Josiah was nothing like his father and grandfather. The prophets say he was more committed to serving Jehovah than any king before him. The parallel passage is in 2 Kings 22 and 23.
2 Chronicles 34:1-7 -- At the time his father, Amon, was assassinated in 640 BC, Josiah was a mere lad of eight. His early years on the throne would have been under some unnamed regent. This regent maintained the previous policy of placating Assyria, trying to draw as little attention as possible. At age 16 the boy king determined to serve the Lord. He would have spent time with the priests and Levites learning what the Law required. Then, at age 20 (628 BC), asserting his authority for the first time, he began destroying the pagan shrines. All the awful things his father and grandfather had brought to Jerusalem were swept away.
To insure the people would not be tempted to sin again, he had the pagan priests slaughtered, then their bodies burned on their own altars, to the point of burning the bones long after the flesh was gone. This and other things were done to so defile the pagan shrines no worshiper would go near them. He then personally led troops out the do the same across Judah. Finally, he took the same fervor across the lands of the northern kingdom among the as yet unsettled new residents. The future Samaritans were still wrestling with their new religion of corrupted Judaism to worry much about pagan shrines from ancient Canaanite religions.
That Josiah was able to exercise such authority north of his border was the result of two salutary events. From 628-626 BC, the Scythians came down out of the north on horses and raided the northern reaches of the Assyrian Empire. Their raids ranged as far south as the upper Mesopotamian Valley itself. At the same time, Emperor Ashurbanipal died, leaving Assyria with no strong ruler. A former tributary, Babylon, rose up in revolt and would eventually replace the Assyrian rule with their own. They were led by Nabopolassar, whose commander was his son Nebuchadnezzar. Far away in the background, the Medes were beginning to take over swathes of the weakening Assyrian northeast. When the Scythian hordes began harassing the coastal plains west of Judah, they were stopped by Egypt. This left Judah as the strongest power standing in Palestine.
34:8-18 -- Cleansing the land took several years. With that issue settled, the King -- now 26 -- called for refurbishing the Temple. The job was massive, not just because of the 50-plus years of clutter and neglect, but all the pagan junk that defiled it. Contracts were let out to remodel and refurbish the structures, and in the process, a copy of the Law was found. Consider that over a half-century had passed since anyone cared what Moses had written. The priests had hidden the copy of the Torah within the structure itself. Keep in mind during Manasseh's reign, with all the pagan altars moved into the Temple, both the Ark of the Covenant and the official copy of the Scroll of Moses had been moved around a bit. The scribe Shaphan read it through first. Then he brought it to the King, along with his report on the Temple repairs.
34:19-28 -- Having lived under the thumb of Assyria for over a century, the common tongue of Mesopotamia -- Aramaic -- had largely displaced the older Hebrew language. The two are quite similar, with the writing more squared in Hebrew, and the pronunciation was rather different to their ears. Thus, while the scribe would naturally be trained to handle older Hebrew documents, he might have read the Torah to the King by paraphrasing. At any rate, few of us today could imagine such a patient oral reading taking place in one session. During the long recitation, the King became increasingly alarmed.
When the reading was finished, Josiah tore his royal robes in sorrow at how deeply Judah had sinned. Having until now a mere oral account based on failing human memory from more than a half-century past, this fresh confrontation from the Law of Moses spoke of the nation's doom. He ordered the Book be verified by someone able to inquire of Jehovah. This turned out to be a prophetess named Huldah. She was living in the western quarter of Jerusalem, across the central valley where Manasseh had stretched the walls of Jerusalem. She confirmed this book was the Word of God, that the curses were indeed coming, and had already been ordered and prepared by the Lord. Her choice of phrase made it plain when the punishment came, it would be the permanent end of Judah as she now existed. However, since the King sincerely cried out to Jehovah in public, the Lord promised he would die before it happened.
34:29-33 -- In response, Josiah called a solemn assembly of the elders of the Nation of Israel. He gathered them in the Temple courtyard and had the Torah read to them. Again, we can hardly envision the patience with which they listened in silence over several hours. In his ceremonial position next to one of the great pillars, in the presence of everyone in the city, the entire corps of priests and Levites, and the ruling elders of the land, he swore a renewed oath to abide by the Covenant, and required all present to join him. Having now a much more clear and precise understanding of the Law, all the remaining vestiges of pagan practices were ended. 2 Kings 23 lays out the details. Apparently the first cleansing was not so thorough, but only removed the most obvious transgressions. The second effort was a radical departure from all that anyone remembered. The phrasing "abominations of Israel" points to the paganized shrines of Jeroboam in Bethel, Gilgal-ephraim and Dan. This brings us to about 622 BC.
35:1-19 -- With this cleansing fresh on their hands, Josiah ordered the Passover be celebrated according to the Temple calendar, at the turning of the year in mid-month. To insure it went off properly, he provided for the visiting people lambs and goats from his own flocks so everyone would have a fit offering. The nobles took their cue from this and made sure none were left out. The priests were so busy, night fell before the altar work was done. The Levites set aside a portion for them in their own family preparations. The text tells us no previous king had been so careful in meeting the whole obligation of the Law.
Then Josiah ordered the priests and Levites to take roll and organize the annual rotation of Temple service. Along with this was the enrolling of the Temple food portions. All this was proper and fit. However, the prophets writing the Book of Kings noted this did not turn away God's wrath. Indeed, it heralded a shortened reign for Josiah, for the divine punishment was on schedule, and could not be held back. Josiah must die soon.
35:20-27 -- As Assyria continued crumbling, her former vassal began pacifying the old empire under her own imperial power. The court of Pharaoh Necho of Egypt suddenly decided to support the old Assyrian Empire, and in 608 BC rushed up the coast to battle at the head of the Euphrates. They would eventually meet the Babylonian army at Carchemish, a ways west of ancient Charan. On the way, their passage raised alarm in Judah. Josiah was sure he had the help of God in breaking the pagan influence of Assyria, and saw Egypt's support for her as a threat. Pharaoh insisted he had no interest in Judah, but Josiah rushed troops to the Meggido Valley to cut him off. In the battle Josiah died while fighting in disguise, shot through with several arrows. No doubt his body's return to Jerusalem was a shock to all, for this had surely been God's man.
The full impact of their new subjection to Egypt would come later. For the time being, Pharaoh went on to meet Nebuchadnezzar and failed to do much good for Assyria. However, Egypt did claim Syria and Palestine. This is the beginning of the end for Judah.
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Ed Hurst
28 May 2005
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