The kings of Israel and Judah

King Josiah

The kingdom of Judah (the south) · Reigned thirty-one years (2 Kings 22:1) · Right before God · 2 Kings 22 to 23; 2 Chronicles 34 to 35

Josiah, who became king at eight years old, was the last great king of Judah and one of the most faithful of all. He purged the land of idolatry, and when the lost book of the law was found during the repair of the temple, he tore his clothes in grief and led the nation in renewing its covenant with God. Scripture gives him a matchless tribute: no king before or after turned to the LORD with all his heart, soul, and might as Josiah did. Yet the judgment his fathers had earned still hung over Judah.

And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.2 Kings 23:25 (KJV)

The boy king who sought God

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, turning aside neither to the right hand nor to the left. Chronicles tells us that while he was still young he began to seek after the God of David, and then began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, the groves, and the carved images, breaking down the altars of Baal and burning the bones of idolatrous priests, even fulfilling a prophecy spoken three centuries earlier against the altar at Bethel.

His reforms reached beyond Judah into the ruined territory of the northern tribes. Few kings pursued idolatry so relentlessly or cleansed the land so thoroughly.

The book of the law and the great renewal

While the temple was being repaired, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of the LORD, long neglected and forgotten. When it was read to Josiah, he tore his clothes, for he understood how far the nation had fallen from God's word and how great was the wrath they had earned. He sent to the prophetess Huldah, who confirmed that judgment would come on Judah for its idolatry, but that because Josiah's heart was tender and he had humbled himself, he would be gathered to his grave in peace and not see the disaster.

Josiah gathered all the people, young and old, read the words of the covenant in their hearing, and stood and made a covenant to walk after the LORD and keep his commandments with all his heart and all his soul. He kept a Passover unlike any since the days of the prophet Samuel. The whole nation, for a season, returned to God.

A faithful king's tragic death

Josiah's end was as sudden as it was sad. When Pharaoh Necho marched north through the land, Josiah went out to oppose him, though Necho claimed he came at God's command and not against Judah. Josiah would not turn back, and was mortally wounded by archers at Megiddo, and died in Jerusalem. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him, and the prophet Jeremiah lamented for him, and the singers spoke of him in their laments to this day.

So the last good king of Judah died, and after him the throne passed swiftly among his sons and grandson as the kingdom slid into ruin. The reforms had been real, but the hearts of the people had not truly changed, and the judgment God had spoken did not turn back.

The biblical verdict and where it points

Josiah receives the highest praise given to any king: Like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him. He is the whole-hearted king, the great picture of repentance and reform.

And yet Scripture is painfully honest: even Josiah could not save Judah. The nation's sin under Manasseh had gone too deep, and the people's hearts returned to idols after his death. The best of kings could reform the outward nation but not change the inward heart. That is exactly the need the gospel answers, for the King who came from David's line does not merely find the book of the law but writes it on the heart, giving a new heart and a new spirit, so that the whole-hearted turning Josiah modeled becomes possible for all his people.

A note on the record: everything here is drawn from the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. Kings and Chronicles sometimes tell a reign differently, Chronicles often adding a king's repentance or building works, and where they differ this is said plainly rather than smoothed over. The exact lengths and overlaps of the reigns are genuinely complex, because kings often shared the throne with a son for a time, so the totals in Scripture do not always add up in a simple line. The verdict good or evil is the Bible's own assessment, whether a king did right or evil in the sight of the LORD.

Related: Amon · Jehoahaz of Judah · All the kings of Israel and Judah