By Dennis Petersen

Did you ever discover something you didn’t know that made a big change in your life?

Have you ever heard of a boy named Josiah?

He lived over 2600 years ago.  He was only 8 years old when his extremely evil father (King Amon of Judah) was assassinated in his own house by his royal servants after only 2 years of being king of Judah.  Amon had followed in the grossly sinful footsteps of Josiah’s grandfather, King Manasseh. During his 55-year reign, Manasseh seduced a whole generation of God’s people to do more evil than the idol-worshipping Canaanites that the LORD destroyed by Israel’s armies in prior generations. Despite the 29-year flourishing of their people under Manasseh’s father, King Hezekiah, the people of Judah under Manasseh, followed his evil abominations to do more wickedly than God’s wicked enemies, the Amorites. They followed after immorality and idolatry that secularized the people of Israel under false gods. (2 Kings 21:2, 9, 11).

You may think that, with that background, 8-year-old Josiah had a slim chance of success as king… especially, since his godly great grandfather, Hezekiah, was gone years before Josiah was born.  But young Josiah had some good Godly advisors… and he apparently had a heart to seek after the LORD.  The Bible describes him from the start as one who “did right in the sight of the Lord”… walking in all the ways of his ancestor, King David (1 Kings 22:2). After 18 years, when Josiah was 26 years old, the high priest of Israel (Hilkiah) discovered in the Jerusalem temple what some believe, was the only remaining copy of the “lost book of the law” – the Torah.  He brought it to King Josiah while repairing the damages of the neglected temple in Jerusalem.

When the high priest (Hilkiah) brought the book to King Josiah, he had a scribe read it aloud. Nobody had heard God’s word read aloud anywhere for years. The scroll of God’s book had been lost for decades. But the message of the holy writings (Deut. 28-30 particularly) had a deep impact on the 26-year-old king. He was so humbled and repentant for the sins of his father and his nation that he tore his clothes in sorrow and shame. It was clearly one of those public moments where the Holy Spirit of God, through His Word, profoundly impacted the hearts of hearers, especially the king.  He demonstrated gratitude, reverence, and tenderness towards the truths of Scripture that had been hidden for so long.

You may be young… you may be old… you may be out of touch with God, but think of the advantages you have over Josiah.  He had no access to God’s word for his entire life, but our generation is filled with endless ways to read, hear and study the Scriptures. Do we take the wisdom of Scripture for granted?  Or do we honor the Bible with enough respect and sincere gratitude to at least give time to hearing it being read?

We can leave the Scriptures untouched for years on a shelf, waiting for some future Josiah to find it and dust it off.  Or we can search out and find the hidden truths of God’s Word and dust them off for our generation. Josiah’s actions led the way for a brief generation of peace and a 30-year reprieve of judgment.  It was energized with a surprising, humble gratitude for God’s treasured gift to His people – His Word.

After hearing the Word of God read from the book of Deuteronomy in the Torah, King Josiah commanded the high priest (Hilkiah) saying…

“Go to the Temple and speak to the LORD for me and for the people and for all Judah. Inquire about the words written in this scroll that has been found. For the LORD’s great anger is burning against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words in this scroll. We have not been doing everything it says we must do.” (1 Ki 22:13)

Now remember… those days were a lot different than our days.  The Holy Spirit had not been “poured out” as prophesied by Joel and recorded by Dr Luke in the book of Acts (Joel 2:29, Acts 2:17, 18). Since then, all mankind can enjoy the prophetic insights of dialoging with God and receiving the ‘revelation’ of His truth on a personal level. In those days, only the temple priests had the privilege of inquiring for answers from God about what God’s people should do. They depended on the priests to be their faithfully teaching intermediaries between mere humans and God.  And His presence was manifested perpetually over the ark of the covenant in the most holy place of God’s temple in Jerusalem. We tend to forget about how dramatically things changed when Jesus – God’s Redeemer – fulfilled the spiritual ‘shadows’ of the old covenant.

So, Hilkiah the high priest, went with a delegation of others in Jerusalem to consult with the prophetess Huldah, the wife of Shallum, the keeper of the Temple wardrobe.  Imagine that! God raised up a godly woman who was merely the wife of a servant on the temple staff …and she became known by men of the esteemed priesthood as one who could actually hear from God. Her answer to Hilkiah to take to the king was clearly prophetic. She said to them (2 Ki 22:15),

“The LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken! Go back and tell the man who sent you (i.e. the king – Josiah), ‘This is what the LORD says: I am going to bring disaster on this city and its people. All the words written in the scroll that the king of Judah has read will come true. For my people have abandoned me and offered sacrifices to pagan gods, and I am very angry with them for everything they have done. My anger will burn against this place, and it will not be quenched.’

