How Revival Begins — and How It Begins with You. (2 Kings 23: 1-30)

The Bible Project Daily Podcast is an in-depth, daily study of the entire Bible, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. 

Episode Notes:  How Revival Begins — and How It Begins with You. (2 Kings 23: 1-30)

Now we know that physical growth just… happens. Feed a child, give it time, and they grow. But spiritual growth? That doesn’t “just happen.” It requires something. It involves choices, and it demands a response.

 And as we’ve been walking through the book of 2 Kings, we’ve now come to a chapter that beautifully illustrates the essential elements of spiritual growth — the very ingredients of revival. It shows us how revival begins, and it shows us how it begins with you….

Transcript

How Revival Begins — and How It Begins with You. (2 Kings 23: 1-30)

God wants His children to grow.

Now we know that physical growth just… happens. Feed a child, give it time, and they grow.

But spiritual growth?

That doesn’t “just happen.”

It requires something.

It involves choices and it demands response.

And as we’ve been walking through the book of 2 Kings, we’ve now come to a chapter that beautifully illustrates the essential elements of spiritual growth — the very ingredients of revival.

This chapter doesn’t use the word growth, but it shows us how growth happens. It shows us how revival begins and it shows us how it begins with you….

There are three elements in this passage.

Let’s look at the first one.

1.     Revival Begins with Hearing the Word of God.

In yesterday’s chapter 22, the high priest discovered the Book of the Law — Scripture that had been neglected, forgotten, and ignored for years.

He gave it to the scribe. The scribe gave it to the king, and the text said king Joshia read it — and trembled.

Now in chapter 23, we see what Josiah does next.

1 Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.

(2 Kings 23: 1-3)

So, the king sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem…”

Verse 2: and “They go to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah,

all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the prophets, and all the people, both small and great…”

And what did he do? “…he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant…”

He didn’t wait.

He didn’t delay.

He didn’t say, “Let’s finish repairing the temple first.”

He didn’t say, “Let’s get organized and then read the Word.”

The moment he had Scripture in his hands,

he gathered everyone and read it aloud.

Everyone:

The elders

The priests

The prophets

The men

The women

The children

The entire city

And likely among them were Jeremiah and Zephaniah, young prophets who would later write Scripture themselves.

Josiah wanted everyone under the sound of God’s Word.

That’s where revival begins.

James 1:19 says: “Let every person be swift to hear.”

Swift to hear what?

The Word of God.

Revival never begins with emotion.

It never begins with music.

It never begins with programs.

Revival begins when God’s people hear God’s Word and respond.

2. Revival Continues with Responding to the Word of God

“Then the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord…” To do what? “…to follow the Lord and to keep His commandments… with all his heart and all his soul…”

Notice the order.

They did not first decide to keep the commandments.

They first decided to follow the Lord.

That is crucial.

The spiritual life is not a checklist.

It is not a list of rules.

It is not a set of do’s and don’ts.

It is a relationship.

They said: “We will follow the Lord.” And then: “We will keep His commandments.”

Obedience flows out of relationship.

Duty flows out of devotion and obedience to the law flows out of love.

Revival begins when the heart turns toward God — and then the life follows.

Revival always produces Action — Real, Tangible, Visible Action

Verse 4 begins the second major movement of the chapter:

The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel.

(2 Kings 23:4)

Josiah didn’t just hear the Word.

He didn’t just respond emotionally.

He didn’t just make a covenant.

He acted.

He cleaned house.

He removed idols.

He burned them.

He scattered their ashes.

He deposed idolatrous priests.

He tore down pagan booths.

He destroyed shrines.

He brought priests back to Jerusalem.

And, he shut down the high places.

Revival always produces action.

When the Word of God is heard, and the heart responds, then our lives change.

Idols come down.

Sin gets confessed.

Habits get broken.

Priorities shift.

Obedience becomes visible.

Revival is not just something you feel.

