The King Is Dead (2 Chronicles 35:20-27)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:06.240 We are getting very close now to the end of second chronicles, to night. 2 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:11.189 We're in second chronicles, Chapter Thirty Five, Verses Twenty through twenty seven, 3 00:00:11.230 --> 00:00:18.510 and this will end the chronicler's account of King Josiah. So second chronicles 4 00:00:18.589 --> 00:00:25.179 thirty five, verse twenty. After all this, when Josiah had prepared the 5 00:00:25.300 --> 00:00:31.739 temple, NECO, King of Egypt, went up to fight at carchemish on 6 00:00:31.820 --> 00:00:37.329 the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to meet him, but he sent envoys 7 00:00:37.369 --> 00:00:40.689 to him, saying, what have we to do with each other, King 8 00:00:40.810 --> 00:00:44.929 of Judah, I am not coming against you this day, but against the 9 00:00:45.009 --> 00:00:49.929 House with which I am at war, and God has commanded me to hurry 10 00:00:50.679 --> 00:00:56.520 see supposing God who is with me, lest he destroy you. Nevertheless, 11 00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:00.200 Josiah did not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to fight 12 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:04.670 with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth 13 00:01:04.709 --> 00:01:10.549 of God, but came to fight in the playing of Meguido, and the 14 00:01:10.670 --> 00:01:15.390 archers shot King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, take me 15 00:01:15.510 --> 00:01:19.579 away, for I am badly wounded. So the servants took him out of 16 00:01:19.620 --> 00:01:23.980 the chariot and carried him in his second chariot and brought him to Jerus Salem, 17 00:01:25.939 --> 00:01:30.180 and he died and was buried in the tombs of his father's all Judah 18 00:01:30.219 --> 00:01:37.530 and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. Jeremiah also uttered a lament for Josiah, and 19 00:01:37.730 --> 00:01:42.209 all the singing men and singing women have spoken of Josiah in their laments to 20 00:01:42.329 --> 00:01:48.359 this day. They have made these a rule in Israel. Behold, they 21 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:52.959 are written in the laments. Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and 22 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:56.159 his good deeds, according to what is written in the law of the Lord 23 00:01:56.760 --> 00:02:00.280 and his acts. First and last, behold, they are written in the 24 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:05.549 book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. My God bless his word to 25 00:02:05.629 --> 00:02:17.379 us. Well here as we have the final account of King Josiah, we 26 00:02:17.699 --> 00:02:23.139 are told, at the end of this at the end of the account. 27 00:02:23.300 --> 00:02:30.530 Here I'm how significant this death was. Very significant. It put Israel into 28 00:02:31.129 --> 00:02:38.169 a national mourning, and not just for a time. We read he died 29 00:02:38.250 --> 00:02:43.009 and was buried in the tombs of his father's Judah and Jerusalem. All Judah 30 00:02:43.009 --> 00:02:49.360 and Jerusalem mourned for him. Jeremiah mourned for him, all the singing men 31 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:53.919 and singing women have spoken of Josiah and their laments to this day. The 32 00:02:54.039 --> 00:03:00.590 author rites. In fact, they made them a rule in Israel. The 33 00:03:01.310 --> 00:03:10.469 English annotations, the kind of compilation of various Bible commentaries that the Westminster divines 34 00:03:10.550 --> 00:03:16.539 put together on, pointed this out. They talked about how this is a 35 00:03:16.620 --> 00:03:23.780 significant thing. Is the people of lament even in common lamentations, even as 36 00:03:24.180 --> 00:03:30.050 their own family members died. We see the significance of this death and that 37 00:03:30.569 --> 00:03:34.729 it becomes a rule in Israel that when people die, when there is mourning, 38 00:03:34.849 --> 00:03:39.449 that Josiah is mourned along with them. I can't, perhaps you can, 39 00:03:39.569 --> 00:03:45.000 but I can't really think of anything even really similar to that, where 40 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:51.120 a public event like that becomes so big, this political event in a way 41 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:55.150 is so important, so monumental, that it touches on the lives of every 42 00:03:55.229 --> 00:04:03.909 single person in the way that they mourn they're dead. I want to think 43 00:04:03.990 --> 00:04:10.900 with you tonight about why that is. Why would the mourning of Josiah be 44 00:04:11.060 --> 00:04:15.819 codified into some kind of rule and practice of the people? What was so 45 00:04:16.939 --> 00:04:27.329 sad about Josiah's fall? Well, first, it always hurts when someone falls. 