It is the last bright picture of a son of David on the throne that we look at in this chapter.
"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,"—so says the divine Record in 2 Kings 23:2525And 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. (2 Kings 23:25).
What was the principle characteristic of the young man Josiah, who is so commended? The words in italics show that it was a strict attention to the Word of God, which marked his course almost to the last, beyond that of any of his predecessors.
This is remarkable, and as cheering to the Christian heart, as it is remarkable, for in our own day, we have had to see much neglect of the Word of God; on account of which noble men and women of God suffered martyrdom in old time, and for the authority of which, many more have borne reproach and persecution, and to many today who profess the name of Christ, it is anything but the Word of Life, and the Sword of the Spirit.
The Passover was the feast or ceremony at the foundation of all for the Israelite; with it he began the religious year (Exo. 12:22This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. (Exodus 12:2)), and precisely according to the commandment of God, Josiah kept it. He might have said, as many in like circumstances have, in their hearts at least,
"It does not matter much that we are not strictly governed by the light we get from the Word of God, because everything has failed, and we should be looked upon as extreme if we were to take the Bible as our rule as to everything we do."
No, to him, the Word of God was "quick (living), and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." Heb. 4:12-1312For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:12‑13).
The conduct of Josiah puts us in mind of the word of the apostle Paul to Timothy,
Josiah, taught of God, sought for others as well as himself, the advantages of a walk according to the principles of the written Word; he encouraged the priests (verse 2); the Levites (verse 3), and the people (verse 7) by word and act to go on with God.
The good example of Josiah moved his princes to good works also, and the rulers of the temple, and the chief of the Levites (verses 8, 9). Then followed such a passover as had not occurred from the days of Samuel, as we are told both in 2 Kings 23:22,22Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; (2 Kings 23:22) and this chapter (verse 18).
The explanation of this is evidently to be found in the strict compliance with the Word of God which marked the feast, and in the pious young King who ordered it, for the people as a whole, were at almost the lowest ebb, spiritually.
But now, after all this, that old enemy, pride, the allowance of which has been the occasion of many a humbling fall, got possession of the godly Josiah, and brought about his death after so brilliant a reign.
Egypt was disposed to punish the Babylonians; and the King, Pharaoh-Necho, led an army to Karkemish on the upper Euphrates, to fight the new power of the East.
Josiah, strangely misguided, and without divine direction, went out to meet the Egyptians, who would have passed by without attacking Judah; and thus he lost his life in one act of disobedience.
How much more to Josiah's honor it would have been, had he remained quietly at Jerusalem, and let the nations, from whom he and his people were separated by God's Word, fight among themselves.
Josiah is then another example given us of failure of the very best of men, and under the best of advantages.
Great mourning followed Josiah's untimely end, and his good deeds and piety were long remembered.
Among the really Godly kings of Judah, after Solomon and the division of the Kingdom, there are of note but Asa (2 Chron. chapters 14, 15); Jehoshaphat (chapters 17, 19, 20); Hezekiah (chapters 29-32) and Josiah; and the last, amid deepening darkness, shone with a brighter light than the others, at least, in the matter of adherence to the Word of God.