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Summary

Josiah comes to the throne at the age of 8 and reigns 31 years. He did what was right. In the eighth year of his reign he began to seek the Lord, on the 12th he began to pull down the idols etc. In the 18th year he sent Shaphan and others to repair the temple. Lots of workmen are employed to carry out the work. Hilkiah find the book of the law and gives it to Shaphan who takes it and reads it to the King. Josiah tears his clothes and asks the priests to enquire of God because their fathers have brought God's wrath on them all. Hulda the prophetess tells them that God will bring all the disaster on Israel that is written about. But he will have mercy on Josiah and he will be gathered to his fathers in peace because of his humility. Josiah reads the law to the people and makes a covenant with God to follow his law and the people do the same.

Tearing down the temples

We are a society that places a huge value on built heritage. The thought of tearing down temples is almost anathema to us. They probably were intricate works of sculpture and art, they probably had cultural significance, many people may have loved them. But none of that mattered because at their heart they were places where people forsook the LORD to seek after other gods. God rightly demands exclusive worship. Whatever the cost, we need to cast away and tear down our idols, forget about them and worship the LORD. Josiah had the images ground to powder, so zealous was he to do it thoroughly he didn’t even want the remains to be recognisable.

Sins of ignorance

Josiah had been zealous to follow the LORD but seemingly some of the law had been lost during the reigns of the bad kings before Josiah. When the scrolls were found Josiah was mortified to find that there were things he hadn’t been doing and set about putting it right straight away. His attitude is a great example of how we need to be. Even sins committed in ignorance are something we should regret and as soon as we become aware of our sin we should strive to change and set things right. Josiah is also very public about this. He didn’t do it quietly.