Doing What Is Right in the Eyes of the Lord

Doing What Is Right in the Eyes of the Lord

2 Kings 22-23

            Today’s Scripture is two chapters long—much longer than the average reading for a devotional.  I know it—and I don’t apologize for it.  While I usually limit myself to a paragraph in my own devotional reading, I also spend time journaling on it—which is my objective for reading Scripture in the first place.  But occasionally it doesn’t hurt to break the pattern.  I urge you to read Josiah’s whole story.

            In his book, The Bible Makes Sense, Walter Brueggemann says that faithful Bible study is never neutral.  It isn’t just a matter of learning facts about a religion in order to understand it better.  I’ve taught classes in world religions, where the approach is to be as objective as possible.  In most cases the students are outsiders, looking into the unfamiliar world of an unfamiliar religion.  The objective is to learn as much as possible about the religion, while realizing that we are not likely to become practitioners.

            When we look at the sacred writings of our own religion we modify our objectivity.  Our emotional commitment to the teachings of these writings is too deep to allow us to do otherwise.  As difficult as it is to talk about someone else’s religion subjectively, it is almost impossible to talk about our own religion objectively.  We’re insiders, and that won’t change.

            The list of kings of Israel and Judah in the books of 1 and 2 Kings begins with the death of King David.  The Israel/Judah trajectory was downhill from that point.  There were some good kings, many more bad kings, and some downright horrible kings.  The history of Israel/Judah from David to the Babylonian captivity is written in mostly negative terms.

            Josiah was an exception.  He became king in Jerusalem when he was eight years old, and he reigned thirty-one years.  The sacred writer says, “And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father [ancestor], and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.” 

            When Josiah was twenty-six, he ordered the temple to be restored.  This was Solomon’s temple.  It had fallen into disrepair through neglect.  As the workmen began their restoration, Hilkiah, the high priest, found the book of the law.  Josiah was so upset when he learned how far Judah had fallen away from God’s law that he tore his clothes.  This was his immediate reaction.  His long-term reaction was to reinstitute the law for the people of Judah.

            All this happened in the 7^th century BC.  It was a reformation of the Judaic religion based on Hebrew Scripture.  Although those Scriptures as we know them would not be canonized for another few hundred years, the book of the law was enough to bring about serious reform.

            Down through the ages there have been several important reforms in Christianity.  They have invariably been based on Scripture.  A reform is a return to an earlier form of the religion, but it also involves a new way of looking at that religion.  It’s moving forward to something new by re-examining something old.  The foundation remains the same, but the interpretation is different.

            Martin Luther in the 16^th century, John Wesley in the 17^th century, The Campbells and Barton Stone in the 18^th century, and Vatican II in the 20^th century are all examples of looking back to move ahead.  In each case the reformers were inspired to look at Scripture in a way that re-established the foundation while building on it. 

Brueggemann says, “It is the function of the Scriptures to renew the church and call it to repentance.”  Perhaps it’s time to look at Scripture to see where we should move next—to find out what we must do to do right in the sight of the Lord.