Revival Stories
Revival under King Josiah in 622 B.C. (2 Chron 34-35)
Young Josiah was a young Jewish boy who became king over the nation of Judah when he was just 8 years old.The year was 640 B.C. and Josiah tragically had to witness the assassination of his father, King Amon, who had ruled over Judah for just two years. Amon had done evil in God’s eyes, worshiping all kinds of false gods. But, as bad as Amon was, his father Manasseh was far worse. When King Manasseh ruled, he enthusiastically embraced the pagan gods of the nations around him. He set up altars to these gods, sacrificed his own sons to them, and turned his back on the one true God. He led the entire nation astray and did great evil in the eyes of the Lord. Even though King Manasseh did repent later in his life, he unfortunately had set the nation of Judah on a course for disaster.
When King Josiah turned 16 years old, he started to seek after the Lord with all his heart. He walked in the ways of the ancient King David, who loved the Lord, instead of following in the steps of Amon and Manasseh. By age 20, Josiah began to use his influence to rid the land of all its pagan practices, altars, and high places. At age 26, he made a big push to repair and restore the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. As they were working, Hilkiah the high priest discovered a copy of the Book of the Law that had been lost and forgotten. It was taken to King Josiah, who read it, and tore his robes in grief. He realized that his nation had rejected God by its actions and was now under a curse and judgment from God. He sent his advisors to Hulduh the prophetess to seek what God would do next.She confirmed that indeed the nation of Judah had sinned greatly against God and would face divine punishment for its deeds. Yet, because of Josiah’s humility and responsive heart, God would delay the punishment until after he died.
Josiah gathered all the people of Judah and all his leaders together. There he read out loud from the recently recovered Book of the Law. Then he personally recommitted himself to follow the Lord, and all the people also rededicated themselves to be in covenant with God and to walk in His ways. Shortly after that, King Josiah led the nation to celebrate the greatest Passover celebration ever in the history of God’s people. After many long years of darkness and evil in Judah, revival broke out in the nation as one person humbly sought after God, the people listened for God’s voice, and the Word of God was honored once again.
QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS:
- What was Josiah’s immediate spiritual legacy from his family? How do you think he was able to break from his family tradition and pursue the Lord? What does it take for any person today to seek after revival in the Lord?
- What steps of faith did Josiah take as king to bring people back to God? How do we see God working in Josiah’s time to bring about revival among His people? What will it take for our city today to get to the place of rededicating ourselves 100% to the Lord.