CLEETUS KOSHY

         2 Kings 23:25- ‘And like unto him was there no king before him,………......neither after him           arose there any like him’.

King Josiah is one of the greatest Kings of the Holy Bible though not as great as King David or Solomon. Yet his remarkable feat of cleansing the whole Land of Israel from idol worship that existed from the time of King Solomon, is impeccable. Crowned at a young age of 8, Josiah was left with a nation under constant threat of siege externally and also the internal ungodly practices that were prevalent during those times.

The righteous king before his time was his great grandfather, Hezekiah who trusted in God all through his life. He established a strong kingdom under God even though he wasn’t able to fully eradicate the kingdom from the worship of false gods.
However, Hezekiah's son, Manasseh, who ruled the kingdom for 55 years, the longest by any King of Israel or Judah, reversed everything, plunging the nation to witchcraft, making the worship of other gods and stars- the Chief Religion of the day. Josiah's father, Amon, was in no way better. 2 years of his wicked reign sealed the fate of the annihilation of the Kingdom of Judah.
It is in this precinct that Josiah came to power as the King of Judah. One could almost wonder as to what changes a child king with evil predecessors could bring about. Nevertheless, God, in his mercy, was giving a last chance for the people to turn from their pernicious ways. Josiah's exemplary life serves as a 'model' and his death as a 'warning' for modern Christians. The emphasis here is to draw parallels from the life of Josiah and that of today's christian.

1. Josiah was chosen before his birth
The birth of King Josiah was predicted (by name) more than three centuries earlier by a prophet from Judah when King Jeroboam, the first King of independent Israel was burning incense at the altar as can be seen in 1 Kings 13:2,
"And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee."

Not only was his name mentioned but his role as King was also predicted which again proves the reliability of the Holy Scriptures.

What can we infer from this?

Our life is not an accident; rather it is pre-designed and predestined by the Creator. Our roles have already been assigned by God. God has set us apart and called us by name before our birth as Paul mentions in Gal 1:15.

2. Josiah became king of a corrupted land
The spiritual environment at that time was not at all conducive, as idol worship beginning from the time of King Solomon was at its peak. Temples built for other gods flooded with male prostitutes, the high places were running with burnt offerings and incenses to pseudo gods. It can be said that nothing more could be expected from the child king Josiah other than to follow his father's footsteps.

Similarly the world we live in, is not at all suitable for us to live a godly life. Phil 2:15 says " that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world; God is calling us to be like King Josiah in his generation- holy and separate.

3. Josiah initiated to repair the breaches of temple of God

When Josiah turned 26, he gave orders for the temple to be repaired. We see a similar case during the time of King Joash of Judah who was also a young king who gave orders for the repairing of the Temple. The difference is King Josiah himself took the initiative while Joash took responsibilities as long as his uncle, Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

King Josiah was prompt to fix the temple which was polluted by his predecessors with worship of other gods. We see him taking a step forward for God, which might have been opposed by his courtiers and ministers since almost 3 generations of spiritual destitution evaded the Godly atmosphere from the kingdom. Josiah found the truth and set out to implement it and practice it. It would have been more easier for Josiah to follow his father's ways but he choose to be different.

Likewise we should also be a doer of God's word rather than just hearers(James 1:22).  We can observe a lot of Christians who boast about their christian background and preach a lot about the truth but infact fail to practice what they preach when it comes to difficult situations or reality. Temptations to sin will always be strong. But we must trust in God's grace and execute the truth during those times. Let us pray to God that we might do the task that God has called us to do despite the opposition and hindrances we might face.

4. Josiah repented at the word of the Law

When the word of the law that was found in the house of God was read to the king, he rent his garments and wept before the Lord. This is one sign of a great and strong leader who realized the seriousness of the situation his kingdom was facing-spiritual destitution. Rending garments was an expression of utter anguish and grief. Considering those times, there seemed to be no fear of any evil tiding as such upon Judah but Josiah foresaw the state of his kingdom, years on and repented. 

