The story of Josiah

is also a cautionary tale

which is still relevant today.

It can be found in 2 Kings 22–23 and 2 Chronicles 34–35.

Josiah was the 16th King of Judah from

approximately 640 to 609 B.C.

2 Kings 22:2 introduces Josiah by saying,

“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.”

The scripture then presents Josiah as the last God-fearing monarch of the Davidic line before the Babylonian exile, whose reign marks the final bright outburst of covenant faithfulness in Judah.

יאשׁיהו

Josiah’s name means: the one through whom God heals.

It comes from a Semitic root ‘ashah,

meaning: one who supports.  

It is also closely related to the word ‘ashur

which is the root word for Assyria,

the whole story of Josiah is told through his name.

In the Hebrew, JOSIAH  jō sī’ ə  יֹאשִׁיָּ֣הוּ;

and in Greek: LXX ̓Ιωσίας, G2739,

The meaning is: may the Lord support or heal.

Name of a king of Judah, son of Amon and Jedidah.

Yoshiyyah or Yoshiyyahu: Josiah

Original Word: יאֹשִׁיָּה
Part of Speech: Proper Name Masculine
Transliteration: Yo’shiyah
Pronunciation: yo-shee-YAH-hoo
Phonetic Spelling: yo-shee-yaw’
KJV: Josiah 
NASB: Josiah, Josiah’s
Word Origin: [from the same root as 

H803 (אֲשׁוּיָה – Work) and H3050 (יָהּ – LORD)]

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance

Josiah 

Or

yo-she-yaw’-hoo;

from the same root as ‘ashuwyah and Yahh;

founded of Jah;

see HEBREW ‘ashuwyah

see HEBREW Yahh

Through Josiah YHVH

healed His nation

and it was Josiah who

supported God’s mission and call upon Israel.  

Josiah was the last of the good kings in Judah and was considered to be a righteous king, unlike many of his forefathers. Josiah was the son of King Amon and the grandson of King Manasseh, both of them wicked kings of Judah. However, Josiah was a godly king and known as one of the world’s youngest kings; He came to power at the age of 8 and ruled for 38 years after his father King Amon was assassinated.

His father, Amon, a short-lived and idolatrous king who worshipped idols, 2 Kings 21:19–26; was wicked, as were the Jewish kings and their culture for generations before him. Eventually, Amon’s own servants killed him. Josiah’s grandfather, Manasseh, was no better his long apostasy had filled Jerusalem with blood, as recorded in 2 Kings 21:16.
His sons names were Johanan, Jehoiakim (Eliakim),

Shallum (Jehoahaz),

and Zedekiah (Mattaniah).

1 Chronicles 3:15.

King Josiah became the King of Judah at the age of 8.

He not only served the YHVH, he loved Him and through the influence of his Godly mother, he destroyed all the idols.

He experienced a spiritual awakening at age 16. “He began to seek the God of his father David” 2 Chronicles 34:3.

There is an interesting comparison here of zeal for the Lord at an early age. At 8 years old Josiah sat on David’s throne; likewise Messiah Yeshua/Jesus at 12 was found in His Father’s house, about His Fathers business, discussing spiritual matters. Luke 2:49.

 In the 18th year of his reign,

Josiah raised money to repair the temple,

It was during the project and making reparation that a life changing discovery was made…..

Hilkiah, the High Priest/Cohen haKadol, 

found

the Book of the Law/the Torah scroll

that had been hidden away.

“the Book of the Law of the LORD given through Moses”

2 Chronicles 34:14-15.

Shaphan reading the law before Josiah.

Shaphan in Hebrew: שפן, means “hyrax”,

son of Azaliah,

is the name of a scribe or court secretary mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible.

Josiah sent a delegation of royal officials to seek out Yahweh’s will and they went to find Huldah, a prophetess in Jerusalem.  Huldah’s prophetic words confirmed the authenticity of the Book of the Law/Torah and warned of impending judgment on Judah for their disobedience.  Huldah the prophetess gave the king’s men this message from YHVH:

disaster would strike the nation because they had forgotten God and instead worshiped idols.

2 Chronicles 34:2.

Huldah’s prophecy to Josiah lines up with the rest of Scripture regarding judgment and mercy. She foretells that Judah will face consequences for sin, yet, reassures the king of personal peace.

Huldah authenticated the discovered scroll and exhorted Josiah to humble himself. 2 Kings 22:18-19.

She affirmed that judgment on Judah was inevitable but delayed because Josiah’s heart was tender before the LORD,

2 Kings 22:15-20

and she assured him that his humility had moved YHVH to delay that judgment.

Josiah held Huldah’s prophecy in high regard. He followed the instructions which were read out and assembled the people at the Temple in Jerusalem.

It was a delay of judgment but not cancellation of it. Josiah’s reforms stayed God’s wrath, 2 Kings 22:20; yet did not abolish the consequences of generations of sin, teaching that personal righteousness does not automatically protect an unrepentant nation.

