Josiah, who became king of Judah at age 8 and reigned from 640-609 B.C., was one of the few good kings who did God’s will and turned his southern kingdom away from worshipping idols.
The Revs. Raul Garcia Jr. and Dan Johnson say Josiah did err when he failed to listen to the Holy Spirit and went into battle with the Egyptian army and was killed by an archer, but he nonetheless left a good overall record and is commended in Second Kings 22 and 23 and Second Chronicles 34 and 35.
“Many of the previous kings had distanced themselves from the word of God, but because he was faithful a lot of things were fixed and the people turned back to God because of how passionate he was about following God’s word,” said the Rev. Garcia, pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church.
Referring to Josiah’s discovery of the book of laws in the temple, Garcia said, “One of the most important things he did was to help the people look into God’s law and see the benefit of being under God’s love.
“He was a man who loved God and loved the people, which is what Jesus asks everyone to do.”
Garcia said Josiah’s reign was very beneficial. “When you have a king who knows that there is no other name, authority or power but God’s and is willing to do something about it, there is peace and joy among the people,” he said.
“He is a loving God who is merciful, patient, fair and righteous and there is no greater benefit than to be in a relationship with this awesome being.”
The Rev. Johnson, head elder at the Emet Ha Torah Church, said Josiah “was a whole lot better than his father Manasseh, who had been an idol worshipper.
“We can learn from his last battle that we need to make sure we are following God’s plan,” he said. “In our world today we don’t really think about consulting God before we do things and one of the big lessons is not to make our own decisions but to consult the father about where he is leading us and he will lead.” Johnson said Josiah was in his 20s when he began to seek God. “He went into the temple to clean it up and get the idols out,” he said.
“The priests brought him the book of the laws and read it and it brought him to his knees. He read it to the people and they all began to ask for forgiveness. The Passover hadn’t been celebrated in 400 years.”
Johnson said American society is so divided because it is disobedient to God. “People are saying they have the right to kill their unborn babies, but that’s murder,” he said.
“We ought to be standing up and applauding our Supreme Court for having the guts to say, ‘Enough is enough.’
“Hopefully this will start a trend toward better things for our nation. Second Chronicles 7:14 says, ‘If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.’”
