2024_06_07 Insight Post- Jenny Herzog
This week’s reading- 2 Kings 22:1, 2 Chronicles 34-35
This week’s reading shows us the power of God’s word to transform one person and an entire nation. When Josiah became king, people were entrenched in worshipping pagan idols. His father and grandfather were pure evil and led the nation down a dark path. For decades, people had neglected to read God’s Word. Josiah broke that cycle and sought after God. He wanted to “do what was right in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 22:2), but the only knowledge he had of what God wanted was based on what people had told him.
All that changed when the “Book of the Law” was found during Josiah’s reign. He was finally able to hear the actual words of God. (Most scholars agree that this “Book of the Law” was Deuteronomy.) Josiah had the book read aloud, and his response is incredible. He tore his robes, a symbolic way to show his grief for the sin of his people. He immediately understood just how far they had strayed from God’s path. He wept, repented, and made a covenant to keep God’s commandments. He made a passionate, unswerving commitment to obey “with all his heart and soul” (2 Kings 23:3). Another verse says his “heart was responsive” (2 Chron 34:27).
Then he set about redirecting the hearts of his people. “He had everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin pledge themselves to [God’s covenant].” (2 Chron 34:32) He thoroughly destroyed every idol and remnant of other gods and ensured the temple was restored for worship. Then he reinstated the Passover celebration, generously providing 30,000 lambs for the offering. As a king, Josiah turned the people of Israel back to God. This radical transformation happened as a direct result of reading God’s Word.
I don’t know about you, but I want to have that kind of awe for Scripture and obedience to its teachings. I confess that I take access to God’s Word for granted most of the time. How many Bibles do you have around the house? Are they collecting dust? It wasn’t until I saw how much my friends in Uganda treasured a Bible that I realized what I was taking for granted. A few years ago, I raised money to buy 300 Bibles for the people in Bunyinza, the village New Hope sponsors. I was so excited the day we were handing them out, but I was not prepared for the villagers’ reaction. Some of them cried. Others kneeled and praised God. All of them expressed their heartfelt gratitude. To have a Bible they could take home was very special. (I learned that in most villages, only the Pastor had a Bible.) It was a humbling and inspiring experience I will never forget.
As I read Josiah’s story, I was reminded that my friend, Tom Eggum (who is speaking this weekend), also understands the power of God’s Word. In college, he read about the struggles faced by those in the Soviet Union who suffered silently behind the Iron Curtain. He decided to take matters into his own hands and began smuggling suitcases full of Bibles into the Soviet Union. In 1981, he was caught, arrested, and blacklisted by the KGB. Tom took a huge risk to get the Word into the hands of the people, and they took an equally huge risk by keeping and studying the Bible. They understood that God’s Word is the “bread of life.”
My prayer is that we all value the Word like Josiah did and use it to transform our lives for God’s glory.
Jenny Herzog
New Hope Leadership Team Member & Elementary Classroom Leader