Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years. 2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.
3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. 4 And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them. 5 And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. 6 And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about. 7 And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.
6- Josiah renewed the Covenant between God and all the men of Judah
7- In chapter 35 we see Josiah implement Passover. Reviving the heart of the people to repent and return to their God.
This is the culmination of incredible reforms in Judah under Josiah.
As a nation, it could not have been an easy process. Josiah’s reformations presented tremendous changes in culture, changes that were diametrically opposed to the flesh. Prior to this, they endured Manasseh—one of the most wicked kings in their history. In fact, Manasseh is responsible for the brutal slaying of Isaiah. While he repented before he died, his son picked up his father’s wretched idolatry. Amon was so wicked, his own servants conspired to kill him.
God, in His mercy, gave them Josiah! One last revival born out of the reformation, before the 70-year captivity.
Reformation is difficult, it involves the uprooting of corruption that has been piled up on top of the original, to make way for the reclamation of His plans and purposes in the land.
God involves people in His plans. Kings, rulers, prophets, intercessors, pastors and so on. In this case, He used this young King. God chose Josiah for this event, and prophesied of his coming centuries earlier when wickedness was rising in the land. We can read this account in 1 Kings 12 & 13, three hundred years earlier in fact. When the nation of Israel had just been divided, and wickedness was rampant in the land. Jeroboam ruled in the Northern Kingdom and Rehoboam ruled in Judah. Both were wicked and led the people into gross darkness. During one of his idolatrous acts, an unknown prophet came to Jeroboam and prophesied of Josiah by name:
1 Kings 13:2.
“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.”
God’s plan was set in motion before time began however, it was announced in such detail, as to call the King who would turn the nation, even if only for a season, back to God some three centuries before he was even born.
As we read through the journey of Josiah, we can see a wonderful example of how God can and will use young people to bring about Reformation in the individual, the church and the nation.
His desire is to implement His will and His ways in the land and ultimately renew the Covenant with His people. Age is never an issue with God, He simply seeks willing vessels.
I felt led to look at Josiah, this young man who became King and led the nation into a complete reformation and renewal because I believe he is a type of the new breed of leaders the Lord showed me years ago.
Both as a King and young man, Josiah was tender, his heart malleable before the Lord. The Bible tells us he sought the Lord in every aspect of his life and his leadership as King was no exception. So, as they cleaned the Temple, when the Book of the Law was recovered and carefully carried before the king. This tender-hearted king was quick to respond and lead his nation in a time of national repentance.
Many scholars believe it was Deuteronomy that was discovered and if so, the national reading of this book, especially chapter 28, stimulated the heart of the king and he rent his clothes in repentance for his nation.
Why? Because it speaks of the blessings & curses that will come upon the land if they obey or disobey the Covenant. Keep in mind, this was to be read before the people every seven years, but the kings had failed to enforce this command.
Now, the people heard and were called into this repentance. They had two potential obstacles facing them:
1- Their own heart. The idolatry and wickedness under Manasseh and his son Amon were deep. The people had been immersed in corruption, and idolatry. They surely observed Josiahs’s cleansing of the land and knew his leadership was going to provide a different environment for them as a nation. They had to ask themselves, did they want to follow this young leader into righteousness? Did they want to repent and return to God.
2- The approaching judgment. The blessings & curses in listed in Deuteronomy 28 likely shook them to their core. Judgment was fast approaching their borders. History records, that there was a very chaotic time occurring through the ancient Near East that was precipitated by an invasion from the north of barbaric, nomadic horsemen known as the Scythians. They were fierce in their war tactics and strategy, having been the first to master the art of riding horseback while engaging in battle; to hear them coming struck fear in the hearts of the villages. Their incursions wrought terror among the complacent and likely provoked the people with great fervency to participate in the reformation Josiah was implementing. (Jeremiah prophesied their approach in Jer 6:22-24).
The LORD, in His Covenant warned that the fruit of their rebellion and idolatry would bring war, pestilence, drought, and famine to the land. Hearing of these nomadic warriors and knowing what their brethren in the Northern Kingdom experienced at the hands of the Assyrians, national participation in Josiah’s reformations became increasingly necessary.
Throughout the history of God’s people, when the Word of God is recovered and spread, prayer ensues, and revival follows. God’s Word is true, and they were learning this experientially. They were ready for reformation!
Josiah’s reforms provided a time of repentance. The fear of God returned to the nation, and the Temple worship and the feasts were restored, idolatry was extinguished and the restoration of relationship with the Lord occurred.
Reformation begins with prayer. As these key people sought the Lord, the King, the High Priest, and the Prophet birthed reformation.
Much like our ministry.
How does this apply to us today?
This passage gives us a powerful recipe—seven points—for our own quest to reform and save our nation:
1- Seek Him in every area of our lives
2- Purge- Aggressively purge the idolatry from our own lives and then our nation
3- Rebuild the house of the Lord
4- Restore the Word of the Lord
5- Renew the Covenant
6- Revive the heart of the people to their God!
7- Pursue the vision of God for the Nation.
