Josiah was one of God's miracles of grace, raised up at almost the very end of the sad history of His people in the land of promise. He was the fifteenth son of David to reign over Judah, and his 31 years' rule ended less than 25 years before the two tribes were carried away to Babylon.
That which stands out prominently in considering Josiah's life, is his regard for the Word of God, long neglected and forgotten. 2 Chronicles 34:3-73For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. 4And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them. 5And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. 6And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about. 7And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles 34:3‑7) lets us know that he began to seek after the God of David his father, "while he was yet young"—when he was 15 or 16 years of age, and that four years later he began to destroy the features of idol worship in the land and outside Judah's narrow borders, too. In another six years Josiah undertook the repairing of the temple, and it was then that the book of the law—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy—was discovered. It is with this last period that verses 3 and following, deal.
We may well consider the effect of reading God's Word upon the godly young king, and wish so real and so lasting results were seen in our day. In our times, it has become common for men and women to reject God's Word altogether, despising (to their eternal loss) its warnings, and rejecting Him who is the only Saviour and Lord. Some, also, profess to be Christians, but are as far from the true knowledge of Christ as the benighted heathen.
To both these classes, Josiah stands in most marked contrast. It is enough for him that God has spoken; let it be so with all who confess with their mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in their heart that God path raised Him from the dead.
In Revelation 3:88I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. (Revelation 3:8) and 10 Christ's word, the "word of His patience," is what a feeble band is commended for keeping,—for having it before them in living practice. Can anything less satisfy the heart which truly seeks to please the Lord?
Josiah's godliness could not avert the coming judgment, but he would not be left to see it (verse 20). The people themselves were not as their king (see Jeremiah 3:1010And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 3:10)), though there were godly ones among them. Hastening on to national ruin, they gave little heed to God and His Word. And you, reader,—what of yourself ? "