HEARKENING TO THE MESSAGE 2 Kings 22:14; 2 Kings 23:1 Josiah's fears were deeply stirred by the evils which the Law of the Lord clearly indicated as imminent, and he immediately sent for advice to the prophetess Huldah, who was held in great veneration. Her answer was full of gentle kindness. Thou... [ Continue Reading ]
DESTROYING INDUCEMENTS TO EVIL 2 Kings 23:5 Encouraged by the prophets Zephaniah, Urijah, and perhaps Jeremiah, Josiah set himself to the work of thorough reform, in which he endeavored to carry his people. The various items mentioned here prove how deeply the heart of the nation had become corrup... [ Continue Reading ]
PROVING HIS WHOLE-HEARTEDNESS 2 Kings 23:15 Josiah carried his drastic reforms even to Samaria, thus fulfilling a prophecy uttered 350 years before. See 1 Kings 13:2. The old leaven having now been cleared out, the Passover could be celebrated. We cannot keep the feast of joy and worship till the... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE HANDS OF HEATHEN FOES 2 Kings 23:26 Josiah's life ended in terrible disaster. He persisted in measuring himself in battle against the king of Egypt in a quarrel which was none of his, and thus met his death. The events of this paragraph are fully narrated in 2 Chronicles 35:1, and are corrob... [ Continue Reading ]