OLD TESTAMENT EXAMPLES

We can see throughout the Old Testament that there were always those who were anointed to bring Israel back into covenant alignment with God. Understanding covenant alignment is to understand consecration before the Lord and a willingness to keep His commandments. Israel often strayed from these principles, falling into various types of sin and failing to uphold the covenant God made with them.

While reading through the Old Testament, it becomes clear that the Word of God goes hand in hand with the anointing to return to a place of covenant. All of the Prophets, Kings, and Leaders who fully consecrated themselves and followed the Laws of Moses became instrumental in the building of a nation.

 

In Deuteronomy 31, Moses addresses all Israel and makes it known that God has chosen Joshua to lead them across the Jordan and take possession of the land. In the next section, Moses decrees a public reading of the law to be conducted every seven years, when all Israel gathers in a place chosen by God.

" Assemble the people - men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns - so they can listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess." Deuteronomy 31:16

In Joshua 8, Joshua builds an altar on mount Ebal and renews covenant with the God of Israel, in accordance with Moses' instructions in Deuteronomy 27. After offering sacrifices and burnt offerings to the Lord, Joshua wrote a copy of the Law of Moses on stones and set them up for all Israel to see.

"Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law - the blessings and curses - just as it is written in the book of the law. There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners who lived among them." Joshua 8:34-35 

So we can see that Joshua faithfully honored the word of God and the Law that was given to Moses. Joshua went on to fulfill all that God had called him to do!

There are several accounts in the Old Testament that make it clear how important it was for the Israelites to have an understanding of the law in order to maintain covenant and walk in a right relationship with God.

One of my favorite examples is the reign of King Josiah in second Kings 22 - 23. In the eighteenth year of Josiah, the book of the law was found, and Shaphan the priest's secretary read the Law to the King. Upon hearing the law, Josiah tore his robes and wept, because he realized that the people had not been acting in accordance with all that the law commanded.

After seeking the Lord, Josiah humbled himself and renewed covenant with the God of Israel. Josiah then destroyed all of the idol worship and burned the articles of Baal and Asherah in the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem. Josiah also tore down the high places, as God had commanded, and did away with the mediums and spiritists and other detestable things found in Jerusalem and Judah.

After Judah and Samaria had been reconsecrated to God, Josiah gave this order: 

    "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.'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, but in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem." 2 Kings 23:22-23

I like the story of Josiah so much because it provides a clear example of how the anointing and the Word work together to restore a covenant alignment. Josiah was only eight years old when he came to the throne of Judah, but God had a plan to reveal His word and restore the land to a right covenant before the Lord. Josiah was one of the last Kings to sit on the throne of Judah, before the people were taken into exile in Babylon. He came to power in a very dark time in Israel's history and succeeded several Kings the Bible described as evil in the eyes of the Lord.

For generations leading up to this time, Israel had not celebrated the Passover as Moses commanded and the Kings consistently refused to tear down the high places of worship. During Josiah's reign, the high places were removed and the Passover was restored in Jerusalem.

God knew that the time was right to reveal His word and that Josiah was a man who would repent and bring Israel and Judah back into relationship with Him.

Please Pray:
That during this season of dire straits, God would reveal His Word and the leadership across Israel would bend their knees in humility and repentance.

That God would raise up the Messianic community to come together in unity. The anointing and the Word would work together and restore covenant alignment in the land.

Let the Jewish people look upon the Word of God with fresh eyes. Write it upon their hearts as You declare in Your Word.

"But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." Jeremiah 31:33-34

portions taken from Israel prayer list