2 Kings 23:16-20
And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things. Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.” And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria. And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel. And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
Tag: Don’t Destroy without Regard for Values of the Past
The above passage is taken right out of the middle of the record of King Josiah’s reforms in Jerusalem. Josiah had discovered a copy of the Law and saw that his father and the kings before him had corrupted the kingdom. Josiah was bent on reforming the kingdom according to God’s Word. Chapter 23, in particular, records the destruction of all things wicked that were established in the Kingdom. In archetype language this is called the Destroyer Archetype: The ability to move away from things that is not profitable. However, as the above passage shows, in his destruction, the king comes across something that causes him to pause. He sees the memorial of a tomb in front of him and rather than simply destroy it, he asks about it. When he learns the meaning behind it, he leaves it and destroyers the corrupt things around it. Josiah saw that this memorial has “value” according to God’s Word and does not destroy it. In the aspect of “purging” the old, this is a great lesson. Holding onto what we “value” is just as important as discarding what is not profitable, when we are in a “out with the old and in with the new” mindset. Josiah used God’s Word to determine what should go “out” and what should stay “in.” The Destroyer has to recoginze what is still valuable. Holding on to what we value is called the Lover Archetype. So, when Destroyer is in action it must still remember Lover. We remove what God’s Word says to remove (Destroyer) and we hold onto and honor what God’s Word tells us to honor (Lover). That is how real sanctification works.
No comments:
Post a Comment