Lost At Home
First Case: Book Of The Law Found
There were repairs being done on the temple of the Lord after many years of neglect and the people of Israel had contributed financially towards the repairs. Josiah, the king of Israel, sent Shaphan, one of his servants, to Hilkiah the high priest to count the money that was brought into the house of the LORD. The king commanded Hilkiah to deliver the money to those overseeing the repairs of the LORD's temple in Jerusalem (2 Kings 22:3-7).
When Shaphan the scribe reached the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the high priest informed him he had found the Book of the Law in the temple during the ongoing repair work.
2 Kings 22:8-10
8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9 So Shaphan the scribe went to the king, bringing the king word, saying, “Your servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of those who do the work, who oversee the house of the Lord.” 10 Then Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.
What was the book of the law that was found in the temple? What was so special about it?
The book of the law had the laws that God had given to Israel through Moses. Earlier, in Joshua 1:8, God told the Israelites that they must not let the Book of the Law leave their mouths, but should meditate on it day and night, carefully following all its instructions. That’s how important the book of the law was to Israel.
They found the Book of the Law, but we must ask ourselves: How long was the book lost?
Determining approximately how long the book had been lost
Before Josiah, Israel had a king named Hezekiah and scriptures say that he worshiped in the temple of the LORD. Hezekiah was the great grandfather of king Josiah.
2 Kings 18:6 says that Hezekiah “. . . held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses.”
The Bible doesn't spell it out, but it's likely that the people of Israel read from the Book of the Law in the temple during Hezekiah's rule, since he made sure to keep God's commandments written by Moses.
However, after Hezekiah’s death, Manasseh, his son who became king, did evil in the LORD's sight. The Bible says that Manasseh even set up an idol of a false god in the temple of the Lord. Manasseh ruled over Israel for fifty-five years. We can assume that he and the people of Israel didn’t read the Book of the Law during his reign.
After Manasseh’s death, Amon his son reigned for two years, he too did what was evil in the LORD's sight. We can also assume that he, too, didn’t read the Book of the Law.
After Amon’s death, Josiah, his son, eight years old, reigned after him. It is under Josiah’s rule that Hilkiah the high priest found the Book of the Law in the temple when Josiah was eighteen years old.
Therefore, if we calculate, the Book of the Law was lost for at least 67 years (i.e., 57 + 2 + 10) before its discovery in the temple where it was supposed to be located all along.
Picture a scenario where we didn't have Bibles in the pews, on our phones, or at home, and instead had to attend church for the pastor to read the word of God from the one bible stored there. This was the case with Israel in those days. There was no printing press to make multiple copies of the book for everyone who wanted a copy. The only way to learn about the law of God was for the priests to read it out aloud to the congregation when they gathered at the temple.
The temple was the rightful place for the book of the law to be. The temple was home for the Book of the Law. The temple was not destroyed; the Book was not stolen or taken away from Jerusalem. And yet the Book of the Law was lost. The Book of the Law was lost at home within the temple.
That the book of the law was in the temple for at least 67 years and no one was even trying to find it is a fascinating thought. This could mean one of two things;
The people of Israel had altogether forsaken fellowship, i.e., the Book was in the house of God but no one was going there.
Or if they were still gathering at the temple, they were not going there to hear the Book of the Law read to them. They were probably going to the temple on other business. Remember that in Jesus’ time, the Jews had turned the temple into a market.
Lessons For The Christian
The Word of God lost in the heart of a believer
Scriptures say that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and that the word of God lives in us. But just like how the Book of the law was lost at home in the temple of God, the word of God can be lost at home within the temple of the Holy Spirit which is the Christian.
Even if you know the Bible well, read it daily, and have it memorized from Genesis to Revelation, God's word could still be lost in your heart if you don’t live by the Book's commands.
We can have the knowledge about the word of God in our heads but if we do not obey it in our hearts, the word of God is lost right there in its rightful place.
The believer’s heart is the temple of the Holy Spirit; however, the word of God has been lost in many believers’ hearts because many hearts have turned into a marketplace of secular ideas. Just like in Jesus’ time, when the Jews were exchanging money and selling oxen and doves in the temple, many have turned the temple of the Holy Spirit into marketplaces, buying secular stuff such as gender ideologies, progressive Christianity, etc. For example, gender ideology loses God’s Word on sex when it pushes an unnumbered gender spectrum, as opposed to two sexes (male and female) taught in the Word of God.
I pray that the Holy Spirit will come into His temple and flip tables, make a whip, and chase that secular nonsense from His dwelling.
The Word of God lost in the church
Whereas many believers have forsaken fellowship, many of those that still attend church do not hear the word of God preached from the pulpit. In many churches, preachers have lost the word of God at the pulpit, turning from a sound doctrine that calls people to repentance and righteousness to teach that which merely pleases people.
Some people go to church only to hear that they are accepted and affirmed in their sin without repentance, i.e., progressive Christianity. Progressive Christianity loses the Word of God when it affirms and accepts doctrines contrary to those taught in the Word of God. Others go to church only to hear that God wants them to prosper and have no hardships in this life, i.e., prosperity gospel. Here, people are going to church to hear everything but the true Word of God. This is because the Word was lost at the pulpit.