46 00:04:27.730 --> 00:04:31.810 That is great. When someone who has reached such a high place, 47 00:04:32.009 --> 00:04:39.600 falls down sort of hurts extra hard. And Josiah was one of the greats. 48 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:44.720 As we've been going through his history, as we near the end of 49 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:49.480 the chroniclers history, indeed this is the next to the last chapter of the 50 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:58.110 end of the book, we have seen this crescendo of goodness coming towards the 51 00:04:58.189 --> 00:05:03.790 end. Higher and Higher Josiah's righteousness is proclaimed, we see all of the 52 00:05:03.910 --> 00:05:10.819 ways in which he's exercising Godly kingship and in fact, in some versions of 53 00:05:10.899 --> 00:05:15.540 the cannon chronicles is placed at the very end of the Old Testament, which 54 00:05:15.540 --> 00:05:17.620 in that case would mean that the next of the last book of the Bible 55 00:05:18.139 --> 00:05:25.610 is moving forward, forward in this proclamation of Great King Josiah, only to 56 00:05:25.889 --> 00:05:32.170 fall right as it's almost over. The account of Josiah was such a hopeful 57 00:05:32.250 --> 00:05:39.879 one throughout is throughout the the history. Here we've read that certain blessings came 58 00:05:40.040 --> 00:05:45.639 down upon Israel that hadn't been there since the time of David. In fact, 59 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:48.040 earlier in this chapter we read that not since the time of Samuel, 60 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:55.430 even before David, had such a great Passover been held. If you remember. 61 00:05:55.470 --> 00:06:00.589 At every single level we have seen Josiah succeed as a king under God. 62 00:06:00.790 --> 00:06:04.819 Is this vice regents under the Lord. He has kept his people well, 63 00:06:05.420 --> 00:06:12.180 military success, peace, true worship, order, prosperity, the rule 64 00:06:12.259 --> 00:06:17.610 of God's laws, generosity. Where other kings had fallen into temptation and too 65 00:06:17.649 --> 00:06:25.129 danger and to fear and to pride, Josiah has been wise and pious and 66 00:06:25.370 --> 00:06:32.639 brave. Then we have what is presented as this bone head move right at 67 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:39.560 the end of his kingship, at the end of the story. What happens? 68 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:45.959 Well, he hears that the King of Egypt, NECO, is going 69 00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:49.709 out to fight a battle. This king is no threat to Josiah, but 70 00:06:49.870 --> 00:06:57.470 for some reason Josiah thinks he needs to join the fight. It doesn't really 71 00:06:57.470 --> 00:07:01.699 say they're are various likely reasons. Maybe he wanted to curry favor with Egypt 72 00:07:01.740 --> 00:07:08.420 or curry favor with Assyria, maybe he wanted to push back the Babylonians, 73 00:07:09.740 --> 00:07:13.459 maybe all three, maybe something else to get all together. But what we 74 00:07:13.620 --> 00:07:17.689 know is that he should have known better. How do we know that? 75 00:07:19.290 --> 00:07:25.449 Well, first the King of Egypt appeals to Josiah in what is just common 76 00:07:25.649 --> 00:07:30.120 sense. Sat your fight, Dude. I am not going to battle with 77 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:35.600 you go home, I'm going to war with someone else. This isn't this 78 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:42.680 isn't for you. Back off, he says. And then NECO strengthens his 79 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:48.829 argument even further. He tells Josiah that this is from the Lord. I 80 00:07:48.949 --> 00:07:53.870 am not coming against you this day, but against the house at which I 81 00:07:53.949 --> 00:07:58.389 am with which I am at war, and God has commanded me to hurry 82 00:07:58.620 --> 00:08:01.939 see, supposing God, who is with you or with me, lest he 83 00:08:03.139 --> 00:08:07.740 destroy you. And nevertheless, Josiah did not turn away. And, as 84 00:08:07.860 --> 00:08:13.649 we continue to read, the chronicler tells us this isn't just King Necho's blustering. 