Today's Verb: Reform

2 Kings 22-23

From the very beginning of his reign in Judah, King Josiah was an exceptional man. Having inherited a kingdom that was saturated with wickedness and idolatry, he he was able to detach himself from the false traditions of his fathers and discover his own pearl of great price: the commandments of Jehovah, the God of Israel.

He was made king at a very young age, having known nothing else than the disgusting idol worship that had seized the hearts of many in Judah; but recognizing the depraved immorality of these practices, Josiah strove to free himself and his people from this slavery of idol worship, to come away from these atrocities that had made many of his people debtors of the devil.

But how was he to initiate this planned reformation? So abysmal was the debauchery in Judah that the word of the Lord (the Holy Scriptures) had been lost, not only physically, but materially as well. The law had been lost, from their hands as well as their minds. It seemed that no matter how desirous Josiah was to realign his kingdom to the worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it would be ultimately impossible. All hope seemed to be lost.

But from the following miracle we may derive this one important fact: God provides for those that desire to follow Him. While repairing the temple, the high priest Hilkiah was blessed to find a copy of the laws of Moses. The scriptures had been recovered. Josiah immediately commanded his servant to read to him all of the book. Though anciently given, the words were new to the ears of Josiah. So great was his anguish at learning of exactly how far away his people had moved from the Lord, Josiah rent his clothes, culturally demonstrating his sorrow and saying, "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" (2 Kings 22:13). Filled with new-found conviction (and divine direction), Josiah commanded the law to be read to all of his people and caused that they all be put under covenant to serve the only true and living God.

"And the king stood by a pillar, 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 their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant."

"And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el." (2 Kings 23:3-4)

We are all children of God. Our inheritance and potential is as great as His. He has given us His law, His commandments, and His guidance. But He has also given to us our agency. "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil..." (2 Nephi 2:27). The message of Josiah is one of the moral courage to reform. Wickedness surrounds us. The devil attacks us constantly. Although his "mighty winds" and "fiery darts" may appear overwhelming, they at no point can ever overpower us. All we have to do is grab onto the rod of iron with all our might (read and follow the scriptures), and continue forward.We must come out of Babylon. We must forsake the idols that we have built up unto ourselves and that have taken the place of the emblems of the Lord in His temple (ourselves). We must de-junk our spiritual lives. We must worship the one true God of Israel.