Discover the profound impact of unearthing ancient truths as we journey with King Josiah through an emotional rollercoaster of spiritual rediscovery. Picture the bittersweet twist of uncovering a long-forgotten treasure - a feeling that echoes through time from the dusty scrolls of the Book of the Law in 2nd Kings 22. I, Pastor Brandon, lead you through the heart-stirring moment when the high priest Hilkiah stumbles upon the sacred text, setting off a wave of revelation and despair in the young king. His torn robes become a testament to the weight of divine instruction rediscovered, and a signal for us to heed the urgent call back to faithfulness.
In a similar vein, we embrace the full spectrum of God's mercy and goodness, pulling lessons from the awe-inspiring tale of Elisha and his servant in 2 Kings 6. As your host, I'll guide you through the haze of spiritual blindness, invoking a prayer for clarity that you might see the heavenly army surrounding us, just as Elisha's servant did upon the opening of his eyes. Let's affirm together in this heartfelt exchange the resounding truth of God's unwavering presence and protection, as we cast aside the deception of the adversary and cling to the enduring kindness found in the very word of God. Join us for this transformational message that promises to fortify your faith and enrich your spiritual walk.
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The More You Dig. The More You Find.
Discover the profound impact of unearthing ancient truths as we journey with King Josiah through an emotional rollercoaster of spiritual rediscovery. Picture the bittersweet twist of uncovering a long-forgotten treasure - a feeling that echoes through time from the dusty scrolls of the Book of the Law in 2nd Kings 22. I, Pastor Brandon, lead you through the heart-stirring moment when the high priest Hilkiah stumbles upon the sacred text, setting off a wave of revelation and despair in the young king. His torn robes become a testament to the weight of divine instruction rediscovered, and a signal for us to heed the urgent call back to faithfulness.
In a similar vein, we embrace the full spectrum of God's mercy and goodness, pulling lessons from the awe-inspiring tale of Elisha and his servant in 2 Kings 6. As your host, I'll guide you through the haze of spiritual blindness, invoking a prayer for clarity that you might see the heavenly army surrounding us, just as Elisha's servant did upon the opening of his eyes. Let's affirm together in this heartfelt exchange the resounding truth of God's unwavering presence and protection, as we cast aside the deception of the adversary and cling to the enduring kindness found in the very word of God. Join us for this transformational message that promises to fortify your faith and enrich your spiritual walk.
SOAP Bible Study Method- https://www.brandoncannon.com/soap/
Bible reading plan- http://www.experiencerlc.com/the-bible/
Free weekly newsletter- https://www.brandoncannon.com/
Social:
Facebook: https://facebook.com/thebrandoncannon
Instagram: https://instagram.com/brandoncannon
Twitter: https://twitter.com/brandoncannon
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theBrandonCannon
The More You Dig. The More You Find.
Hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today. 2nd Kings, chapter 22,. And today's title is A Bitter Sweet Easter Egg. A bitter sweet Easter egg. That is exactly what that sounds like to me. I'll explain all that in just a moment. But, as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share, subscribe to the YouTube channel, make sure you're leaving us comments. Let us know how you were engaging with God's Word on the podcast. You're always, forever going to be my favorite. Make sure you leave us a 5 star review, as always when we gather together at the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. The more we dig, the more we find, as always, if you have your Bibles. You want to open up with me to 2nd Kings, chapter 22,. Let me explain what I mean by a bitter sweet Easter egg.
Speaker 1:When I was a kid, we used to have Easter egg hunts. Well, if you're not from around where I was from, we would go out. We would hunt these Easter eggs. But this was long enough back ago, when we used to not have plastic eggs. We had the real thing. We had hard boiled eggs Once you put down the comments, if you were old enough that when you went to hunt Easter eggs, you didn't hunt plastic eggs, you hunted hard boiled eggs. They would actually use different colorings to make sure that they had different color eggs. It was just that's the way we did it back then, and it was always a bitter sweet thing because you would go and you would find the eggs but at the same time, once they were done, they were done. So you'd always get down to that last egg, that prize egg. But you didn't know what the prize was going to be. And I remember one time I was going through and was trying to find the eggs and was so excited and I found the prize egg and I didn't know what it was going to be. I was just excited, I was super, super stoked, right. Well, when we got to it. I'm a kid, so I don't know how this goes, but I'm sure now, through my adult eyes, that the person who was in charge of it, I guess maybe they just forgot the prize, and so they said guess what the prize to finding all these eggs is? You get to eat the eggs. Yay, I was like this is not a prize at all, because I don't mind hard boiled eggs, but I don't want some. That's been like out for hours and people have been hunting for them and all that whatever. So it was sweet but turned out to be kind of bitter at the same time. Well, factor that by about a million and that's what happens today.
Speaker 1:The Bible says that as Josiah begins to rule starting at eight years old, by the way that they find something in process of making everything better for the temple, and when they do it's bittersweet. So let's read this together and let's see what happens. Let's see what God's word was say to us today. You ready, here we go, the bittersweet Easter egg they find in 2 Kings, chapter 22, verse one says this Josiah was eight years old when he became king and he reigned in Jerusalem 31 years. His mother was did Adiah, the daughter of Adiah from Boschath. He did what was pleasing in the Lord's sight and followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn away from doing what was right.
Speaker 1:In the 18th year of his reign, king Josiah said say fan, the son of Azaliah, the grandson of Mesulam, the court secretary to the temple of the Lord, and he told him go to Hill Cire the high priest and have him count the money the gatekeepers have collected from the people at the Lord's temple and trust this money to the men assigned to supervise the restoration of the Lord's temple. They can use it to pay the workers to repair the temple. They will need to hire carpenters, builders and masons. Also have them by the timber and the finished stone needed to repair the temple, but don't require the construction supervisors to keep account of the money they receive, for they are honest and trustworthy men. So if you remember the guy who was king before Josiah, he was only king for just a little while, but before him was King Manasseh. Manasseh was king for 55 years and he did all kinds of horrible things in the temple of the Lord. So Josiah is like I need you to clean this place up. I need it to be fit for the king of kings and the Lord of lords again. So start cleaning it up. Well, this is what happens when they do this.