85 00:08:13.250 --> 00:08:18.889 He says, no, he did not listen to the words of Neco 86 00:08:18.410 --> 00:08:24.490 from the mouth of God. Josiah should have listened. He was warned, 87 00:08:24.689 --> 00:08:33.159 he was told. I let me pause for just a moment. I don't 88 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:35.799 want you to be alarmed at this fact that God is speaking through the King 89 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:41.149 of Egypt. We have many examples of God speaking to and through those who 90 00:08:41.149 --> 00:08:48.230 are outside of Israel. King Abimelek spoke to Abraham having been told by God 91 00:08:48.350 --> 00:08:52.190 some things in a dream. And second chronicles to you might remember that Hiram, 92 00:08:52.230 --> 00:08:56.820 the king of Tire, speaks to Solomon. There's the wise men who 93 00:08:58.139 --> 00:09:03.340 visited Jesus. You may even remember that Matthew tells us in Chapter Twenty seven 94 00:09:03.460 --> 00:09:09.220 that pilots wife was warned in a dream to and she told her husband leave 95 00:09:09.299 --> 00:09:13.529 Jesus alone. Says, have nothing to do with that righteous man, for 96 00:09:13.610 --> 00:09:16.889 I have suffered much of him because of him. Today, in a dream, 97 00:09:20.450 --> 00:09:26.159 God is perfectly capable of using whatever source he wants to use to communicate. 98 00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:33.799 Our job is to listen, and so NECO warns him. But Josiah 99 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:39.190 doesn't listen and as a result of not heeding this general revelation or common sense 100 00:09:39.669 --> 00:09:48.870 or the special revelation, this direct command of God, Josiah falls as an 101 00:09:48.909 --> 00:09:54.580 Arrow strikes him. Indeed, he even dies. The mighty, the great, 102 00:09:54.779 --> 00:10:03.980 the Holy King Josiah falls dead in the middle of his sinning. This 103 00:10:03.980 --> 00:10:09.129 is the end of King Josiah's reign. This is the end of chronicles and 104 00:10:09.289 --> 00:10:13.009 the next chapter and chapter thirty six. It's of race to the bottom, 105 00:10:13.809 --> 00:10:20.639 as we'll see next times for kings. One after another, we see the 106 00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:30.960 structure and the of the Kingdom here in Israel falling apart. Whatever good might 107 00:10:31.080 --> 00:10:37.389 have been obtained, obtained by Josiah. It wasn't lasting. Josiah couldn't sustain 108 00:10:37.750 --> 00:10:45.590 obedience and his kingly rule under God. So that's one reason Josiah's death is 109 00:10:45.669 --> 00:10:52.419 so sad. The height from which he falls. Another reason that his death 110 00:10:52.620 --> 00:10:58.019 gets codified into the mourning of Israel is not just the height from which he 111 00:10:58.220 --> 00:11:03.690 falls, but the depth to which he reaches. What do I mean? 112 00:11:07.370 --> 00:11:09.610 When you tell a story? A lot of times, the things that use, 113 00:11:09.730 --> 00:11:13.769 maybe all the time, the things that you say beforehand have a lot 114 00:11:13.929 --> 00:11:20.480 to say about what happens next. Next, let me give you a example, 115 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:26.080 very simple example. Story of the three pigs. Right, he often 116 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:30.720 he puffed and he blew the house down. You know the story and the 117 00:11:30.759 --> 00:11:33.789 story of the three pigs. The first pig builds his house out of Straw 118 00:11:35.870 --> 00:11:39.269 and it fails. The Wolf comes, the house gets blown down, the 119 00:11:39.389 --> 00:11:43.029 pig in, depending on the story, either gets eaten or he runs away 120 00:11:43.029 --> 00:11:46.070 to another house. Second Brother, same thing. Right, he builds his 121 00:11:46.139 --> 00:11:50.980 house out of Straw or sticks. Same thing happens. The Wolf comes, 122 00:11:50.100 --> 00:11:54.580 the Predator comes and he's either eating or he flees, depending on the story. 123 00:11:56.700 --> 00:12:01.059 But in the last house, the this this final third pig brother, 124 00:12:01.220 --> 00:12:07.730 he builds his house out of bricks and he is strong against his enemy and 125 00:12:07.129 --> 00:12:16.320 survives the day. Now the significance of that third little pig is very we 126 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:22.000 understand the waitiness right, more so having seen the actions of the first two 127 00:12:22.039 --> 00:12:28.879 pigs. There's a contrast that happens there. The foolishness of the first and 128 00:12:30.029 --> 00:12:35.669 second pigs help us to understand the wisdom of the third pig. His wisdom 129 00:12:35.870 --> 00:12:39.830 and planning ahead, his wisdom and not being lazy and whatever else the the 130 00:12:41.149 --> 00:12:46.100 depending on how the story is framed, his victory over the wolf wouldn't be 131 00:12:46.139 --> 00:12:52.899 as remarkable ride if it weren't for the foolishness of his brothers. But what 