned, as they had in the days of Josiah, He would have healed them. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says,
“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
The Bible tells us that during King Josiah’s time, the people “did not turn away from following the LORD, the God of their fathers” (2 Chronicles 34:33). For the entirely of his reign, they had peace and security.
In His mercy, after Josiah was gone, God persistently sent messengers to His people to tell them the truth, but they chose not to listen.
What I had never realized is that one of those messengers was the prophet, Jeremiah. Did you know Jeremiah lived during the reforms of King Josiah’s reign? Scholars tell us he prophesied while Josiah was King, somewhere around 627 B.C. until the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.
Jeremiah is often called the weeping prophet, but he didn’t weep for himself or whine about his situation. He was a weeping prophet because he grieved for his people.
Jeremiah 8:18-19 says, “My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick within me. Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people from the length and breadth of the land: “Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not in her?”
Jeremiah 8:22 says, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?”
He wept for his people, not himself. He saw the height of revival in Josiah’s reign, and he saw the consequences of sin and the destruction of Jerusalem. Can you imagine that grief? However, even though Jeremiah saw spiritual darkness and tragedy, God showed him a day that was coming. Jeremiah 31:33-34 says,
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”’
That verse is cited in Hebrews 10:15-16, because this is the covenant we walk in by the blood of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. It goes on in Hebrews 10:19-22 saying,
“Therefore, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
Jeremiah saw a glimpse of the power of the covenant God’s people would one day walk in. It’s the power of the covenant we live in today! We must understand that even in Jeremiah’s day, there was a remedy, but the people chose not to listen. The remedy is and has always been the word of God. It had the power to change the culture of Josiah’s time when they heeded it and it still has the power to change us, our families, our cities, and our nations.
In Jeremiah 23, he was warning the people of “prophets” in that day who were telling the people lies. Go read it! The lying prophets were telling the people there was no consequence for their sin, but they would soon find out it wasn’t true. Jeremiah 23:21-22 says,
“I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.”
God said, “If they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words.”
If there had been more messengers that had stood in the council of the Lord in Jeremiah’s day, then His people would have turned. God is looking for men and women today, to stand in His council and declare His word, just as He was looking for them, then. He sends His messengers today, in His compassion and mercy, to declare His truth, just as He did then. Jesus said to “Go into all the World” with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s the good news. It’s the remedy. Often, it’s not the message people want to hear, but it’s the truth they need to hear and it’s the truth the Holy Spirit will confirm! We have the responsibility to rightly handle the word of truth!
Will you choose to be one of God’s messengers today? Will you allow His Word to be your very life, that you can carry His truth to a generation that desperately needs it? His Gospel still works and as His messengers, we don’t get to choose what we speak. As Jeremiah said,
‘If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire, shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.’ (Jeremiah 20:9)
When you stand in the council of God, His word will burn in you like a fire. His Word is consistent, powerful, and true to every generation and He’s looking for those that will stand in His council! His word is the remedy in this generation, in your family, in your workplace, and in this nation, just like it’s always been.
There is a balm in Gilead.
The Lion of the Tribe of Judah has overcome.
His Word will still heal the sick, raise the dead, and set the captive free.
Let His Word work mightily in YOU. The Gospel is not man’s Gospel. It’s the Word of God and it’s the only remedy!
Josiah was only 8 years-old when he began to reign and at 20 years-old he began purging the land of the abominations of idolatry, destroying pagan temples and sites of idol worship. When he was 26, he commissioned the repair of the temple (2 Chronicles 34:9) and at that point the Book of the Law, the Bible, was found in the rubble. Hilkiah, the priest, gave it to the king’s secretary who read it to King Josiah and Josiah immediately tore his robe and began to weep. He sent his men to inquire of a prophetess for the word of the Lord and God told him he wouldn’t see the destruction of Jerusalem because is heart was tender in response to the word of God, but he wasn’t satisfied with that! He gathered all the people and let them hear the word of the Lord. They made a covenant with all their heart and soul and they didn’t turn away all the days of Josiah. They kept the Passover like it hadn’t been kept since the days of Samuel which was over 400 years. It was truly a revival and cultural reformation! If you don’t know the whole story, read 2 Chronicles 34-36 in its entirety!
