Jeremiah

The Ambassador Group

08. Jeremiah: Josiah’s Reforms

Welcome to another in-depth exploration of the book of Jeremiah Written by Imre Tokic, Ph.D., LLD Edited for audio and produced by The Ambassador Group Exploration 8 Josiah's Reforms Never before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of Moses.

And there has never been a king like him since.

2 Kings 23, verse 25, New Living Translation.

Parents know just how hard it is to see their children, especially when they are older and out of the parents' control, make choices that they know will hurt them.

Of course, this heartache doesn't apply only to parents and children.

Who hasn't at some point seen friends or relatives or anyone make choices that you knew would be detrimental to them?

This is an unfortunate aspect of what it means to have free will.

Free will, especially moral free will, means nothing if we don't have the freedom to make wrong choices.

A free being who can choose only the right is not truly free or even truly moral.

That is why much of Scripture is the story of God warning his people about not making wrong choices.

This has been a major part of what the book of Jeremiah is about too, the pleadings of God who respects free choice and free will to his chosen nation.

And though unfortunately most of the stories are not good, in this exploration we will get to see a glimmer of hope.

We will hear about 1 of the few kings 1 of the few kings who, using free will, chose to do what was right in the eyes of The The Reigns of Manasseh and Ammon However much we like to talk about objectivity, about viewing things as they really are, as human beings we are hopelessly subjective.

We see the world not so much as the world really is, but as we really are.

And because we are fallen and corrupted beings, this corruption is going to impact our perceptions and interpretation of the world around us.

How else, for instance, can we explain someone like King Manasseh of Judah about 686-643 BC, especially those early years of his terrible apostasy?

1 can hardly imagine how he justified in his own mind the horrific abominations he allowed to flourish in Judah.

Let's listen to 2nd Chronicles chapter 33.

What does this story tell us about just how corrupt a king Manasseh was?

More important, what does this teach us about the willingness of God to forgive?

Manasseh Rules in Judah Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king and he reigned in Jerusalem 55 years.

He did what was evil in the Lord's sight, following the detestable practices of the pagan nations that the Lord had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites.

He rebuilt the pagan shrines his father Hezekiah had broken down.

He constructed altars for the images of Baal and set up Ashuroth poles.

He also bowed before all the powers of the heavens and worshipped them.

He built pagan altars in the temple of the Lord, the place where the Lord had said, My name will remain in Jerusalem forever.

He built these altars for all the powers of the heavens in both courtyards of the Lord's temple.

Manasseh also sacrificed his own sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom.

He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and he consulted with mediums and psychics.

He did much that was evil in the Lord's sight, arousing his anger.

Manasseh even took a carved idol he had made and set it up in God's temple, the very place where God had told David and his son Solomon, My name will be honored forever in this temple and in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen from among all the tribes of Israel.

If the Israelites will be careful to obey my commands, all the laws, decrees, and regulations given through Moses, I will not send them into exile from this land that I set aside for your ancestors.

But Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem to do even more evil than the pagan nations that the Lord had destroyed when the people of Israel entered the land.

The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they ignored all his warnings.

So the Lord sent the commanders of the Assyrian armies, and they took Manasseh prisoner.

They put a ring through his nose, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon.

But while in deep distress Manasseh sought the Lord his God and sincerely humbled himself before the God of his ancestors.

And when he prayed, the Lord listened to him and was moved by his request.

So the Lord brought Manasseh back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom.

Then Manasseh finally realized that the Lord alone is God.

After this, Manasseh rebuilt the outer walls of the city of David from west of the Gihon Spring in the Kidron Valley to the Fishgate and continuing around the hill of Ophel.

He built the wall very high, and he stationed his military officers in all of the fortified towns of Judah.

Manasseh also removed the foreign gods and the idol from the Lord's temple.

He tore down all the altars he had built on the hill where the temple stood and all the altars that were in Jerusalem and he dumped them outside the city.

Then he restored the altar of the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it.

He also encouraged the people of Judah to worship the Lord, the God of Israel.

However, the people still sacrificed at the pagan shrines, though only to the Lord their God.

