Josiah

Josiah was the 16th king of Judah (c. 640–609 BCE), who instituted major reforms by removing idolatry in Judah.

Righteousness

Out of all of the kings of Judah, only Josiah did well. All of the others after David did “evil in the sight of the Lord”, as the King James Version puts it. Of Josiah it was said that “he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.” Yet Josiah was only 8 years old when he began to reign, and lived only 31 years as King. He died in battle against Pharaoh Nechoh of Egypt, perhaps appropriately at Megiddo.

There is a lesson that can potentially be read in the story of Josiah. First, he may be contrasted to his evil ancestor, Hezekiah. While Josiah did well he was taken at a young age. Hezekiah did evil, got sick, and he was given a space of 15 years longer to live after he turned to Yahweh. It can perhaps be observed that the evil, when and if they repent, are given time to be tested of their repentance. However, Josiah doing well, may have been taken by Yahweh because the people did not deserve an excellent ruler. Josiah forced them to clean their act up. Look at our nations today, and do our people not get the government they deserve?