Unarmed Truth
On December 10, 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize at the University of Oslo in Oslo, Norway. In the middle of that important speech, he said these important words.
“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
For Martin Luther King, Jr., I believe unarmed truth was truth in its purest and greatest form. It’s truth without force, violence, or coercion. Truth rooted in love, rooted in God, and rooted in doing what is right.
Unconditional love was just that. It’s the kind of love we see in God. The kind of love we receive from God.
But what does unarmed truth and unconditional love look like in a world that has turned away from God?
Mama Said
A few weeks ago, I was driving one of my daughters somewhere, I don’t remember where, but I do remember that as we were driving and talking, she was telling me about how it had been a bad day. It was one of those days where everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. We’ve all been there, right? And I don’t know why, I don’t know where this came from, but I just started singing the words to that old familiar song…
Mama said there would be days like this, there would be days like this my mama said…
And she looked at me like you’re looking at me right now.
But that song by The Shirelles, released in 1961, spoke truth! Some days are hard. Some days, everything that can go wrong does go wrong. Sometimes life is challenging. Sometimes it seems like the world is going crazy.
But that song was a soulful reminder to take heart, it’s going to be ok, Mama said there would be days like this so just hold on, a better day is on the way!
We’ve all had days like that. But what happens when it’s not just a day, but a decade? What happens when it’s not just us, but the world we live in has become a dark place?
Sin and Darkness
From 640-609 BCE, there was a good king who reigned in Judah by the name of Josiah. Josiah became king when he was only EIGHT years old, if you can imagine that. And when he became king, the people of Judah had almost completely turned away from God. This was a dark time in their history.
The world was a very dark place. And let’s be clear, the world was a dark place then for the same reason it’s a dark place today: SIN. Whenever and wherever sin runs rampant, whenever and wherever people turn away from God, the world becomes a dark place. And this was the situation in the land of Judah.
Israel, as a nation, had been a divided kingdom. The northern kingdom, known as Israel, had been conquered by Assyria, and so for the last 80 years, there had been no king in Israel, and many of the people had been carried off into exile.
The southern kingdom of Judah had suffered under evil kings, and the people had all but completely turned away from God to the worship of idols. In fact, the previous king of Judah, Manasseh, was an especially evil king. He had even sacrificed one of his own sons in idol worship. I’m just not sure the situation could have been any worse. Judah is filled with idol worship. Sin is rampant. Everyone has forgotten God.
Josiah
And then, Josiah, eight-year-old Josiah, becomes king. And here’s what scripture says about Josiah. If you have your Bible or the YouVersion Bible app, join me in 2 Kings 22:
2 He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight and followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn away from doing what was right.
I mean, if your looking for a caption to put on your tombstone one day, this is it!
“He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight.”
“He did not turn away from doing what was right!”
Yes! This is exactly the kind of king the people of God needed.
And today, we could very easily talk about Josiah. As we talk about the human side of faith, we could very easily hold up Josiah as an incredible man of God who, from a very young age, did what was right.
His story is important. But there’s another person in this story who also teaches us something about courageous faith that often gets overlooked.
Fast forward to the 18TH year of Josiah’s reign as the king of Judah. Josiah is now about 26 years old. He’s instructed his people to work on restoring and repairing the Temple. After decades of neglect and idol worship the Temple of God built by Solomon had fallen into ruin.
What’s worse, the people haven’t read or heard the Word of God read in a very long time. Many of the scrolls had been destroyed by evil kings. Without the word of God or the ability to worship God, it wasn’t just the Temple that had fallen into ruin; it was the people.
Finding the Scroll
3 In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent Shaphan son of Azaliah and grandson of Meshullam, the court secretary, to the Temple of the Lord. He told him, 4 “Go to Hilkiah the high priest and have him count the money the gatekeepers have collected from the people at the LORD’s Temple. 5 Entrust this money to the men assigned to supervise the restoration of the LORD’s Temple. Then they can use it to pay workers to repair the Temple.
So Josiah creates a plan to repair and restore the Temple. If you can imagine this, it had been used as a place for idol worship. Not only did it need to be repaired and restored, but they would have to take the idols out of God’s Temple! This is the very Temple where, when it was first constructed by Solomon and opened in Jerusalem for the worship of Yahweh, smoke filled the Temple.
