The Bible, while not lost in the sense that we do not have a Bible, is, for all practical purposes,
lost to many. They may have a Bible but never read or study it. It might as well be lost to them. Some read their Bible, but
have little respect for it, substituting their own preferences in doctrine, worship and life-style. Others have translated
the Bible in such a way as to have, by their translation, lost the thought of the original words inspired by the Holy Spirit.
For all the value of some of these translations, the Book of God may as well be lost.
In the Bible, we can read
of the story of a time when the Book of the Law (Scriptures) was actually physically lost, and the people had forgotten all
about it. This happened to Israel about 2,500 years ago. It is hard to imagine that you could lose the book of the law of
the Lord, and especially in the house of the Lord, 2 Chronicles 34:15. But it happened during the reign of Amon, grandson
of Hezekiah and father of Josiah, during whose reign it was found.
Josiah became king at the age of 8 years,
but it was still another 18 years before the lost book was found. Perhaps the strangest thing about this situation is that
the book was lost and found in the house of the Lord. How could that happen? Josiah was a righteous man. He is said
to have done that which is right in the sight of the Lord....and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
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2 Kings 22:12-13 "And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam
the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king's, saying,
Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found:
for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this
book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us."
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Josiah, being a righteous man, upon finding this lost book and learning of it's teachings,
realized that there was a serious problem that needed to be fixed. Immediately, he did what was necessary to bring his
people back to God.
And it just may be that this process needs to be reinitiated in this day of lack of
respect for the authority of scripture. Perhaps if we will do what they did, we can bring back a measure of reverence to a
book that is lost to many today. The following was their course of action: - Josiah removed all remnants of Baal
worship. He commanded Hilkiah the priest ... to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for
Baal ... and he burned them, 2 Kings 23:4. You cannot be true to God and not rid yourself of every vestige of rebellion.
- All
of the priests who participated in or encouraged the worship of idols were removed, 2 Kings 23:5. There are some preachers
who will have to be replaced if we ever restore pure New Testament Christianity in our century.
- Houses of the sodomites,
male prostitutes in the land, were burned and destroyed, along with remnants of their idol worship, 2 Kings 23:7. You cannot
leave intact the symbols of rebellion without encouraging the practice of rebellion.
- They removed all of the altars
made to worship Ashtoreth, Milcom and Chemosh, the gods of their pagan neighbors. Not only did they remove them, but they
brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men, 2 Kings 23:13-14. Physical
violence will not be needed, but error and sin must be removed or the disease will return.
- They reinstated the worship
God had originally ordained, along with all the associated activities, 2 Kings 23:21f. In other words, they restored the worship
and commandments that had originally been given to them.
What does this have to do with us in the twentieth century?
Are we in danger of losing the Bible? Is there a danger that the church Jesus built will die? There is a danger; but not that
Christ's church will die. Only that the message of redemption will be kept from a lost generation. There is a also the
danger that the family of God today can become as Israel of Josiah's day; rebellious, apathetic, lost in religious error.
His church will survive, Daniel 2:44.
Josiah's solution was very simple. Remove all worship not authorized
by God and replace it with the pure religion authorized by God, in both theory and practice. The same thing will work today.
It is not likely that we will lose the Book as they did. We may lose our love for truth; our determination to live by it;
our love for the God who gave it; our willingness to teach it. That is what happened to Israel then, and it could happen to
us today.
By the way, do you know where your Bible is?
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