1 Kings 22:1-2, 10-13; 23:25
LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD. Revive them in our day, in
our time, make them known; in wrath remember mercy. - Habakkuk 3:2, NIV
Everyone likes 2 Chronicles 7:14 – “If my people who are called by my name…” – because it
promises what we deeply crave: revival. But revival isn’t just emotional fire. It’s not hype. It’s
not a nostalgia trip back to better days. Revival is when God invades the ruins of his people’s
sin with his mercy, his Word, and his Spirit — and makes us new again.
We’re walking through the lives of three kings — Hezekiah, Jehoshaphat, and today, Josiah —
who each experienced this kind of God-driven revival. These were moments when God turned
the lights back on, not because the people earned it, but because he remembered mercy.
In the generation after Solomon, the country split in half, north and south, and the northern
kingdom of Israel moved into stark idolatry under their rebel King Jeroboam. He built an
alternative Temple for idolatrous worship, set up an alternative priesthood, and listened to false
prophets. Right in the middle of that, God sent a true but unnamed prophet to Israel to announce
that centuries later, he would raise up a king who would put the finishing touches on the
demolition of this idolatry and renew the covenant between God and his people. The prophet said
his name would be Josiah.
That’s the King we are looking at today. He was the last great reformer before Judah collapsed.
His story isn’t just inspiring — it’s prophetic. His name was called out centuries before his birth,
a rare mark of divine intention. God raised him up for this moment: to tear down false worship,
to rediscover the Word, and to renew the covenant — a picture of how God revives his people.
1 Kings 13:1-2 “By the word of the LORD a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam
was standing by the altar to make an offering. 2 By the word of the LORD he cried out against the
altar: “Altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of
David…That same day the man of God gave a sign: “This is the sign the LORD has declared: The
altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.” NIV
Let’s look at the three movements in Josiah’s story:
2 Chronicles 7:14 is a beautiful promise from God made to Solomon when he dedicated the
newly built Temple in Jerusalem. It wasn’t just beautiful - it was essential. God’s people would
frequently stray from their faith and forsake the Lord. Yet God was also merciful, granting
revival, reformation, and rescue from their enemies to his people time and time again.
In the text before us today, we see the fulfillment of God’s promise as King Josiah comes to the
throne as an eight-year-old boy, near the end of Judah’s national life, leading a country that has
abandoned God, even though God never abandoned it.
I. Discovering the Book - 2 Kings 22:10-13
At age 26, Josiah’s workers are cleaning out the Temple when they find something that should
never have been lost — the Book of the Law. God’s Word had been buried. Forgotten. Tossed
aside. But once it was read aloud, everything changed.
The spark of revival always starts with rediscovering God’s Word. The Bible isn’t magic, but
when God’s people stop ignoring it and start listening to it — deeply, personally, humbly —
revival becomes possible. The Word cuts. It convicts. It calls.
You can’t have a revival without the Book.
If the Word has gathered dust in your life — if it’s been shoved in a drawer behind the hustle and
noise — there’s no revival without opening it again.
II. Repenting from Sin - 2 Kings 22:11-13
Josiah’s response is immediate and raw. He tears his clothes — a public act of grief and
repentance. He realizes that God's wrath is hanging over them, not because God is unjust, but
because the people have rebelled.
And Josiah doesn’t just repent personally. He leads the entire nation in repentance. He cleanses
the land of idols, smashing them to dust. He tears down altars built for false gods. He doesn’t
manage sin — he destroys it.
Real revival always comes with repentance. That means naming our sin, turning from it, and
refusing to make peace with what God has condemned.
Is there something in your life that needs to be smashed, not managed? Revival isn’t just singing
louder — it’s living differently.
III. Renewing the Covenant - 2 Kings 23:1-3, 21-22
Josiah calls the people together and publicly renews the covenant — their sacred agreement
with God. He restores worship, reinstitutes the Passover, and re-centers the nation on Yahweh.
This wasn’t just a ceremonial act — it was national restoration. Revival isn’t just about
cleaning house; it’s about reclaiming God’s promises and re-aligning our lives under his rule.
God made a covenant with his people. Even when they broke it, he didn’t walk away. Josiah
But here’s where the story takes a turn. As beautiful as Josiah’s revival was, it didn’t last. After
his death, Judah fell back into sin. Within a few years, Babylon invaded, the Temple was
destroyed, and the people were exiled. Even the best king couldn’t stop judgment from coming.
Josiah was a good king, a faithful king — but he wasn’t the King.
The King of the New Covenant
Centuries later, another young man from the line of David would rise, who was also foretold by
the prophets — not to repair a broken temple, but to become the Temple. Not to renew the old
covenant, but to establish a new one in his blood.
Jesus is the greater Josiah. Where Josiah rediscovered the Book, Jesus is the Word made flesh.
Where Josiah tore his clothes in grief, Jesus was torn for us.
Where Josiah renewed the covenant with sacrifice, Jesus became the sacrifice that secures the
Josiah brought revival for a moment. Jesus brings renewal for eternity.
Through his death and resurrection, Jesus offers a better covenant, sealed by his blood,
written on our hearts by the Spirit, not just in a scroll or temple. He doesn’t just clean the
outside — he gives us new hearts, making us the temple.
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the
new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Conclusion: Looking for Revival
Habakkuk’s prayer is ours:
“Repeat your deeds in our day, Lord… in wrath remember mercy.”
We don’t need to manufacture revival — we need to seek the King who brings it. Let’s
● Renew our covenant commitment to Jesus.
Let’s NOT put our hope in a political figure, not in emotional highs, not in religious nostalgia —
let’s put our hope in the King of the New Covenant, Jesus Christ, who revives the dead, restores
the broken, and renews all things.
● Where has God’s Word been lost in your life?
● What sins are you managing instead of repenting from?
● Are you living under the old way, or under the new covenant with Jesus?
Let’s pray for revival — not just around us, but in us — through Christ our King.
