After King Manasseh died, his son Amon was king for two years and did what was evil in The Lord’s sight. He was murdered by his servants. The people of Judah struck down the servants and made Josiah his son their king in his place (2 Kings 21:19-26). Josiah’s reign was unlike any king before or since. He began obediently following what he knew of The Lord. Chapter 22 verses 1-2 read,
“Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.”
Josiah loved The Lord and because of that he set out to repair the Temple. Verses 3-7 describe it,
“In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the Lord, saying, 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money that has been brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people. 5 And let it be given into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord, and let them give it to the workmen who are at the house of the Lord, repairing the house 6 (that is, to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons), and let them use it for buying timber and quarried stone to repair the house. 7 But no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.”
This was not a new ordinance, but it was one that had been forgotten or ignored. Jehoash had made the decree during his reign that all the money brought to the temple as offerings for sin and thanksgiving would be set aside for Temple repairs and maintenance (2 Kings 12:4-16). Josiah’s zeal for the Lord naturally extended to a zeal for how the Lord expressed His presence to The People and how the people worshipped Him, His Temple.
Josiah wanted to do what was right in the eyes of God. When he discovered that the money brought to the Temple was for its upkeep, he immediately changed the way things were done and did them the right way. Jesus had the same zeal for His Father’s house and cleaned it out when He saw the sin going on in it (John 2:13-17). Zeal for the Temple ensures it is properly maintained and extends to keeping it pure, practicing the commands of The Lord in Spirit and in truth, and keeping it holy. The Temple building does not stand today. It was destroyed in 70 A.D. Today, believers are the Temple of God; He indwells us and His presence is always with us. Love for the Lord and zeal for His Temple becomes about keeping ourselves healthy, pure, worshipping in Spirit and in truth, and being holy as God is holy. 2 Corinthians 6:16-18 reminds us,
“What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
17 Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
18 and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”
Josiah’s desire to please God yielded results he did not expect. While accounting the monies for the Temple repairs Hilkiah the high priest found something. Verses 8-10 read,
“And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9 And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.”
The book of the Law, had not been opened for generations. Up to now, the priests and the king had been basing the worship, offerings, and sacrifices on the oral teachings passed down from priest to priest. But when Josiah heard the way The Lord had commanded, it was obvious to him that Judah was not obeying The Lord.
Cleaning out the Temple brings things up from the past. It gives us a chance to get rid of the garbage and it gives us a chance to return to the way God intended us to be. Cleaning out and repairing the Temple brings us back into alignment with the will of God. It did the same for Josiah and Judah. Verses 11-13 record Josiah’s response.
“When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes.12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”
The Law showed Josiah who walked in the way of David and did not veer from following The Lord. That he fell short of God’s glory and covenant. That is what the law is intended to do, show us our sin and reveal to us our need of The Lord. Romans 3:19-26 reads,
“Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
When Josiah realized his sin and that of Judah he immediately inquired of The Lord. He understood that Judah would have to pay for their sin and he wanted to know what The Lord would have them do. He was telling God how remorseful he was. Verses 14-20 read,
“So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter), and they talked with her. 15 And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. 18 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 19 because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. 20 Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king.”
God honored Josiah’s repentance by keeping him from the wrath that would come on Judah. He would be gathered to peaceful eternity before the wrath of The Lord was carried out. Peace with God and is the reward for repentance. Repentance is not solely an attitude of the heart. It is borne in action. Repentance does not mean to escape wrath it means to act in congruence with The Lord’s will. John the Baptist said it this way in Matthew 3:7-10,
“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
And Josiah definitely bore fruit in accordance with repentance. His heart wholly belonged to God and that ardor showed itself in action. First he shared this newfound knowledge with the people and together they committed themselves to God. Chapter 23 verses 1-3 read,
“Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. 2 And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. 3 And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.”
Then he purged the Temple, Jerusalem, Judah and Israel of idolatry. He passionately destroyed every idolatrous thing there was because he loved God with all his heart, soul, and strength. Loving God like that means we love Him with our emotions, our spirit, and our muscles. It is comprehensive, active, and tangible. Verses 4-20 describe what Josiah did.
“And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations and all the host of the heavens. 6 And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron,and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people. 7 And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah. 8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from Geba to Beersheba. And he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one's left at the gate of the city. 9 However, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech. 11 And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts. And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 And the altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, he pulled down and broke in pieces and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. 13 And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 14 And he broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.
15 Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned, reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah. 16 And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things. 17 Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.” 18 And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria. 19 And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel. 20 And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.”
Josiah didn’t do all this in order to fulfill prophecy, he wasn’t even aware of the prophecy. It was his love of God that moved him to act. It was his passion for God that inspired the people of Judah to follow his commitment. Josiah not only restored, the Temple and all of Israel, he restored the practices that The Lord had put into place. Verses 21-23 reads,
“And the king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.”
Josiah was twenty five years old when he restored the celebration of Passover to Jerusalem. He did great things for the Lord and in turn for God’s people at a young age. Passover is a celebration of God’s salvation. Passover, like the Law is messianic. Passover is blatantly about Jesus. Josiah’s actions brought the testimony of Jesus, the Salvation of the world back to Judah and glorified The Lord. He didn’t know he was acting prophetically. He didn’t know about Jesus, his descendent who would be born in fourteen generations after him (Matthew 1:11-16). He still acted in faith and testified about salvation to all the nations by his acts.
Josiah made Israel holy again; he would not allow anything or anyone unholy to sully the God’s people or land. Verses 24-25 read,
“Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. 25 Before him there was no king like him, who 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, nor did any like him arise after him.”
God’s wrath still had to happen. But God kept his promise to Josiah and gathered him home to peace without tasting God’s wrath. Verses 26-30 read,
“Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 29 In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him, and Pharaoh Neco killed him at Megiddo, as soon as he saw him. 30 And his servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's place.”
Josiah was only 38 years old at his death, but no king had been as zealous for the Lord as he was before him and none would ever come after him with such passion.
Salvation begins with recognizing sin. No matter how good we are, we are sinful. Josiah was good; he kept the law as well as he knew how. Yet, when confronted with the Law that God had given to Moses, he realized how sinful he was. Salvation continues with repentance. Remorse for his sins moved Josiah to go to The Lord and then to act on his remorse by cleansing all sin and idolatry from the land. Josiah didn’t repent in order not to experience God’s wrath. He repented because he loved God and wanted to do what was right in his eyes.
Repentance as ‘fire insurance’ is not repentance. Real repentance comes from love of God and sorrow for sin and results in actions and becoming like Jesus.