RTW 2024

Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. 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.

During the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David. Then in the twelfth year he began to purify Judah and Jerusalem, destroying all the pagan shrines, the Asherah poles, and the carved idols and cast images. He ordered that the altars of Baal be demolished and that the incense altars which stood above them be broken down. He also made sure that the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images were smashed and scattered over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. He burned the bones of the pagan priests on their own altars, and so he purified Judah and Jerusalem.

He did the same thing in the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, even as far as Naphtali, and in the regions all around them. He destroyed the pagan altars and the Asherah poles, and he crushed the idols into dust. He cut down all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Finally, he returned to Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 34:1-7

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.
2 Kings 22:2

• Josiah was eight years old when he became king. 
• Manasseh had a fifty-five year reign. 
• Manasseh was Judah’s longest reigning king. 
• Manasseh was Judah’s most wicked king. 
• Manasseh had a grandson, Josiah. 
• Josiah’s faithfulness was unmatched. 
• Josiah had no record of sinfulness.
• Josiah read the Word…and obeyed!
• Josiah’s list of reforms is longer than Manasseh’s list of sins. 
• Josiah destroyed the high places. 
• Josiah observed the national Passover at Jerusalem. 
• No one who lived under Manasseh’s reign could ever have imagined the revival under Josiah. 
• It had seemed as if all hope was gone. 
• Josiah’s revival was greater than any other the nation had seen. 
• Isaiah 43:18-19
• A reminder to stop looking back. 
• A reminder to stop settling. 
• A reminder that God will do a new thing.
• He uses His people to prepare the way. 

Be ready…God will use His people to prepare the way for a new work!!!