Year 9, Day 332: 2 Chronicles 34

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Josiah is listed among the greatest Davidic kings, up on the list with David and Hezekiah.  He is a great reformer.  He is faithful.  He is a good role model.  He is the kind of leader a country can have under which it can prosper.

When looking at the passage today, there was something that popped out at me that I’ve not focused on in the past.  He was eight when he started to reign.  At the age of sixteen, eight years in, he was introduced to the Lord.  Four years later, he started to make reforms.  People read this and wonder what on earth is taking so long.  How can he take four years to start to reform the country from when he is introduced to God?

Remember that this is a story of things gone exceptionally well.  That right there should cause us to not question the methodology.  Something Josiah does really works.  Other kings made reforms but couldn’t get the people to buy in.  Josiah’s reform sticks.  Rather than ask what took him so long, it is better to ask what worked.

When Josiah takes four years, it allows him to do several things.  First, it gives him time to understand the lay of the land.  He can get to know the powerful figures in the temple.  In other words, he learns who the power players really are.

Second, in taking some time he can really ground himself in God’s ways.  He can truly start living according to God’s ways and reform out of personal experience.  He can start to see the endgame before instituting any kind of national change.

Third, it gives the people time to adjust.  No living being does well under change.  In fact, most extinctions occur because an organism cannot adapt fast enough.  Josiah allows the changes to happen gradually and thus become much more palatable.  The people can embrace the change because the reforms are slower in coming.

Josiah is a very smart reformer.  He knows that he’s got time.  Rather than get the job done now, he values the effort involved and paces himself.  He has the endgame in mind rather than the glory or the power involved.

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