Josiah sent the men to gather all the elders together and bring them to him. He went into the house of the LORD with all the people (v1-3). He had heard what the LORD had said about His judgment and even though he would be spared, and it would come after him, he wanted all the people to get right with God.
Josiah read out loud the words in the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the LORD’s house. He read it himself; he didn’t get some other prominent person to read it.
He stood by a pillar and made a covenant with LORD to follow Him, keep His commandments, testimonies and statutes, with all his heart and soul, and to do all that was written in the Book. He publicly declared his full commitment to the LORD. He didn’t ask for the people to respond but they did. God clearly worked in the people through the example of the king.
We may not have a position of such importance, but we can be an example of commitment to the Lord, and who knows what the Lord will do through His Holy Spirit to work in and through us today.
Josiah, the king, commanded Hilkiah, the high priest (v4-14), the secondary priests and the doorkeepers to bring out of the temple all the articles made for Baal, Asherah and for all the host of heaven. It shows how much the idolatry had sunk to when all these were being worshiped inside the house of the LORD. He burned them in the fields of Kidron outside Jerusalem and carried their ashes to Bethel. He removed the idolatrous priests who had been responsible for the idolatrous practices. It is always important to remove the people doing the evil as well as the idols themselves. He brought the wooden image from the house of the LORD, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ground it to ashes and scattered them on the graves of the common people. It is thought that the dust on the graves defiled the idols.
Prostitution was taking place in the house of the LORD as part of the worship of the pagan idols, and Josiah removed the booths from what had become a brothel, as well as the perverted people. He also removed the hangings, woven curtains which probably hid the ritual obscenities from view.
He brought all the priests from Judah and defiled the high places where the priest had burned incense, from Geer to Beersheba; he broke down the high places at the gates which were at the Gate of Joshua, the governor, to the left of the city gate. The priests of the high places refused to come to Jerusalem but stayed to eat unleavened bread with their brethren.
He defiled Topheth in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. It appears that a lot of idolatry had taken place in this place. Children had been offered to Molech in sacrificing them to this pagan god. Josiah stopped that practice. He also removed horses and burned the chariots which had been used in idol worship, and he pulverised the altars built by Manasseh and threw the dust in the brook Kidron. He defiled the high places east of Jerusalem on the south of the Mount of Corruption (appropriately named). These had been built by Solomon for Ashtoreth for the Sidonians, Chemosh for the Moabites, Milcom for the Amorites, all for their abomination. He broke down the sacred pillars and the wooden images. The idolatry had become widespread, and it probably took him some time, but he did it.
Hinnom was used in the New Testament as a picture of hell derived from the burning of children and the burning of the idols.
Josiah not only removed the idols and idolatry in Judah where he was king, but he also went into the former land of Israel in the north. We need to remember that the Assyrians had taken Israel, but the Assyrian empire was weak in his days, so that he could move around there. It seemed that the Assyrians were concerned with other things and not with what was left in Israel. He broke down the altar in Bethel, burned the high place and crushed it to powder and burned the wooden image. These had been established by Jeroboam and had been taken over by Canaanite worship (v15)
Josiah saw the tombs on the mountain and he had them take the bones from them and burned them on the altar (v16). However, this had been foretold by an anonymous prophet in 1 Kings 13:1-3. They then came to the gravestone of the man of God who had foretold those words, and Josiah told them not to move his bones (v17,18).
Josiah also took away all the high places and shrines in Samaria just as he had done in Bethel (v19) and he executed all the priests of the high places, burned their bones on the altars and returned to Jerusalem (v20). He commanded all the people to keep the Passover to the LORD their God, as it was written in the book of the covenant which had been found. It was like a national holiday. He couldn’t command heart obedience. The Passover had not been celebrated since the days of the Judges, nor in all the kings of Israel and Judah (v21-23). The Passover was an important act of remembrance of when they had been rescued from slavery in Egypt by God in the days of Moses. It was remarkable how they could forget that day in their history, but they had. It is vitally important that we, as Christians, remember what Jesus has done for us in redemption. Sadly, some do. Every time we take Communion, we do this in remembrance of Him. Let us not forsake it.
Josiah put away those who consulted mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, all the abominations taking place in Judah and Jerusalem, in accordance with the book of the law (v24). There was no king like him before or since, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, soul and might, following the words in the book of the law found in the LORD’s house (v25). He simply went back to the LORD, which is something which we really need today.
There were other great kings, but Josiah stood out because he lived in a wicked environment, his godliness stood out against the backdrop of his time. Just as Hezekiah had Isaiah the prophet, Josiah had Jeremiah. Whilst he stood out and sought to lead his people, it was apparent that the actions of the people were only outward conformity, because shortly afterwards God’s judgment came upon them. God had promised that if the people genuinely turned to Him, they would dwell securely in the land (Jeremiah 7:5-7), but Judah had not turned to Him with her whole heart (Jeremiah 3:10).
God’s judgment is pronounced (v26,27) “I will also remove Judah from My sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, ‘My name shall be there.’” It was evident that despite Josiah’s efforts, the people still provoked Him to anger, because they still did what Manasseh had done (v26,27).
The rest of the acts of Josiah are in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah (v28). Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt went to the aid of the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. Josiah went against him and was killed by Necho at Megiddo (v29). His servants moved his body to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. 2 Chronicles 35:20-25 tells us that Necho warned Josiah against battling with him. Josiah refused the warning, disguised himself in battle but was shot by archers and died.
One commentator tells us that the exact place of his death was Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo for Zechariah 12:11 tells us there there was a great mourning for Josiah.
The people took his son Jehoahaz and made him king (v30). Jehoahaz was not the eldest son of Josiah, thus not in succession. There were two older sons, thus he was made king by popular choice of the people, not by God.
Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king and he did evil in God’s sight. He reigned a mere three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal. Pharaoh Necho put him in prison in Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he might not reign in Jerusalem. Instead, Necho imposed tribute from Judah of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold, to show his authority. He took Jehoahaz to Egypt where he died, and he made Eliakim his older brother, king in his place, and he changed his name to Jehoiakim (v31-34). Jehoahaz’s real name was Shallum according to 1 Chronicles 3:15, and his name is omitted from the Lord’s ancestors in Matthew 1, which may imply that God did not recognise him as king
Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, his mother’s name was Zebudah, daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. He did evil in God’s sight, and was really a puppet king of the Egyptians, exacting taxes on behalf of Pharaoh (v35-37).
Jeremiah (36:22-24) described the evils of Jehoiakim, even to burning a scroll of God’s word, and pronouncing God’s judgment on him – ‘He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night.’”(Jeremiah 36:29-30)
