1. King Josiah
2Ki 23:25 Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.

2. King Josiah
Manasseh was one of the most wicked kings that the nation of Judah ever had. He reigned for 55 years.
Amon, his son, was as wicked as his father and reigned 2 years.
After the death of Amon, his son, Josiah becomes king
Josiah is one of those Old Testament characters like Joseph, Job, Daniel and a few others that are remembered because of how good they were.
As we just read “there was no king like him”

3. KING JOSIAH
As we go thru the story of Josiah today, I want us to ask ourselves “am I serving God like Josiah did?”
I don’t mean by tearing down idols and observing the passover but rather “do I have the same zeal and determination that Josiah had when it comes to obeying God?”
This is what pleased God. Josiah turned to him with all his heart, soul and might.
Could the same be said about us?

4. KING JOSIAH
As we go thru the story of Josiah’s life we will be able to pick up several lessons that can help us today.
Lets pick up the story of Josiah beginning in 2 Chronicles chapter 34
2Ch 34:1 ¶ Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.

5. KING JOSIAH
2 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images.

6. KING JOSIAH There is a lesson for the young people here this morning.
Josiah sought God while he was still young!
Ec 12:1 ¶ Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, "I have no pleasure in them":
Young people, you need to make up your mind to follow God now!!

7. KING JOSIAH
You may think you have a lot of years ahead of you and that there is plenty of time down the road to obey God.
That may not be the case.
Just take a quick glance over the obituaries and you will see most of them will be in their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s
But, it would not be unusual to see someone in their 20’s or younger.

8. KING JOSIAH Let’s get back to the story of Josiah
All of us, young or old, need to get busy serving God now while we have some time left on this earth.
We never know when our soul will be required of us
Jas 4:14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
Let’s get back to the story of Josiah

9. KING JOSIAH
4 They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and the incense altars which were above them he cut down; and the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images he broke in pieces, and made dust of them and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.
5 He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

10. KING JOSIAH
6 And so he did in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali and all around, with axes.
7 When he had broken down the altars and the wooden images, had beaten the carved images into powder, and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.
Josiah was not content just to rid Judah and Jerusalem of this great sin but also went into the land the 10 Northern Tribes had occupied in order to tear down these altars.

11. KING JOSIAH
Many times, the accounts of the Kings in the books of 1&2 Kings and 1&2 Chronicles do not always give all of the same details.
2 Chronicles leaves out some very interesting details about one of Josiah’s excursions into what was known as Israel.
Lets go back to 2 Kings chapter 23 and start in verse 13

12. KING JOSIAH
2Ki 23:13 Then the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the people of Ammon.
14 And he broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images, and filled their places with the bones of men.

13. KING JOSIAH
15 Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and crushed it to powder, and burned the wooden image.

14. KING JOSIAH
16 As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs that were there on the mountain. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar, and defiled it according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.

15. KING JOSIAH
17 Then he said, "What gravestone is this that I see?" So the men of the city told him, "It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel."
18 And he said, "Let him alone; let no one move his bones." So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.

16. KING JOSIAH Do we remember that story?
Jeroboam, the first king of Israel, built two altars, and set up golden calves for the people to worship at Bethel and Dan
The man of God was sent to prophesy against the one at Bethel

17. KING JOSIAH
1Ki 13:2 Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, "O altar, altar! Thus says the LORD: 'Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men's bones shall be burned on you.'"

18. KING JOSIAH
I wonder if Amon knew he was helping to fulfill prophecy when he named his son Josiah
The prophet called Josiah by name 340 years before this event took place.
We should never doubt the Word or the Prophecies of God!
2Pe 3:8 ¶ But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

19. KING JOSIAH
9 ¶ The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

20. KING JOSIAH
11 ¶ Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
That is a pretty easy question to answer, when we know the facts.

21. KING JOSIAH The facts are:
Everything we see around us will be destroyed. It is going to melt with fervent heat.
Those pleasing to God will have an eternal home with Him in Heaven
Those displeasing to Him will spend eternity in eternal agony in Hell with the Devil and his angels.

22. KING JOSIAH So what type person ought we to be?
Anyone with any amount of common sense can see that we should be the type person that is pleasing to God.
Since it is this simple, why isn’t everyone this type of person?
Some are deceived
Some are ignorant
But most, just don’t believe

23. King Josiah
2Ki 23:25 Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.

24. KING JOSIAH
We mentioned last time that we wanted learn some lessons from the life of Josiah
The first one being the zeal he had in serving God.
2Ki 23:25 …who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might…
We discussed how his Zeal for the Lord carried him through out Jerusalem and Judah destroying idols and also into Assyrian controlled territory that used to belong to the 10 Northern tribes

25. KING JOSIAH
We also discussed the fact that Josiah made the decision to follow God while he was young.
He became King when he was only 8 years old
2Ch 34:3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images.

