2 Chronicles 34 -- A Great King, But Too Late

Imagine the last king, Amon, being 16 and having a child!  And he died at age 24.  His son Josiah became king than at age 8.  Nothing about Josiah’s father honored the Lord, and in those 8 years there is no describing what Josiah must have seen going on in the palace and in the land!

Josiah dedicated himself to the Lord at age 16 – vastly different from what his father had been doing at that age.  He didn’t even have a copy of the Scriptures to guide him!  And by age 20, he’d begun to cleanse the land of idolatry.  It wasn’t enough simply to tear down what was there.  He also defiled those places with human bones so that no one would ever use them again for worship!  His crusade even extended into the northern kingdom of Israel!

At age 26, he set to work restoring the Temple, which was in ruins.  Hilkiah the priest discovered the Temple copy of the Scriptures and handed it to Shaphan to be delivered to the king.  Shaphan presented it, almost as an afterthought, to Josiah during a progress meeting on Temple work, reading it to him.  “When the king heard the words of the Teachings, he tore his clothes to show how upset he was.”  He then commanded Hilkiah to go and ask the Lord about the words he’d heard.  A committee found Huldah, a prophetess, who told them that trouble was coming from the Lord for the nation’s disobedience, but that Josiah wouldn’t have to deal with it because of his faithfulness and humility before the Lord.

Josiah himself gathered the people at the Temple and read to them all the words he’d found.  He made an agreement with the Lord to follow Him with his whole being.  He led the people to promise the same thing.  “He led everyone in Israel to serve the Lord their God.  While Josiah lived, the people obeyed the Lord, the God of their ancestors.”

My commentary says, “In spite of all the good that Josiah did, he couldn’t stop the Lord from sending judgment to Judah.  The sins of Manasseh (Josiah’s grandfather) had been so great that nothing could prevent the Lord from pouring out His wrath on His people.”  (And Manasseh had even repented and tried to undo the evil he’d done!)

Father God, help me to obey You.  Keep me from evil and disobedience.  Help me to lead others to a life of obedience to Your commands, not out of duty, but out of love for what Your Son did for them on the cross.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford