- Personal Commitment: Beginning at age 8 he was WALKING a straight road (holek yawshar) before the Lord (2 Kings 22:2). He behaved as a believer.
- Persistent Worship: At age 16 he began SEEKING his God (darash Elohim – to tread frequently before and 2 Chron. 34:3) based on the stories shared with him of the past kings, and their exploits. He learned to pray and worship.
- Practical Purification: At age 20 he began PURGING his people (2 Chron. 34:3 “tawhare Yehudah – cleansed the place) of high places, Asherim and images. He learned to seek purity and block the world’s corrupting influences.
- Proper Priority: At age 26 he began RESTORING the Temple (2 Kings 22:3-7) of Jerusalem using the historic formula of Joash (2 Kings 12:1-16). He led those around him back to a priority of worship.
- People Focus: All the while he was CHAMPIONING the poor (Jer. 22:15-16)! He acted on behalf of those who could not help themselves.
Beyond his personal walk, God led King Josiah to a full WORK LIFE accomplishing in his story the leading of his people to God in five practical steps:
- Unity: First, he built a team to execute God’s directives (23:1-2),
- Clarity: Next he explained the Word of God to the people who He led (23:3).
- Piety: Boldly moving against wrongs of the past (23:4-7), he graciously gathered those who were in error and rehabilitated them (23:8-9). He deliberately destroyed the remnants of the things abhorrent to God and His purposes (23:10). He dug back to practices that had become “sacred cows” from the time of Solomon long before and corrected them (23:11-15) while maintaining the dignity and respect for those who walked with God before him (23:16-18). He shut out and cut out those who needed to be removed from the society because of their defiance and rebellion (23:19-20).
- Progress: He moved the people on from the wrong celebrations to the right ones (23:21-23), bringing back the practices that God told the people to be busy about!
- Personalization: He asked people to personalize the external changes – to deal with the idolatry in their HOMES, and face personal issues (23:24-25).
With such an excellent resume, one would expect a great finish to the story, and not a sputtering into the end. Yet, Josiah’s end is not a proud exclamation point to his life. His end is, well – sad. Look closely at the story:
2 Kings 23:28-34: “28 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. And King Josiah went to meet him, and when Pharaoh Neco saw him he killed him at Megiddo. 30 His servants drove his body in a chariot from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father. 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a fine of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away and brought him to Egypt, and he died there.”
- Entered a fight that wasn’t his to fight (23:29).
- Going to a place that wasn’t where he belonged (23:29b).
- Suffering a fate that wasn’t what he lived (23:29b).
- Reaping a legacy that wasn’t the freedom he sowed (23:30-32).
What was the problem? How could such a good man end so badly? Remember: No matter how long we have walked with God, we need to seek Him TODAY anew for the needs of today!
The greater clues to this lesson are not found in 2 Kings, but in the cross referenced passage of 2 Chronicles 35:20-27:
“20 After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah marched out to meet him in battle. 21 But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “What quarrel is there between you and me, O king of Judah? It is not you I am attacking at this time, but the house with which I am at war. God has told me to hurry; so stop opposing God, who is with me, or he will destroy you.” 22 Josiah, however, would not turn away from him, but disguised himself to engage him in battle. He would not listen to what Neco had said at God’s command but went to fight him on the plain of Megiddo. 23 Archers shot King Josiah, and he told his officers, “Take me away; I am badly wounded.” 24 So they took him out of his chariot, put him in the other chariot he had and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. He was buried in the tombs of his fathers, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him. 25 Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah, and to this day all the men and women singers commemorate Josiah in the laments. These became a tradition in Israel and are written in the Laments. 26 The other events of Josiah’s reign and his acts of devotion, according to what is written in the Law of the Lord— 27 all the events, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.”
Within the passage note FIVE PROBLEMS that Josiah had when he didn’t recognize the need to seek God after so long a tenure serving Him:
1. Josiah completed setting in order the things God told him to do (35:20).
Problem #1: PRIDE. When God has used us to do things for him, we can easily get to the place where we believe that His work is DEFINED through us. We look down our noses at anyone else, because WE have experienced God’s work in us, and we know how He works. We get a spiritual stuffiness – an arrogance about our walk. When pride swells, God withdraws… and the enemy fills the vacuum with an air of sweet self righteousness.