26. KING JOSIAH
We also mentioned how important it is to serve God while we are young.
Ec 12:1 ¶ Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, "I have no pleasure in them":
We must serve Him now because we don’t know how much time we have.

27. KING JOSIAH Lets go back to our story of Josiah in 2 Chronicles 34
Josiah was having repairs made to the Temple and during this repair process they made quite a discovery
2Ch 34:14 ¶ Now when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given by Moses.

28. KING JOSIAH
15 Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD." And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan.
16 So Shaphan carried the book to the king, bringing the king word, saying, "All that was committed to your servants they are doing.
17 "And they have gathered the money that was found in the house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen."

29. KING JOSIAH
18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read it before the king.
19 Thus it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes.
20 Then the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying,

30. KING JOSIAH
21 "Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for those who are left in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according to all that is written in this book."

31. KING JOSIAH
22 So Hilkiah and those the king had appointed went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke to her to that effect.
23 Then she answered them, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'Tell the man who sent you to Me,

32. KING JOSIAH
24 "Thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah,
25 'because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath will be poured out on this place, and not be quenched.'"'

33. KING JOSIAH
26 "But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, in this manner you shall speak to him, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel: "Concerning the words which you have heard-
27 "because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you," says the LORD.

34. KING JOSIAH
28 "Surely I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place and its inhabitants."'" So they brought back word to the king.

35. KING JOSIAH We should notice the attitude of Josiah in this situation.
Josiah didn’t have to have this read to him over and over again.
He didn’t take months and years to decide whether he believed what the Word of God said.
He believed it immediately!

36. KING JOSIAH
I don’t know what part of the book was read to Josiah that day but I have an idea it might have been something like Deuteronomy 28
God lists off here curse after curse after curse that will come on them if they do not obey him.
There is no doubt in my mind that this chapter would have gotten the attention of any God fearing person. Lets read a few verses of it.

37. KING JOSIAH
In Duet 28 vs 1-15 explain the blessings for obeying God and vs explain the curses for disobedience
De 28:47 "Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything,

38. KING JOSIAH
48 "therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you.
49 "The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand,

39. KING JOSIAH
50 "a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young.
51 "And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land, until you are destroyed; they shall not leave you grain or new wine or oil, or the increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks, until they have destroyed you.

40. KING JOSIAH
52 "They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which the LORD your God has given you.

41. KING JOSIAH
53 "You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you.

42. KING JOSIAH
54 "The sensitive and very refined man among you will be hostile toward his brother, toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the rest of his children whom he leaves behind,
55 "so that he will not give any of them the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates.

43. KING JOSIAH
56 "The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and sensitivity, will refuse to the husband of her bosom, and to her son and her daughter,

44. KING JOSIAH
57 "her placenta which comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of everything in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates.
58 "If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD,

45. KING JOSIAH
This chapter goes on and on with the terrible things that would happen to them if they did not obey God.
Josiah knew that some of these things we read had already happened in Israel, just as God had said.
He also knew that because of the same wickedness Judah was going to be under the same penalty.
Just like Josiah, we can know where we stand with God from reading His Law today.

46. KING JOSIAH
God tells Josiah that the judgment was coming. There was no way that it could be avoided.
But God was going to have mercy on Josiah by waiting until after his death to bring this judgment to pass
But, it was too late for Judah to avoid her punishment.
There comes a time when it is too late for us to avoid our punishment.
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,

47. KING JOSIAH
Lets get back to the story of Josiah and see one bad decision that he made.
2Ch 35:20 ¶ After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.

48. KING JOSIAH
21 But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.

49. KING JOSIAH
22 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.

50. KING JOSIAH
23 And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.
24 His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

51. KING JOSIAH
What a tragic end to Josiah’s life. To be killed in battle after being warned by God not to fight.
Josiah did not have to die at this time. I do believe that God used this moment to bring Josiah’s life to an end so that he could begin to bring Judgment on Judah.
He should have inquired of God when Necho said God had sent him

52. Conclusion That one mistake cost him his life.
People are making mistakes everyday that are costing them their physical lives
We desperately need to learn from the examples of others.
It is possible for us to make a mistake greater than these, one that will cost us our eternal soul.

53. Conclusion
When someone tells us “The Word of God says” we should pay attention, ask for book, chapter and verse and then see if that is truly what God says.
If it is, then we had better listen or we may be making a mistake that can cost us our eternal souls.