Josiah: The Last Good King of Judah

Josiah (Hebrew: יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ) was the sixteenth monarch of the ancient Middle Eastern kingdom of Judah. Josiah was eight years old when he became king of Judah and reigned in Jerusalem for thirty-one years. The name “Josiah” means “the LORD heals.” Josiah’s thirty-one-year reign, approximately from 639-609 BC, coincided with China’s Spring and Autumn period. Jeremiah and Zephaniah served as prophets during his rule. Josiah did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the ways of David his father, not turning aside to the right or to the left.

When Josiah ascended the throne, he was just an eight-year-old child. But in the eighth year of his reign, this 16-year-old adolescent experienced a turning point. “For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek the God of David his father” (2 Chronicles 34:3). In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, he sent craftsmen to repair the damage to the house of God. The high priest found a Book of the Law in the temple. When Josiah heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. He then gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, the priests, the scribes, and all the people, and read all the words of the book to them. He made a covenant before the LORD to follow Him with all his heart and soul, and to keep His commandments, statutes, and decrees, thus fulfilling the covenant written in this book.

 In the thirteenth year of Josiah, the Assyrian king died. Assyria was exhausted by eastern rebellions and internal strife and was no longer able to control the Northern Kingdom. Thus, Josiah’s reforms could extend throughout both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. He thoroughly cleansed the entire nation of all idol worshipers, especially those stationed within the Temple precincts. He tore down all the high places and other idolatrous sites and altars, along with the utensils made for idols, especially the altar and high place built by Jeroboam, son of Nebat, fulfilling the prophecy spoken by the man of God. He abolished all idolatry and wickedness in the land. Josiah also kept the Passover to the LORD, as written in the Book of the Covenant.

Later, Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to attack the king of Assyria. Josiah intercepted Pharaoh Necho’s expedition and was killed by him. Josiah’s servants carried him back from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. King Josiah was the last good king in the history of Judah. After his death, his successors all turned away from the LORD. Decades later, the Babylonian army broke through Jerusalem, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah fell.