Josiah – Child King
CONCLUSION
Josiah – Child King
CONCLUSION
In closing our brief look at “Josiah – Child King” we turn first to the fact of his celebration of the Passover; and then to the solemn close of his history. Our limited sketch of this interesting period would be incomplete if these things were omitted.
Celebration of Passover
There is much encouragement in the fact that at the close of Israel’s history there should be one of the brightest moments Israel had ever known. What does this teach us? It teaches that in darkest times it is the privilege of the faithful soul to act on Divine principles and to enjoy Divine privileges – a weighty fact for our age. If this brief look at Josiah has impressed this fact on your mind, then our effort has not been in vain. If Josiah had been influenced by the spirit and principle that seems to drive our society, he would not have celebrated the Passover at all. He would have folded his arms and said, “It is useless to think of maintaining our great national institution. It can only be regarded as presumption to attempt the celebration of an ordinance that was designed to celebrate Israel’s deliverance from judgment by the blood of the lamb, when Israel’s unity is broken – its national glory faded and gone.”
But Josiah did not reason like this; he simply acted on the truth of God. He studied the Scriptures, and rejected what was wrong and did what was right. “Now Josiah kept a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem; and they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the first month” (2 Chr. 35:1, NKJV). This was taking higher ground than Hezekiah had taken, inasmuch as he kept his Passover “on the fourteenth day of the second month” (2 Chr. 30:15). In so doing, Hezekiah was, as we know, availing himself of the provision that God’s grace had made for cases of defilement (see Num. 9:9-11). However, God’s order had fixed “the first month” as the proper period, and Josiah conformed to this order. In short, he took the highest ground according to the truth of God, while lying low under the deep sense of personal and national failure. This is always the way of faith. “And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the Lord, and said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the Lord, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, did build: it shall not be a burden on your shoulders; serve now the Lord your God, and His people Israel. And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son, and stand in the holy place, according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and after the division of the families of the Levites. So kill the Passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.”
Here Josiah acts on the highest authority. Even the casual reader cannot fail to be impressed by the names of “Solomon,” “David,” “Moses,” “all Israel,” and above all, by the expression, “That they may do according to the word of the Lord.” Josiah felt it was his privilege to conform to God’s standard, notwithstanding all the errors and evils that had crept in from age to age. God’s truth will stand forever, and faith acts on this precious fact, reaping accordingly. What an occasion – what a scene. Josiah’s strict adherence to God’s Word; followed by his large-hearted devotedness and liberality. “He gave to the people of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the Passover-offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king’s substance. And his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the priests, and to the Levites...So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king’s commandment...And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the porters waited at every gate; they might not depart from their service; for their brethren the Levites prepared for them. So all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day, to keep the Passover, and to offer burnt-offerings upon the altar of the Lord, according to the commandment of king Josiah. And the children of Israel that were present kept the Passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days. And there was no Passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a Passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this Passover kept.
What a picture. King, princes, priests, Levites, singers, porters; all Israel, Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem gathered together – all in their true place and at their appointed work, “according to the word of the Lord.” All this “in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah”; when the entire Jewish polity was on the eve of dissolution. This tells an impressive tale, teaching us a much needed lesson. It says that no age, circumstance, or influence, can ever change the truth of God or dim the vision of faith. “The word of the Lord endureth forever,” and faith grasps God’s Word and holds it close in the face of everything. It is the privilege of every Christian to hold on to Divine revelation; to be satisfied with nothing lower. Man’s creeds, dogmas, traditions, religious systems plead for a lowering of God’s standard, relaxing the grasp, slackening the pace, lowering the tone. Faith emphatically says “No!” Let us bow in shame and sorrow because of sin and failure, but let us always keep the standard up. The failure is ours: the standard is God’s. Josiah wept and rent his clothes, but he did not surrender the truth of God. What an example. He did not try to cover his sins; the sins of his brethren, or his fathers. He saw no reason why he should not celebrate the Passover according to God’s order. It was just as imperative on him to do right as it was on Solomon, David, or Moses. In like manner, it is our business to obey the Word of the Lord. This is a powerful lesson from our child king – especially for our age. May we learn to adhere to the authority of God’s Word; embrace and promote only that truth revealed by God – with a larger measure of true devotedness to Christ.
Close of Josiah’s history
The opening verses of 2 Chronicles 35 present a brilliant and soul-stirring scene, deserving of in-depth consideration, but we shall merely glance at the solemn and admonitory close of Josiah’s history. It stands in sad and painful contrast with the rest of his interesting career, sounding a note of warning to which we should give serious attention. In our conclusion, we shall do little more than quote the passage, encouraging you to prayerfully and humbly reflect on it. “After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Charchemish by Euphrates; and Josiah went out against him. But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war; for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that He destroy thee not. Nevertheless, Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and harkened not to the words of Necho from the mouth of God and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo. And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away, for I am sore wounded. His servants therefore took him out of that chariot and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem: and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah” (2 Chr. 35:20-25).
This is sad and humbling, offering instruction and admonition. The Holy Spirit always presents men as they were; writing the history of their “deeds, first and last” – the good and the bad. He tells us of Josiah’s piety at the “first,” and of his willfulness at the “last.” He shows us that as long as Josiah walked in the light of God’s revelation, his path was illuminated by the bright beams of Divine countenance; but the moment he attempted to act for himself, walking by the light of his own eyes, traveling off the straight and narrow way of simple obedience, that moment dark and heavy clouds gathered around him, and the course that had begun in sunshine ended in gloom. Josiah went against Necho without God’s command – in opposition to words spoken “from the mouth of God.” He reaped the consequences of meddling with strife that did not belong to him.
“He disguised himself.” Why would he do this, if he was conscious of acting for God? Why wear a mask, if treading God’s appointed pathway? In this way, Josiah failed, and his failure teaches us a salutary lesson. May we learn to always seek God’s will – revealed through Holy Scripture. We can count on God if we are walking in His way, but we have no security whatsoever if we attempt to travel off God’s appointed line. Josiah had no command to fight at Megiddo, therefore, he could not count on God’s protection. “He disguised himself,” but that did not shield him from the enemy’s arrow. “The archers shot him” – he fell, amid the tears and lamentations of a people to whom he had endeared himself by a life of genuine piety and earnest devotedness.
May we have grace to imitate the child king, Josiah, in his piety and devotedness, guarding against his willfulness. It is a serious thing for a child of God to persist in doing his own will. Josiah went to Megiddo when he should have tarried at Jerusalem; archers shot him, and he died. Jonah went to Tarshish when he should have gone to Nineveh, and he was flung into the deep: Paul persisted in going to Jerusalem though the Spirit told him otherwise, and he fell into the hands of the Romans. These were all true, earnest, devoted servants of God; but still they failed; and they had to reap the fruit of their failure, for “our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29).
