A More Sure Word of Prophecy
Image credit: “Josiah Hearing the Book of the Law” artist unknown, public domain image
Josiah in the book of 2nd Kings is described as ruler who did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. He leads a great revival in the kingdom of Judah by tearing down the vestiges of the false religion of his predecessors.
[15] Moreover the altar that was at Beth-el, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove.
[16] And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
The context of these verses is that King Josiah is burning the bones of false prophets that have defiled the land — a picture of their soul burning in hell. Prophets are held to a very high standard in the Bible. God confirms the prophet's words by bringing them to pass. If he does not, then they are a false prophet.
Deuteronomy 18:
20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
The prophet that Josiah uncovers in 2nd Kings 23 foretold of him by name many years before his birth! The proof that the man of God mentioned here was a true prophet is recorded in 1st Kings 13:
[1] And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
[2] And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar; thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.
[3] And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.
[4] And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Beth-el, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.
[5] The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.” 1st Kings 13:1-6
Here we also see an example of dual fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Prophecy in the Bible often has multiple layers and applications. Some things come to pass shortly while other things might take much longer to come to fruition. The short-term fulfillment is like a down payment, it is our proof that God himself has spoken and that the prophet conveying his message is genuine even if some parts of the prophecy may not be fulfilled until many years later.
Without some form of immediate fulfillment there is no way to discern whether a prophet has been sent by God or not. So, the man of God in 1st Kings foretells the actions of King Josiah will cleanse the land of the wickedness wrought by Jeroboam, but that event will not take place until hundreds of years after the events of 1st Kings 13. The second aspect of his prophecy involves a sign to Jeroboam that the altar will be torn in half (rent) and the ashes from the incense and burnt offerings will be spilled out. This happens immediately. This is God’s confirmation of the prophet’s words.
Josiah's subjects appear to be aware of the prophecy from 1st Kings 13 and confirm that these are the remains of that same man of God:
[17] Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou has done against the altar of Beth-el.
[18] And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.” — 2nd Kings 23
Josiah leaves the bones of the man of God and the Samaritan prophet because they were true believers who did not bow to false gods. Burial is a picture of our bodies sleeping until the resurrection when we will be raised up bodily and ever be with the Lord (1st Thessalonians 4:17).
Jesus tells us to “beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. (Matthew 7:15)” “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed…(2nd Peter 1:19)
We should be very skeptical of anyone claiming to have “new revelations” or private interpretations of scripture that do not meet Biblical standards of truth.
Amen.
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