We’ve been in Reformation since our first Gathering of the Eagles in 1999 when the Angel of Reformation was sent to us for America. And, for a quarter of a century, we have been praying for the expansion and deep work of Reformation and healing of this nation. By the time His work is finished, every aspect will be touched by God: The Church, Academia, Government, Media, Business, and so on, it will all be impacted by Reformation.
We need a revival of His Word in the people, the church and our nation. The roots of what Josiah did were in the land. Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Solomon, these were deep and strong roots established in the land.
America has deep roots of revival, reformation, and renewal as well!
I want to share a couple visions with you and elaborate on how I see this in relation to reformation in our own nation, particularly within our youth. Then, at the end, I’m going to share some prayer points for those of you who feel led to pray around the campuses of our schools this summer.
I believe these visions speak to this passage in Josiah in relation to the New Breed of Believers (leaders, educators, etc) coming forth, within the Samuel Generation. I also believe that reformation is having its way in our nation restoring us to the roots of truth!
The Shaking of Academia!
Vision – Tuesday 5/28
After my prayer time this morning, as I walked from one room to another, I had an open vision. I saw what I suspected to be the library of Harvard University. Underneath the building, I saw these enormous black roots that were easily the size of the redwood trees here in California. On average they are 10-15 feet in diameter with the older General Grant and Sherman trees reaching 28-45 feet in diameter.
The roots were attached to the building with a portion stretching up along the side of the building, some even reaching the roof, but the bulk of them penetrated the earth. I could see that they were impacting everything that occurred in and through the University. While they were thick, they were not as deep as one would expect.
The building began to shake violently.
Suddenly, white roots stretched up from beneath those dark roots. They were huge and began coiling around the dark roots, round and round until these roots were completely encased by the white roots. Suddenly they ripped the dark roots from the building and crushed them, disintegrating them like powder!
There was a light that began to emanate from the University, it was warm, soft at first and then it became brighter and brighter until it encompassed the entire campus.
The Lord told me the roots of these universities are rising, and these halls will return to the purpose for which they were created, to teach His Word to those who hunger and thirst for Him.
What was Harvard like in the beginning?
Harvard University 1636, was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from the donation of property and library of Rev. John Harvard. Originally called the College at Cambridge, Harvard was the first college in America, being established only sixteen years after the landing of the Pilgrims.
The declared purpose of the college was:
“To train a literate clergy.”
The Rules and Precepts that were observed at Harvard, September 26, 1642, stated:
1. When any Scholar. is able to make [write] and speak true Latine in Verse and Prose....And decline perfectly the paradigms of Nouns and Verbes in the Greek tongue... [he is capable] of admission into the college.
2. Let every Student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the Main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life, John 17:3 and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and Learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth wisdom, Let everyone seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seek it of him Prov. 2,3.
3. Every one shall so exercise himself in reading the Scriptures twice a day, that he shall be ready to give such an account of his proficiency therein, both in Theoretical observations of Language and Logic, and in practical and spiritual truths, as his Tutor shall require, according to his ability; seeing the entrance of the word giveth light, it giveth understanding to the simple, Psalm, 119:130.
4. That they eschewing (abstain or keep away from) all profanation of God's name, Attributes, Word, Ordinances, and times of Worship, do study with good conscience carefully to retain God, and the love of his truth in their minds, else let them know, that (notwithstanding their Learning) God may give them up to strong delusions, and in the end to a reprobate mind, 2 Thes. 2:11, 12. Rom. 1:28.
5. That they studiously redeem the time; observe the general hours...diligently attend the Lectures, without any disturbance by word or gesture...
6. None shall...frequent the company and society of such men as lead an unfit, and dissolute life. Nor shall any without his Tutors leave, or without the call of Parents or Guardians, go abroad to other Towns.
7. Every Scholar shall be present in his Tutors chamber at the 7th houre in the morning, immediately after the sound of the Bell, at his opening the Scripture and prayer, so also at the 5th hour at night, and then give account of his own private reading... But if any shall absent himself from prayer or Lectures, he shall be liable to Admonition, if he offend above once a week.
8. If any Scholar shall be found to transgress any of the Laws of God, or the School. he may be admonished at the Public Monthly Act
Taken from “America’s God and Country” Federer
These are the roots of Harvard.
Prior to the Revolutionary War, ten of the twelve presidents of Harvard were ministers, and according to reliable calculations, over “fifty percent of the seventeenth-century Harvard graduates became ministers."
These are the roots of education here in our nation. The roots of truth!
1. The founders of Harvard believed that: “All knowledge without Christ was vain.”
2. The motto of Harvard was officially: “For Christ and the Church.”
3. The word Veritas, still on the college seal, means “Divine Truth.”
It’s not just Harvard that pursued Godly education, 106 of the first 108 schools in America were founded on the Christian faith. Keeping in mind, most entered at 13 and graduate from Harvard, Yale, or other institutions of higher learning at the age of 16. Right about the same age as Josiah when his pursuit of the Lord intensified, and he sought him in relation to every area of his life. Is this not what our educational system, at its inception, taught our children? Did they not intend to teach our children how to seek the Lord in every aspect of their lives?
The roots of truth begin early, and they must be pursued throughout one’s life.
