Last week I was reading the story of Josiah, a king of Judah. He became king when he was 8 years old. He later found the book of law in the temple after it had been lost for many years. He came under such conviction that he tore his robes and went on a holy rampage against the idols and high places of the time. It was one of the greatest revivals in OT history. When I was reading, the Lord highlighted to me the name "Shaphan son of Azariah". Out of curiosity I Googled it. The internet can be a beautiful thing as I had instant access to a professor of OT history. Thanks to Claude Mariottini, I found out the entire history of Shaphan and his family.

http://www.claudemariottini.com/blog/labels/Huldah.html

It turns out Shaphan was an amazing counselor. I don't know how many 8 year olds you know, but the ones I know can barely remember to brush their teeth, much less run a kingdom. Yet by listening to the counsel of Shaphan and others like him, Josiah turned out to be the best king since David, never turning back once he knew what was right. Shaphan didn't hesitate to go to a prophetic woman, Huldah, to get direction even though women had little value in that culture.

Not only that, but Shaphan must have been a good father. His sons and grandsons were all influential in the remaining days of the monarchy in Judah. They aided Jeremiah the prophet with his mission. His grandson Gedaliah even became governor of Judah once the kings had been taken out by Babylon. The story of Gedaliah is great just by itself. He was courageous in the face of death and refused to kill the man who was plotting to take his life. Gedaliah was eventually assassinated by that man, but the Jewish people remember his sacrifice today in the "Fast of Gedaliah".

http://www.claudemariottini.com/blog/2007/09/fast-of-gedaliah.html

I thought all of this fascinating and because the Lord had pointed it out I felt like there was something to it. Later that night I got the confirmation through the language of the Spirit. Since Nicole is pretty immobile nowadays, she and I have been watching old seasons of Lost, our favorite program. That night we watched an episode from season 2, which originally aired November 30^th, 2005, in which one of the characters recited the story of Josiah to explain what he had found that would fill in one of the blanks to the show’s mystery. Now what are the chances that I would be watching a secular TV show that is almost 4 years old, on the internet, on the very same day that I read the story of Josiah? Not very likely, I love the language of the Spirit.

But what it meant I did not yet know until today. Since we are in ND for the summer, I get our church’s webcast a day late usually. I was listening today and while the message did not deal directly with this topic, at the end of message, Pastor Bill was leading some prayers and he mentioned that someone had had a dream that President Obama was hearing counsel from a godly individual, and an ungodly individual, and he hadn’t decided to which man he would listen. When I heard that I knew why God showed me what he did.

We need to pray for President Obama. It is not a statement against his character to say that he is not the most experienced person to be elected president. We need to pray for his staff. He needs good counsel like Josiah; the 8 yr old kid who inherited a kingdom needed good counsel. We need to pray that the gifting and the anointing of Shaphan would be on his staff. That they would give good counsel; That they would seek out the prophetic for direction; That they would be good parents that would raise generations that would impact the government for good; Pray that God would lead our leaders in revival as He leads the people of this nation in a revival like we have not yet seen before.