David Bahn – Reflections

Listen to today’s devotion

Today’s readings: 2 Kings 23, 2 Chronicles 34-35, Psalm 55.

2 Chronicles 34:1-7

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. ² And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father; and he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. ³ For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal images. ⁴ And they chopped down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and he cut down the incense altars that stood above them. And he broke in pieces the Asherim and the carved and the metal images, and he made dust of them and scattered it over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. ⁵ He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. ⁶ And in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins all around, ⁷ he broke down the altars and beat the Asherim and the images into powder and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

[During repairs to the Temple, Hilkiah the priest discovers the long-neglected Book of the Law. Deeply convicted by its words, Josiah renews the covenant, intensifies his reforms, and calls the nation to celebrate the Passover.]

2 Chronicles 35:16-19

So all the service of the Lord was prepared that day, to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King Josiah. ¹⁷ And the people of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days. ¹⁸ No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as was kept by Josiah, and the priests and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁹ In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was kept.

Josiah first begins to restore God’s rightful place in the life and worship of Judah. He is determined to remove every vestige of pagan worship. In 2 Kings 23, we read that “he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places… those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations and all the host of the heavens.” He also “brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD… and burned it.” We even learn that he “broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.”

In the house of the LORD! How far Judah had fallen. The nation was desperately in need of reform.

After contrition and repentance comes a new sense of devotion. The people lean into God’s commands and celebrate the greatest Passover since the days of Samuel the prophet. The numbers are numbing. The logistics are daunting. The fervor is palpable.

Something similar can happen in our own lives. We gain a fresh appreciation for God’s grace and a renewed desire to honor and obey him. It isn’t conversion, necessarily, but it is renewal. Maybe you’ve been there. Perhaps you’ve rediscovered God’s Word and its rightful place in your heart and life. If so, begin with repentance. Renewal always begins there. So does revival. But it doesn’t end there.

God doesn’t desire that we merely feel sorry for our sins. He desires faithful hearts. And he provides the means to create and sustain that faith. Through his Word and Sacraments, the Holy Spirit points us to Jesus—his life and teaching, his suffering and death, his resurrection, and his promise to return. Through these means, the Spirit kindles and strengthens faith in our hearts.

Sometimes we need a wake-up call—a sudden and painful awareness of our sin and our need for God’s grace. There may need to be some housecleaning in our hearts to restore God to his rightful place. But he is as close as a prayer of confession and the remembrance of your Baptism. He delights to reclaim his rightful place in our hearts, and lives there by faith.

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.