The very presence of God filled the Temple! (1 Kings 8:10–11). And yet somehow, the people had not only forgotten God, forgotten the presence of God, but they had turned His place of worship, the place where the literal presence of the living God had come to dwell among his people, into a place of idol worship.
Josiah wants to restore the Temple and call the people back to the worship of the One true God. He gives the orders to begin the restoration of the Temple when this happens…
8 Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the court secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the LORD’s Temple!” Then Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan, and he read it.
Many of the scrolls had been lost or destroyed. But Hilkiah the high priest found something during cleanup he didn’t expect to find. He found a scroll, the Book of the Law! This was at least part of the Law of Moses given to Moses on Mt. Sinai.
Many scholars think it was Deuteronomy, or at least part of it. This is like Indiana Jones finding hidden treasure on one of his adventures or something like that. I can only imagine what Hilkiah thought when he realized what he had just discovered!
Hilkiah runs and finds Josiah’s secretary, a man by the name of Shaphan and says, you’re not going to believe what I just found!
9 Shaphan went to the king and reported, “Your officials have turned over the money collected at the Temple of the LORD to the workers and supervisors at the Temple.”
Talk about burying the lead! Shaphan, forget about paying the workers, tell Josiah what you guys FOUND!
10 Shaphan also told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” So Shaphan read it to the king.
Just imagine this scene. No one has read the word of God in a very long time. What they know of the Law of Moses has been passed down through oral tradition. There are prophets in the land who are still speaking boldly the word of God and calling people back to God.
Prophets like Zephaniah and Jeremiah and others. But Josiah is hearing for the very first time in his life the word of God read aloud. And when he does, do you know what he does?
11 When the king heard what was written in the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes in despair.
Why? Because he knew in that moment just how far the people had wandered from God. How badly the people had turned away from God.
12 Then he gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the court secretary, and Asaiah the king’s personal adviser: 13 “Go to the Temple and speak to the LORD for me and for the people and for all Judah. Inquire about the words written in this scroll that has been found. For the LORD’s great anger is burning against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words in this scroll. We have not been doing everything it says we must do.”
When Josiah heard the word of God, he humbled himself and wept in repentance. He cried out to God in despair. He knew, the people had turned completely away from God.
He commissions the high priest, his court secretary, and his personal advisors to go and “speak to the LORD for me and for the people and for all Judah. Inquire about the words written in this scroll that has been found.”
Huldah
Now here’s where the story get’s even more interesting. Listen to what happens next…
14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the New Quarter of Jerusalem to consult with the prophet Huldah. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, the keeper of the Temple wardrobe.
They go to a prophetess named Huldah. We don’t know much about Huldah. She’s one of four women in the Old Testament who were prophets. The other three were Miriam (Ex 15.20), Deborah (Jud 4.4), and Noadiah (Neh 6.14).
Huldah is living in what was called the “New Quarter” or “Second Quarter” of Jerusalem which was probably west of the Temple and might have been the humble side of town. Her husband was the keeper of the Temple wardrobe. We know of at least two other prominent prophets during this time… Zephaniah and Jeremiah.
She is not a well known prophet for many of us but she was well known to Josiah’s advisors and when Josiah instructed them to go and speak to the LORD and inquire about the scroll, they immediately went to Huldah.
And I want us to see another side to the human side of faith in Huldah that I believe is important. Listen to what she says to the king’s men…
15 She said to them, “The LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken! Go back and tell the man who sent you, 16 ‘This is what the LORD says: I am going to bring disaster on this city and its people. All the words written in the scroll that the king of Judah has read will come true. 17 For my people have abandoned me and offered sacrifices to pagan gods, and I am very angry with them for everything they have done. My anger will burn against this place, and it will not be quenched.’
Bolding Speaking Truth
Huldah boldly spoke truth into a world where prophets often feared for their lives.
She spoke truth into a world that had been plagued by idol worship. She spoke truth into a world where almost everyone had turned away from God. It wasn’t just that the Temple was in ruins, it was that the people were in spiritual ruin.
She called the people to turn away from idol worship and to turn back to God. She prophesied the disaster that would fall on the people because of their rebellion.
