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Text: 2 Chronicles 35:20-27
Josiah is a great king who purged Israel from the filth in its culture. He took the throne at 8 years old after a terrible king who happened to be his dad. When Josiah was 16 years old he seriously began seeking the LORD. When he was 20 he began purging the nation of its idolatry. He made sure the memorials of wicked priests were destroyed. He destroyed altars to other gods and thoroughly dismantled idol worship in Israel. It took 6 years and at the age of 26 he was restoring God’s house when a copy of the Moses writings was found. Josiah found in the law that the nation was cursed because of sin. Judgment was soon to come. But Josiah told the priests to seek the LORD. So they counseled with Huldah, the prophetess, who said because Josiah’s heart has been tender toward the LORD, God’s wrath has been put aside. So Josiah made a very public covenant with the LORD to keep the nation following the ways of God. He then reinstituted a Passover holiday unlike any other in Israel’s history. And Israel celebrated God’s deliverance of the nation. And we come to our place in verse 20.
Most mistakes aren’t fatal, but every once in a while one is.
His strength was turned to weakness
- Josiah has already made up his mind he’s not getting into sin. He isn’t going to stumble into adultery or covetousness. He’s very good at protecting the things of God. And that strength is going to be used against him now.
- This is such a tricky thing because he’s done everything right up to this point. And his courage in making the right decisions have made him successful before God in his administration of the kingdom.
- There is a ditch on both sides of the road. You can be tempted to sin. And cross the yellow line into a place you have no business. Or you can stay on your side of the road, but keep driving the car into the ditch on your side. You’re doing right and you think you need to keep pushing the car right.
Warnings are interpreted as the devil’s lies (vs 21)
- He’s warned multiple times that this is not about him. There are ambassadors, several, sent to warn Josiah that this is not about him. Josiah has tunnel vision. There is no way to get past his paranoia. He thinks the ambassadors are a trick. Nothing good ever came out of Egypt, right?
- His zeal turns destructive. He begins to think that anything contrary to his personal space is a threat to him. This person is wicked because they didn’t agree with me. And that’s not true.
- So he made things personal that were not personal. Worse yet. He made things matters of righteousness that weren’t matters of righteousness, at least for him. These were not his battles to fight.
- Josiah’s success made him think that the movement of the Egyptian army was an attack on him. As the army moves nearer to Israel in order to get to the Euphrates River, Josiah thinks their movement is against him, but it’s not.
- I’ve watched guys with zeal and success start to think that everything is an enemy that needed to be conquered. Every shadow represents a fight that needs to be won. Zeal without knowledge brings paranoia.
- Generally, these people can’t teach or father or shepherd people from one green pasture to another. The only thing in their arsenal is a sword to fight with. So things become fights. It’s like this needs to be TAUGHT, not FOUGHT out.
- You create offenses where there are no offenses.
Josiah meddles with business that isn’t his
- God isn’t in this battle.
- Study to be quiet in 1 Thessalonians 4:11
Josiah dies a military hero
- In most people’s eyes Josiah was a military hero.
- But men like Jeremiah knew that his death was not supposed to happen. He died before his time, not because he was wicked. But because he wanted to be the hero.
