“And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses, neither after him arose there any like him.” (II Kings 23:25)
Those words were written about a king who sat upon Judah’s throne shortly before God brought judgment upon the land. Before that storm of judgment, the nation experienced a relatively calm period during King Josiah’s 31-year reign.
His father, Amon, was—like his grandfather Manasseh—a wicked scoundrel, ruling in Jerusalem for two brief years, but Josiah had a godly heritage in the person of his great grandfather, Hezekiah. In some ways, he even surpassed the spiritual plateaus reached by his forefather.
His life story is one of the most interesting found in the Word of God. Careful study of it can yield both inspiration and instruction. Note with me, please:
- His view of service (II Chr. 34:2,3): Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign. We read that “while he was yet young, he began to seek after God. At the age of 20, he instituted a purge, cleansing Jerusalem of idols. At the age of 26, he began to repair the house of God.
- His view of sin (II Chr. 34:4,5): The altars of Baalim were “brake down” and “beaten” in his presence, scripture says, not only in Jerusalem but in other parts of the countries round about. “And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel….” (II Chr. 34:33) The words “uncompromising,” “intolerant,” “narrow-minded,” “fanatical,” and “negative” were probably labels hurled at this young, wise king who had no time for idolatry, specifically, or sin in general.
As a young man, Josiah evidently did not buy into the fallacy that “you have to try and taste of sin” before you can appreciate the life of godliness. He was not willing to delve into sin, even though had he done so he might have blamed his father or grandfather for the bad examples they had been to him.
- His view of scripture: When Hilkiah the priest found a copy of the Law while cleansing the temple, it was brought to Josiah, who upon “hearing the words of the law…rent his clothes.” (II Chr. 34:14-22) He was humbled, anxious to understand, willing to listen to the Word, and ready to obey it. (II Chr. 34:23-32) He would have totally agreed with John Quincy Adams: “The first and foremost book that deserves unwavering attention is the Bible.”
- His view of sanctification (II Chr. 35:1ff.): Josiah, having purged the land of Baal worship and idols, and having led in the cleansing of the Temple and in reading and heeding God’s Law, next set himself to keeping the Passover. He encouraged the priests “to the service of the house of the Lord.” His instruction was to “prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your courses, according to the writing of David, king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.” (II Chr.35:4) God’s commentary on the Passover that Josiah reinstituted is recorded in II Chr. 35:18: “And there was no Passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a Passover as Josiah kept, and the priests…and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”
Well-meaning Josiah met an untimely death in a battle that he did not have to fight. Necho, king of Egypt, was engaging Carchemish by Euphrates, and Josiah went out against Necho. Necho sent word that he had not come to do battle with Josiah, and that he would be wise to turn back and go home. Scripture gives us “inside information” that this warning of Necho was actually from “the mouth of God.” (II Chr. 35:22) Josiah failed to consult God and—not convinced by Necho’s admonition—forged headstrong into the fight. He was mortally wounded, dying at the age of 39.
So, in the Valley of Megiddo, where victories had been wrought by Gideon, Barak, and others of Israel’s warring soldiers and sovereigns—and where the great battle of Armageddon will be fought and won by Israel’s Messiah at a future date—Josiah’s life ended. Quite possibly, his death was not so untimely. One has written that “the providence that directed the shaft to its lighting place intended that wound for a stroke of mercy.” A handful of years later, the first of the deportations of Jews to Babylon would mark the beginning of what is known as The Captivity. The godly Josiah was spared living through any part of that, having ruled in a rather peaceful slice of Judah’s history. God “looked past his death to his glory,” mercifully saving the best of kings to reign as one of Judah’s last.
Thus Jeremiah lamented Josiah’s death: “And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.” (II Chr. 35:25)
YOU and GOD 