The nation was a mess.
Generations of ungodly leaders had promoted a culture so consumed with materialism and immorality that they sacrificed the next generation in order to satisfy their own desires.
Manasseh’s reign was a 55-year catastrophe. After his death, his son Amon took the throne and continued in his father’s wicked way. Amon’s rule was so evil that his own servants conspired against him and assassinated him in his home before the people of the land rose up and appointed an 8-year-old boy named Josiah to be the next king of Judah. (You can read about all this in 2 Kings 21-23 and 2 Chronicles 33-35).
By the time Josiah was 16, it was clear he was a different kind of king; he “began to seek the God of David his father” (2 Chr. 34:3). But where would he start? How would he know what to do in order to restore the nation to greatness once again?
Some of the solutions were clear. He began by destroying the places of idolatry and then moved on to restore the Temple as the place of true worship. But then, something amazing happened. As his team renovated the Temple, they discovered a long-neglected book of Scripture that would catalyze 13 years of stunning reform and revival throughout the land.
It was the same book that Moses had given to his journey-weary people as they moved into the Promised Land after forty years of wilderness living.
It was the same book that shaped the words of the prophets, psalmists, and scribes throughout the Old Testament.
It was the same book that Jesus would quote more than any other.
They discovered Deuteronomy.
And, with great urgency, I firmly believe we need to do the same.
This spring, we invite you to join us in person or online to journey through the sacred words of Deuteronomy. These words teach us how to be a community of people who love God and love one another with concrete practicality in the midst of a complicated, anti-God culture. It’s time to rediscover the ways of Promised Land Living.