Until the copy of the Torah was discovered Josiah’s understanding of doctrine and theology was incomplete; yet even before it was found, Josiah had a heart that was tender and submissive/rakak to YHVH.

Operating in her intellectual and spiritual gifts, Huldah was a true helper/ezer, as she came to the aid of her king and nation. The answer Huldah gave to Josiah is still valid today, humanity is condemned; but each one of us can accept salvation in an individual and personal way. Because of this prophetic directive, Josiah decided to help as many people as possible to accept salvation and seek the Lord.

When Shapan, the secretary, read the Torah scroll to Josiah, and he listened to the horrifying words of coming judgment, he tore his clothes, in an outward sign of mourning and repentance, humbling himself before YHVH.

2 Chronicles 34:19; 2 Kings 22:10–11. 

King Josiah called for a time of national repentance and covenant renewal.

“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”. 2 Kings 23:3.

The Law was read to the people of the land, and a covenant was made between the people and the Lord and a young king who led his nation towards spiritual awakening and renewal, led the people back to the Word of God and brought a great revival to the land.

When Scripture’s authority was rediscovered, and the impact of the Torah Instructions/Law’s given in public reading; it underscores the sufficiency and binding authority of written revelation on both the ruler/king and the people to whom it was read.

Many reforms followed.

The temple was cleansed from all objects of pagan worship,

and the idolatrous high places in the land were demolished.

 Josiah was 20 when this purge of idolatry took place.

2 Chronicles 34:3–7.

Altars, Asherah poles, carved images, and molten images were ground to powder and scattered on the graves of their worshipers. The destruction of the altar at Bethel and the disinterring of the bones of the idolatrous priests’ fulfilled the unnamed prophet’s prediction made some 300 years earlier.

1 Kings 13:2; 2 Kings 23:16.

Cleansing the house of YHVH is a prophetic mirror image of Messiah’s cleansing the Temple in Jerusalem recorded in

Matthew 21:12-13.

There is a great encouragement for us in the fulfillment of the prophecy against Bethel, which confirms the reliability of earlier prophetic words; and further illustrates that divine promises often come to fruition following long periods of apparent delay and seeming denial. 2Peter 3:9.

Delay and denial by our Heavenly Father is not a form of punishment or indifference, but rather a divine strategy for our growth and transformation. It is a way for Him to teach us patience, and that patience undergirds our faith to support and strengthen it. They are divine preparations. He sees what we cannot see and whatever He does is with our best interests in mind, so we need to trust His perfect timing, stay faithful in the waiting, and be ready for His sudden move in our lives.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose” Romans 8:28.

Joseph waited 13 years

Abraham waited 25 years

Moses waited 40 years (twice)

Joseph waited 30 years…

If our Father is making us wait….

we are in good company!

Josiah was a righteous and reformative king of Judah who not only re-instituted the worship of Yahweh but also restored the observance of the Appointed Time/Moed of Pesach/Passover.

2 Kings 23:2–23.

In 2 Chronicles 35:18-19 we are told

it was the greatest Pesach/Passover

since the days of the judges.

Also recorded in 2 Kings 23:23 
HEB: שָׁנָ֔ה לַמֶּ֖לֶךְ יֹֽאשִׁיָּ֑הוּ נַעֲשָׂ֞ה הַפֶּ֧סַח
NAS: year of King Josiah, this Passover
KJV: of king Josiah, [wherein] this passover
INT: year of King Josiah was observed Passover

The Pesach/passover of Josiah, 2 Chronicles 35, became the definitive guideline for later Moedim celebrations. All Israel and Judah participated in it, initiating a desire to restore unity in the fractured identity of the 12 tribes/sons of Jacob/Israel. 
The priests and Levites returned to the Mosaic order recorded in 2 Chronicles 35:2-6.
The king personally donated 30,000 lambs and goats and 3,000 cattle, 2 Chronicles 35:7, reflecting royal stewardship in worship.

This sacrificial generosity in the Pesach/Passover foreshadows the greater King who supplies Himself as the Lamb.

The writer of these chronicles placed great emphasis on these events which reveals that:

spiritual renewal involves both right doctrine, which is the Torah Instruction/Teaching/ Laws and Ordinances;

and right practice, obedience to the Torah instructions by celebrating the 7 Appointed Times of The Lord/ His Moedim.

Josiah also removed mediums and witches from the land.

Recorded in

2 Kings 23:24&25.

HEB: וּבִיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם בִּעֵ֖ר יֹֽאשִׁיָּ֑הוּ לְ֠מַעַן הָקִ֞ים
NAS: Moreover, Josiah removed the mediums
KJV: and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away,
INT: Jerusalem removed Josiah might confirm

“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.”

YHVH’s wrath would later come upon Judah due to the evil King Manasseh had done, 2 Kings 23:25, but the judgment was delayed because of Josiah’s godly life and leadership.

