The Story of King Josiah

Scripture Reading

2 Kings 22:1–2 ESV

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

There were only three kings who were said to have walked in the all the ways of David. Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah. But among these three, only Josiah received the favorable comment that ‘nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left.’

Background

Became king at 8 years old and reigned for 31 years (640-609BC)

Sought the Lord in the 8th year of his reign

Purged idolatry in the 12th year of his reign

Discovered the book of the Law in the 18th year of his reign

Celebrated the Passover in the 18th year of his reign

Josiah carried out the last religious reformation in Judah

Manasseh and Amon had nullified the religious reforms of Hezekiah

The kingdom of Judah was filled with idols and places of idolatry

Distinctive characteristics of Josiah’s religious reformation

Josiah’s religious reforms were nationwide and thorough

Josiah’s religious reforms destroyed all of the idols

Josiah’s religious reforms fulfilled the prophecy ~280 years ago

Josiah’s religious reforms were nationwide

2 Chronicles 34:5–6 ESV

He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. And in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins all around,

Josiah acknowledged the ethnic oneness of the southern and northern kingdoms, even though by this time much of the northern kingdom had been deported out, and the King of Assyria had imported in many foreigners to occupy the cities. Josiah still considered the whole promised land as sacred. He did not compromise with the boundary which God had promised to Abraham.

Josiah’s religious reforms fulfilled the prophecy ~280 years ago

2 Kings 23:15–16 ESV

Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned, reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah. And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things.

1 Kings 13:1–2 ESV

And behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make offerings. And the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’ ”

Josiah discovered the book of the law and ratified a covenant

In the 18th year of his reign, the high priest Hilkiah discovered the book of the law in the temple and brought it to Josiah.

2 Kings 22:8 ESV

And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “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.

The word ‘Book of the Law’ is seper hattora, which generally refers to the first five books of the Bible, from Genesis to Deuteronomy. They read from the book of the law and decided to ratify a covenant.

2 Chronicles 34:31 ESV

And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.

Josiah’s reforms were true reforms because they were guided by the Word of God.

We must worship God not according to how we want or think it should be, but according to how His Word dictates. This is because righteousness is not an impersonal concept, but based on who God is morally.

A proper attitude toward the Word of God brings about reform.

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

Josiah kept the Passover

2 Kings 23:22–23 ESV

For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.

The Bible describes Josiah’s Passover as the greatest among all the Kings Period.

Josiah’s obedience to the Word of God went so deep, but the Bible describes him in an unexpected way. The Bible says that he was a king who turned to the Lord with all his heart, soul, and might.

2 Kings 23:25 ESV

Before him there was no king like him, who 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, nor did any like him arise after him.

The word ‘turn’ here is shab and means ‘to turn around’ or ‘to repent.’ What we might’ve expected to see is that Josiah obeyed the Lord with all he had. But instead it says that Josiah turned to God with all he had. See, we might obey the Lord with all our strength, but if it remains as that, we will never be righteous. Why is that the case? Because our strength isn’t enough.

Paul Washer said that our problem is not that we’re too weak, but that we do not recognize our weakness. That’s why the greatest men and women that has been most used of God throughout Christian history seem to have only one thing in common: a recognition of their weakness.

Weakness is not a hindrance to power; weakness is the catalyst to spiritual power. The problem is that we don’t recognize that we’re weak.

Our weakness ought to drive us to God.

And this applies to those of us who teach in the church as well. We’re weak, and God forbid if we don’t recognize our weakness and try to preach on our own strength.

‘I’d rather be able to pray than to be a great preacher; Jesus Christ never taught His disciples how to preach, but only how to pray.’ - D. L. Moody

Josiah’s death

2 Chronicles 35:20–24 ESV

After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to meet him. But he sent envoys to him, saying, “What have we to do with each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war. And God has commanded me to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me, lest he destroy you.” Nevertheless, Josiah did not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to fight in the plain of Megiddo. And the archers shot King Josiah. And the king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am badly wounded.” So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in his second chariot and brought him to Jerusalem. And he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

What we have in the story of Josiah’s death is a bit of a jaw dropper. He refuses to believe that God spoke to Pharaoh Neco, who is on a mission to attack Assyria. So he puts on a disguise, goes to battle, and dies by arrowshot. It’s a mediocre ending for such a heavyweight king. But this just goes to show that without God’s Word, not only Josiah, but all of us are weak and frail. And when we go against God’s Word, we lose our strength. Our weakness must catapult us to the Word of God in prayer.

Redemptive-historical significance of Josiah’s religious reformation

We’ve had a brief look at the life of Josiah, at how he reformed Judah and even the territory of the northern kingdom, destroying all the idols and celebrating the Passover. But inspite of all this, the sins of Manasseh were too great, and Judah would face the Lord’s wrath.

2 Kings 23:26–27 ESV

Still the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. And the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”

So we can ask the question, what did the religious reformation accomplish? It seems unclear at first, but when we take a step back, we can start to see how God prepared for the restoration of Judah even before enacting His punishment.

Here’s a look at the timeline.

640 BC — Josiah reigns

622 BC — Religious reformation (18th year)

609 BC — Josiah dies. Jehoahaz reigns for 3 months. Jehoiakim reigns.

605 BC — First deportation to Babylon (3rd year of Jehoiakim)

What we see here is that Josiah’s religious reformation took place about 17 years before the first deportation to Babylon. And a very well known teenager of about 17 years old was taken into Babylon at the time. And it says that Daniel was in Babylon until the first year of King Cyrus.

Daniel 1:21 ESV

And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.

And in the first year of King Cyrus, someone tells King Cyrus about the prophecy of Isaiah, written long ago.

Isaiah 45:1 ESV

Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed:

Isaiah 45:13 ESV

I have stirred him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways level; he shall build my city and set my exiles free, not for price or reward,” says the Lord of hosts.

And so King Cyrus’ first decree as king was to release the Israelites from their captivity.

2 Chronicles 36:22–23 ESV

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up.’ ”

It doesn’t make any sense other than the fact that Daniel had such great faith. And that faith was inherited by Daniel from his king, the king Josiah, who began his religious reformation at the time when Daniel was born. Daniel had inherited Josiah’s faith, and so we can say that Josiah’s religious reformation caused the Israelites to be freed from Babylonian captivity many years later. Josiah had no way of knowing this would happen.

Conclusion

The story of King Josiah is an exhortation for those of us who realize how weak we are. We must turn to the Lord with all our heart, our soul, and might. We must turn to God’s Word and let His Word reform our lives. We must cast down our idols and turn to face the Lord in humility. And when we do so, when there’s a religious reformation in our own personal lives, God will use us for amazing works that we cannot even imagine.