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While searching for money in the temple, Hilkiah found
a book that had been written by Moses ... he recognized it as a book
of the Law! He gave it to Shapan the scribe who personally read it and
then showed it to the king. Josiah asked him to read it aloud, and
when he heard the words contained in the book, he tore his robe and
exclaimed, "Great is the wrath of God that will come upon us, because
our fathers have not obeyed all the commands that were written in this
book!"
Josiah sent Hilkiah, Shapan
and some other officials to the college in Jerusalem to consult with
Huldah, the prophetess, the wife of Tikvah who was the custodian of
the priests' wardrobe. Huldah placed the matter before the Lord and
then said to the men: "Take this message from the Lord back to the
young man who sent you here: 'Because the people of Judah have
forsaken Me and provoked Me to anger by worshipping gods that their
hands have made, I will bring evil upon this nation and its people ...
even all the curses written in the book that has been read before the
king of Judah. However, because Josiah obeyed My voice and humbled
himself before Me, he will not see the destruction I will bring upon
this place, but he will go to his grave in peace.' "
When Josiah received the
message, he sent for the priests, the Levites and elders of the people
and took them into the house of the Lord. Josiah made a covenant with
the Lord, promising to obey His Word and walk in His ways. All those
who were present agreed to keep the covenant, and as long as Josiah
was alive, they did not depart from following the Lord, the God of
their fathers.
The forgotten book that was
found was probably Leviticus. How can we surmise that it was
Leviticus? For one thing, the high priest called it "a book of the
Law". It was the only book written by Moses that presented God's law
to the priests and Levites so that they could teach the people how to
obey the Lord in all areas of their lives. Those instructions were not
carried out for many years before the discovery of that book. The
dictionary definition of the word Leviticus is: "book of the Levites;
the third book of the Old Testament, containing the Jewish ceremonial
laws administered by the priests and Levites. "
The Lord is very patient and
always gives people plenty of time to stop their idolatrous practices
and turn back to Him. He sends many warnings before severe discipline
is administered just as He did to the Jews. (read Leviticus 26:1-33)
The people were warned that they would have crop failure because of a
lack of rain and bad weather conditions in the land; there would be an
increase of sickness; loss of children through warfare; enemy forces
invading their land; and then the final curse of being brutally
conquered by their enemies and scattered throughout the world. All of
those curses took place in the nation of Israel when those people were
conquered and taken to Assyria. Now, in Judah, only one more rightful
king would follow Josiah on the throne before that nation would be
conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar who would take their people in chains
to Babylon.
In Leviticus chapter 26 we
find the conditions of blessings and also the curses which would come
upon the Children of Israel if they failed to obey the Lord.
In the book of Deuteronomy,
Moses summarized the wilderness experiences of the first generation of
the Children of Israel to warn the second generation before they went
into the Promised Land, and in chapter 28 of Deuteronomy he repeated
the blessings and curses that were first recorded in Leviticus.
We have God's perfect and
complete Word to mankind in writing, and the Lord has given men in
various places throughout this land of ours who are prepared to be
pastor/teachers for the purpose of helping those who have believed in
the Lord Jesus Christ to grow up spiritually and find God's plan and
purpose for their lives.
If you have never believed in
the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you must make that decision
while you are still alive on this earth.
"NEITHER IS THERE SALVATION
IN ANY OTHER: FOR THERE IS NO OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN GIVEN AMONG MEN
WHEREBY WE MUST BE SAVED." (Acts 4:12)
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