2. Josiah reacted to the army passing through his territory by arming for war and confronting Neco with an army (35:20b).
Problem #2: PRESUMPTION. Without prayer or seeking God, Josiah saw the surface of the situation and assumed that he could read the depth of it. The fact was that Josiah didn’t know what the Lord had planned, and he didn’t take the time to ask him. He acted decisively in his flesh – and that always ends in a lesson, if not a full blown tragedy! Spiritual discernment requires a level of surrender and humility. Spiritual truth cannot be truly discerned on the surface of the physical world – for things are very seldom as they appear!
Paul argued much later to believers of the Church Age that the truth of the spiritual battles of the world are not comprehended without seeking the mind of the Lord. Even though Josiah did not have the full array of Spiritual weaponry, he did not seek God. Even though we DO have such a array, we don’t always seek God either! Note what Paul warned: 1 Cor. 2:12 “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
- God’s children have a gift through the Spirit of God to enable us to comprehend what He has given us in the relationship we have in Him (2:12).
- The truths that Paul wanted Corinthian believers to comprehend had to be shared in words tuned to and given from the Spirit of God (2:13).
- A man who is without the Spirit of God (a fleshly man who has not been born of the Spirit) cannot grasp the truths that come from the Spirit – but they seem foolish to him (2:14).
I recognize that Paul was writing to believers set in a different time, but the truth that there is a difference between the way God and His Spirit works and the way our fleshly eye sees is nevertheless a consistent truth. We can’t see the spiritual realities of a situation without seeking them out in and through the Spirit of God. Josiah didn’t get what Josiah didn’t ask for.
God promised to reveal to the early believers in James the reasons for the trials that He approved for their lives (James 1:5). Yet, it must be carefully noted – wisdom was gained by ASKING and SEEKING. We have not because we do not seek Him and ask Him (James 4:2).
3. Josiah disbelieved did the truce pact of Neco, despite the assurances of Neco and the lack of any attack by him (35:21a). Further, he did not believe the word that Neco was told by the Lord to do what he was doing (35:21b). Josiah challenged that the Lord was with Neco, and any move against him was disobedience (35:21b).
Problem #3: PREEMINENCE. One could argue that Josiah in the heat of the moment FORGOT to go to the Lord concerning the situation that was unfolding – but that could not be the case after Neco invoked the Lord’s name. Even this did not slow Josiah’s plan. Why not? Because Josiah’s pride swelled to THE BELIEF that God would use only HIM, (not the pagan Pharaoh of Egypt) to announce the truth of His unfolding plan. It happens – we come to believe that God is working in OUR movement, OUR church, OUR country. All of that comes from mouths that SOUGHT God in the past, but are being PRESUMPTIOUS in the present. The Lord draws near to soft-hearted and humble. He offers His unmerited favor to the humble. We think we are the center of all His work, and fail to remember that God has objectives bigger than US and OUR WORLD.
John Wesley and George Whitefield were perhaps the two greatest preachers of the 18th Century Revival movement of Christianity. Bother were gifted men of God. For a time, they had a theological dispute over the Arminian and Calvinist views of salvation. Over time, a serious rivalry developed between their followers. One day, one of Whitefield’s followers remarked: “We won’t see John Wesley in the heaven, will we?” Whitefield humbly replied “Yes, you’re correct – we probably won’t see him in heaven. He will be so close to the Throne of God and we so far away – we shall not be able to see him!” What an attitude Whitefield had! His humility was real! Despite profoundly disagreeing with Wesley, Whitefield recognized John Wesley as being a man of God. In fact, the respect between them was so great that when Whitefield died in the US, John Wesley preached at George Whitefield’s memorial service in London.
4. Josiah did not face him openly, but attempted trickery in disbelief of the words of Neco (35:22). He was not able to get far in his plot before he was mortally wounded (35:23).
