10) Josiah - the king who lost his way

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(2 Chronicles 34 – 35)

Josiah is our final king in these studies. I find his reign one of the most fascinating; yet also very moving in a way I discuss more in Reflections. Josiah began to rule at eight years old after his father had been assassinated and those who killed him, executed:

Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for thirty-one years. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. (2 Chronicles 34:1-2)

revelation

When he became a man, he began reformations in the land. By this time the bulk of the people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel had been exiled to Assyria and would never return. As it happened, his reign also marked the beginning of the ministry of the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:2). Josiah now began a collection to pay for the Temple to be repaired:

In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, to purify the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah and Maaseiah the ruler of the city, with Joah son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the temple of the Lord his God. (2 Chronicles 34:8)

This act of a good heart coincided with an amazing discovery which led to a wonderful revival of faith and commitment in the following years: the Book of the Law was discovered by Hilkiah the High Priest in the Temple during these renovations:

Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord that had been given through Moses. Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, ‘I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.’ He gave it to Shaphan … And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king. When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes.
(2 Chronicles 34:14-19)

It is difficult to understand this from our distant historical perspective: how could such a treasure be hidden away for generations when it was so essential to the spiritual life of God’s people? I imagine that the book was simply ignored by previous generations who had come to think, that the idolatry with which they grew up was the Lord’s way for them. The book of God’s Word also needs a personal revelation to see its real importance. It is not enough to have the book; it also needs open hearts and minds to see the importance of its message. Paul wrote about this:

But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Corinthians 3:14-17)

It was clear that a veil had been removed from the eyes of Josiah; he tore his robes as a sign of heart-felt grief and repentance at how far they had moved from living as God’s people should. Being faced with such traumatic history and realising their peril before God, he had a decision to make.

repentance

Josiah’s response was a determination to learn what the will of the Lord was. He did not presume upon his own importance as a leader but sought to understand the deeper spiritual implications of this discovery. He demonstrated a wonderful humility in this. Another special feature of this time of revival was that it proved to be one of those unique occasions when the word of the Lord came through a woman. He enquired of Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum, to know how he should respond. She prophesied in this way:

Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the Lord, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard what he spoke against this place and its people, and because you humbled yourself before me and tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the Lord. Now I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place and on those who live here.”’ (2 Chronicles 34:26-28)

It was inevitable that Judah was to be defeated and exiled due to their abominable behaviour over generations. This could not be overturned even in the light of Josiah’s desire to make things right. The grace shown to him personally was that it would not occur in his lifetime.

revival

It is a feature of revivals that the place of the bible is central to them. There is a renewed desire to read and study the Word of God; but also, a heart to obey it with honesty. Josiah did this, ensuring that the people heard what God said and calling the people to obedience:

He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites – all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord – to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book. (2 Chronicles 34:30-31)

Obedience also entails change. Lives are changed; attitudes are changed; morality is changed. As I reflect on these events, and consider that Josiah was a young man, I worry that revival can be hidden from the old because they are too set in their minds and too sentimental towards what they already know. Revival is a revolution of the heart and life. It may involve drastic measures:

The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. (2 Kings 23:4)

This was a total and extensive clear out of all that defiled the purposes of God. But the greatest change was in the hearts of the people. They set to with purpose and vigour. They placed obedience before their own interests or traditions. Josiah even destroyed Jereboam’s idolatry at Bethel which had stood for centuries:

Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin – even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God (1 Kings 13:2) who foretold these things. (2 Kings 23:15-16)

restoration

The most precious thing of all was how the presence of the Lord was restored. This was seen in their worship. They restored the Temple and its true function as the place where God could live amongst His people:

Josiah celebrated the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem, and the Passover lamb was slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the first month. He appointed the priests to their duties and encouraged them in the service of the Lord’s temple. He said to the Levites, who instructed all Israel and who had been consecrated to the Lord: ‘Put the sacred ark in the temple that Solomon son of David king of Israel built. (2 Chronicles 35:1-3) 
The Passover had not been observed like this in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel; and none of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated such a Passover as did Josiah, with the priests, the Levites and all Judah and Israel who were there with the people of Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles 35:18)

We can only imagine the spiritual transformation which happened during these years. It seems to have been a rich time of renewal in every way.

regression

A study of the history of revivals shows that they do come to an end at some point. Reading Jeremiah’s prophecies suggests that there was some reluctance in the people to really turn their backs on their idolatrous institutions of the past. Secret love was perhaps the cause of only a half-hearted change in the hearts of the people as Jeremiah prophesied. His prophecy compares Israel, who were committed to idolatry, with Judah who should have known better. Even the judgment on Israel, when they were exiled to Assyria, did not break through their dull shells:

Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretence,’ declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 3:9-10)

However, it seems that Josiah was genuine in all he did and had no pretence at all. Jeremiah commends him as true to the Lord:

He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. (Jeremiah 22:16)

ruin

Taking all this into account, what happened then is mystifying. For some unknown reason, Josiah quite unnecessarily challenged King Necho of Egypt in battle:

After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Necho king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah marched out to meet him in battle. But Necho sent messengers to him saying, ‘What quarrel is there, king of Judah, between you and me? It is not you I am attacking at this time, but the house with which I am at war. God has told me to hurry; so stop opposing God, who is with me, or he will destroy you.’ Josiah, however, would not turn away from him, but disguised himself to engage him in battle. He would not listen to what Necho had said at God’s command but went to fight him on the plain of Megiddo. (2 Chronicles 35:20-22)

Perhaps he was overtaken by spiritual over-confidence: things were going so well that he thought he alone knew clearly what the Lord wanted; maybe he became unwilling to listen to the words of anyone else. Whatever the reason, the consequences were a disaster:

Archers shot King Josiah, and he told his officers, ‘Take me away; I am badly wounded.’ So they took him out of his chariot, put him in his other chariot and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. He was buried in the tombs of his ancestors, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him. Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah, and to this day all the male and female singers commemorate Josiah in the laments. (2 Chronicles 35:23-25)

What a tragedy. One of the best kings of Judah in terms of his desire to do God’s work, struck down at the age of only thirty-nine. Why did Josiah lose his way? What possessed him to attempt something which was not in God’s will for him? It’s not that we can easily answer those questions; rather, it is that we should avoid the kinds of pitfalls that leaders can face.

Success can lead to hubris: an over-confidence in what we expect God will do which exceeds our gift of faith. In our educated world where success is promised by following certain steps or processes, we can substitute these worldly-wise ideas for the basic principle of listening to God’s word and responding with faith. God is not obliged to honour our personal determination to be successful even when we have trumpeted it to others. This is true especially when we maintain that we are doing it for the glory of God. Perhaps in reality, Josiah was fighting for the glory of Josiah!

The revival had finished and those of the people who were of true hearts were left without godly leadership. Within 25 years Judah was conquered and taken captive to Babylon where they remained for 70 years. Leaders are vital; yet leaders are vulnerable. We all, both leaders and those led, must learn the gracious humility of looking and listening to the Word of God and the pure leading of the Holy Spirit.

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