The story of Josiah begins about 300 years prior to his birth. At that time, King Jeroboam was reigning over Israel after the kingdom was divided between the north and south, or Israel and Judah.
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King Jeroboam is remembered as a bad king because he didn’t follow the Law of Moses handed down from the Lord. Instead, he established alternate worship centers in Bethel and Dan and had golden calves built to be worshipped (1 Kings 12). He had shrines built in many places and appointed priests from any tribe, not just Levites as was prescribed by the Law. He instituted a special festival and was present as his fake priests sacrificed to the idolatrous golden calves. At that time, an unnamed prophet of the Lord arrived from Judah and prophesied to the altar:
“By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: ‘Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’”
1 Kings 13:2
This prophecy happened near the beginning of Jeroboam’s reign over Israel in 931 B.C. After 290 years, Josiah was born as the son of Amon in 640 B.C. Amon was King of Judah and was engaged in idolatry as was his father king before him. Amon reigned for 2 years and then was assassinated by his own officials who then were killed by the people of Judah who made his son Josiah king. Josiah was only 8 years old when he was appointed King of Judah and he reigned for 31 years.
“He [Josiah] did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.”
2 Kings 22:2
In the eighteenth year of his reign, Josiah decided to have the temple restored. During the process of renovation, the Book of the Law of Moses was found. Apparently, the wicked idolatrous kings prior to Josiah had all known copies of the Law destroyed. Perhaps a faithful priest had stashed a copy in a hidden cubby somewhere. Upon its discovery the Book of the Law was preserved and treasured by King Josiah. He had it read aloud and was deeply convicted by the sins committed by his nation. He led the nation in renewing the covenant they had previously made to the Lord (under Moses).
In fulfillment of the prophecy made approximately 300 years earlier, Josiah had the false priests killed and scattered their bones on the altar. Human bones were regarded by both pagans and Israelites to render a place desecrated and it would be perpetually useless for worship. Thus Josiah insured that the altars in high places scattered about his territory would not be started back up as had been the pattern in the past. He systematically and thoroughly went throughout his domain and purged the nation of idolatry.
“Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.
“The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. He did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts. He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people. He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah.
“Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the gateway at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which was on the left of the city gate. Although the priests of the high places did not serve at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.
“He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice their son or daughter in the fire to Molek. He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.
“He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley. The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon. Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.
“Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.
“The king asked, ‘What is that tombstone I see?’
“The people of the city said, ‘It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.’
“‘Leave it alone,’ he said. ‘Don’t let anyone disturb his bones.’ So they spared his bones and those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.
“Just as he had done at Bethel, Josiah removed all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria and that had aroused the Lord’s anger. Josiah slaughtered all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones on them. Then he went back to Jerusalem.”
2 KIngs 23:1-20
Josiah went on to oversee a nationwide Passover feast performed exactly by statues contained in the Book of the Law. The King and his leaders provided the majority of the animal sacrifices involved with the Passover for all the residents who were poor. Everyone participated. It was one of the greatest Passover celebrations recorded in the Bible (2 Chronicles 35:18).
“Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.”
2 Kings 23:25
Josiah died in battle and was honored by all in Judah. He was the 16th King of the Southern Kingdom and reigned for 31 years and was succeeded by his son Jehoahaz. Josiah’s story is told in 1 Kings 13, 2 Kings 21-23 and 2 Chronicles 33-35. While Josiah reigned as King, the nation was purged of idolatry and worshipped the Lord their God alone. The thing that stands out the most in reviewing the Biblical record of Josiah was his unwavering devotion to the Lord demonstrated by combining his faith with his deeds. What a great example for us to follow.
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
James 1:22
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New International Version (NIV)
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