Josiah as King
Josiah is
often considered the second greatest king, second to David. Some people also put Hezekiah into this
mix. But from a spiritual perspective,
David, Hezekiah, and Josiah easily for the top three. These are the iconic spiritual kings. If you want to see spiritual leadership at
its best in the midst of flawed human nature, these are the three kings that
you want to know.
Josiah
reigned thirty-one years. What is
interesting is that he began to reign as a boy.
In his eighth year of reign he was still a boy. It is in this year that he truly begins to
seek out the Lord in earnest. But he
doesn’t actually start to go against the wickedness of the people until his
twelfth year!
I have
two things to say upon this point. First
of all, note the patience of God. Josiah
reigns for twelve years before enacting reforms against the ways of the evil
kings and the Canaanite gods. God takes
His time in developing leadership.
Second,
how quick are we to not want to take our time?
How quick are we to want things now?
How quick are we to want God to move and shake and create culture
now. But this is not often the case. God takes His time creating culture. It is not something that can be rushed. Lasting culture is molded, shaped, and grown.
However,
when Josiah is unleashed upon the earth he is truly unleashed. Josiah doesn’t just cut down the places of
worship. He made the poles and the idols
into dust and spread them over the graves of those who worshipped them. Of course, this implies that he killed those
who worshiped at these places. We hear
that he burns the bones of the false priests upon the altars. This was a violent purging of the land.
Sometimes
we think of reform in idealistic terms.
However, true cultural reform is messy.
It is ugly. It is involved. There is battle and conflict. There are hard decisions and sacrifices to be
made. I do not know of a single reform
movement that actually changed culture that was not ugly and messy and filled
with blood, sweat, and tears.
Temple
Six years
after beginning his campaign of reform across both Judah and what was left of
the northern kingdom of Israel – for by this time they had been taken away into
captivity – Josiah then commissions repair to the temple. Note again we have that cycle of restoration,
fall into disrepair, and another time of restoration.
As Josiah
goes about repairing the temple, his chief religious officials come to him
having found an important book. They
have discovered the book of the Law. This
brings up an interesting point. If the book
of the Law hadn’t been found up until now, can there be any wonder that there
was so much vacillation among the kings who came before Josiah? If the book of the Law wasn’t found, how on
earth did any of the kings follow in obedience to God? Granted, we don’t know how long the book had
been lost. But it seems to have been
lost long enough that Josiah and his chief religious officials didn’t know to
look for it! They seem to have stumbled
upon it unexpectedly! {However, we can know that Hezekiah is
responsible for making copies and copies of the Hebrew Scriptures. So they cannot have been lost for too
long. But perhaps from the beginning of
Manasseh’s reign … which would be the better part of a century from then until
this point!}
As Josiah
hears the book of the Law read in his midst, he tears his clothes. He realizes that something has gone terribly
wrong in his beloved kingdom. He fears
for the ways held by his father and the people who lived in the time of
Manasseh’s rebellion from God. He knows
that if they did not have access to this book because it was forgotten or
destroyed that there would be very little reason to think that they could
escape God’s anger. Suddenly the weight
of rebellion from God falls upon Josiah’s shoulders. They had this book at one time and it had
been lost, forgotten, or worse – attempted to be destroyed.
Josiah
demands that the book be studied. Josiah
demands that the ways of the Lord be discerned.
Josiah does not want to live contrary to God’s ways any longer. This move initiates a great moment in Josiah
reign.
A Prophesy for Josiah
As the
book is studied, Josiah receives a message.
The people who have worshipped foreign gods will be destroyed. There can be no doubt that as Josiah hears
this he remembers his history and the Assyrian invasion. Josiah understands why his people have fallen
into judgment against Assyria. He
understands why his grandfather went into bondage under Assyria. All of these things must have begun to make
sense to Josiah as he hears the warnings.
He also must have begun to look forward into his own time of rule as
well.
However,
the prophetic message coming back to Josiah likewise tells him that God will
spare him because his heart was tender.
When God’s word spoke he was moved.
When he heard the words from the book of the Law, Josiah listened. He humbled himself and listened. For that, he was to be commended by God.
When
Josiah hears this message, he gathers all of the Hebrew people together and
reads the covenant to them. He tells
them that they are in a covenant with God and that unless they adhere to the
covenant they will be destroyed. Josiah
takes the people through a time of renewing the covenant among them. In a great act of obedience, Josiah makes
sure that any sign of worship to false gods is removed from the land. Now we begin to see why it is that Josiah is
considered a great king.
Huldah
I cannot
leave this chapter without at least acknowledging the role of Huldah. Huldah is the person who comes before Josiah
and tells him the bad news of what will happen to the people who worship other
gods besides the one true God. Huldah is
the one who enters into Josiah’s presence with the news. Huldah is brave indeed.
However,
note one thing about Huldah. She is a
prophetess. This great reform movement
begins under the political authority of Josiah.
But this great reform movement begins under the spiritual momentum of
Huldah. God uses this woman in an
incredible way to bring together the hand of the Lord. God uses this woman to bring His truth into
the mind of Josiah. God speaks willingly
through man and woman as He brings His truth to the people.
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