IT is the high-priest who is crowning this little boy; we know him by his beautiful robes. Then this young king who stands in the picture, with his scepter in his small hand, must have been a king of God's people.
But what a little boy he does seem to wear a crown, and be called a king! One might almost think he was standing there to be crowned king in play, not in earnest. But look at the high-priest's face; you see he is quite grave as he puts the crown upon the head of little Josiah, the child of whom we read in the Bible, that he was a crowned king of the people of Judah when he was only eight years old. Think of such a child sitting upon the throne of the kings, in the city of Jerusalem!
Do you remember a verse in a psalm which speaks of the precious ointment which was poured upon Aaron's head, and ran down to the skirts of his garments? This sweet perfume was made of many fragrant spices; God had said just how it was to be made; and it was not for common use, for it was called the holy anointing oil. Before the high-priest put the golden crown upon Josiah's head, he poured some of this precious oil upon his head, and anointed him to be king. A king who reigned over God's people was called “the Lord's anointed."
God has told us that even a child is known by his doings, whether his way be good and whether it be right. Of this boy-king God wrote a very beautiful character; something is said of him that is not said of any of the other kings.
You remember that although King David did wrong things when he was not thinking of what God wished him to do, yet he was a true servant of God, and God said he was a man after His own heart. It was in the way of King David that this young king wished to walk; he wanted to please God, and God took notice of this, and said of him these words: "He turned not aside, to the right hand nor to the left."
But how could such a child know the way to please God, or to do what was right in His sight? God could teach him, young as he was, and give him wisdom to know what was right, and courage to do it.
For both those things are wanted, are they not? Often, when a child, even much older than eight years of age, at which Josiah became king, knows quite well what is right, he does not do it because he is afraid of what other children will think or say. How strange that those who are afraid to do what is right are not afraid to do what is wrong! How strange for anyone to be afraid of a boy or a girl, but not afraid to displease God!
I do not suppose that this wish to please God and to do right was always in the heart of King Josiah. Perhaps on that day when the sweet perfume was poured upon his head he was thinking, as I daresay most little boys of eight years would have been thinking, what a fine thing it was to be a king, and to have a golden crown; but God put more right thoughts of what it was to be a king into his heart before he was much older.
Many children learn what is right from their fathers. Perhaps you think King Josiah's father had taught him as soon as he had begun to speak and to understand, and so he remembered all the lessons he had learned! Ah, no! King Josiah's father did not fear God, or serve Him, and he could not teach his little son any right ways. He reigned two years in Jerusalem, and all that time he cared for idols—not for God; "he forsook the Lord God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the Lord." This is what we read about King Josiah's father in God's book of truth.
The end of his life came soon, and it was as sad as could be. There came a day when this king who had not feared God was terribly afraid, for he was in great danger.
None of the false gods to whom he had prayed could warn him of the danger, or save him from it. His wicked servants killed him in his own house, and there was none to deliver him. So this is the sad story of how it came to pass that his little son became king, and sat upon the throne of his murdered father.
Perhaps his mother taught him to fear God. We cannot tell; the Bible only tells us her name, and the name of her country. There was one, however, of whom the boy-king may have learned, for the prophet Jeremiah was in Jerusalem at this time.
A prophet speaks for God; he tells the people what God has told him.
It was when the young king had reigned thirteen years that this prophet began to speak in God's name, and to give His messages to His people.
What sort of messages?
Very solemn ones; so dreadful that Jeremiah did not like to give them; he felt afraid and ashamed. The Lord told him he must speak the very words which He sent him to speak to the people, and not be afraid of their faces, and God Himself touched the prophet's mouth.
But were all the messages dreadful?
No, not all, for God is love, and He kept on caring for His people, though they had left off caring for Him a long, long time. God told Jeremiah to cry with a loud voice to the people in Jerusalem, and say that He had not forgotten them, though they had forgotten Him—that was one message.
Another message was about what God had done for His people; the prophet was to recall to their hearts how after He had them out of the land of their slavery, He had led them " through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death," yet they had gone away, in their hearts, from Him.
Again, Jeremiah spoke the words of God to His people and told them that God had brought them into a beautiful land and had planted them there—a noble vine, but they had turned into a bad plant which gave God no fruit. Yet still God said to His people, “Return to Me."
But they did not return, and God listened from heaven, and heard, and "they spake not aright, and no man repented of his wickedness." Then Jeremiah was sent with this message: "As you have forsaken God," he said, "and served other gods, so you shall serve strangers in a land which is not yours." Most of the messages were about this thing. This was why God could not let rain come upon the land, because the people prayed to the sun-god and the moon-god, and set up images under the trees, and decked them with silver and gold, and called them their gods, though they were only wood or stone and had not made the heaven nor the earth. God told Jeremiah to tell the people that He was angry, and would send them a sore punishment, from which these false gods should not be able to save them. But still, after they had done all this, God said if they would only say they had been wrong, He would have compassion on them; for God loved His people still.
Another time you shall hear what King Josiah did about the false gods, when he had been king for twelve years, and how a treasure was found again after having been lost for a long time.