Imagine you hear noise that sounds like someone is building. What are they doing? Let’s come a bit closer ... It looks like they are working on the temple! In fact, they are taking all kinds of things out of the temple and they are repairing the house of God. Why are they doing that?

Josiah is a young and godly king. He ordered the builders to repair and cleanse the temple because he loves the Lord. He did not learn this from his father. His father was a very ungodly king who did not love the Lord. But Josiah does! While yet young, he sought to serve the God of Israel, the God of King David.

This was not easy because his parents did not teach him. A lot of the people around him loved idols. Since Josiah loved the Lord, he did not want other people to serve fake gods. So as king, Josiah broke down the places where the people would kneel for their idols. He even ground them to powder. He took the powder to the graves of idol worshippers and scattered it.

And now he ordered Shaphan to repair the house of the Lord. King Josiah knows he can trust his work­ers. There is Hilkiah the priest; he is throwing away bad things from the temple. But suddenly, he stops. What has he found? A scroll! He looks at it closely and discovers that it is a roll of one of the books of Moses! The Law of the Lord! Quickly he goes to show the king. The Word of God is very important to serve the Lord; through it, we know the will of the Lord. It is very sad when we don’t want to listen to God’s Word or when we forget the Word of God.

Hilkiah and other leaders stand before King Josiah and read him the scroll. Josiah listens to it. He realizes how he and his people have sinned against God. King Josiah is very sad; he breaks down and cries, fearing the worst. Too long the people have not listened to God! Too long they have served other gods. He rends his clothes to show how upset he is.

Josiah sends his servants to a prophetess named Huldah. They ask her what they need to do now. “The Lord will bring disaster upon Jerusalem,” Huldah says — but not while Josiah is king. Josiah’s heart was tender and soft toward the Lord; he humbled himself before the Lord and wanted to serve Him. Because of this, the Lord’s judgment will be delayed. King Josiah hears this and is relieved. “My people also need to know the word of the Lord,” he says. He calls the people together and the law is read. Together they make a covenant, a promise, to serve the Lord alone.

Children, King Josiah had a humble and tender heart. He loved to listen to and obey the Lord. You need such a heart, too. By nature, we only have a hard heart. We don’t want to listen to God and obey Him. We cannot make our hearts soft. But the Lord can!

Josiah studied the Word of God faithfully. One day, he read that Israel was supposed to celebrate the Passover. They had not done so for a long time ... since the days of Samuel! In the Passover, the people of Israel remembered that the Lord saved them from Egypt and set them free from slavery. They remembered this by eating a lamb, which reminded them of the lamb that was needed so that the firstborn sons would not die. This lamb points us to the real Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. Because He died on the cross, He can give us the forgiveness of sins. He can make our hearts tender and soft so that we become obedient. Children, you need the Lord Jesus Christ. Josiah knew He needed to serve the Lord, and he did so by listening to the Word of God and by celebrating the Passover, which pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you serving the Lord by trusting in and obeying the Lord Jesus Christ?

Review Questions:⤒🔗

1. How do we know that Josiah loved the Lord?
2. What does it mean to have a tender heart? Who can make your heart soft?
3. Why did Josiah want to celebrate the Passover? What did the Passover lamb point to?