Inquire, Listen, & Obey
2 Chronicles 34:21
After Josiah purified the land and the temple, he set out to repair the temple of YAHveh (the LORD), for it lay in ruins. This is where the temple of YAHveh is in reality. YAHveh wants to rebuild His temple with living stones, with those who have been purified and are doing the work of YAHshua (Jesus) by His Spirit. First, Josiah started the purging process, then the re-consecration; and in 2 Chronicles 34:15-18, we read, “Hilkiah [the priest] … said … “I have found the book of the (teachings-Torah of YAHveh) in the house of YAHveh…and Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king. When the king heard the rediscovered teachings of YAHveh he was pierced in his heart with godly sorrow over the rebellious disobedience of his fathers by forgetting the Almighty and His holy Commandments; which lead to the idolatry he has just wholeheartedly destroyed. Josiah had sought with all of his heart, he paid the price, he exerted the effort, and he found the King, the giver of truth—He who is everlasting truth.
“Go, inquire of YAHveh (the LORD) for me” (2 Chronicles 34:21). I can imagine Josiah also saying, “I know He is here, He will answer because the idols are gone, the abominations are gone, and what grieves Him is gone. I know He will hear and He will respond. I know He will direct. I know He will forgive. I know He will bless.”
“Go, inquire”—halleluYAH! To know the reality of His presence, that’s our inheritance. But, He will not dwell in the midst of idols, nor will we ever find Him in the midst of grievous unholy mixtures of the common and the holy. He will not be there. We waste our time; we spin our wheels and go nowhere. As already stated, “Behold, YAHveh’s hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear” (Isaiah 59:1-2).
We confess Him with our lips, but our hearts will be far from Him because He will be far from ours. Our sins and idols will separate us and make a chasm between us. The desire, love, and passion for anything in this world other than our God and Savior, is an idol. It is simple, He is the beginning and the end, the all in all. He alone is our exceedingly great reward. If He alone is not our motivating heart’s desire and reward, then there are idols in the way. If you say that you do not have idols, yet He is not all sufficient and you have some form of discontent and are craving and seeking some worldly and carnal satisfaction, then you have idols. He is not enough, because you are not getting enough of Him. You are not getting enough of Him because you have idols. It is a vicious cycle.
If you can’t completely forsake some thing to obediently follow YAHshua (Jesus) that makes it an idol.
Purge the land of your heart, prayerfully, relentlessly, mercilessly, not turning to the right or the left when He magnifies idols in your heart. Then you will find the truth, from the Giver of truth, as you go to Him who is truth directly. Josiah could now ask, “Go, inquire of YAHveh for me and for those who are left in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book which has been found; for great is the wrath of YAHveh (the LORD) which is poured out on us because our fathers have not observed the word of YAHveh; to do according to all that is written in this book.” (2 Chronicle 34:21)
YAHveh is holy. His anger will burn in righteous judgment upon a world permeated with rebellion and defiance against Him, His Son, His Spirit of Truth, and the Holy Scriptures. A remnant, like Josiah, is recognizing idols that stand between them and a holy God and they are wholeheartedly confessing their sins and being set free from its consequences by the covering of YAHshua’s (Jesus’s) blood; thus making a way for that intimate, obedient, worshipful relationship with their Almighty King and Savior. HalleluYAH!
The king (Josiah) went up to the temple of YAHveh with the priests and the Levites “…and all the people, from the greatest to the least” (2 Chronicles 34:30). “…He read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of YAHveh. Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before YAHveh to walk after YAHveh, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant written in this book.” (2 Chronicles 34:30-31)
What a humble exemplary king. We are called to be redeemed royal children of the Most High King, but it requires our hearts to be humble and obedient to all we know and understand. When we make the commitment to love, seek, and obey YAHveh (the LORD) with all our hearts; we must remember this is a lifetime process of “working out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12), we must continually “count and recount the cost” (see Luke 14:28). So dear ones, don’t loose heart or shrink back—may YAHshua’s (Jesus’s) loving grace and spirit, empower you to stay the course.
Our Good Shepherd calls to us, but only His sheep hear and respond to His voice. He calls us to see the idols we cling to and to recognize that they grieve Him. “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:14-16 NIV). Peter is quoting the Almighty’s words spoken through Moses to His covenant people then and now.
Our Savior calls us to tear down our idols at any cost by the might and power of His Spirit. Then He consecrates us and covers these idols with His atoning blood and we find more truth. "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63). Then we begin to show forth the fruit of obedience at any cost with humble contrite hearts. The Almighty says, “… to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word” (Isaiah 66:2). Josiah and the remnant of Israel trembled at His word with humble and contrite hearts. This YAHveh (the LORD) loves.