King Josiah’s thirty-one-year reign in Judah was a reawakening of faithful worship to the one true God. When Josiah came face-to-face with the truth that his fathers and priests had concealed and perverted the Law of the Lord, he immediately took action to restore godly worship.
Judah had become a cesspool of idolatry and depravity. 2 Kings 23 tells us everything the king had to correct. He removed the priests and articles of worship for Baal, for Asherah, and all the host of heaven (v. 4-5). He destroyed the high places and tore down the booths of prostitution in the temple. Verse after verse shows the decisive actions Josiah took to turn his kingdom back toward God. Josiah was successful because he “…turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might…” (v. 25).
Unfortunately, the fruits of Josiah’s work were short lived. After he died in battle, Josiah’s son, Jehoahaz, followed by his brother, Jehoiakim, took the throne and returned to the evil of the kings before Josiah (2 Kgs. 23:32, 37). During Jehoiakim’s reign, God judged Judah. He made him a vassal (or, servant) of Nebuchadnezzar and sent the enemies of Judah to fight them (2 Kgs. 24:1-4). And, eventually, it led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity (2 Kgs. 25:1-21). In one generation, Judah went from the peak of spiritual purity to the depths of defilement.
It should shock us how quickly Judah strayed from God’s Law. Could the same thing happen in the church? Do we consider how quickly a congregation could stray from the New Testament pattern and fall from God’s grace? Could a congregation reach the peak of Christian purity and descend into darkness in a single generation?
In a single generation, a congregation could fall if they rely on the faithfulness of the few. Judah reached its spiritual height because of the faithfulness of one great leader (cf. 2 Kgs. 23:25). As soon as he was gone, the nation crumbled.
The church cannot rely on one or two faithful brethren leading the charge. Each of us must internalize the work of Christ and use our individual gifts to grow the church. In Ephesians 4:15-16, Paul tells us that each of us must be involved in maintaining the church. “…but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
What could happen in a single generation if you stop doing your share?
