Josiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the left or the right (2 Chronicles 34:2).

As we continue our Signature Moments series, we look this week at Josiah, king of Judah for 31 years (~640-609 BC). Israel’s experience with kings was mixed, with many more bad kings than good. The nation ping-ponged between kings who did evil (and led the country to do likewise) and those who did right “in the eyes of the Lord.” 

Several signature moments arise during Josiah’s reign. Let’s examine three of them.

By way of background, it had been almost sixty years since a righteous king had ruled in Jerusalem. King Hezekiah, Josiah’s great grandfather, purified the temple and reestablished proper sacrifices. His grandfather Manasseh, however, undid all that, embraced idolatrous worship, and led the country into doing the same for over fifty years. Manasseh does repent toward the end of his reign, but his son Amon quickly resumed his father’s earlier evil practices. Assassinated after two years, Amon is succeeded by eight-year-old Josiah. 

Josiah’s first signature moment occurred when he was just sixteen: “He began to seek the God of his father David” (34:3). Even without a recent godly example to follow, Josiah knows where he needs to turn. No one is too young (or too old) to do this. We, too, “seek the God of David” when we ask a godly friend for advice, search the scriptures for answers, or join a group of believers. 

Josiah’s second signature moment comes four years later. This moment affects everyone in the kingdom, not just Josiah. He summons tremendous courage and purges Jerusalem and Judah of all the instruments of idolatrous worship. He “tears down,” “cuts to pieces,” and “smashes” idols, altars, and images (34:4). He even burns the bones of Baal's priests on their own altars (34:5). We can imagine the public outcry and resistance. Josiah’s father was assassinated by his own counselors; Josiah, too, could easily meet the same fate.

Josiah’s reforms had begun with destroying the idolatrous worship sites that had sprung up everywhere. Four years later, it’s time to tackle the disrepair of God’s Temple. As that work proceeds, Hilkiah discovers The Book of the Law (likely, Deuteronomy). Soon, Josiah hears the words of God and - Signature Moment #3 - tears his robes in anguish: “Great is the Lord’s anger poured out on us because our fathers have not kept His word” (34:21). Josiah has purged the land but, to his credit, does not brag about it or defend himself. Instead, the inevitability of God’s judgment overwhelms him. Josiah crumples under the seriousness of his people’s deliberate and repeated breaking of their covenant with God. 

He consults the prophetess Huldah, perhaps to find out just how imminent is our destruction? She hears immediately and directly from God. She not only verifies the coming judgment: “My anger will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched” (34:25). She also comforts Josiah: “Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard what He spoke and tore your robes and wept in My presence, I will gather you to your fathers, and your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring” (34:27-8).

How like God whose holiness demands sin be punished, but whose heart desires to be merciful. How gracious He was to Josiah and, by extension, the Israelites who, “as long as Josiah lived, did not fail to follow the Lord” (34:33). By continually seeking the Lord, Josiah postponed his people’s judgment.

Josiah’s Signature Moments built upon themselves as he continued to seek and then follow the Lord. He made God’s Word the defining word over his life and the life of his nation. Are we similarly defining our lives by seeking the Lord and following His Word?