In the earlier days, Christians went to church, got convicted of their sins and repented. But we see a majority of today's church goers, hear an attractive message without getting convicted and return back to their sinful ways. The word of God must always convict us of our weaknesses and sins. It's like a mirror which reminds us of our spiritual position- where we stand in the presence of God and what needs to be done. Self righteousness and hypocrisy prevents us from repenting at God's word. Lets examine our faith constantly and test ourselves always seeking to conform to the image of Christ. Its high time that we grieve and pray earnestly for the spiritual downfall of our church, children and our society.

5. He sook Godly advice

Josiah not only repented but immediately sook God's counsel in this regard. Similarly the important thing of our life is to seek God's will and plan for all the things we do. As mortals, we are weak and cant discern the future. Hence we must leave it upto God- who is all knowing and all powerful and will guide us till the end. It was because Josiah humbled himself that his life was spared from all the disasters that were to fall upon the land.

6. He made a covenant with the Lord

The King made the covenant with the Lord before all the people to walk in the ways of the Lord by a pillar. King Joash was also anointed king by a pillar in the temple area aided by his uncle Jehoiada. Coincidence isnt? But Joash changed soon after the death of his uncle while Josiah was successful in obeying the word of God.

Ever since we accepted Christ as our Saviour and God, we must never forget to keep the covenant faithfully. The devil tries to deviate us away from the covenant, but we through God's grace must move on daily.

7. He put his words into actionThese are the following thing that he did.

a. Brought out all the vessels, idols and items meant for other gods in the TEMPLE and burnt them and disposed the ashes in Bethel.

    The Bible says our body is the Temple of Holy Spirit. Let's check ourselves, if we purify this temple daily and allow the           Holy Spirit to guide us or not.

b. He got rid of the priests who were meant for worship of false gods and put to death all the priests of the high places and burned men's bones upon them.

    Are you surrounded by unspiritual influences? It can be your friends, maybe your family or society. Its time to get rid of      wrong aspects and shine the light of salvation.

c. Broke down the house of sodomites round about Jerusalem and destroyed all the houses in the high places found in Jerusalem and Samaria.

d. Defiled the high places where priests burned incense- Topheth in the valley of Hinnom and defiled the high places built by King Solomon for Ashtoreth and Chemosh to please his wives.

     Time to reflect if you have any weakness that you harbour in your spiritual life that distances you from God.

e. Broke down the altars made by King Manasseh and as prophesied broke down the altar at Bethel where King Jeroboam made Israel to sin.

     Instead of blaming the past bitter experiences, lets rebuilt our spiritual life and overcome all the temptations trusting         in God's grace.

f. Dug out the bones from the graves found in the high places and burned them.

   Let's be uncompromising in our christian walk, not laying even a hint of immorality or sinful living.

g. Put away all workers of evil spirits, wizards and all abominations from the land Judah and Jerusalem.

   Lets not get carried away by every vain philosophy and ungodly teachings and signs.     

In short, he reduced everything ungodly to ashes leaving no trace at all. He could have easily got tired in the process of wiping out evil from Judah, but he didn't. He only returned back to his palace once he got rid of EVERYTHING EVIL.

Similarly Its our responsibility to make sure that we examine ourselves daily to see if we are in the faith and to purify ourselves daily in the blood of Jesus. We should get rid of anything and everything that blocks or hinders our relationship with God, how small or big it might be.

8. Josiah got over confident-Josiah completely purified Judah and Israel. The whole kingdom was firmly under his grip. God turned the fierceness that was about to strike the land and the land was peaceful for the remainder of his reign. But something else was also happening at the background. Josiah was beginning to feel that in whatever he endeavored, he was successful. After all, he completed a great task which God had prophesied before hand. So when the Pharaoh came against the Assyrians, Josiah thought it was best to intervene without seeking God's approval which ultimately led to his downfall. Had he not been so exalted, he would have died better.

As Christians we shouldn't display self righteousness as it is very dangerous. Sometimes when we often do a little of what God called us to do and succeed, we take pride in our efforts and begin to take things for granted. This develops a feeling of self justification which would cause us to shut our ears for correction and reproof. The Bible tells us to stay away from such thoughts and desires and always be poor in the spirit. No matter what we do for God, let us always consider ourselves as unprofitable servants who only did what was asked.