Now that doesn’t sound like a very encouraging “word from the Lord, does it”?  But Huldah the prophetess went on, saying…

“But go to the king of Judah who sent you to seek the LORD and tell him: ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says concerning the message you have just heard: You were sorry and humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I said against this city and its people—that this land would be cursed and become desolate. You tore your clothing in despair and wept before me in repentance. And I have indeed heard you, says the LORD. So, I will not send the promised disaster until after you have died and been buried in peace. You will not see the disaster I am going to bring on this city’” (2 Kings 22:18, 19, 20).

If there’s one thing we can learn from this historic turning point in the history of God’s people… do you think it might be that God is indescribably merciful to the one who is humble… to the one who openly confesses his complete dependency on God for grace to help in times of need?

Amazingly, young King Josiah, soon after his 26^th birthday gathered all the elders of Judah in Jerusalem to read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant (the Torah of Moses) which was found in the neglected temple of the LORD. This wasn’t just some sort of ritual religious ceremony. It was a profound public act of national repentance.

The Bible records that…

“The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant” (2 Ki 23:3).

The integrity of King Josiah’s promise to lead his people to obediently comply with God’s covenant, was followed by immediate action.  After the ways of God, recorded in the Torah were brought to the attention of all the people of the land in a public declaration, King Josiah ordered the high priest to remove and destroy all the objects of Baal worship in the country.  He did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the two previous kings over the course of 57 years. Think of it… That’s like removing all the evil, anti-God, secularist bureaucrats from public office in today’s nations. He even tore down the houses of the male cult prostitutes where women were weaving some kind of tent-like coverings used in grossly degrading and immoral pagan practices (2 Ki 23:4-7). 

Then King Josiah tore down all the depraved, idol-worshipping high places across Judah, outside of Jerusalem.  He even managed to tear down some of the deviant shrines of pagan perversion north of Judah in Samaria. This would be like shutting down all the porn shops and human trafficking dens across the nation. This was social reform on a scale never seen in the four hundred years since the time of King David.

And then King Josiah commanded all the people to celebrate the Passover which had been forgotten for more than a generation. Scripture records it this way…

“Surely such a Passover had not been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah” (2 Ki 23:22).

Josiah even “removed the mediums, and the soothsayers, and the household gods, and the idols, and all the repulsive things that were seen in Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he might fulfill the words of the law written in the book which Hilkiah the priest found in the temple of the LORD.”

The Bible tells us that “Before him there was no king like Josiah, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and all his soul and all his might, in accordance with all the Law of Moses; nor did anyone like him arise after him” (2 Ki 23:24-25).

The powerful influence over a society by one bold and humble leader is truly revolutionary.  It can even divert God’s righteous judgment of a nation’s evil for a season. Josiah’s generation enjoyed a brief season of revival, but as more years passed by… Josiah’s successors continued the nation’s decline into eventual captivity into Babylon.

We’re living in a different time… a time with some ominous similarities in the unbelievable degrees of evil that are being exposed in our own society by bold actions of the newly elected federal administration of Donald Trump. But ours is a time of some glaring differences, most notably, the reality of Christ’s great commission and the out-pouring of His Holy Spirit to manifest the kingdom of God, expressed through the bold humility of the remnant of overcoming followers of Yahweh’s Anointed Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.

I read a verse in the Psalms that gave me a whole new slant on a word that I didn’t really understand very well. 

“The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.” (Psalm 25:9). 

Could it be that meekness includes a big dose of “teachability?”  let me read that again.

         “the meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.”

Do we really desire to have wise judgment? Do we really want to know God’s imminent directions for our life?

Who was the meekest man who ever lived?  The Bible tells us in Numbers 12:3 that:

“… the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” 

After 40 years herding sheep in the wilderness of Midian, Moses was called to leadership at the age of 80 to learn a whole lot about the ways of God, wasn’t he?

Think of the powerful importance of meekness as a quality that’s growing in your life.  Like Paul tells us in Romans, you’re being ‘transformed’ by the renewing of your mind… you’re being teachable as you hear a few verses about being meek.

Do you remember what Jesus read in the Nazareth synagogue from the scroll of Isaiah at the start of his public ministry?

 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek…” Isaiah 61:1

And then I discovered that the Biblical word for meek is derived from the same word as Humility.  For example… It appears in:

Proverbs 15:33  “The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honor is humility.”

Proverb 22:4  “By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honor and life.

And then I found this interesting insight in Zephaniah 2:3. 

“Seek the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.”

If meekness and humility are defining terms of those who are teachable, coachable and willing to change their misguided preconceptions, does it make better sense than ever when you hear …

 “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Psalm 37:11 

So, whatever we may have had in our concept of meekness, do you think it might be a good idea to realize that meekness includes an open-minded, open-hearted attitude of child-like teachability?  Afterall, no matter how gentle, or loving, or thoughtful you are in your relationships with people, you still have to give yourself to learning new things if you’re going to achieve the results we’ve been seeing in God’s Word – like riches and honor and vitality (life) and inheritance and abundant peace.

