December 31, 2023                   NOTES NOT EDITED
The Lost Book
2Kings 22, esp. vs 8

SIS: The church must reject a dead religiosity and rediscover the transforming power of the Word of God.

In a wonderful little book titled, “The Lost Book,” we encounter a Rabbit named, Henry who lives as we would expect in Rabbit Town. Henry doesn’t like to read. Books are boring to him. He prefers “real-life adventures.” One day, Henry discovers a “Lost Book” and everything changes. Here’s how one writer describes the story of the “Lost Book”:

Everyone in Rabbit Town loves to read. Well, everyone except for Henry, who would much prefer to play outside. Then Henry finds a lost book, and when he tries to track down the owner, he stumbles into the human world. There, the adults are all absorbed in their phones and tablets, and everyone ignores Henry until he befriends a young girl. They have so much fun together that Henry gives her the lost book, knowing it will be in good hands. Henry learns that books can contain adventures all their own, and when he returns to Rabbit Town, for the first time it is Henry who tells the bedtime story. (copied)

There is a parallel to Henry in the Bible. A young boy becomes the king of Judah-Southern Israel—and discovers a “Lost Book.” His name is Josiah. Actually, Josiah’s High Priest, Hilkiah, finds the book but it is Josiah that realized how powerful and important the message of that “Lost Book” really is. The “Lost Book” is the Word of God which has been lost, sadly, in the Temple. Religion has a way of obscuring the power and majesty of the Word of God.

Let us READ TOGETHER some selected portions of chapters 22 and 23 to give us a foundation as we focus on the “Lost Book.”

2Kings 22: 1; 8; 11-12; 13; 2Kings 23:24-25

There are three ways the Church desperately needs to rediscover God’s Word, both individually and as a community. We must read it HISTORICALLY, PERSONALLY, and PROPHETICALLY.

1. HISTORICALLY (22:1)

(CSB) 1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath.

This is a HISTORICAL statement that has been verified like all other historical statements in written history. This is no different than the statement, “Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16^th president of the United States Tuesday, November 6, 1860.”

The problem with the way many, if not most people read the Bible (including church-going people), is they read it as a book of religion instead of a book of history.

The Bible contains many types of writing such as hyperbole, analogy, and even has references to secular philosophy. It contains both literal prose and imaginative poetry. It’s message touches every subject of life and contains both prescriptions for righteous living and prohibitions against immorality. It’s message is both timely for the moment and timeless for eternity.

But, at the core the Bible is HISTORY. It is the record or history of God’s redemptive plan from creation of the cosmos to the consummation of the human story on earth. The Bible implies the prehistory of God before creation and describes the eternal history of God after this story of the redemption of mankind comes to a close.

The Bible is essentially and primarily a HISTORY BOOK. It’s message is eternal but its timeline is temporal. The text of the Bible gives us information on both “How the Heavens Go” and “How to Go to Heaven.”  Without a doubt and without any serious challenge to Its text, the Bible is a HISTORY BOOK.

It is also accurate on science, though it is not a “science” book. Long before mankind discovered the world was round, not flat, the Bible said,

Isaiah 40:22 (CSB) 22 God is enthroned above the circle (sphere) of the earth; its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like thin cloth and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

The great horror of our day is not the wars in the Middle East or the Ukraine—as devastating as they are. The great horror of our day is not that American politics has become nothing more than a sham and a scam by career government employees masquerading as representatives of We the People—though it is hard to think of a more concentrated cesspool of corruption than Washington, D.C.

No, the great horror of our day is the “ignorance of the Word of God displayed by people who claim to be His followers!” Look again at v8:

(CSB) 8 The high priest Hilkiah told the court secretary Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law in the LORD’s temple,” and he gave the book to Shaphan, who read it.

Let’s pause a bit to reflect on the fact that the “Word of God was lost,” but most ironically and sadly it was “lost IN THE TEMPLE.”

The Bible gets “lost” when people start reading it like a book of religion that really has no importance or relevance to every day life instead of reading it like a book of HISTORY that contains real-life lessons about how to live a righteous and effective life.