It’s something you do.

The Pattern So Far. Josiah has shown us the first three steps of revival:

      I.        Hear the Word of God

     II.        Respond to the Word of God

    III.        Act on the Word of God

That’s how revival begins…. And that’s how it begins with you.

But Revival also Removes What Offends God

5 He did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts. 6 He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people. 7 He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah.

8 Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the gateway at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which was on the left of the city gate. 9 Although the priests of the high places did not serve at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.

10 He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice their son or daughter in the fire to Molek. 11 He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.

12 He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley. 13 The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon. 14 Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.

15 Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder and burned the Asherah pole also. 16 Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.

17 The king asked, “What is that tombstone I see?”

The people of the city said, “It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.”

18 “Leave it alone,” he said. “Don’t let anyone disturb his bones.” So, they spared his bones and those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.

19 Just as he had done at Bethel, Josiah removed all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria and that had aroused the Lord’s anger. 20 Josiah slaughtered all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones on them. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

(2 Kings 23:4–20)

We’ve seen the first movement of revival:

They heard the Word of God.

They responded to the Word of God.

They committed themselves to follow the Lord.

Now the chapter moves into the second major movement:

Revival removes what offends God.

When Josiah heard the Law, he didn’t just feel convicted — he acted.

He obeyed and he cleaned house.

And the text now gives us a detailed, almost relentless description of everything he removed.

It’s long.

It’s repetitive.

It’s intense.

But that’s the point.

Revival is thorough, it’s decisive. And revival is never halfway.

He Removed the Idols — All of Them

He didn’t store them. He didn’t hide them. He didn’t repurpose them…. 

He burned them.

Then he carried the ashes to Bethel, one of the main centers of idolatry, to defile the site so it could never be used again.

Revival doesn’t negotiate with idols.

Revival destroys them.

He also removed the idolatrous Priests. These were men who bowed before idols, burned incense to Baal, worshiped the sun, the moon, the stars, and did it all in the name of religion.

Josiah deposed them. He didn’t let them continue. He didn’t let them “transition” into new roles and he didn’t let them stay in leadership.

Revival requires new leadership, a 1leadership that fears God.

He also removed the idols inside the temple. “He brought out the wooden image…” Imagine that. An idol, inside the temple…. This is how far the nation had fallen.

Josiah then burned it, ground it to powder, and scattered the ashes on the graves of common people, a symbolic act of total desecration. So, revival cleans the house of God first.

He also removed sexual perversion from the Temple. “He tore down the booths …” These were male prostitutes, operating inside the temple, with booths set up for ritual immorality. 

This is how twisted the worship had become.

Josiah tore it all down. Revival confronts sin even the sins we don’t want to talk about.

He removed the High Places throughout all of Judah. He brought the  priests back to Jerusalem, where they belonged and shut down every unauthorized place of worship.

Revival restores God’s order.

And most importantly he removed child sacrifice. Verse 10 says, “He defiled Topheth… so that no man might make his son or daughter pass through the fire to Molech.”

This is one of the most hideous sins in Israel’s history, burning children alive as offerings to idols.

Josiah ended it. He not only destroyed the site he shut it down permanently.

Revival protects the vulnerable. Revival defends life and revival ends cruelty.

He stopped the worship of the sun and removed the sacred horses

These were pagan symbols, kept at the entrance of the temple.

Josiah removed them and burned their chariots because revival removes anything that competes with God’s glory.

He broke down the altars… pulverized them… and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley. He didn’t just dismantle them, he pulverized them…. Because revival is never gentle with sin.

“He defiled the high places… which Solomon had built…” This is stunning.

Solomon — the wisest man who ever lived had built pagan shrines for his foreign wives.

Those shrines had stood for centuries.

Josiah tore them down. Revival is willing to confront even the sins of our heroes.

He removed the sacred pillars and images. “He broke them in pieces”  Again — total destruction….. Revival leaves no idol standing.