“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” James 4:6-10

Have you considered Jesus as a learner?  Even if we cannot fully comprehend the reality of Jesus being fully God and fully human, we know scripture says He “increased in wisdom…” That’s right, Jesus learned things. At age 12 He spent time in the temple with theologians doing what?  He was “both hearing them, and asking them questions.”  He couldn’t have said it any plainer when Jesus

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am gentle and humble in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Matt. 11:29

He was learning because He was teachable, and He was teachable because He was humble.

Now… think about Godly boldness, not as a personality trait, but as a fruit of the Spirit. Solomon declared in the Proverbs of the Bible…

“…the righteous are as bold as a lion.” (Proverbs 28:1)

Who are “the righteous?”  They are believers who have a conscious and accurate assessment of themselves and they therefore walk in the light—humbly before God. They know that their righteous behavior is a result of their humility to give God the credit for any good that they are enabled to do. They see the difference between personally trying to act out a strained obedience to being righteous… and allowing God’s righteousness to naturally produce fruits of righteousness that come from being tapped into the life-giving ability of “dwelling in the secret place of the most high” (Psalm 91:1).

Isaiah tells us… “The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.” (Isa 32:17)

Genuine humility makes people bold, and their authentic boldness carries with it a sense of God’s authority.

Isn’t it interesting how our boldness is increased when our knowledge and understanding is increased?  If that knowledge is worldly then our boldness tends to be arrogant, but if it is Godly, then that boldness tends to be humble.  Consider Paul’s encouragement.  In Ephesians 3 he says: “in Christ Jesus our Lord…we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him” (Eph 3:12).  Then in Philippians 4 he confidently proclaims that: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13). Now that’s a bold statement, isn’t it?

Also, I discovered that when people reveal their prevailing demeanor is dominated by fear, it’s typically coupled with a lack of understanding and knowledge that would otherwise give them confidence and boldness in situations where a spirit of fear seems to rule.  If natural knowledge can give a natural man or woman confidence in matters where others have needless fears because of a lack of knowledge, just think how God-given spiritual knowledge can help a spiritually minded person overcome the fears and anxieties where God’s wisdom and insights are lacking!

Can you think of a time when many people around you made poor, costly, or even dangerous choices because they were motivated by fear about things where they had a serious lack of knowledge… and at the same time they were subjected to strongly persuasive voices to make decisions that turned out to be harmful to them?

This is where curiosity and a good dose of healthy skepticism is useful for anybody who wants to know the truth that will set them free.  It starts with humility… with meekness… the kind of meekness that dares to dig deeper and be teachable by those who highly esteem truth …and are not corrupted by anything that would be considered “a bribe.”

Don’t forget… Jesus never said “the truth will set you free!”  That’s right.  Like a lot of other Scriptures, that fragment of a verse is often taken completely out of context. How can people be governed by an unhealthy and debilitating fear when they believe in Jesus and know at least some of the rudiments of their faith in “the truth?” 

Go back to the Scripture in John 8.  The whole passage of chapter 8 is filled with profound lessons for anyone willing to not just read it, but to ponder it, and let the Holy Spirit open up its treasure to you.  Let’s read it together starting at verse 31.

‘Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).

Do you see the truth here?  You might have a perfectly good electric lamp with a brand-new light bulb installed in it… but if it’s not plugged in… you’re not going to have any light from it are you?

Having… or even knowing “the truth” is one thing… personally abiding in the One Who is the source of all truth is truly the cause of nothing less than the freedom that the meek and teachable person will joyfully experience.

What should the truths of the Bible remind us… to keep us humble, meek, teachable?  As we’re hopefully progressing in our journey toward pleasing God and growing in grace, the words of Scripture remind us daily of our need for God’s saving and sustaining grace.  Only the transforming power of the Gospel can equip us to be both humble and bold.

As followers of Jesus, and as our Heavenly Father’s faithful children, we should automatically reflect the quality of humble boldness.  As Paul says in II Corinthians 3:12, “Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.”

Paul also tells us to be humble in Ephesians 4:2, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”

Can one be humble and bold at the same time? These virtues can come together when we are walking daily with the awareness that God is guiding our life.  Without humility we tend to be arrogant.  Having humility without boldness tends to keep us in timidity, preventing us from confidently bringing others to Christ.

“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”  Micah 6:8

God’s prayer book, the book of Psalms, is loaded with many prayers that exemplify teachable and bold meekness. Many of them were penned by the ‘man after God’s heart’ – King David. In case you haven’t read it in a while, let’s make Psalm 139 our prayer together right now…

A Psalm of David.

1 O LORD, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. 7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. 13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. 19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! 20 They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain. 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Psalm 139

I trust this little discovery of God’s providential intervention in the life of a royally born little boy named Josiah will serve to inspire your own deeper discovery of what it means to be meek, like your Lord and Savior, the one whose name means salvation – Yeshua.  

Some extra resources you might like to see…

You Have to See This! Josiah – The Youngest King and the Greatest King of Israel | Bible Stories  Black and White Bible  https://youtu.be/oiqfAY9tXYI?si=LSf1nNSx8hVfiovz

A history drama produced by the LDS is only 12 minutes and well done…