Hope For A Reprieve
Submitted by Frank Williams
September 30, 2024
2Ch 34:1-2 Josiah was eight years old...reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years. 2 ...he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD...walked in the ways of David his father….
Russell Dilday summarizes those days:
Momentous events were erupting around the biblical world when Josiah came to the throne in Jerusalem in 638 b.c. As the powerful influence of Assyria was waning, the savage invasion of the Scythians emerged on the horizon and lasted until 624 b.c. Finally, in 612 b.c. the capital of Assyria fell before a combined army of Scythians, Medes, and Babylonians. That paved the way for the ominous rise to world power of Babylon, whose “innocent” envoys had visited the court of Josiah’s great-grandfather (2Ki_20:12). In 627 b.c. the articulate voice of Jeremiah, reinforced by the preaching of Zephaniah and Nahum, began to be heard in Judah. While not one of these events is mentioned in this historical account of Josiah’s reign, they must have had an enormous impact on the king, both during his formative years and during the active years of his national reforms.
Evil sabers were rattling all around, but God gave Israel a brief reprieve during the reign of Josiah, prior to the Babylonian Captivity. It all started when he was sixteen. 2Ch 34:3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father....
Thankfully, even after a life of resistance and rebellion to God, one may find the wonderful Grace of God. However, it is not necessary to first be rebellious, as is evidenced in the life of King Josiah. From a young age, his life was a testimony to the Lord’s grace.
Corruption permeated all of Israel in those days, as it does in our land these days. We see it in government, in the judiciary, in churches, in cults and religions, in businesses and corporations, in sports, in movies and other forms of entertainment, in education, and in benevolent, but secret societies.
The list goes on. Much of what has been behind the scenes is becoming open and obvious. Public images are crumbling, and the reality is that leaven has spread through the whole lump.
With all the movements towards a One World Order, methinks Babylon riseth again.
But perhaps, we may have a reprieve in America. Israel’s revival, brief as it was, started when a young, godly leader discovered God’s Word and sought the Lord. It spread from the individual to the nation.
2Ch 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