2 Kings 22:20.

However, at the end of his life, Josiah feared the Assyrians would make an alliance with Egypt, and would regain their position as a world power and then come against Judah. Even when YHVH spoke through the Egyptian general Necho to stand down, Josiah still fought the battle the Lord had told him not to fight. After a lifetime of walking with YHVH and trusting Him to lead and guide him, he could not trust the Lord in the matter with the Assyrians; and took his army to stop the Egyptians. During the battle that ensued, Josiah was killed.

Sadly it was Josiah’s fear of Assyria that caused him to act in the flesh, he began to look at the circumstances in the natural and by trying to fix it in his own strength and it proved to be his downfall.

When Josiah died his two sons fought over the throne. The youngest Jehoahaz, seized the throne but 3 months later Necho the Egyptian general deposed him. Necho set his brother Jehoaiakim, whose name means: whom God has set up, as a puppet king for Egypt who ruled another 11 years. He is described as a ruthless tyrant in Jewish historical literature. Judah was eventually led into captivity by the Babylonians having never returned to the Lord.

King Josiah, was a man who loved the Lord with all his heart, who helped to start revival in the land and bring his people back to YHVH; then after 38 years of ruling Judah, at age 46 the Lord, took him home.  He could have served the Lord for many more years, but he failed at the end of his life. In one of his greatest tests, Josiah didn’t trust YHVH even after so many years of faithful service.

Josiah died in the battle at Megiddo in in 609 B.C.

2 Kings 23:29-30.

II Chronicles 35:22:  “Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.”

Above, the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho.

King Josiah was buried in Jerusalem in his own tomb,

and his son Jehoahaz took the role of king.

2 Kings 23:31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 Now Pharaoh Necho put him in prison at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a tribute of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 Then Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Pharaoh took Jehoahaz and went to Egypt, and he died there. NKJV.

There is much we can learn from Josiah’s life that is very positive:

First, Josiah shows the influence a person can have from a very young age, even children have enormous potential to live for God and to have great impact.

Secondly, Josiah lived a life fully committed and obedient to YHVH and was blessed for it. He chose total commitment.

There was no king like him who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, according to all the Law of Moses. 2 Kings 23:25.

Josiah models wholehearted obedience that engages the entire covenant of Deuteronomy 6:5.

Thirdly, Josiah responded properly to the Father’s Word. By the time he became king, the Scriptures had long been neglected, and Josiah’s heart was broken by the failure of his people to honor that Word. Josiah had Scripture read to the people and made a commitment to live by it.

Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken . . . I also have heard you,’ declares the Lord. 2 Kings 22:19.

Josiah son of Zephaniah, hosted the crowning of the high priest Joshua with a symbolic crown, Zechariah 6:10-14, linking Josiah’s house with messianic expectation.
New Testament writers carry forward the reforming king’s line through Matthew’s genealogy of Messiah Yeshua/Jesus in Matthew 1:10-11, marking him as a crucial link in redemptive history.

Josiah is mentioned in the genealogy of Yeshua/Jesus:

When we face real trials that test our faith and trust in our heavenly Father, we are many times strongly tempted to trust in the arm of the flesh, rather than in Him. There is a great lesson to be learned that even after many years of faithful service, there may be times when we really can’t see how He will intervene in our situation, it is in those times that we must be aware of what happened to Josiah.  Even after a lifetime of trusting and serving YHVH, he let fear overtake him, he relied on the arm of the flesh and he failed. For every believer it does not matter how many years of service and of trusting our Heavenly Father and of seeing His power work in and through our lives; the enemy is always lurking in the shadows, and he knows our weaknesses. We should never pride ourselves that we have made it, or are beyond temptation, because while we are in this flesh body we are still vulnerable to attacks, no matter how many years we have trusted in our Lord and Savior. We must always be on guard no matter how strong we think we are and how big our faith is, and we must resist in Messiahs name and not give in, no matter how strong the temptation is to lean on the arm of the flesh. 1Peter 5:8 Be sober minded and alert our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

Reader you are not alone neither in your times of trial nor in reality. The truth is our Fathers Holy Spirit is with you to comfort, strengthen and uphold you, He will guide you through and deliver you from the hand of the enemy. He is the God of the impossible. Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?

Jeremiah 32:27…

and your breakthrough is here,

the Lord of Breakthroughs

or

the Lord who bursts through

1 Chronicles 14:10-11….

stand fast, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord today. Exodus 14:13, for today is the day of salvation …For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:2.

and He watches over His word to perform it….Jeremiah 1:12.

Shalom aleikhem

chaverim and mishpachah!

Peace to friends and family.

Shavua Tov, Have a blessed week.

Make certain Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer, Savior, Lord and soon returning King and that you have a personal relationship with Him.

It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.

You are very precious in His sight.

Not sure ..you can be…

SIMPLY SAY THE FOLLOWING MEANING IT FROM YOUR HEART..don’t delay one more minute,

SAY IT RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name.