132 00:12:52.059 --> 00:12:58.299 if the story was different? What if, after building a wonderful house, 133 00:12:58.889 --> 00:13:03.090 the third little pig decided to go camping? He's decided to go out into 134 00:13:03.450 --> 00:13:09.289 wolfpack forest and leave the fly of his tent open. His foolishness is now 135 00:13:09.409 --> 00:13:13.279 not only his own, but remember, it's based on what's come before him. 136 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:20.759 And that's what's happening with Josiah here. Let me ask you, if 137 00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:26.600 you've been with us through this long series, through chronicles, did something about 138 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:33.149 this death sound a little familiar? It should, because there's another king that 139 00:13:33.350 --> 00:13:39.269 went to an ill conceived battle where at the skies was involved, and Archer 140 00:13:39.350 --> 00:13:45.860 shoots an Arrow. There are these tragic words I am wounded and the king 141 00:13:46.019 --> 00:13:54.179 falls down into a chariot. I'm speaking of King Ahab and second chronicles eighteen. 142 00:13:56.049 --> 00:14:01.049 Now the parallels between these two things are no accident. That's the point. 143 00:14:01.409 --> 00:14:07.169 The chronicler is chronicling the events. He's inspired by the Holy Spirit and 144 00:14:07.450 --> 00:14:13.879 wants us to make these kinds of connections. The providence of God is clearly 145 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:20.759 at play, not only in the events on the ground, on the battlefield, 146 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:26.909 but in the assembling of this book and of the Cannon, the writing 147 00:14:26.990 --> 00:14:31.830 of it, and in both events in Ahab's life and in Josiah's life it. 148 00:14:31.950 --> 00:14:41.620 It becomes very clear that the mighty fall because God is mightier Josiah in 149 00:14:41.779 --> 00:14:48.299 his lat that that Josiah, in his last act would become like King Ahab, 150 00:14:48.779 --> 00:14:52.009 one of the best kings of Israel, becoming like one of the worst 151 00:14:52.049 --> 00:15:01.210 kings of Israel, is mournful. It's a testimony to the sad fact that 152 00:15:01.450 --> 00:15:09.000 no human king who has been touched by sin can sustain the Kingdom of God. 153 00:15:11.799 --> 00:15:16.360 Commenting on Psalm forty five. Martin Luther put it this way. Even 154 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:22.070 the greatest kings from the beginning of the world have not governed their well realms 155 00:15:22.190 --> 00:15:30.590 without great errors and injustices. This is intended to make you realize that it 156 00:15:30.909 --> 00:15:37.620 is impossible to govern an earthly Commonwealth without sin. And what's true of a 157 00:15:37.779 --> 00:15:46.340 Commonwealth is also true of a common person. What's true of Josiah is true 158 00:15:46.740 --> 00:15:50.690 of you, it's true of me, it's true of every one of us 159 00:15:50.690 --> 00:15:56.850 who has also been touched by sin. No matter how hard you try, 160 00:15:56.009 --> 00:16:00.009 no matter how many resolutions you make, how much counsel you seek, how 161 00:16:00.009 --> 00:16:07.360 much life hacking and strategic planning and optimization you do, you can never climb 162 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:15.480 your way out of sin and into the holiness of God. In mourning for 163 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:23.429 Josiah, even as they mourn deaths of their loved ones, Israel was in 164 00:16:23.549 --> 00:16:34.460 a way mourning sin and its consequences. JOSIAH's story ought to resonate with us 165 00:16:34.500 --> 00:16:40.940 in this way and to warn us too. If you're on a path of 166 00:16:41.059 --> 00:16:48.929 selfjustification or self victory or Vainglory, know that you will fall. If you 167 00:16:48.009 --> 00:16:52.210 are proud of your accomplishments and you are rising higher and higher and faster and 168 00:16:52.330 --> 00:17:00.440 faster. Know that you will fall, privately, publicly, in small ways, 169 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:07.079 an enormous life changing, life altering ways. That's what this story is 170 00:17:07.319 --> 00:17:12.920 all about. It's about helping us to see how far our sin goes, 171 00:17:14.279 --> 00:17:18.750 how deeply it resides in us. As much as we can become like Josiah, 172 00:17:19.869 --> 00:17:26.230 there is always some Ahab left in us, and perhaps not just a 173 00:17:26.309 --> 00:17:33.420 little. So that's a pretty sad ending. Where can we find hope? 174 00:17:34.460 --> 00:17:40.579 The answer is that we have to find hope outside of ourselves, in a 175 00:17:40.700 --> 00:17:48.250 place that has not been touched by sin, in one who is untouched by 176 00:17:48.369 --> 00:17:53.130 sin. We find it in the forgiveness of our sins and in the grace 177 00:17:53.250 --> 00:18:02.480 of God. And that grace has come into the world in the future king 178 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:07.480 that came after Josiah, one who was a son of David, one who 179 00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:11.869 fulfilled the promises of God, one who was the son of God himself, 180 00:18:12.269 --> 00:18:21.509 our Lord, our Savior, our King, Jesus Christ. After Israel went 181 00:18:21.589 --> 00:18:26.549 into exile, God promised, as we will see next time, the very 182 00:18:26.589 --> 00:18:33.220 last words of chronicles. He promised through the lips of a foreigner, a 183 00:18:33.539 --> 00:18:38.980 foreign king, King Cyrus, that one day the people would return and that 184 00:18:40.099 --> 00:18:47.849 God's promise of an eternal kingdom through David would indeed continue on. And that's 185 00:18:47.849 --> 00:18:51.650 exactly what happened. As we know in the rest of scripture, God's people 186 00:18:51.970 --> 00:18:56.880 did return after their fall, did return after their exile, and a king 187 00:18:56.079 --> 00:19:02.799 did rise up and he took them, he took us, into a battle 188 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:10.150 that he did die from, but not unwillingly, not by accident and not 189 00:19:10.309 --> 00:19:18.470 because of his sins. King Jesus died on a cross in order to effectively 190 00:19:18.829 --> 00:19:23.900 forgive us our sins, in order to purchase a salvation for us, in 191 00:19:25.059 --> 00:19:30.500 order to rise from the dead and not remain buried in the tombs of his 192 00:19:30.619 --> 00:19:37.579 father's to rise from the dead and establish, as a victorious king, a 193 00:19:37.740 --> 00:19:42.809 kingdom that would have no end. And this was all possible because he was 194 00:19:42.849 --> 00:19:51.130 a different kind of human king. He was also divine, one whom sin 195 00:19:51.329 --> 00:19:56.799 had not infected, one who could and would and did obey. As God 196 00:19:57.000 --> 00:20:03.200 himself, he took on the form of man to rule over man, but 197 00:20:03.319 --> 00:20:07.750 not as a failed one or a failing one, but as a victorious, 198 00:20:08.430 --> 00:20:15.869 perfect, holy and righteous king. And in him, as Jesus, is 199 00:20:15.309 --> 00:20:21.539 lifted up out of the grave, he lives up with him the Kingdom of 200 00:20:21.660 --> 00:20:25.420 God, out of exile, out of the Ash heap, out of sin, 201 00:20:25.500 --> 00:20:32.940 and he takes us up with him. Just as these good kings that 202 00:20:33.099 --> 00:20:37.730 was we have seen in these temporal ways. When they rise, Israel rises, 203 00:20:37.890 --> 00:20:41.970 when they fall, Israel falls. The same is true of Jesus, 204 00:20:42.210 --> 00:20:49.720 and as he rises up to heaven itself, he perfects us and sanctifies us 205 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:57.160 and one day will even glorify us. Our hope can never be in ourselves, 206 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:02.160 in our kings and our powers, in the things of this world. 207 00:21:03.160 --> 00:21:07.349 It can't even be in the Law of God, in worship well done, 208 00:21:07.470 --> 00:21:12.109 in lives well lived. Our Hope, our only hope, can be in 209 00:21:12.190 --> 00:21:19.819 the gracious promises of a King of the king, the King of kings and 210 00:21:21.059 --> 00:21:26.980 Lord of Lords. And that's the other part of this story. There is 211 00:21:27.339 --> 00:21:33.289 mourning, but it pushes US forward to remind us of a greater king yet 212 00:21:33.369 --> 00:21:38.089 to come. And even at the end of this story we get a taste 213 00:21:38.170 --> 00:21:44.170 of God's grace. The fact that he's buried in the tombs of his father's 214 00:21:45.049 --> 00:21:48.000 reminds us of a promise that God made to him back in chapter four, 215 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:55.839 thirty four, that Josiah would be buried in this way, that though danger 216 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:59.799 and exile and things were to come, that God would protect him, and 217 00:21:59.960 --> 00:22:07.549 that he did, even though Josiah sinned. Josiah's life depended upon the grace 218 00:22:07.670 --> 00:22:15.059 of God from beginning to end, and for that he is established as a 219 00:22:15.180 --> 00:22:22.299 good king, as a faithful king, even despite his sins. Let your 220 00:22:22.539 --> 00:22:27.259 lives also be established in the grace of God, even though you sin, 221 00:22:29.740 --> 00:22:33.450 even because of your sin, let's pray