Thank God for churches that still teach the word of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit preached without compromise on their pulpits.
The word of God lost in our homes
Many of us have literally lost God's word in our homes. State of the Bible research by the American Bible Society 2020 found that, on average, there are four Bibles in an American household. Of all the people surveyed, 60% said they read the bible less than five times a year, and only 9% said they read the bible daily. Bibles are collecting dust in believers’ homes.
How long will it take for you to discover that the word of God has been lost within you, in your family, or at church?
Josiah’s response upon discovering the lost book of the law
2 Kings 22:11-13
11 Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”
Josiah tore his clothes (v.11)
It should break our hearts when we learn that the word of God has been lost within us, or in our churches and families.
Inquired of the Lord (v.13)
We should inquire of the Lord on how we went wrong and on what we should do to find our way again.
After the messengers that Josiah sent to inquire of the Lord came back with a response from prophetess Huldah, Josiah took action.
2 Kings 23:1-2
1 Now the king sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him. 2 The king went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah, and with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the Lord.
Upon discovering that the word of God has been lost, you have to take action.
You have to start doing the will of God in your life again
You have to bring back the word of God in your home at the dinner table
The Church of Christ needs to bring back the word of God to the pulpit.
2 Kings 23:3-4
3 Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant. 4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.
All the people took a stand for the covenant (v.3)
If you find the areas in your life in which the word of God has been lost to sin or cultural relevance or personal feelings, take a stand again for the true word of God in your life.
They brought out of the temple of the Lord all articles of Baal and other gods (v.4)
Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, bring out all idols and sin you have set up in your life and kill it. Then set up the word of God in its rightful place again.
Second Case: Parable Of The Lost Son
In Luke 15, Jesus tells a parable of a certain man who had two sons. The younger approached his father and asked for his portion of the inheritance.
The father divided the goods between his sons and the younger son set off to a far country where he wasted his portion on wild living. When he fell on hard times, he came to his senses and returned to his father who received him with joy because he was “dead” but then, was alive again.
Luke 15:25-29
25 “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’ 28 “But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. 29 So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. 30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’ 31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. 32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ ”
There are two things that the older son failed to realize:
He Was Always With The Father
When the father was pleading with the older brother to go into the house and celebrate his young brother’s return, he tells him “you are always with me” (v. 31) as though to imply that the older son should have been enjoying this experience.
The older son didn’t have the wild experiences of wasting away his possessions or living with harlots or desiring to eat pods that pigs ate as the younger son did, because he was always at home with the father.
The younger son was lost in a faraway country to wild living. The older son was “lost at home” fulfilling responsibilities and never enjoyed being with his father.
It is tempting to get jealous at the temporary pleasures that non-believers have outside of Christ and feel you are missing out on life. You may compare your life to another person’s life and feel like God has not been fair to you. God responds to you in the same way the father in the parable responded to the older son, “you are always with me.” It is possible for you to always be “at home” serving God and yet be lost because you never enjoy being with Him.
We can be “lost at home” while serving God. If God told you, son or daughter, you are always with me, would that bring you joy? We can get so busy doing our “obligations” in God’s service and yet be lost in the exact place where God expects us to be.
Do you find joy in “always being with the Father?”
All The Father Had Was His
The father in the parable told the older son, all that I have is yours (v. 31). And this was true from the moment the father divided his livelihood between his two sons (v. 12). Although it was the younger son who had asked for his inheritance, the father divided his goods to them both. The young one took his portion and left, leaving the remaining portion of the goods for the older son.
Actually, some believe that in the cultural context in which the parable was given, the father would have divided the possessions in three. One for the young son, the other for his oldest and the remaining for himself. So when he said “all that I have is yours” to the oldest son, he was saying all, the two-thirds of the possessions were all his. But the older son didn’t know he possessed it all.
If he knew that the remaining portion of the goods were his, he would have killed any number of young goats or fattened calves to celebrate with his friends at any time without seeking permission from his father. But because of his ignorance to the fact, he was “lost at home” among his great possessions.
In a distant country, the young brother got lost and lost all his possessions, while at home, the older brother remained lost despite having all his possessions.
Just like the older brother, it is possible for a Christian to be at home with God, serving the Lord, keeping his commandments and trying to live a holy life and yet live in ignorance concerning all that he possesses in Christ.
Do you know that in Christ you have all that the Father has given?
In Christ, we have the adoption as children of God (John 1:12, Romans 8:16, Galatians 3:26)
In Christ, we are heirs of God & fellow heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17)
In Christ, we have eternal life (John 3:16, 1 John 5:13)
In Christ, we have peace with God (Romans 5:1)
And yet many of us, in our frustration, tell God how we have served Him diligently all this time, and yet He has never healed our diseases, or given us that breakthrough, or how He hasn’t answered our prayers, etc.
The Father says to you, don’t you see it? I have already given you my best in Jesus Christ.
The good news is that the father came out to receive both his lost boys, he came out to receive the prodigal son who was lost to wild living and he also went out to plead with the older one who was lost at home.
Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10).
Amen.