The rest of the events of Manasseh's reign, his prayer to God, and the words the seers spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are recorded in the Book of the kings of Israel.

Manasseh's prayer, the account of the way God answered him, and an account of all his sins and unfaithfulness are recorded in the record of the seers, the record of Hosei.

It includes a list of the locations where he built pagan shrines and set up Asheroth poles and idols before he humbled himself and repented.

When Manasseh died, he was buried in his palace.

Then his son, Amon, became the next king.

Amon was 22 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem 2 years.

He did what was evil in the Lord's sight just as his father Manasseh had done.

He worshipped and sacrificed to all the idols his father had made.

But unlike his father, he did not humble himself before the Lord.

Then Amon's own officials conspired against him and assassinated him in his palace.

But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah the next king.

No question, being hauled off to Babylon with hooks and bronze fetters was certain to get a man to rethink his life.

Nevertheless, the text is clear, Manasseh truly repented of his ways, and when restored to the throne, sought to repair the damage that he had done.

Unfortunately, the damage was greater than he might have imagined.

But this repentance, remarkable though it was, came too late to save the kingdom from the corrupting influence of years of idolatrous practices.

Many had stumbled and fallen, never again to rise.

The book is Prophets and Kings, page 383.

Among those who had been terribly impacted by Manasseh's apostasy was his son, Amon, who took the throne after his father died and who did evil in the sight of the Lord as his father Manasseh had done, for Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made and served them.

22 NKJV Chronicles 33 verse 22 New King James Version.

Worse, unlike his father, Amon never repented of his ways.

Who doesn't know personally the terrible consequences that can come even from sin that has been forgiven?

What promises can you claim for the victory over sin?

Why not claim them now before the sin brings its dismal consequences?

A preacher once said, Be careful what you pray for, you just might get it.

Israel had asked for and longed for a king just like the nations around them.

They got what they asked for, and so much of Israelite history after the era of the Judges was the story of how these kings corrupted themselves on the throne and as a result corrupted the nation as well.

Nevertheless, there were always exceptions, such as King Josiah, who ascended the throne in 639 BC and ruled until 608 BC.

What was the context in which the new king had come to the throne?

Second Chronicles chapter 33 verse 25 in the expanded Bible answers that question.

Then the people of the land killed, executed all those who had made plans, conspired, plotted to kill King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.

Though democracy is supposed to be rulership by the people, it generally wasn't conceived of functioning as it did in this case.

Nevertheless, the people made their will known and it was done according to their will.

The young king came to the throne at a time of great turmoil, apostasy, and violence, even at the highest level of government.

Seeing what was going on, many faithful in the land had wondered whether God's promises to ancient Israel could ever be fulfilled.

From a human point of view, the divine purpose for the chosen nation seemed almost impossible of accomplishment.

White from her book, Prophets and Kings, page 384.

The anxiety of the faithful ones was expressed in the words of the prophet Habakkuk.

In Habakkuk chapter 1, verses 2 through 4, what is the prophet Habakkuk saying?

How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?

Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence.

I'm surrounded by people who love to argue and fight.

All the World Marveled

G. Edward Reid

Omega Productions

Preparing For the Last Temptation

What I want to tell you tonight is something quite important actually, and that is for some reason God talks more about money management than any other single topic in the Bible.

Some 2, 000 verses, Kathy and I had the privilege of studying under Larry Burkett and Judy Burkett many years ago, and Larry's passed away now of course, but we have, we did with Howard and Beverly Dayton as well, and we just appreciate very much people who have studied these things out.

And I am thankful that God has blessed us with the opportunity to study as well.

So believe it or not, we're going to look at a text tonight that lets us know that everyone who leaves this earth alive at the time of the second coming will have gone through a period of time, according to the Bible, when they cannot buy or sell.

So what I'm gonna talk to you about, are you thankful that God's told us that ahead of time?

If it just came on you all of a sudden, what in the world would you do?

So we're preparing for the last big temptation.

And I'm gonna give you a few of the Bible texts that I have in mind.

Matthew 6, 19 and 20, to 19 to 21 actually, is kind of interesting because this is part of Jesus' famous mountainside sermon.

