Josiah Storytime

What I am about to tell you is a true story about a king who had no Bible:

Once upon a time, there was a king and a people in a far away land. In the king’s land, the people were bad. The people had no Bible. And they didn’t worship the Lord God. Some of them worshiped other gods. Some of them worshiped the stars in the sky. Some of them made idols out of wood and worshiped them and prayed to them. Some of them built churches and altars to their strange gods. Some of them even sacrificed their own children to these gods. Some of the people practiced sorcery. Some of them were even witches. The people lied to each other, they cheated on tests, they robbed each other on the streets, they disobeyed their parents, and they disobeyed God in almost every way possible. The people of this land were very, very, very bad. The king’s grandfather was bad. Even the king’s father was bad.

But the king was good. The king became king when he was 8 years old. Only 8 years old, and he became king of the whole land. But unlike his grandfather, who was bad, and unlike his father who was very bad, this king was good. He was good because he loved God. “He did right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in the ways of his great*11 grandfather David, not turning aside to the right or to the left” (2 Chr. 34:2). But even the king did not have a Bible.

Eight years later, when the king turned 16 years old, he actively “began to seek the God of his great*11 grandfather David” (34:3). He didn’t worship other gods. He didn’t worship the stars in the sky. He didn’t make idols out of wood or churches for other gods. He didn’t lie to people or cheat on tests or rob people or disobey his parents. He was good and he worshiped God only. But the king still did not have a Bible.

Four years later, when the king turned 20 years old, he actively began to take down the idols and all the other gods on display. He removed them. He took down the idols and broke them to pieces. He shattered their altars and crushed them to powder. Everywhere he went he told people to worship God and to worship him only. All over his land he told bad people to worship and to follow God. He did all this, but he still did not have a Bible.

Six years later, when he was 26 years old, he actively began to fix the Temple of God. He hired carpenters and builders, people who worked with stone, people who buy the stone. He hired priests who were the ministers of God. He hired secretaries and doorkeepers, writers and musicians, preachers and leaders, horn-blowers and guitar players, drummers and harpists, singers and tambourine-players. While the builders were building, the workers were working, and together they were building and fixing the Temple of God. The king did all this and hired all these people to work for him and for God, but he still did not have a Bible.

One day, when the priests were cleaning out the closets of the Temple, because the Temple had lots and lots of dirty closets, they found something. The priests found something that the people in that land had completely forgotten. The priests had to blow the dust off of it just to figure out what it was. They opened it up to see what was inside. Do you know what it was that they found? It was the Bible! They called it the Book of the Law. But it was a Bible!

When the priests realized what they had found, do you know what they did? They took the Book of the Law straight to the king. The priest read the book to the king. When he read the book to the king, do you know what the king did? When we get excited about something, what do we do? We jump up and down, we may scream, we may shout, we may give high fives to everyone in the room, we may throw a party and call all our friends and celebrate, we may take the youth pastor out to lunch—we may do lots of things. But back in those days when people got really really really excited about something, so whopping excited that they can’t hardly stand it, do you know what they did? They tore their clothes. Rip. Right down the leg. Rip rip rip.

When kings did this, you knew that you were either in really big trouble, or you were second to none, cream of the crop, flying high. Well, when this king heard this Bible in this land from this priest, do you know what he did? Rip! Rip! Rip! (Do not try this in your own home.) He ripped his clothes right there in front of everyone, from knee to toe. He was excited and ashamed at the same time. He was thrilled at this amazing discovery, but at the same time, he knew that the people of his land were lying to each other, cheating on tests, robbing each other, disobeying their parents, and disobeying God.

So the king called together all the people of the land, all the governors, all the mayors, all the leaders, all the priests and all the preachers, teachers and ministers, to the Temple. He called together all the people, from the least to the greatest. And do you know what this king did? He read in their hearing the Book of the Law, this Bible. The king stood in the Temple and he read and he read and the people all listened, from the least to the greatest. He read from the Bible, he read from God’s Word. He read from the Book of the Law. And something wonderful happened that day. Something amazing occurred in the Temple. Something so wonderful happened. Do you know what happened?

Shhh. Listen. Can you hear it? It still happens today. It may be happening right now. When the king read from the Bible, something happened then that still happens today, but you have to be listening…

GOD SPOKE.

It happens whenever you open up a Bible and read it, but you have to be listening. God spoke to them.

God spoke to the king, and he spoke to the people. From the least to the greatest, God spoke to them all. There was not a single person there that day to whom God did not speak, because the king read the Bible and the people all listened.

From that day forward, the king promised that he would do what was right and follow God’s Word. From that day forward, the people all promised that they would no longer lie to each other or cheat on their tests or rob other people or disobey their parents or disobey God. They pledged allegiance to their God, to love him only and to serve him only. They gave their life to God, their heart to God, their mind to God, their behavior to God. They listened to God and God spoke to them that day.

Because the king had a Bible, and he read it to the people, their lives were never the same again.

The king was Josiah. The far away land was Israel. This story is from the Bible, and if you’re listening, and if you read this book, it may just change your life.

God is speaking. Are you listening?

by scott sullivan, ©2010