Truth and Consequences
“Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.” II Kings 22.1, 2
After the split between the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel and Judah, we notice that Israel (the10 tribes which pulled away from Judah in an attempt to establish their own kingdom) never had a righteous king. Judah, on the other hand, had a mixture of good kings and evil kings. I’m not certain which might be worse – having all evil kings or having a smattering of evil mixed in with the righteous.
The author of the Proverbs offers his summation when he reports: “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” (Proverbs29.2)
Following the assassination of the evil Judean king, Amon, Josiah (his son) was crowned king. That act alone could have swung the emotional pendulum of Judah into an uncontrolled frenzy. Did I mention that Josiah was eight years old (not a typo – he was eight) when he was crowned king of Judah? Not following in his father’s footsteps, this young boy began to search the writings and began studying the Law of God. He realized that the problems Judah was experiencing stemmed from their abandonment of God and His Law.
Josiah acted without hesitation to reinstall Jehovah-God worship in Jerusalem and to expel false priests. He rid the countryside of the vestiges of the false religions by tearing down the groves and destroying the pagan places of worship. In addition, he had the bones of the evil priests dug up and burnt removing any possibility of their becoming fodder for further false worship.
The testimony God shared of him was one that each Christian today would cherish having. The Chronicler records concerning Josiah: “And like unto 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.” (II Kings 23.25)
Josiah made one fatal error when he entered into battle against the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho. He had been warned to stay out of the battle, but Egypt was marching across their land. Not heeding the Word of God, Josiah was hit by an arrow which proved to be fatal –he was thirty-nine years old. The battle was used by God to expose a blessing to Josiah – he would not live to see the judgment God was bringing to the land of Judah – the defeat of Judah and the Babylonian captivity. Josiah entered into the presence of his God as a victorious warrior who was faithful in all that he did. He never swayed from a righteous path but clung tenaciously to doing what was right.
Unfortunately, the people did not follow the example of their righteous king and later fell into the hands of the oppressive nation of Babylon. A nation is made up of the people who claim it;and, there is a promise from God for the nation whose God is the Lord.
“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Proverbs 14.34)
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.”(Psalm33.12)
“Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.” (Psalm144.15)
Copyright © 2025 Dr. John H. Hill, All rights reserved.
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