Good King Josiah

A couple of years ago we were completely cleaning out one of our church buildings and doing a little renovation when I was blessed by an amazing little treasure that we found. There had been a lot of blood, sweat, and tears (maybe more tears than blood) through the process. Needless to say, it was a ton of work that required much of me physically and emotionally. One day I came across an old Bible, and I started flipping through it. There was a precious note in the front of the Bible from a godly mother to her son. No doubt, she longed for him to take the Words of God and apply them to his life. I had never met the man who owned the Bible, but I have since heard many wonderful things about him. However, he had recently passed away and his widow had started coming to our church. It was a spark of joy to my burdened soul to be able to pass along this beautiful Bible to our church member which contained words from her mother-in-law written half a century earlier to her late husband.

Imagine the joy of Hilkiah the high priest and Shaphan the scribe as they found "the book of the law in the house of the Lord" (II Kings 22:8). As a high priest, this would be the find of his lifetime. But they didn't just rejoice for long over the long-lost treasure they had found after they began to read the words written centuries before to their fathers from the Creator of the Universe. They wasted no time in returning to King Josiah to tell him what they had discovered. I can imagine the feeling of heaviness like being stepped on by an elephant resting on Hilkiah and King Joshiah when Shaphan began to read Deuteronomy 11...

Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

(Deuteronomy 11:26-28)

You see, Josiah came from a couple of generations of kings that spiritually polluted the land by serving other gods. Josiah was sitting in a spiritual mess that his father and grandfather helped to create.

Josiah's grandfather, King Manasseh reigned for 55 years in Jerusalem and "did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the heathen." (II Kings 21:2) Manasseh rebuilt the high places that his father had torn down and created altars for Ba'al. It was said that he worshipped all the hosts of heaven. "He made his sons pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards." (21:6) It was open pagan worship for Jerusalem under the rule of Josiah's grandfather, Manasseh.

Manasseh's son and Josiah's father, Amon, reigned in Jerusalem for a short two years before his servants killed him. During his reign it is said that Amon "walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them." (21:21) These kings were endorsing worship of false gods, even to the point of child sacrifice.

It may have been that Josiah lost his father at such a young age that prevented him from falling into the idol worship himself. It may have been that he had a godly mother who surrounded him with godly men to counsel him as he reigned. Whatever the case may be, Josiah became King at eight years old "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." (22:2)

King Josiah feared the Lord and when he heard the words from the book of the law, he tore his clothes as a sign of grief and despair. He sent men to inquire of the Lord "for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us. (22:13)

Despite Josiah's fear, he knew that our God is an amazing God, full of grace and mercy and, indeed, listens to His children. God revealed Himself to Hagar in the wilderness as El Roi. This name of God means that He is not distant from His people or unaware of their struggles. He knows our hearts and sees when we repent of our sins and when we have pain or needs. God is actively involved in our lives, just like He was with Hagar in the wilderness, when he offered her comfort, guidance, and support.

In King Josiah, the Lord saw a pure heart, one that he was truly broken over the sins of his nation. Josiah wanted, very much, to follow the Lord in a way that pleased Him. He was committed as the nation's leader to lead his people in acceptable worship, forsaking all other gods. And God's response to Josiah's grief was full of mercy and grace.

Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. (22:19-20)

It is a proud and haughty spirit that stands against correction and says "I've done nothing wrong." Does anyone really like to be told they are doing something wrong? My husband tells me that I don't like to be corrected and... he's right... It is a battle to bring my spirit into submission. But the desire of my heart is to be like King Josiah. When I sin, I pray that I will have a broken spirit; one that is willing to accept correction and have longing to be back in right fellowship with the Lord.

It is also an important lesson to learn that we should cry out in repentance for our nation. Our God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. His standards are the same. God expects His children not to worship other gods, not to worship things made by our hands, not to look for our protection and fulfillment in people, governments, or things of this world.

God's Word guarantees us that God will bless us individually and as a nation if we are obedient to His commands. However, it confirms that there will be cursings on the nation which falls away and follows the pagan gods. Let us cry out to El Roi for forgiveness for our own sins and the sins of our nation like King Josiah and perhaps He will forgive us and bring healing to our land.