We don’t often talk about the anger of the LORD or the wrath of God, but make no mistake about it, God hates SIN. When people turn away from Him and turn to the worship of idols, God’s anger burns. His wrath begins to rise.
Sometimes, we don’t know what to say about God’s anger or God’s wrath. But know this, God’s anger, God’s wrath, is God’s response to sin and evil. His anger is always burning against sin. His wrath is always burning against idolatry.
Why?
Because, God knows that sin and idolatry destroys people’s lives. And God loves the people He created! God created us to know Him and love Him. To be in relationship with Him, and with others. And sin destroys relationship. Idolatry destroys relationship.
God’s wrath is a direct reflection of His love. His wrath is against everything that is against us.
Just like a father’s wrath rises when he sees his son or daughter make a decision that hurts them or other people. The father loves his son, his daughter, but he hates the sin, the decision that hurt them or hurt their relationships. God loves his people, that’s why his wrath burns against sin.
Huldah, in this moment, verifies that the scroll that was found in the Temple is indeed the word of God. With a Spirit of boldness she prophesies that the words of the scroll are true.
What part of the Word of God did she read? What did Josiah read that made him tear his clothes in despair? We don’t know exactly, but it might have been something like Deuteronomy 31.29 where Moses told the people before he died:
29 I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and will turn from the way I have commanded you to follow. In the days to come, disaster will come down on you, for you will do what is evil in the Lord’s sight, making him very angry with your actions.”
Moses said there would be days like this, there would be days like this, is what Moses had said!
Huldah had to speak a hard truth. And this is another side to the human side of faith. Sometimes we have to speak a hard truth to people we love in love.
Speaking Hard Truth
Have you ever had to speak hard truth to someone you love?
When Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, it was a dark time in America.
That year, President Lyndon B. Johnson had signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which outlawed segregation and employment discrimination, but there was violence in the streets, church bombings, and injustices happening every day.
But it wasn’t just a dark time in America, it was a dark time in the world. Globally, the Cold War tensions continued to heighten anxiety. Nuclear war was a constant threat. The Cuban Missile Crisis just two years before was still on everyone’s mind. The Vietnam War was escalating. Everyday new headlines brought new fear to the forefront.
In the middle of all that, Martin Luther King, Jr. said: “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
We can look at our world today and see that, while the headlines have changed, there are still wars and rumors of wars. There is still injustice and violence. Life, no doubt, is full of challenges.
And maybe Mama did say there would be days like this, but we need more people speaking words of truth, hope, and love, and calling us back to the truth, to the only source of Hope, and to the One who is the very definition of Love.
The Apostle Paul called Christians living in the ancient city of Ephesus, a city ALSO filled with idolatry, to speak truth in love! He writes…
14b We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. – Ephesians 4.14b-15
This is our calling, to…
Speak truth in love for the hope and healing of the world.
God’s Word reveals timeless truths that never change. His truth doesn’t change when culture shifts and His truth isn’t swayed by public opinion. The God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever has given us His unchanging Word to guide how we live. It’s not a menu of options for us to pick and choose from—every part of it is true, and we are called to live our lives according to His Word!
We don’t speak truth to hurt, to harm, or to divide.
We speak truth in love to help, to heal, and to unite. This is what truth does by the way. It brings life and light and healing and peace. We know this because this is what Jesus does and Jesus said, I am the way the truth, and the life.
How?
Anytime you speak words of light into a world of darkness…
Anytime you speak words of love into a world of hate…
Anytime you speak words of clarity about God’s design and God’s desire into a world of confusion around morality and sexuality…
Anytime you say it’s better to give than it is to receive in a world of greed and selfishness…
Anytime you say the last shall be first and you take up the towel to serve those around you in a world that says, “I want to be number 1…”
Anytime you do that, you speak truth in love.
To be on the human side of faith means that we have to speak truth, in love, for the hope and healing of the world.
Huldah spoke truth. Her decision to boldly speak truth in love in a dark time and, if you keep reading, you discover that the entire nation turned back to God (2 Kings 23:1–3).
Maybe you had never heard of Huldah before today. Just remember, God often works through people who are faithful, even if they are overlooked.
May we have the courage to speak truth in love today as well.
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