Unfortunately, this portion of Judah’s history doesn’t have a happy ending. After Josiah, his son took the throne and did not keep the word of God and then a series of wicked kings reigned until finally Judah was conquered. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed, and everyone who wasn’t killed was taken into Babylonian captivity.
What I want to focus on though is 2 Chronicles 36:15-16 which says,
“The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy.”
God was merciful, compassionate, and persistent. He sent persistently by the mouths of His messengers, pleading with His people to turn.
He called out to them until there was no remedy, because they refused to listen. However, there was a remedy, and it was so simple. If they had just turned, as they had in the days of Josiah, He would have healed them. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says,
“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
The Bible tells us that during King Josiah’s time, the people “did not turn away from following the LORD, the God of their fathers” (2 Chronicles 34:33). For the entirely of his reign, they had peace and security.
In His mercy, after Josiah was gone, God persistently sent messengers to His people to tell them the truth, but they chose not to listen.
What I had never realized is that one of those messengers was the prophet, Jeremiah. Did you know Jeremiah lived during the reforms of King Josiah’s reign? Scholars tell us he prophesied while Josiah was King, somewhere around 627 B.C. until the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.
Jeremiah is often called the weeping prophet, but he didn’t weep for himself or whine about his situation. He was a weeping prophet because he grieved for his people.
Jeremiah 8:18-19 says, “My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick within me. Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people from the length and breadth of the land: “Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not in her?”
Jeremiah 8:22 says, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?”
He wept for his people, not himself. He saw the height of revival in Josiah’s reign, and he saw the consequences of sin and the destruction of Jerusalem. Can you imagine that grief? However, even though Jeremiah saw spiritual darkness and tragedy, God showed him a day that was coming. Jeremiah 31:33-34 says,
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”’
That verse is cited in Hebrews 10:15-16, because this is the covenant we walk in by the blood of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. It goes on in Hebrews 10:19-22 saying,
“Therefore, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
Jeremiah saw a glimpse of the power of the covenant God’s people would one day walk in. It’s the power of the covenant we live in today! We must understand that even in Jeremiah’s day, there was a remedy, but the people chose not to listen. The remedy is and has always been the word of God. It had the power to change the culture of Josiah’s time when they heeded it and it still has the power to change us, our families, our cities, and our nations.
In Jeremiah 23, he was warning the people of “prophets” in that day who were telling the people lies. Go read it! The lying prophets were telling the people there was no consequence for their sin, but they would soon find out it wasn’t true. Jeremiah 23:21-22 says,
“I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.”
God said, “If they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words.”
If there had been more messengers that had stood in the council of the Lord in Jeremiah’s day, then His people would have turned. God is looking for men and women today, to stand in His council and declare His word, just as He was looking for them, then. He sends His messengers today, in His compassion and mercy, to declare His truth, just as He did then. Jesus said to “Go into all the World” with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s the good news. It’s the remedy. Often, it’s not the message people want to hear, but it’s the truth they need to hear and it’s the truth the Holy Spirit will confirm! We have the responsibility to rightly handle the word of truth!
Will you choose to be one of God’s messengers today? Will you allow His Word to be your very life, that you can carry His truth to a generation that desperately needs it? His Gospel still works and as His messengers, we don’t get to choose what we speak. As Jeremiah said,
‘If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire, shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.’ (Jeremiah 20:9)
When you stand in the council of God, His word will burn in you like a fire. His Word is consistent, powerful, and true to every generation and He’s looking for those that will stand in His council! His word is the remedy in this generation, in your family, in your workplace, and in this nation, just like it’s always been.
There is a balm in Gilead.
The Lion of the Tribe of Judah has overcome.
His Word will still heal the sick, raise the dead, and set the captive free.
Let His Word work mightily in YOU. The Gospel is not man’s Gospel. It’s the Word of God and it’s the only remedy!
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