Josiah’s reform
2 Kings Chapter 22 – 23:30
In Josiah, great-grandson of Hezekiah, we find one last righteous king of Judah. “Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the law of Moses.”
Josiah became king at the age of 8, but it was 18 years later that his reform began. It started when he had workmen repair the temple. During repairs, a copy of the book of the law was discovered and brought to Josiah.
After reading it, he mourned the unfaithfulness of Judah. He read the law to the people and started an aggressive program of cleansing the land of pagan worship. Despite that, the prophet Huldah tells him that God’s anger will still be brought on Jerusalem.
She says, though, that because of his righteousness the disaster will not come in his lifetime. Josiah dies in battle and is buried.