Speaker 1:Verse 8 says Hill Cire, the high priest, said to say fan, the court secretary, I have found the book of the law in the Lord's temple. Then Hill Cire gave the scroll to say fan, and he read it. Say fan went to the king and reported your officials have turned over the money collected to the temple of the Lord to the workers and supervisors at the temple. Sefan also told the king Heokaiya the priest has given me a scroll, and Sefan read it to the king. When the king heard what was written in the book of the law, he tore his clothes and despair. Then he gave these orders to Heokaiya the priest a hakem, son of Sefan, ekbor, son of Makaiya, sefan, the court secretary, and Aziah, the king's personal advisor Go to the temple and speak to the Lord for me and for the people of Aljuta, and inquire about the words written in this scroll that they have found, for the Lord's great anger is burning against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words in this scroll and they have not been doing everything it says they must do.
Speaker 1:So Heokaiya the priest, heokaiya Ekbor, sefan and Aziah went to the new quarter of Jerusalem to consult the high priest or, excuse me, to consult the prophet Holda. She was the wife of Shulam, son of Kikvah, son of Harash, the keeper of the temple wardrobe. She said to them the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken. Go back and tell the man who sent you. This is what the Lord says. I am going to bring disaster on this city and its people. All of the words written in this 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. 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, and when you heard what I said against the city and its people that this land would be cursed and become desolate you tore your clothing into spare and wept before me in repentance. And I have indeed heard you, says the Lord, and I will not send this promised disaster until after you have died and been buried in peace. You will not see the disaster I'm going to bring on this city. And so they took this message back to the king.
Speaker 1:Wow, so can you imagine the excitement at first? We found the message of the Lord, only to then read it and be terrified by what they read. Well, why is this? Well, the Bible tells us in the past couple of chapters that Manasseh. He desecrated the temple. He was actually doing paganistic worship in the temple and he was king for 55 years. And so over time, they slowly forgot about how to worship God and they lost, apparently, the true message of the Lord, because they had then made worship in the temple in their own image. And then, when they finally found what was right, they were devastated by how far off it was from God, only then to go to the Lord and the Lord speak through this prophet to say, yes, you've done bad, but I'm going to have mercy on you, josiah, because you humbled yourself when you found out.
Speaker 1:Can I tell you that's happened to me so many times in my life. So many times in my life. I just kind of get on this track and start worshiping God and doing things my own way and, without realizing it, unintentionally, I slowly let God's word be replaced with so many other things, and not like Manasseh, but actually maybe good things, but not God things and slowly but surely God's word falls into the background until finally God's word is this kind of an afterthought, because I'm so busy still worshiping, still going after God. But I began to worship God in my own way, not in his way. And then I find God's word again.
Speaker 1:I go through a season when I start to read God's word again I start to realize how far off I've fallen, how I'm not doing what God's word says. But you know what happens every time when I come to God's word. You know what I have happened in my life and maybe you could say the same. As God's word says yeah, you've been taking the wrong path, yeah, things are not going the way they should. But guess what? I'm going to have mercy on you. There's going to be some consequences. You're going to have to pay for this, that and the other. You know, because I'm a God of justice, but because you humbled yourself, I'm going to give you peace. That's one of the greatest things I love about God is God gives us his peace when we come to him. Can I tell you in your life that if you will come to God, no matter how far away, if it's just a little bit of a select, god will always have mercy on you.
Speaker 1:I don't know about you, but sometimes, when I go through dry seasons and I'm not really seeking after God the way I want to, part of the reason why sometimes it takes me a long time to get back into God's presence and get close to him again is I'm a little concerned about what he's going to say. God, I haven't been doing what I should have been doing for a while now. What are you going to say? What are you going to do? And I wonder if that's what was going on in Josiah's life. He's like man. We have fallen so far from what God wants for us. What's he going to say? Only for God to say you're right, you fell a long way from what I wanted and there's going to be some justice. There's going to be some consequences. But I am going to have mercy. Can I tell you, no matter how far you have fallen from God, in whatever area of life, god's going to have mercy on you. Just come back to him. Don't ever give up on God, because he's never going to give up on you.
Speaker 1:Is there an area of your life where you're afraid to see what God's word has to say, because you're afraid of what God may say to you about it? You know he may say that there's going to be some consequences. There's going to be some steps of justice. That's going to have to happen in your life, but there'll be no anger with it, there'll be no vengeance with it. Instead, it's the mercy of God that leads us to repentance as he draws us close to himself.
Speaker 1:I want to encourage you to never be afraid of what God's word is going to say, because it's always going to be full of mercy and full of his goodness in your life. Let's pray God. Thank you so much for your word that your word is true. So sometimes your word does speak justice to us. However, with that is always your mercy, always your goodness. I pray that we will never listen to the lie of the enemy and draw away from you, but rather we will run toward you to know that that is where true mercy is found. We thank you for that today. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen. Don't forget.
Speaker 1:God's word says in 2 Kings, chapter 6, when Elisha and a young man are surrounded by an enemy, elisha said to that young man do not be afraid, for there is more on our side than on theirs. Then Elisha prayed oh Lord, open his eyes and let him see. And the Bible says that he did. And around that small enemy army was a vast army of angels surrounding them and protecting them. My prayer for you is that God will open your eyes to see that he is for you more than you can imagine. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. For 2 Kings, chapter 23.