2 Kings 23
Pastor David Groendyk

Good King Josiah still reigns on the throne, and what a reign it is! Today’s chapter itemizes all the various ways in which Josiah leads Judah in repentance and cleansing. After the book of the Law is found and read and convicts Josiah, he gathers all the elders and leaders of Judah together to hear it and lead this reform too (vv. 1–2). They read the Word of God together and make a covenant and re-commitment to follow the Lord (v. 3). Then we have several verses of purging. You really get a sense for how deep and widespread Judah’s sinful idolatry has become when the writer lists how many different gods they worshiped (vv. 4–5, 13–14), how deeply ingrained Solomon’s and Jeroboam’s false idols were in Judah’s way of life (vv. 13, 15), and how horrifically they committed to this false worship by burning their own children as offerings (v. 10). Josiah is getting rid of all of it! More than that, he’s intentionally defiling these places and idols so that no one would ever even think about turning these now-profaned locations into worship spaces again. King Josiah is even reaching north into Israel to institute his reforms. When we read verses 16–18, we see that all of this is a fulfillment of an incredible (and probably little-known-to-us) prophecy from 1 Kings 13. After wicked Jeroboam had made his golden calves which would be a perpetual snare for the Israelites, God sends an unnamed prophet with this message: “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you” (v. 2). 300 years later, that Josiah appears and fulfills these words.

And yet, everything comes to a halt in verses 26–27. All of this reform appears to be too late. Interestingly, when we compare 2 Kings 22–23 with 2 Chronicles 34–35, these two sections of Scripture move some parts around. Likely, 2 Kings is intentionally not describing Josiah’s reforming work in chronological order, but rather recounting what Josiah did in a topical fashion, sort of like saying, “Here are all the good things Josiah did, in no particular order.” So we have a huge pile-up of good things Josiah does, and then a hammer at the end of it telling us that it won’t save Judah. In fact, Ralph Davis comments that this whole chapter is designed to build up our expectations and then bring them crashing down at the end. Remember also that Huldah had prophesied in the previous chapter that disaster and exile were sure to come for Judah (2 Kgs. 22:16–17). Josiah already knew exile was coming. But that puts a whole new spin on Josiah’s work, doesn’t it? He knew that exile was coming, yet he strove ceaselessly to cleanse and purify God’s people anyway. To quote Davis: “Josiah’s is a faithfulness that does not confuse obedience with pragmatism and so pushes on, not because it will change anything but simply because God demands it.” What a model for us! God demands obedience and faithfulness, and we are called to do so simply because it is good and right. As Davis also writes, even though keeping God’s commandments “may not resolve our personal problems, bring economic success, or relieve emotional distress,” it is still God’s way for us to be faithful in all things.

King Josiah’s death is similar to Judah’s pending yet certain exile—both are disappointing and sad. After Josiah, it will be a very swift slide into captivity. But Josiah is also a sign of another better King to come who will purify and cleanse his people, but in an even deeper and more permanent way. We praise God for Jesus Christ whose cleansing is perfect and truly saves from destruction and punishment. Praise God for the King and Savior we have in the gospel!