English: King Josiah by Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Josiah began his reign as king at the age of 8, after his father Amon died.  He was a great king, and “walked in all the way of David his father.”  As he had the temple repaired, the “Book of the law” was found (that term is used in the Pentateuch to mean the Book of Deuteronomy).  Having been raised in a time when the king himself and the people of the land were at the depths of apostasy, Josiah may have not heard the commandments of the Lord; and the reference to them finding it could well mean that Manasseh had hidden it.  When it was read to him, he tore his clothes in grief.

Although Jeremiah and Zephaniah both prophesied during the time of Josiah’s reign (Jeremiah 1:1-2, Zephaniah:1), Josiah sent his people to a fairly unknown (to us, at least) prophetess named Huldah.  She confirmed the prophecy of disaster for Jerusalem that we read in 2 Kings 21:11-12.  But verses 18-20, the Lord declares that He will spare Josiah from seeing that disaster.

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy

___________________

some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.