And Jesus, if you understand this amazing thing, This is right in the middle because this chapter is 5, 6, and 7 of the Sermon on the Mount, and right in the middle of it Jesus talks about the importance of our treasures.

So he says, do not store up treasures on this earth where moss and rust corrupts and thieves break in and steal.

So big question, why does God tell us not to store up treasures on this earth?

The right answer is because it's not safe here.

It's not because it's so wrong, it's just plain stupid.

But then he says, do store up treasures in heaven, doesn't he?

Where moth doesn't rust and thieves don't break in and steal, it's safe there.

So how do you store up treasures in heaven?

Kathy and I, we shop at Sun, or not shop, we bank at SunTrust Banks.

It just happens that was the bank we used in Maryland, they're original banks, and we come to Strawberry Plains, Tennessee.

Believe it or not, they have a SunTrust Bank there, so all we had to do was change our address and we're all set.

But anyway, when we go there, they have a little drive-through where if you wanna deposit a check, you can put it in this little vacuum tube and press the button and it shoots over the top into the tellers on the inside.

Does God have 1 of those vacuum tubes somewhere?

So how do we get money stored up in heaven?

You're going to find out tonight in this pretty interesting story.

I will tell you ahead of time, there's 2 ways to do it.

Help other people and help advance the cause of God, and that stores up treasures in heaven.

But How could the Bible's author and editor justify devoting twice as many verses to money than to faith and prayer combined?

How could Jesus say more about money than both heaven and hell?

Didn't he really know what was important?

So a large volume of scripture teaching on the subject of money demands our attention.

Why does God give us all this instruction on money and possessions?

With so much to be said, so much he could tell us that we really needed to know, why did Jesus, the Savior of the world, spend a full 15% of all of his recorded words on this 1 subject?

Why did Jesus say more about how we're to view and handle money and possessions about any single thing?

And the enigma deepens when we look how closely Jesus linked money to salvation.

So I'm going to close with that as well, but I want you to see this interesting story.

Well, we know that he was a chief tax collector.

Now please understand what I'm talking about here.

Early in Jesus' ministry, there was a leper along the side of the road where Jesus and the disciples were traveling.

And 1 of the guys hollered out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy upon me.

And the disciples said, Jesus, do not touch this guy.

The guy had said, if you just touch me, I would be healed and could be clean.

Wouldn't that be the yearning of your heart if you were a leper?

Now you understand this is incredible because of the stigma of leprosy in those days, the disciples told Jesus, let us tell you, if you touch that guy, your ministry is history.

It'll get back to the Pharisees and you're gonna be unclean, nothing's gonna happen from here on.

But Jesus parted through the disciples and he reached out and said I will and he touched him and he was healed instantly.

There was another time Jesus was traveling to the home of his friend Lazarus who had already died and I believe this may have been when he was going to Jairus's daughter.

But anyway I think that's what the situation was.

Big crowds were around him and he was headed that way and some lady said, I don't want to have him touch me.

Jesus stopped and asked about it and so on.

The disciples said, people are bumping you everywhere.

So you have to understand that Zacchaeus worked for the IRS.

He was either a CPA or an attorney who dressed in business clothes like I have on.

He goes into his office and looks in the Wall Street Journal and realizes with his local paper that Jesus is coming to Jericho, his hometown.

So he sets this little clock in the window, be back at 02:00 and locks the door and heads off in his suit to see Jesus.

Does everybody understand that there were no places in Palestine big enough to hold the crowds that came to see Jesus.

That's why he preached on the mountainside and from a ship and all of that.

The most amazing thing is that when he went to the main street of his town, it was packed up, just packed with people.

Kind of like Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena when the Rose Parade has come.

People spend the night there ahead of time, you know, that kind of thing.

But he said, please give way, I'm a short man.

Besides, he was somebody and he was dressed up in a suit and they said to him, you should have thought about that yesterday, we're not giving you our place.

He ran ahead, he's a grown man, not a little kid in shorts and tennis shoes, but he's a grown man in his suit, and he climbs up in a tree, because he just wanted to see Jesus.

The amazing thing about the Bible and about Jesus, when you want to see Jesus, he wants to see you too.