Everyone of God’s children needs to devour the Word of God so they “Know It” like the back of our hands. It is impossible to “live it” until you first “know it.”

2. Read the Bible PERSONALLY—that is LIVE IT (11-13)

(CSB) 11 When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. 12 Then he commanded the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, the court secretary Shaphan, and the king’s servant Asaiah, 13 “Go and inquire of the LORD for me, for the people, and for all Judah about the words in this book that has been found. For great is the LORD’s wrath that is kindled against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this book in order to do everything written about us.”

Years ago I heard a preacher, or maybe I read it, quote a statement from another great preacher. I forget the names of both now but I remember the statement like it was branded on my brain,

[SLIDE] All other books are written for our INFORMATION, but the Bible is written for our TRANSFORMATION. Let me read that again, All other books are written for our INFORMATION, but the Bible is written for our TRANSFORMATION.

Not only do most people misread the Bible by reading it RELIGIOUSLY instead of HISTORICALLY, but many misread the Bible by reading it ACADEMICALLY instead of PERSONALLY.

Make no mistake about it, the Bible is a deep book that will keep the most erudite scholars scratching their heads until they are bald, but it is also like having an endearing conversation with a wise Friend.

Someone has remarked, “The Bible is deep enough that a scholar can dive into it and never reach the bottom, but shallow enough for the smallest child to enjoy without fear.”

Notice how deeply and personally Josiah was touched when hearing the Word of God read (v11): “he tore his clothes!”  The act of “tearing one’s clothes” was a custom showing, shock, shame, or great personal pain.

For generations Israel had lived in open rebellion against God going after every false god in the nations around them. They built altars to these false gods. They sacrificed to these false gods—even sacrificing their own children on the Altars of Molech. Josiah was only eight when his father Amon died. Josiah had first-hand knowledge of his father’s wickedness as a king. Josiah also knew of his grandfather, Manasseh, another very wicked king of Israel in a long line of wicked kings.

Josiah, as a young boy, heard the reading from God’s Holy Scroll and was stabbed in the heart by the realization that he was the King of a very wicked and godless people. But, even more so, Josiah was PERSONALLY convicted of his own wickedness even though he was but a young boy. So, with his heart convicted, he “tore his clothes” in shame and despair and as a sign of confession and a request for forgiveness.

I took a moment before I decided to put this next question in my notes. I love you as the people of God. I believe you are “good” people by any measure the world could apply. But, upon reading about Josiah intense, personal reaction to hearing the Word of God, I must ask:

“When was the last time you were so personally convicted by hearing or reading the Word of God that you felt like tearing your clothes or shedding bitter tears?”

Let’s not pass over that question to quickly or take it too lightly. 47 years I have been preaching God’s Word. I remember in my early days at Pedley Baptist Chapel, or any other church I was called to preach in, at the end of nearly every service people would come to the altar and linger many minutes seeking God’s forgiveness for failing to heed His Word faithfully.

I can’t remember the last time that happened in church going back 20 plus years. How many messages have we heard from the Word of God? Have we heard so many that they just don’t touch our hearts anymore? We don’t “tear our clothes” or even shed a tear. Church has become an empty “academic exercise” for millions of people across our nation in churches just like ours.

We must take note carefully of how Josiah “REDISCOVERED THE LOST BOOK.” He read it  PERSONALLY with great openness of heart and deep devotion.

We must REDISCOVER GOD’S LOST BOOK by reading it HISTORICALLY as a factual record of God’s interaction with real people in real-life situations. Reading the Bible historically shows we understand that the Bible “says what it means and means what it says.” We must also read it PERSONALLY. Until it tears off the crusty outer layers of sin that have hardened our hearts over the years, we will never LIVE THE LIVES God has called us to live. We must also read the Bible