He destroyed Jeroboam’s altar at Bethel, “burned it… crushed it to powder…”

This was the altar that split the nation. This was the altar that launched the Northern Kingdom into idolatry. This was the altar that defined rebellion.  Josiah pulverized it…. Revival confronts the root of sin, not just the symptoms.

It also tells us that by doing all these thing Joshia had fulfilled a 300‑Year‑Old Prophecy

Verse 16:

Three hundred years earlier, in 1 Kings 13, a prophet had said: “A child, Josiah by name, shall be born… and he will burn the bones of the priests on this altar.”

Josiah fulfilled that prophecy exactly. 

Revival is not random. Revival is God keeping His promises.

He even cleansed the Northern Kingdom. He had no political authority there and the Northern Kingdom had fallen long before but Josiah was so committed to removing idolatry that he went beyond his borders to cleanse the land.

This tells us that revival overflows, it spreads and it doesn’t stay contained.

“He executed all the priests of the high places…” This was not personal vengeance. This was justice under the Law of Moses because these priests had led the nation into idolatry, immorality, and child sacrifice.

Revival restores righteousness.

This passage is long, it’s repetitive and it’s intense. Why?

Because revival is thorough.

Revival is not a feeling.

Revival is not a moment.

Revival is not a song.

Revival is:

Hearing the Word

Responding to the Word

Removing everything that offends God

And replacing it with obedience

Josiah didn’t just read the Law — he acted on it.

He didn’t just feel convicted — he changed everything.

He didn’t just make a covenant — he tore down idols.

Revival begins with the Word.

Revival continues with repentance.

Revival is proven by obedience.

Part 3 — Revival Restores What God Commands.

21 The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.

24 Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the Lord. 25 Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.

26 Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to arouse his anger. 27 So the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’”

28 As for the other events of Josiah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

29 While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Necho faced him and killed him at Megiddo. 30 Josiah’s servants brought his body in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

(2 Kings 23:21–30)

So, we’ve seen the negative side of revival — Josiah removed everything that offended God.

He tore down idols.

He burned altars.

He eliminated false priests.

He even went into the Northern Kingdom to finish the job.

But revival is not only about removing what is wrong.

Revival is also about restoring what is right.

And that’s exactly what happens next.

Because revival restores obedience to God’s Word

Notice the shift. 

He removes what is contrary to the Law, restores what is commanded in the Law.

Revival is not just subtraction — it is also addition.

It is not just repentance — it is obedience.

It is not just tearing down — it is building up.

Josiah says:

“We’ve removed the idols. Now let’s return to the Passover.”

Revival restores what has been neglected for Generations and the text tells us that, “Such a Passover had not been held since the days of the judges…”

That is shocking.

The Passover — the central feast of Israel, the annual reminder of redemption, the heart of their worship had not been observed properly for hundreds of years.

Not in the days of the kings of Israel.

Not in the days of the kings of Judah.

Not even in the days of Solomon.

Only three Passovers are mentioned during the monarchy:

Solomon (2 Chronicles 8)

Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 30)

Josiah (here)

And Josiah’s was the first one done exactly as the Law required.

Why?

….Because revival always brings people back to the Word.

He observed the Passover with more attention to the Law than anyone since the days of the judges.”

Revival restores what has been neglected.

Revival brings back what has been forgotten.

Revival renews what has been abandoned.

And continuing revival means that he continued  to remove what offends God. “Josiah put away those who consulted mediums and spiritists, the household gods, idols, and all the abominations…”

Even after the great Passover, Josiah keeps going. He removes: Mediums, spiritists, household idols, occult practices.

In modern terms?

Fortune tellers.

Astrology.

Occultism.

Superstition.

Revival doesn’t tolerate spiritual counterfeits.

“Now before him there was no king like him,

who turned to the Lord with all his heart,

all his soul,

and all his might…”

That description of Joshia is repeating the exact wording of Deuteronomy 6:5 —the greatest commandment. Josiah is the only king in Scripture described this way.

