Day 217

On days 214 & 215, we read about Manasseh’s reign and how he returned to God and his successor, Amon’s reign, which was just for two years. Amon did evil during his reign and was killed. His son Josiah was made king.

Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He did what was right and followed in David’s footsteps. He purged Judah and Jerusalem of idols and altars built for these idols. He worked to make things right.

In the eighteenth year of his reign, Josiah’s priests discovered the Book of the Law of Moses. So this means Josiah had been ruling without the book of the law. It must have been tough. I wonder how it went missing.

When the book of the law was read to Josiah, he recognised how sinful Israel had been and the consequences of their actions. He tore his robe immediately and sought to understand better what was to come upon them by inquiring from a prophet. A prophetess named Huldah assured Josiah that God would shouw him mercy because Josiah had a repentant heart. Josiah then went further to ensure that he put things right because, as aforementioned, he knew his predecessors’ sins brought judgement. Hence, it seemed he wanted to ensure he made things right for his successors. This is in contrast to what Hezekiah had done when he only sought to ensure there was peace in his time. Josiah could have relaxed on getting feedback that his reign would be ok, but no, he took steps to cleanse the land totally.

However, despite Josiah’s faithfulness and how amazing a king he was, his death was tragic. We were told that Necho (king of Egypt) went to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah marched out to meet him in battle (2 Chronicles 35:20).

Necho told Josiah to step out of his way as he wasn’t there to fight him, and that God had sent him to the battle. Unfortunately, Josiah didn’t listen but instead disguised himself as a soldier. He was eventually killed. Towards the end of the reading of the Chronicles today, we are introduced to Jeremiah, who laments Josiah’s death.

After Josiah’s death, his son Jehoahaz was made king. Jehoahaz did evil and only ruled for three months. This must be the shortest rule of a king in Judah. Pharoah imprisoned Jehoahaz and put Jehoahaz’s son (Eliakim) as king instead. Perhaps he was still upset that Josiah interfered in the battle.

Pharoah also changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim, made him and his kingdom become Egypt’s subjects, and imposed a levy on them. Jehoiakim also did evil in God’s eyes.