Problem #4: PRETENSE. Without a focus on seeking God and following God, we can easily justify anything. When we believe that God works primarily through US, we see ourselves as vehicles more important than we truly are. In light of His use of us, we justify our actions and begin to do things in ways we were not told to do. Ends begin to justify means. We seek to get results that make sense to us, rather than seek the Lord and let the results be His issue. Deceit and trickery are a slippery slope that can swallow up a solid believer and leave them unsure of truth.
5. Josiah’s actions grieved believers like Jeremiah who were left heartbroken by the loss, as the nation’s refreshing was ended (35:24-25). Josiah’s actions hastened judgment. With the chapter of refreshing closed, there was nothing but judgment left for Judah, and sensitive believers knew the time for the end was near (35: 26- 36:5).
Problem #5: PROGRESSION. Our actions cause pain and suffering for more than we calculate. We are not an island, and our choices can easily hurt or cripple others. We never see it. We think the choices are our own… but the truth is that every decision is bigger than it appears. What we do echoes for eternity.
With Josiah’s death, the Prophet Jeremiah’s lamentations were timely, because the end of Judah and the long awaited judgment was now at hand. The throne was vacated by the last of those who followed the Lord. Josiah’s death marked the end of the process of God’s preservation of the kingdom – it was the close of a chapter that led to deep pain. Josiah didn’t calculate the reality that his death would cast the people into chains. It would be but a few short years, and the sun would set on the kingdom. All of his work would be wiped out. His house would be destroyed. He knew it was coming, for God had made that clear through the mouth of the prophetess Hulda some time before. He took action without seeking God’s counsel, and never truly considering the outcome if he wasn’t successful.
What works in the negative also works the other way. We can have a ripple effect on others by the way we live: Maximilian Kolbe was a Catholic priest, who was put in a Nazi concentration camp for his faith. On May 28, 1941, he was transferred to the concentration camp at Auschwitz. During his time there, he would share his meagre rations of food with those around him who were hungry. Despite the evil in the camp perpetrated against the inmates, Kolbe pleaded with the prisoners to forgive their persecutors and overcome evil with good. A protestant doctor who treated the patients in Kolbe’s block said that Kolbe would not let himself be treated before any other prisoners in that block. He sacrificed himself for the other prisoners. The doctor said about Kolbe: “From my observations, the virtues in the Servant of God were no momentary impulse such as are often found in men, they sprang from a habitual practice, deeply woven into his personality. One day a man in Kolbe’s block escaped. All of the men from that block were brought out into the hot sun and made to stand there all day with no food or drink. At the end of the day, the man that had escaped was not found and so Fritsch, the Nazi commandant told the prisoners that ten men would be selected to die in the starvation cell in place of the one that had escaped. One man, a polish sergeant ( Francis Gajowniczek)was one of those selected. He begged to be spared because he was worried that his family would not be able to survive without him. As he was pleading with the commandant, Maximilian Kolbe silently stepped forward and stood before the commandant. The commandant turned to him and said asked, “What does this Polish pig want?” Kolbe pointed to the polish sergeant and said,”I am a Catholic priest from Poland; I would like to take his place, because he has a wife and children.” The commandant stood silent for a moment in disbelief. He then allowed the sergeant to go back to his place in the ranks and Kolbe took his place in the starvation bunker. Each day the guards removed the bodies of those who had died. However instead of the usual sounds of screaming, all they could hear was the sounds of Kolbe and the others in the bunker singing hymns and praying. When Kolbe couldn’t speak any longer due to hunger and lack of energy, he would whisper his prayers. After two weeks, the cell had to be cleared out for more prisoners. Only four prisoners were left and Kolbe was one of them. The guards injected each with a lethal injection and on August 14, 1941, Kolbe paid the ultimate price. Kolbe viewed others as more important than himself. And in that he was following the Master. (sermon central illustrations).
No matter how long we have walked with God, we need to seek Him TODAY anew for the needs of today! we can have an effect that will grow and move to places well beyond what we see. Yet, we can remove His blessing from us if we simply forget to seek Him anew!
