2 Chronicles 34:31 (ESV)
And the king stood in his place 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 perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.
The above passage is a commentary on the commitment of King Josiah. He took the leadership of Israel when he was just eight years old. At 16 years of age and then again at 20, he begin to lead the nation in spiritual reforms. During those reforms they found the Book of the Law while cleaning out the Temple. What was Josiah’s response?
2 Chronicles 34:19 (ESV)
And when the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes.
In the above passage we see further Josiah’s commitment to obey God and to carry out the words of the Law. The covenant he made with God had three elements:
1. It was made in a public setting. Josiah was not about to be a silent majority or a closet believer. He “stood” in front of the entire Kingdom and proclaimed his allegiance to God.
2. The covenant was with the LORD. It was not a covenant with man. It was not a covenant for others. It was made between him and Yahweh. Josiah was committing his life to God and made a covenant to honor God.
3. The covenant was to keep God’s Word. He as not making a covenant to simply be a good king. Josiah was willing to put his life under the authority of God’s Word. It was commuting to obey God’s Word himself and to carry it out in his leadership and throughout the kingdom.
Josiah will later have a sacrifice in the Temple that was the greatest sacrifice of all kings all the way back to the times of Samuel. How was this possible? Because he made a covenant to obey God’s Word today that would be carried out tomorrow.
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