Let us continue to pray for a reformation of Academia and that the roots of Christianity—so deeply ingrained within these institutions—will rise up and crush what the elite have implemented and destroy any roots of darkness that remain.
If you remember, the Eagle, the Flag and the Weights… Media and Academia were the first two weights hanging on the flag. God is dealing with them now.
I shared this next vision last week, but I feel it’s very important to repeat it given where we are right now, where we see our young people, what we are witnessing in the Ivy League universities today, because these are bred to be the leaders of tomorrow.
If we factor in God’s plans, these will be the reformers, the revivalists, and reclaimers of that which the enemy seeks to destroy!
“The School of the Spirit releasing the Overcomers”
Vision – Tuesday 5/28
In prayer I had a vision of this next generation. They were emerging from the darkness they have been in, like being reborn through the birth canal.
As they came through the canal, they grabbed these vines that were like strands of light. The strands represented the victories of God that had been obtained through the school of the Spirit.
As they emerged from the canal, they launched forward on their feet, and they took those strands and released them across their generation. The strands began to expand and impact young people all around them. It multiplied until I saw the Light envelop their generation.
-End-
The Lord said My glory is going to pour in 2024 and when it does, our youth will be among those who receive the greatest measure of blessing from this immersion
The destiny of God, that which was written on the scrolls of our children, our grandchildren, our nieces and nephews, before they were knit in their mother’s wombs, STILL STANDS! Regardless of what you see on the surface, continue to press in on their behalf. Decree God’s plans for them each and every day!
I firmly believe our young people need to not only be on their own journey through the school of the Spirit, but they must be on the journey of this nation through its rebirthing process. Together, they will minister to and strengthen their generation, and be part of retaining and maintaining the work we’ve been doing for nearly a quarter of a century!
Even if they agree with the corruption? Absolutely! Why? For some, they must be part of the corruption so they can help us fight it with the wealth of information they’ve glean from this season of partnering with that deception. For others who have been victims of it, they will help bring others up and out and into freedom!
When we experience things in the depths of our soul, it changes us and enables us to be part of implementing reformation! These young people will know how to prevent, overcome, and gain victory if a communist, cultural Marxist, or anti-God regimes try to infiltrate the nation again!
Listen, 1517 when Martin Luther nailed that 95 Thesis to the door of the Catholic Church, it was the catalyst that birthed America. He lived in the Catholic Church as part of its system. Then, he lived under their oppression. He knew both sides and witnessed the oppression of that institution until his death. His fight was real and his desire to help set people free influenced every part of his life.
In the 1500-1600s persecution for religious reasons surged throughout Europe depending on the faith of the present King or Queen. People fled to escape that persecution as it was so severe.
This is why the US Constitution was written the way it was, our Founding Fathers knew impact and oppression that resulted from their own experiences and as such, under the inspiration of the Lord, fought to prevent religion from being dictated by Government. They did not want to risk their posterity being subjected to the whims and religion of whoever the President was at the time. They also understood that it was the responsibility of the Church to maintain the faith within our nation. And if the Church retained and maintained a nation of righteous citizens, they would continue to influence the government by demanding righteous standards from their leaders.
Our Founding Fathers lived under the oppression, and like I shared last week, Washington once fought for Brittain and ultimately fought for America. Since he knew and understood what he was fighting against, he could effectively lead the people into battle and gain the victory.
Reformation is difficult, but through reformation, we are reclaiming our nation, our government, our schools, our youth!
It’s time we rise and stand for these young people. As I said earlier, we need to pray around the schools and reclaim them for the work of the Kingdom of God. Here are a few points, I’ll add to them and send this out next week. You can also go to our website and look up the teaching I did a few weeks ago “The Fight for our Youth” 3/20/24 and “Restoring our Roar” 4/2/24 and decree and declare those visions over the school and the district. Together, we can reclaim our youth!
If you want to influence your local school districts through prayer, here are some prayer points you can cover as you walk around the schools this summer.
Pray over academia, school boards, teachers, principals, and the youth:
Repent for:
• Compromise
• Communist indoctrination
• Removing God and Prayer from the schools
• Presence of Planned parenthood on campuses
• The impact of these things on the hearts, the minds, and the bodies of our children
• The transgender/gender fluid ideology
Pray for:
• Restoration of God’s Word and Prayer to return to the schools
• Truth to reign in the educational system. Decree and declare that truth will come forth from the halls of these educational systems once again!
• 1776 Curriculum to be implemented
• Reformation in the school system
• Revival among the youth.
• Pray they will hunger and thirst for the Word of God like never before.
• Great Awakening to occur in the youth. Pray for them to have dreams of heaven like the dream the Lord gave me last year.
• Call for the Samuel Generation! Pray for the Pastors, the Prophets, the Intercessors, the Evangelists, and the Teachers to arise!
• Take the Scriptures from the Harvard Rules and Precepts for Scholars and pray them over the school, students.
Together, we can pray our youth through reformation and into their victory! Together, we can reclaim them for the Kingdom of heaven! Together, we can see reformation, revival, and reclamation infiltrate every aspect of their lives!
Blessings & love,
Ricci Johnson-Wilson
This week we will have our
