3 Now it came to pass, in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the scribe, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the house of the Lord, saying: 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money which has been brought into the house of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people. 5 And let them deliver it into the hand of those doing the work, who are the overseers in the house of the Lord; let them give it to those who are in the house of the Lord doing the work, to repair the damages of the house– 6 to carpenters and builders and masons–and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house. 7 However there need be no accounting made with them of the money delivered into their hand, because they deal faithfully.” 8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9 So Shaphan the scribe went to the king, bringing the king word, saying, “Your servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of those who do the work, who oversee the house of the Lord.” 10 Then Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king. 11 Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us” (2 Kings 22:3-13) .

What truly amazes me about this text is that not only had the “book of the law” become lost, but there was seemingly never any attempt to find it. It appears that Hilkiah found the book purely by accident in the temple, probably as a result of the rebuilding process. But what is even more incredible is the fact that worship continued as normal and the priests ministered as normal for a very long time without the book!

These people were collecting offerings, making sacrifices to God, and participating in corporate worship without any knowledge or understanding regarding God’s requirements. In other words, they were “having church” without the “book”! I’m sure there was still preaching and teaching going on, but without the “book”. They had deviated so far from God’s righteous requirements that when Josiah heard the words in the book, he tore off his clothes in grief and despair over the gravity of their sin. In the meantime, God was declaring judgment upon this false and corrupt system through his prophets, and ignorance was not an excuse because it stemmed from a deeper heart issue – rejection of the Truth (2 Kings 22:16-20).

Similarly, today there is a deep rejection of God as evidenced by our rejection of His Word. We may not have literally lost the “book” as in Josiah’s day, but we have definitely lost the truth. Like the Pharisees we have replaced the commandments of God with the traditions of men (Mark 7:8-9). We teach people how to get the next blessing or breakthrough, but not how to do the will of the Father so that He may establish His Kingdom both in us and through us. We preach motivational messages to get people excited and shouting, but we have rejected the truth (2 Thess. 2:1-12).

It is impossible to build accurately in ignorance. You can’t just do whatever everyone else is doing or whatever seems good to you and then claim that it’s God’s. If I gave you clear instructions through an architectural blueprint of how I desire my house to be built and you choose to lose or ignore my instructions, you can’t expect me to move in there or call it mine. You’re going to get sued and legally penalized.

I often hear various religious leaders refer to their congregations as “my church”, and while I am aware that it is generally used as a figure of speech, the reality is that quite often this is literally the case. What these leaders have built is literally their own, because it has no genuine relationship with Jesus or His Kingdom despite all claims to the contrary.

We must have a clear understanding of the righteous requirements of God, and we must be faithful to the heavenly pattern. It takes prophetic insight and apostolic wisdom – not bible school knowledge – to see God’s ekklēsía established accurately in the earth. This is a new day and a new season where God’s Ekklesia is being radically redefined.