And this is an incredible experience because this series of miracles happened.

But Jesus walked right underneath the tree, and I'm gonna put this up here so you can see it.

He planned to pass through, he came to Zacchaeus, he looked up and he called Zacchaeus by name though they had never met.

This is incredible and this is kind of interesting because Jesus did something that I would never have done I don't think.

He said come down I'm going to your place for lunch.

Now I'm going to tell you something interesting many of you know my wife Kathy.

She is an excellent cook Whenever I called her this morning and she had invited since she had to stay at church with the children's program and so on She invited 3 of the single ladies of our church home for dinner She was setting the table ahead of time because she had planned this.

Preparing For the Lion’s Den

What I'm telling you now, I'm telling you sincerely because I love you guys and I want you to be aware of what's happening and its significance.

So, I'm going to read a statement to you that you understand is true.

You can find it in 7th volume of Bible Commentary, 976, paragraph 9.

It's also in the signs of the times, May 6, 1897.

I'm going to read this statement 2 or 3 times this afternoon.

Trial and persecution will come on all who, in obedience to the word of God, refuse to worship this false Sabbath.

Now here's the sentence I want you to remember.

Force is the last resort of every false religion.

So you can understand that ISIS and that form of Islam is not a true religion or they wouldn't have to chop people's heads off.

The same can be said about the Roman Catholic Church and the millions of people that they killed, their only crime being they wouldn't bow to the Pope.

So it's a false religion, just from the start.

Okay, what we're going to look at this afternoon is something that will give you courage and confidence.

A lot of People are scared to their wits end when they hear about persecution, but I'm gonna show you reasons why it isn't and why God will be with us.

Has God promised to be with us in difficult times?

In the words of Paul, 2 Timothy, the third chapter, all that live godly in Christ will suffer persecution.

So how does a person prepare for such treatment?

I'm going to give you about 4 real quick stories so you can understand that people have gone through some very, very difficult times in the past.

Most of you have heard the story of Marie Duran, who was 15 years old.

She was honest, generous, and very much in love.

Now you must remember that in the days that Marie Duran was living that people typically got married about that age, girls that age, voluntarily, I must add, not forced into it by someone.

At any rate, she was looking for her wedding day with great anticipation, but the day never came because she rather spent her wedding day and many days after it in the most miserable prison in all of France.

Well, Marie's family had come under suspicion for being Protestants.

When soldiers arrived looking for her brother, he was not there, so they arrested Marie instead, and she was dragged off to the dreaded tower of Constance in South France, where she was to remain in stark isolation.

At any moment she could be free, rejoin her love, and begin the life that they had dreamed of together.

Instead, she etched in small letters on the rock walls of her cell, over and over again, the words, Resist.

Resist is precisely what she did, not for a day, not a month, or even a year, but for 37 years.

Even to that day, you can visit that prison and see those words on her cell walls.

By the way, it's kind of interesting that she was finally released in December of 1767, but her father and her husband-to-be had both been executed while she was incarcerated.

Belarus is a small country, formerly part of the Soviet Union, nestled between Russia and the Ukraine.

And from the Adventist Encyclopedia, we learn that Belarus Conference is a statement that says the work came to Belarus in 1924 with the establishment of the congregation in the country or county of Brest.

1 might wonder why they actually celebrated the 100th anniversary in 2006, because 1924 is not 100 years.

But we found something very interesting from this unique story, and it is this.

To human eyes, we don't always see what God sees.

And so happens the word did begin earlier in Belarus than is known by our records.

It was only after the breakup of the Soviet Union that there was access to government documents and historians were able to find out that the government files showed there were Seventh-day Adventists in Belarus as early as 1906.

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All Teachings

08. Jeremiah: Josiah’s Reforms

48m

Preparing For the Last Temptation

45m

Preparing For the Lion’s Den

58m

Unmistakable Signs Of the End

40m

All the World Marveled

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Engage

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ACM: 3 Establishing Urban Centers of Influence

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ACM: 1 The History of City Missions in the Adventist Church

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I Will Not Rest- Isaiah 62: 1-7- Part 2

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