Josiah became the 17th king of Judah when he was only 8 years old. When he was 16, he began to seek the Lord and, at the age of 20, he began a nationwide purge of idolatry and witchcraft. He not only tore down the pagan shrines and idols but he also desecrated the sites on which they stood with the ashes of human bones so these areas could never again be used as places of worship. He desecrated the sacred site of Molech so the people could no longer burn their children in the valley of Benhinnom.
When he was 26 years old, Josiah ordered the restoration of the Temple which had been greatly abused by his wicked ancestors. During the restoration the only remaining copy of the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) which contained the Laws of the Lord was found hidden in the Temple. (It is thought that all other sacred scrolls had been destroyed by his wicked father and grandfather, Amon and Manasseh.) When Josiah heard the words of the scroll, he tore his clothes because he realized that his people had incurred the wrath of God with their idolatry, sorcery, and neglect of His commandments. He sent his men to the prophetess Huldah to consult with the Lord on this matter. The Lord announced that He was about to bring upon Judah the curses prophesied in the scroll (Deu 28:15-68) but, because Josiah heard Him and wept before Him, He would allow Josiah to finish his life in peace before punishing Israel.
Josiah called the people together to hear the words of the scroll and to renew their covenant with the Lord, agreeing to obey all His commandments and to keep all the terms of the covenant written in the scroll. He renewed his efforts to wipe out paganism and led Judah in keeping the Passover in Jerusalem which had been neglected for many years. However, soon after his death, the people returned to their wicked ways and God laid on them all the curses of the covenant, even allowing them to be carried away as captives to Babylon.
2 Kings 22:1-23:30; 1 Chr 3:14-15; 2 Chr 34-35; Mt 1:11
All scripture quotes are from the REB Bible unless otherwise indicated.
Comments© 1998 by Suzetta Tucker
To cite this page:
Tucker, Suzetta. "Jesse Tree Advent Calendar - December 23
- Josiah." ChristStory Christian Bestiary. 1998. http://ww2.netnitco.net/users/legend01/23josiah.htm
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