3. PROPHETICALLY (13-20)

(CSB) 13 “Go and inquire of the LORD for me, for the people, and for all Judah about the words in this book that has been found. For great is the LORD’s wrath that is kindled against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this book in order to do everything written about us.” 14 So the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah, wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second District. They spoke with her. 15 She said to them, “This is what the LORD God of Israel says: Say to the man who sent you to me, 16 ‘This is what the LORD says: I am about to bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants, fulfilling all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read, 17 because they have abandoned me and burned incense to other gods in order to anger me with all the work of their hands. My wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.’ 18 Say this to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the LORD: ‘This is what the LORD God of Israel says: As for the words that you heard, 19 because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I myself have heard’—this is the LORD’s declaration. 20 ‘Therefore, I will indeed gather you to your ancestors, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster that I am bringing on this place.’ ”

The word, “prophet,” can be misunderstood. It is common to think of a prophet as someone who “foretells the future.” That is certainly part of the mission of a prophet, but not the only part. Encapsulated in “telling what was GOING to happen, God’s prophets addressed the sin that was PRESENTLY taking place. To read the Bible PROPHETICALLY means we read it for the purpose of SHARING  it. And, as we share it, we share it as PROPHETS – or, one’s who speak with the authority of Almighty God. THE PURPOSE OF PROPHECY is not that you and I can know the future but so others can know the FUTURE. The foundation for prophetic sharing is MERCY, so that no one needs to perish (2Pet. 3:9). Prophecy is given not to know the future but for the lost to know Jesus!

(NIV84) 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Notice, Josiah wanted to hear what a “true prophet” had to say about the Word of God. They found an obscure woman by the name of Huldah who was living in an area on the Western Hill of Jerusalem known as the New, or Second Quarter. There were many “false prophets” in Israel at the time, but Huldah was known to be true to the God of the Word and the Word of God.

It must be noted here that there were two other well-known, almost celebrity prophets, at this time: Jeremiah and Zephaniah. God was mightily using both Jeremiah and Zephaniah and they were true prophets. But—and this is very, very important—God doesn’t need “celebrities” to deliver His message. He can use even an obscure woman named Huldah—or, he can use you or I. God uses ORDINARY people.

Also, it must be noted that the message Huldah delivered is as applicable to our nation today as it was Israel millennia ago—and maybe even more so. What was that message?

16 ‘This is what the LORD says: I am about to bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants, fulfilling all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read, 17 because they have abandoned me and burned incense to other gods in order to anger me with all the work of their hands. My wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.’

Wowzer! When was the last time you heard a celebrity preacher like Joel Olsteen preach that message! You don’t hear this preached very often because most Christians live PATHETIC lives instead of PROPHETIC lives and most preachers are more pathetic than prophetic.

Notice especially those words, “This is what the Lord says.” We have too many MOTIVATIONAL speakers in the Christian community instead of PROPHETIC speakers.

The world needs to hear a CLEAR PROPHETIC MESSAGE from ordinary Christians JUST LIKE YOU! Don’t leave all the good preaching to the one BEHIND THE PULPIT. The best preaching is done ACROSS A FENCE! I am ONE PERSON. I will likely never even see your neighbor, much less talk to them about Jesus. If YOUR family and friend are going to hear the prophetic warning before it is too late, then YOU are going to have to SHARE it.

If there is any hope for our world, the ONLY hope is for the church to reject a dead religiosity and rediscover the transforming power of the Word of God.

We, God’s people, MUST REDISCOVER the Bible by learning how to read it properly. That means reading to obey it, not just reading it to perform some religious activity.

Have you ever heard of W.C. Fields? An early 20^th century comedian known for his hard living, hard drinking, and sharp tongue. Not particularly known for being virtuous. The story is told, which may not be true but still highly accurate, that on his deathbed the rascally Fields was reading the Bible. A friend visited him and saw him with the Bible. The friend said, “What are you doing reading the Bible. Are you looking for answers?” Fields replied, “No, I’m looking for loopholes.”

I think too many people read the Bible like that. It won’t work that way. There are no “loopholes.” The only hope is finding Jesus.

Remember Henry the Rabbit? He was always looking for some new and great adventure in life. Then, one day he discovered a “Lost Book.” Through reading and sharing that book Henry discovered greater adventures than he ever dreamed possible.

Be like Henry and Josiah. Rediscover the joy of knowing, living, and sharing the Bible.