This is the Word of the Lord for 2022. Hearing and seeing Him accurately in this season will make sure that there are no unnecessary casualties of spiritual warfare this year and that the church is powerfully positioned to shift the nations. My prayer for you as you read this is that the Lord will open your eyes and ears to what is ahead, so that you will lead and influence well and make the right decisions with conviction.
The Reign of King Josiah
The books of Chronicles and of Kings contain valuable lessons and instructions that apply to decision-making and leadership in every season. In certain seasons, however, there are particular aspects and accounts within them, which are key to leading and navigating well in that season. I believe that the account of King Josiah’s reign in 2 Chronicles 34 and 35 is key for this season.
Josiah was a godly king who walked in the ways of King David (2 Chron. 34:2). He purged the nation of idolatry, rebuilt the house of the Lord and renewed Israel’s covenant with God. He restored the structures of faith and worship and led the nation to observe the Passover in a manner that had not been seen since the days of the prophet Samuel (2 Chron. 35:18). From his own possessions, he provided thirty thousand sheep and goats and three thousand cattle for the people to celebrate the Passover, inspiring the leaders and officials of the nation to sacrifice likewise and the priests and Levites to serve in an unprecedented way for his time.
His achievements were remarkable and through his sacrifice, he lifted the land out of idolatry and apathy and into obedience, worship and devotion. There is much in Josiah’s life that provides a pattern for today, highlighting the power of godly leadership to bring about transformation, restoration and revival for a nation.
However, there is more. Even after all he had done and despite the transformation he had brought to the nation, Josiah somehow soon became a casualty of war, dying unnecessarily on a battlefield with no gain for himself or his people (2 Chron. 35:22-24).
Understanding all of this and what it caused to happen afterwards is key for this season.
Choosing the Right Fight
Second Chronicles tells us that after Josiah had set the temple of God in order, he marched out to fight with Neco, the king of Egypt. Neco, however, was not interested in fighting with Josiah and said to him clearly by the inspiration of God, “It is not you that I am attacking at this time, but the house with which I am at war” (2 Chronicles 35:20-22, NIV). While it was true that there had been a history between Israel and Egypt, and that there had been many times at which Israel and Egypt were opposed to one another, now was not one of those times. And this being so, God spoke to Josiah even through Neco, the king of a heathen nation, to let him know that this was the case.
Josiah, despite all that was great about him, did not discern and did not listen. He knew that he had conquered idols that had plagued Judah and Israel for years, that he had restored the temple of God from its ruins and that he had brought about a restoration of the Passover that no king before him had matched. He had conquered certain strongholds of Israel’s past and now he felt emboldened to take on Egypt, one of Israel’s ancient foes. He wanted to see Egypt crushed and, moreover, he wanted to be personally involved in making it happen.
Josiah’s failure to listen to God was disastrous; first for him and then for the nation that he had laboured to restore. He disguised himself, went onto the battlefield and was soon wounded fatally by archers. After his death, the people of the nation took his son Jehoahaz to be king but his reign lasted only three months before the king of Egypt came to Jerusalem, dethroned him and chose another new king. Once Josiah was gone, first Egypt and then Babylon plundered Jerusalem’s wealth and a new line of kings, chosen by their enemies, led the nation back into disobedience and idolatry.
Josiah’s mistake was in not discerning what the Lord was using to bring about the next degree of deliverance and breakthrough for the nation. Through his obedience, Josiah had overcome powers of darkness within the nation. God had now set in motion a series of events to break the powers of darkness in the surrounding nations but Josiah didn’t need to be personally involved. God was going to turn the strength of those nations against each other to break them, and Josiah only needed to watch and see what the Lord would do. Instead, he put himself in the crossfire and died. He lost his life and Judah lost the godly leadership that it needed.
Josiah was not the first one in Scripture to make this kind of mistake. Lot, not discerning where he was, pitched his tents near Sodom (Gen. 13:12). When the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboyim and Bela rebelled against the king of Elam and his allies (Gen. 14), Lot was caught in the crossfire and kidnapped along with all his people and his possessions. Like Josiah, Lot was wrongly positioned in the middle of a fight which he didn’t need to be a part of.
Nonetheless, there are those in Scripture who were able to recognise what God was doing and get it right. In 2 Chronicles 20, when the Moabites and Ammonites came to make war against Judah, King Jehoshaphat was told through the Spirit of God “the battle is not yours, but God’s…you will not have to fight this battle” (2 Chron. 20:15, 17). The next day, the armies that had gathered against him turned on one another and destroyed each other without Judah having to get involved. Likewise, when God sent Gideon against the Midianites, He caused the Midianites to turn their own swords on each other and they were defeated (Judg. 7:22).
In 2022, the body of Christ needs to learn from these scriptural lessons and be positioned for what God is about to do so that leadership will be effective and there are no unnecessary casualties. Let me explain.
Read more of this amazing prophetic word by clicking the link. {eoa}
Rev. Betty King is a world-renowned speaker and prophetess. She is a true embodiment of the Father’s love and compassion. Her passion to fulfill God’s call has seen her travel to all the continents, moving in the prophetic, touching and transforming many lives and rekindling hope. She is a woman full of love, wisdom, kindness, hope, compassion and grace.
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