If I asked you to make a list of your “Top 3” of the Old Testament Greats, who would you list? Abraham, David, Moses? Not a bad start. But what about Joseph, Solomon, or Isaiah? How about the ladies? Ruth, Esther, Rahab, or maybe even Mrs. Noah? You’re well on your way to a nice “Top 10” list… but I can’t believe you left off one of the greatest of all time: Josiah, the 8-year-old king of Judah.

In fact, 2 Kings 23:25 says, “Before him (Josiah) there was no king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his heart and with all his soul and all his strength, according to the laws of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.” That’s an amazing statement when you think that Saul, David, and Solomon preceded him!

What made Josiah so great? Here’s a snapshot of his life.

At age eight, he became the sixteenth King of Judah (The Southern two “good” tribes). When he was 16 years old, “he began to seek the God of his father David” (2 Chronicles 34:3). At 20 years old, he purged Judah from false idols and gods—tearing down altars of the Baals, chopped down the incense towers, and broke the carved images. He was radical for God.

When Josiah was 26 years old, he began to cleanse and repair the temple of the Lord. 2 Chronicles tells us that during the temple repair, Hilkiah, the priest, found The Book of Law of the Lord given by Moses. (This was probably the first five books of the Bible as we know it.) The priest read to the king. When Josiah heard the reading of the Word, he tore his clothes in despair. He realized his kingdom was in danger because of evil choices of the bad kings before him. 

But Josiah didn’t get stuck in his grief. Instead, having heard God’s Word, He took action. He determined to do everything he could do to lead his country back towards the One and only God, and God honored Josiah’s commitment. God told Josiah, “… your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place!” (2 Kings 22:20). And he didn’t. Josiah was the last good king to lead Judah, and there was peace until he died. (The destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians would happen some years later in 586 BC.)

Throughout history, when people truly listen to God’s Word, spiritual revival follows. It can begin as simply as it did in the days of Josiah—with one man finding and reading and believing and spreading the Good News.

A great example is the story of Peter Waldo. He was a rich merchant living in the 12th century who gave up his business to radically follow Jesus. He hired two priests to translate the New Testament into the common language, and using this, he began to teach others.

He taught in the streets or wherever he could find someone to listen. People flocked to hear him teach and read the Scripture in their “own” language and started to radically follow Jesus Christ. How radical? 

“Waldensians,” as they were called, memorized large chunks of Scripture—sometimes the entire New Testament or large sections of the Old Testament too. They were sent out two by two into the villages and market places to teach and explain the Scriptures to anyone that would listen. 

Even though the “official” church of the day persecuted the followers of Waldo, they answered to a higher power and gave their lives for the advancement of the Gospel. 

Do you see? The Word of God—when found, read, believed, and spread—has this kind of transforming power. 

Ready for a head-scratcher?

For the past ten years, the Barna Group, along with the American Bible Society, have published an annual report, based on surveys, called the State of the Bible. In 2010, the report found that although Americans have a high interest and awareness of the Bible, not many read the Scripture regularly. Although nearly nine out of 10 (88 percent) of Americans own a Bible—and those same people own an average of 4.4 copies of the book—only 14 percent say they use or read their Bibles daily!

In the ten years of the State of the Bible research studies, the proportion of Americans who used the Bible daily remained statistically unchanged—around the 14 percent mark. And now, here’s the real head-scratcher: During the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak, surveys were taken in January 2020 and then again in June 2020. They reported:

“Despite nearly every individual in the U.S having access to the Bible, engagement has decreased during the pandemic. The proportion of Americans who use the Bible daily fell to fewer than one in ten (9 percent), the lowest number on record during the ten-year study.” (https://sotb.research.bible/)

I am amazed that in the middle of a world-wide pandemic, where the lives of people and all things “normal” have been turned upside-down, no more than 9% of people would turn to the source of all strength found in the Bible.

How about you? Do you read one of the many Bibles you have sitting around in your house or workplace? Is reading your Bible a daily habit? Remember, you can’t roar what you don’t have. Reinvest yourself in listening to the roar of God, and watch how He works in you as a result.

 Further Reading: Josiah’s Story (2 Kings 22-23; 2 Chronicles 34-35), John 17:17, Hebrews 4:12; Romans 12:2

‍

FINAL WORD:

In her book Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus, Lois Tverberg retells the following story about a famous first-century rabbi named Rabbi Akiva:

One day as Rabbi Akiva was shepherding his flocks, he noticed a tiny stream trickling down a hillside, dripping over a ledge on its way toward the river below. Below was a massive boulder. Surprisingly, the rock bore a deep impression. The drip, drip, drip of water over the centuries had hollowed away the stone. Akiva commented, “If mere water can do this to hard rock, how much more can God’s Word carve a way into my heart of flesh?” Akiva realized that if the water had flowed over the rock all at once, the rock would have been unchanged. It was the slow but steady impact of each small droplet, year after year, that completely reformed the stone.

Lois Tverberg comments: 

When I first started studying the Bible’s Hebraic context, I wanted one commentary that would teach me everything, one class that would explain it all. If I could learn all the “right answers” in one marathon event, all the better. I find now that God likes to reveal truth over many years, as I study alongside others. I realize now that big “splashes” aren’t usually God’s way of doing things. Instead, through the slow drip of study and prayer, day after day, year after year, he shapes us into what he wants us to be.

REFLECT:

Jesus said: “Man doesn’t live on bread alone, but on EVERY word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4) Brainstorm with yourself and write in your journal a description of what YOUR LIFE might look like (over the course of 10 years) if you spent more time consuming God’s Word than you spend consuming your daily food.