GOD OF DAVID

The northern kingdom of Israel had been crushed by Assyria and the great majority of its citizens carried into captivity. The kingdom of Judah was in decline. After godly Hezekiah’s death, Manasseh had promoted idolatry. Despite his later repentance, his son Amon had followed idolatry and been assassinated.

In the good purpose of God, Amon’s son Josiah came to the throne at the age of eight. The resulting change is marked here by the statement that he ‘walked in the ways of David his father’, v. 2. This seems to be connected with the fact that, at fifteen years of age, ‘he began to seek after the God of David his father’, v. 3. This meant that he must oppose idolatry, for David worshipped only the one true God.

Four years later, Josiah undertook the destruction of the trappings of idolatry. He also polluted the idolatrous altars, in a way which declared that he would not change his mind, and crossed the boundary of Judah to overthrow idolatry, in what had been the northern kingdom of Israel.

He completed this purge in six years. Josiah, now aged 25, turned his attention to repairing the temple. Interestingly, some of the money for this work came from the survivors from the northern kingdom; godly devotion tends to unite His people!

During this work they found the book of the law given through Moses. When reporting to the king on the progress of the work, Shaphan, the scribe, added that they had found ‘a book’. He read it to the king, who rent his clothes, because, said he, ‘our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book’, v. 21. Josiah saw the importance of full obedience - ‘all that is written’. Verse 27 shows that this was not presumption on his part, but humility.

When God redeemed His people from Egypt, He called a man of eighty to lead. Now, as the kingdom of Judah waned, He chose a young man who ‘trembled at His word’. God has work for older people to do, if we are willing. But we should not be too quick to judge keen young people who believe God. Josiah set God before him, rejected idolatry, trembled at the law of God and saw great things achieved in God’s strength.