Exhortation Station

The other day I was reading in 2 Kings about King Josiah.  I was impacted by what I read about Josiah’s life and thought I’d share some things.  Let’s start in 2 Kings 22.

2 Kings 22:1,2 — “Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. ² He did right in the sight of YHWH and walked in all the way of his father David, nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left.“

Let’s give a little context.  At this point in time, the northern tribes (Israel) had already been exiled to Assyria because of their sin.  Judah was constantly in and out of sin, with most of its kings being evil in the sight of Yahweh and a righteous king showing up only every now and then.  In 2 Kings 18-20, we read about King Hezekiah, who was one such righteous king.  After him came Manasseh and Amon, who both did great evil in the sight of Yahweh.  It is after the death of those kings that we read about Josiah in 2 Kings 22. 

Let’s notice something about the passage we read above.  We are told that Josiah was eight years old when he became king and that he “did right in the sight of YHWH and walked in all the way of his father David…”  Compare and contrast this with 2 Kings 14:3, wherein we read, referring to king Amaziah, “He did right in the sight of YHWH, yet not like David his father…”  The statement “in all the way of his father David” shows a level of devotion to Yahweh that went beyond that of many of Josiah’s predecessors.  Josiah was “all-in,” even at a very young age.

The rest of chapter 22 tells a very interesting story whereby the book of the law (Torah) was found in the house of Yahweh.  This was in “the eighteenth year of King Josiah” (v. 3), so Josiah would have been 26 years old.  When the book was shown to Josiah, he tore his clothes, realizing Judah’s sin was great before Yahweh (v. 13).  Josiah commanded that the word of Yahweh be sought on the matter, and Yahweh (speaking through Huldah the prophetess) answered that Judah was indeed going to be severely punished for its disobedience (v. 16).  However, listen to what Yahweh said concerning Josiah:

2 Kings 22:18-20 — “But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of YHWH thus shall you say to him, ‘Thus says YHWH Elohim of Israel, “Regarding the words which you have heard, ¹⁹ because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before YHWH when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you,” declares YHWH. ²⁰ “Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place.”’” So they brought back word to the king.”

Continuing into chapter 23, we read that Josiah made a covenant to walk before Yahweh “with all this heart and all his soul” (v. 3) and immediately went to work tearing down the idols of Baal, the Asherim, and the pagan “high places.”  I love verse 15 — “Furthermore, the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah.”  Way to be decisive!  In verses 21 through 23, Josiah re-instituted the Passover.

As an interesting side note, verse 16 says, “Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it according to the word of YHWH which the man of Elohim proclaimed, who proclaimed these things.”  This was a direct fulfillment to a prophecy made in 1 Kings 13:2.  Amazingly, this prophecy mentions Josiah by name!

To top it all off, verse 25 says, “Before him there was no king like him who turned to YHWH 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.“

In a day where Yahweh’s law has become all but lost, let’s be the Josiahs who, upon finding the law, humble ourselves and mourn over its having been broken.  Let’s be the Josiahs who waste no time in tearing down the works of the enemy and establishing Yah’s ways in the place of them.  Let’s be the Josiahs who do not merely “scoot around” the schemes of the enemy but instead demolish them and grind them to dust.  When all is said and done, let’s be the Josiahs about whom it can be said, “he turned to YHWH with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might!”

(All Bible passages NASB; Hebrew transl. added.)