Josiah, Statesman—Reformer

GOLDEN TEXT: “I am companion of all them that fear Thee, and of them that keep Thy precepts.” —Psalm 119:63

II KINGS 22:1,2; 23:1-5,25

JOSIAH was one of the good kings of Judah. He came to the throne at the tender age of eight. “In the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.”—II Chron. 34:3

The various wicked kings of Judah invariably introduced the worship of Baal, erecting idols within the temple of the Lord. When a good king came to the throne, an effort usually was made to restore the worship of Jehovah. Josiah was very zealous in this undertaking. He came to the throne of Judah after the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel had been destroyed, and many of the ten tribes taken captive to Assyria; so his reformation extended into the northern part of the country which had been the territory of the ten tribes.

Prior to the reign of Josiah the temple had not only been desecrated, but allowed to deteriorate; so, in addition to clearing out the idols and other symbols of heathen worship, he directed that the temple be repaired. During the reign of previous righteous kings of Judah the people had been encouraged to donate money for the repair of the temple. This custom apparently had continued, and Josiah was aware of the fact that there was a considerable sum on hand. So he instructed a scribe to “go up to Hilkiah the high priest,” and have him “sum the silver which is brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people.” This money was put into the hands of workmen who would do the repair work.—ch. 22:4-7

In connection with this activity, the priest found a copy of “the book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” (vs. 8) Shaphan, the scribe, read the book, recognized its great importance, and then read it to Josiah, the king. From this the king realized that the nation had grossly violated the precepts of the Lord and stood in grave danger of experiencing his wrath in the form of dire calamities upon the people, so he sent the priest and the scribe, and others, as a committee to inquire of the Lord as to just what might be expected.

These went to Huldah, a prophetess, and she confirmed the king’s fears. Through Huldah the Lord said, “Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah bath read.”—vss. 13-16

The Lord appreciated Josiah’s noble efforts as a reformer, although they had come too late. However, the king was favored. The Lord promised that the “evil” which the “book of the Law” foretold would come upon the nation in the event of its disobedience would be held back until after the king’s death. He said, “I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place.”—vss. 15-20

A very interesting fact is expressed here by the Lord. He said that Josiah, in death, would not see the trouble that would come upon his people because of their sins. How flatly this contradicts the generally accepted notion that those who are dead are more alive than ever, and are aware of everything that is happening! If this were true, it would have been no favor to Josiah to hold back the calamity coming upon Judah until after he died, for then he would have been more keenly aware of it than if he had remained “alive.”

Divine retribution for Judah’s sins began to fall soon after the death of Josiah. Up to this time the people exercised their right to appoint a successor to the king’s office, and this they did when Josiah died. They appointed his son, Jehoahaz. But this appointment did not stand. The king of Egypt was encroaching upon the nation and was in a position to impose his will, so he removed Jehoahaz, and made Eliakim, another son of Josiah, king instead.

From this time onward the people had no control of the situation. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, conquered Egypt, and supplanted Egyptian authority in Judah by his own. Jehoichin was appointed successor to Jehoiakim, his father. But he was shortly removed to Babylon, and Zedekiah, the last of Judah’s kings, was put in his place. With his overthrow by Babylon, the kingdom of Judah came to an end.

The people were taken captive to Babylon, as had been foretold, and the foretold evils also came upon the nation. But good king Josiah escaped it all because the Lord, in his kindness, allowed him to fall asleep in death.

QUESTIONS

Who was Josiah, and what were some of the good things he did?

What did Josiah learn when the book of the law was read to him?

What favor did the Lord extend to Josiah in connection with the retributions which came upon Judah?

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