Select Sermon Notes from Sunday, September 28th, 2008

From 2 Kings 22:1-13:

1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother's name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. 3 In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple of the LORD. He said: 4 "Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. 5 Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair the temple of the LORD - 6 the carpenters, the builders and the masons. Also have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple. 7 But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are acting faithfully." 8 Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the LORD." He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. 9 Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: "Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the LORD and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple." 10 Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king. 11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. 12 He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king's attendant: 13 "Go and inquire of the LORD for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the LORD's anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us."

The Book of Jeremiah contains the words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah. Jeremiah began his ministry during the reign of King Josiah.

Hilkiah was the High Priest that found the Book of the Law during the time of King Josiah. It is extremely mysterious to think that some of the Old Testament patriarchs were without the Book of the Law. Especially when considering that, according to Deuteronomy 31:24-27, there was to be a copy of this Book of the Law beside the Ark of the Covenant, beginning in the days of Moses...

When the Word of the Lord was lost, the Children of Israel strayed into Idol Worship...and we live in a culture even now where the Word of the Lord has been lost to most - buried beneath a modern form of Idol Worship...God calls us to have no other gods before Him...the message of Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, is a message of Repentence...and it's one we all need to heed and take to heart.