Not even David, Solomon or Hezekiah are described this way… Josiah stands alone.

Why?

Because revival begins with a heart fully turned toward God.

However, revival does not always remove consequences.

The text says. “Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His wrath…” Even Josiah’s reforms could not reverse centuries of rebellion.

Manasseh’s sins had pushed the nation past the point of no return…. Judgment would still come…. The Babylonian captivity was still certain.

But Josiah, because of his submissive heart  would not live to see it.

God honoured him personally, even though the nation still faced discipline. Revival does not always change circumstances, but revival always changes you.

Verses 28–30 tell us Josiah died prematurely because of an unwise military decision against Pharaoh Necho.

He was a godly king. A righteous king and a reforming king. But even godly people can make unwise choices.

His influence, however, lived on. His reforms shaped a generation and his example still speaks today.

So What Does This Have to Do With Spiritual Growth?

You may say: “I didn’t see the words spiritual growth anywhere in this chapter.” You’re right — the word isn’t there…. But the pattern is.

And that pattern is exactly what Peter describes in the New Testament.

Turn to 1 Peter 2.

 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

(2 Peter 2: 1-3)

Peter gives us the three elements of spiritual growth — the same three elements we just saw in Josiah’s revival.

(1) Remove what is sinful. Verse 1: “Lay aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and evil speaking…”

That’s Josiah removing idols.

(2) Desire the Word of God. Verse 2: “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word…”

That’s Josiah reading the Law to all the people.

(3) Grow by obeying the Word. Verse 2: “…that you may grow thereby…”

That’s Josiah restoring the Passover and obeying the covenant.

The same three elements:

      I.        Hear the Word

     II.        Remove what is sinful

    III.        Obey what God commands

That is how revival begins.

And that is how spiritual growth begins —

and continues —

and deepens.

Peter  in his first letter says: “Desire the pure milk of the Word…”

Pure means unmixed, unadulterated, genuine.

Some people can only take the Word if it’s mixed with something else:

Entertainment

Emotion

Stories

Psychology

Self‑help

Cultural trends

But Peter says:

“Don’t mix it. Don’t dilute it. Don’t water it down. Desire the pure Word.”

Josiah didn’t mix the Word with anything.

He read it, he believed it and he obeyed it.

And revival came.

As we close today, remember the simple pattern God has woven into the spiritual life:

Hear the Word.

Remove what is sinful.

Put on what is righteous.

That’s how revival begins.

That’s how revival grows.

And that’s how revival begins with you….

Outro:

Josiah heard the Word of God, he humbled himself before the Lord, he removed everything that offended God, and he restored everything God commanded.

And the result?

A life marked by wholehearted devotion, a life God Himself said was unlike any king before or after him.

But Josiah’s story also reminds us of something sobering:

Personal revival does not always prevent national judgment.

Josiah walked with God, but the nation still faced the consequences of centuries of rebellion.

And that brings us to the next chapter.

In our next episode, we step into 2 Kings chapter 24,

and the tone of the book shifts dramatically.

We move from revival…

to collapse.

From reform…

to judgment.

From Josiah’s faithfulness…

to the unravelling of a nation.

Our theme will be: 

“When a Nation Falls — and How the Faithful Live Through It.”

We will watch the Babylonian shadow fall across Judah.

We will see kings rise and fall in rapid succession.

We will see the consequences of long‑ignored warnings.

And we will learn what it means to remain faithful when the world around you is coming apart.

If you’ve ever wondered:

How do you walk with God in dark times?

How do you stay faithful when others fall away?

How do you trust God when judgment comes?

How do you live with hope when the future looks bleak?

Then you will not want to miss the next episode.

Until then.

Renovate your heart,

Walk in obedience,

And remember: Revival begins with you… but God walks with you through everything that comes next.

I’ll see you next time.