Answers to the Questions on Page 540

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 9
Josiah was the king of Judah. In the days of Jeroboam (shortly after the death of Solomon) a prophet of God was sent from Judah to Bethel to prophesy against Jeroboam’s idolatrous altar. He cried against the altar, “a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places  ... and men’s bones shall be burned upon thee.” 1 Kings 13:22And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. (1 Kings 13:2). About 320 years later Josiah was born. He was only eight years old when he began to reign, and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. When he was twelve years old he began to purge Judah of the high places and images. “And he burnt the bones of the priests upon the altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali.” 2 Chronicles 34:1-71Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years. 2And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left. 3For 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 34:1‑7). Thus was the prophecy fulfilled.
Cyrus, king of Persia, was mentioned by name in the prophecy of Isaiah. “That saith of Cyrus, He is My shepherd, and shall perform all My pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundations shall be laid. ... I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.” Isaiah 44:28-45:328That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. 1Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; 2I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: 3And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. (Isaiah 44:28‑45:3). Jerusalem and the Temple had not been destroyed in the days of Isaiah the prophet, although he speaks of Cyrus ordering the rebuilding of them. The prophecy was given approximately 150 years before Cyrus was born.
In the last verse of 2 Chronicles “Cyrus king of Persia” says, “the Lord God of heaven  ... hath charged me to build Him an house in Jerusalem.” Then in the first chapter of Ezra is given the account of Cyrus’s actions in direct fulfillment of prophecy.