Lesson 41: King Josiah Part 1

Most Commentators say that Josiah was the greatest king that Judah every produced. I said, the last few weeks, that Hezekiah was the greatest king that Judah had. As I was thinking about these things while studying the passages we are looking at I started to think, who cares! Not that one was better than one or the other, but who cares what I think - we always need to determine is - What does God think.

That should be our desires when we read and study God’s Word.

Don’t look to justify yourself.

Don’t look for passages to prove your point of view.

Don’t study with hope of being above someone.

Study to know God.

Study to see things as God sees them.

Study to get a right heart.

Study to help others.

Study to make the most you can out of your life for God’s glory.

Study to rid yourself of self.

So tonight, and next week, let’s see what made Josiah great.

I. Basic Information:

A. His family

Like all people - the kings were greatly influenced by their family and parents, but that was never something that

1. His mother was Jedidah – beloved one

2. His father Amon - builder

You may (or may not have) notice that I skipped Amon - simply because their is not much about him, though we will take this point to briefly study his life and kingdom or the little there is of it.

a. He was the 16th king of Judah

b. His mother was Meshullemeth - repay/retribution

c. His maternal grandfather was Haruz - sharpened/decided

Jotbah is the first time the location of one of the kings mothers was mentioned.

d. He reigned just two years

Think about his father and his grandfather, who both reigned over 50 years, but he only reigned a short time.

e. The son as his father

He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord

We talked about this last week, that thought Manasseh got right with God, there was still a legacy he left for his nation - but even more so - an legacy for his family - as it it states in v.22 he sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made and he served them.

So that was a direct effect of his father’s sin.

f. His servants conspired and assassinated him vv.24-25

He was killed in his own house. I don’t think it was any kind of righteous uprising because of his wickedness - it doesn’t say what it was because the people of the land slew those men in v.25 and his eight year old son became the new king, so there was no type of national rebellion.

3. His maternal grandfather was Adaiah - Jehovah hat adorned

Adaiah - Jehovah hath adorned

He was from Boscath means stony. This city, which is located in the Judean lowlands, is only mentioned one other time in the Bible, and that is Joshua 15:39.

B. He was on the throne of 31 years

He began his reign when he was 8 years old.

640-609 BC. It is interesting that while most of the young kings of Judah did not do well, Josiah was very successful.

I would like to know why one child can recieve a message and excel while another will not receive at all or if received, never does anything for God.

Why does one person when they get saved - give God everything while another person, gives God the very least they can. I cannot answer that question, when you get an answer let me know.

II. THE STEPS TO CHANGE

“And like 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” (2 Ki. 23:25).

His achievements stagger the mind. One wonders just when he arranged to eat and sleep!

Here are the key reasons why Josiah did so well and why there was a godly growth in Judah during his reign.

A. He sought after the Lord early

He did it early in his life at the age of 16.

2 Chronicles 34:3a (KJV)

For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father:..

B. He purged the land

At the age of twenty, he began his massive reform work (34:3).

He destroyed all the altars of Baal (34:4).

He then ground them into dust and scattered it over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them (34:4).

He burned the bones of heathen priests upon their own altars (34:5).

He carried out these actions in distant Israelite cities as well as in his own kingdom (34:6).

When someone gets right with God there are few things that are necessary:

He needs to seek the Lord, and He needs to get confess and turn from his sin.

That is what Josiah did in seeking the Lord early and purging the land of the sinful practices.

C. He cared for the House of God

At the age of 26, he began to repair the Temple

2 Kings 22:3-7.

D. He heeded the Word

2 kings 22:8-13

I think Josiah lived up to real repentance as much as many has and certainly did so more than any other king of Judah.

When he got right with God, he got thoroughly right.

When he repented, it was real.

He lives up to the verses:

2 Corinthians 10:5–6 KJV

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Everything he did was with all of his heart, even his repentance.

E. Finding God’s Word changed him

In cleansing the Temple, Hilkiah the high priest discovered an old scroll which turned out to be a copy of the Law of Moses (2 Ki. 22:8).

When he found out about this, notice how Josiah reacted:

He tore his clothes in terror, realizing how the Old Testament laws had been so ridiculed and ignored during the wicked reign of both his father and grandfather (22:9–13). Apparently under Manasseh’s wicked reign the Word of God had been neglected or possibly even some sought its destruction.

It could have been a capital offense to possess a copy of the Mosaic Law. Thus some faithful priest may have hidden a copy of this precious law in the Temple to await better days.

F. Seeking godly counsel

The young king then ordered Hilkiah to seek the counsel of a godly woman prophetess concerning all this. Her name was Huldah, and she may have been Jeremiah’s aunt. 2 Ki. 22:14-20.

Interesting to me, this is likely the woman who was the Aunt of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 32:7 KJV

Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it.

Women are just as smart and just able to communicate the Gospel to lost people as any man. They can be often better at it. They just can be pastors or preach to men - and they shouldn’t usurp the authority of a man.

This woman didn’t, she was a godly woman in subjection to the leader of the home, her husband Shallum.

God had often spoken to his people through a woman, and would do so after this also (22:14).

He spoke through Miriam, the sister of Moses (Ex. 15:20).

He worked through Deborah (Jdg. 5).

Zacharias’ wife was a prophetess (Lk. 2:36).

Philip’s four daughters were called prophetesses (Acts 21:9).

Next week will talk more about Huldah and her counsel.

But there is a great prescription for all of us tonight: A-F