King Josiah was one of the greatest Kings of Israel; and what's more, Josiah was one of the greatest of the Old Testament Saints. Yet, in spite of the claim of Scripture itself that he surpassed even King David in faith and piety, Josiah is one of the lesser known saints in Orthodoxy. What follows is a short overview of his life.
From the very beginning, indeed from the foundations of the world, Josiah's life was unique. It was so unique, in fact, that God foretold of his birth two hundred and seventy five years before it happened! After the death of Solomon, a man by the name of Jeroboam became King (1 Ki. 11-12), and he filled Israel with iniquity and idolatry (1 Ki. 12:26-33); the people gladly following along with Jeroboam into the chasm of sin.
Because of this, a prophet foretold that a child would be born, his name being Josiah, and that he would come to cleanse Israel and wipe out the iniquity that Jeroboam had created (1 Ki. 13:1-3) God raised up a new king in Israel (1 Ki. 14:14-16) within a few years, who put an end to Jeroboam's wickedness, but the Lord never forgot his promise of the coming of Josiah, and three centuries later--when wickedness was again running rampant--knew it to be the proper time for Josiah's birth.
Josiah's Father, Amon, was a wicked man (2 Ki. 21:19-22; 2 Chr. 33:22-23), who unlike Josiah's Grand Father, Manasseh, did not repent for his sins or try to correct his errors (2 Chr. 33:12-19, 22-23; cf 2 Ki. 21:1-16), but only "followed exactly the path of his father" into sin and death (2 Ki. 21:21). Whatever we might say of Manasseh's shortcomings (and they are obvious from reading Second Kings), he is remembered in Orthodoxy primarily for repentance [1], as exemplified in his extant prayer (which is often included in the Scriptural Canon used by the Orthodox Church) [2].
But Amon, as was said, had no such repentance, but was filled with corruption until the end of his life. After only a few years as king, Amon's own servants murdered him, though these servants were themselves killed off quickly by the people of the land, after which the people made Josiah King. (2 Ki. 21:23-26; 2 Chr. 33:24-25) King Josiah was eight years old [3] when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Jedidah (2 Ki. 22:1; 2 Chr. 34:1) Josiah is said to have been a man who pleased God, and was in no way inferior to the other (better known) pre-Christ Saints. How very different were the sinful father and the righteous son!
Almost immediately Josiah began to break down and smash the idolatrous altars, and burnt the bones of the priests upon these altars, thereby cleaning Israel. (2 Chr. 34:3-7) And he not only destroyed the evil places, but he also set to work in restoring Israel and her temple to their former glory (2 Ki. 22:3-7, 9; 2 Chr. 34:8-14, 17) Because of King Josiah's efforts to restore the Temple, some of the workers found the "book of the law," which had been totally neglected for no short time, which they brought to King Josiah and read to him. (2 Ki. 22:8, 10; cf 2 Chr. 34:14-16, 18 ). When the King heard the contents of the book he became exceedingly repentant, acknowledging that Israel had sinned and kindled God's anger (2 Ki. 22:11-13; 2 Chr. 34:19-21)
The King then sent Hilkiah the priest, and others, to seek the Lord's will through a prophetess. The prophetess Huldah told them that because of the sins committed by Israel, that there would indeed be consequences which would fall upon her. However, she also told them that because King Josiah had repented in tears, showing outwardly his inner humility and repentance, Israel would be spared for a time. Hilkiah the priest and the others returned to report this to King Josiah. (2 Ki. 22:14-20; 2 Chr. 34:22-28; cf 2 Ki. 23:25-27)
Upon hearing the revelation given by God, King Josiah ordered that the entire book of the convenant be read before everyone in Israel, from the least to the greatest. King Josiah then made a convenant with, speaking for himself and for all of Israel: he promised to observe all that God had commanded, and that theywould do this with their whole heart and soul. (2 Ki. 23:1-3; 2 Chr. 34:29-32) After this, Josiah continued the cleansing of Israel from iniquity, destroying the idolatrous temples, shrines, and practices, and cleansing the Temple of Israel. (2 Ki. 4-15, 19, 24; 2 Chr. 34:33) At this time Josiah also fulfilled the prophecy concerning himself, and it was openly proclaimed at this time that Josiah was indeed fulfilling the word of God (2 Ki. 23:16-18 )
King Josiah also commanded that the passover should be kept exactly as prescribed in the book of the law, and it is said that "No such passover had been observed in Israel since the time of the prophet Samuel, nor had any king of Israel kept a Passover like that of Josiah" and all Israel. (2 Chr. 35:1-19; 2 Ki. 23:21-23) It is said of Josiah that "Before him there had been no king who turned to the Lord as he did, with his whole heart, his whole soul, and his whole strength, in accord with the entire law of Moses; nor could any after him compare with him." (2 Ki. 23:25) [4]
King Josiah's life came to an end when he was shot by an arrow--an outcome he could have avoided [5]. The king of Egypt, Neco, was riding to a battle near the Euphrates. King Josiah went out against him, but Neco sent men to King Josiah warning him to not interfere, and that he, Neco, was fulfilling God's will. King Josiah would not listen to this message, however, and tried to meet Neco in battle, but was shot by archers, and died from his wounds, after which he was buried in Jerusalem. (2 Ki. 23:29-30; 2 Chr. 35:20-24) "And Jeremiah (cf Jer. 1:2) lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations." (2 Chr. 35:25)
So what can we learn from Josiah? The Fathers see many things in "Blessed Josiah" (as Hippolytus called him), and as Christians it would serve us well to seek out the lessons to be learned from his life. Eucherius of Lyons sees a blazing faith, while Ambrose of Milan sees an amazing zeal. Jerome sees him as "a holy man" who nonetheless makes mistakes and needs help with problems. Saint John Chrysostom sees him as an example of how trials and tribulations come to everyone--even the rich and/or pious--and that this is the only path leading to salvation. [6] There are indeed many other lessons to be learned from Saint Josiah's life. The most important thing is that we read the Scriptures ourselves, and find out what we see in Josiah--or rather, what God shows us through him.
Saint Josiah, King of Israel, shine a light on our path!
Footnotes:
[1] cf Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, 2, 14; Saint Gregory the Theologian, Oration 39, 17; Epistle 77
[2] Prayer of Manasseh
O Lord Almighty, God of our ancestors, of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and of their righteous offspring; You who made heaven and earth with all their order; Who shackled the sea by your word of command, who confined the deep and sealed it with your terrible and glorious name; At whom all things shudder, and tremble before your power, For your glorious splendor cannot be borne, and the wrath of your threat to sinners is unendurable; Yet immeasurable and unsearchable is your promised mercy, For you are the Lord Most High, of great compassion, long-suffering, and very merciful, and you relent at human suffering. O Lord, according to your great goodness you have promised repentance and forgiveness to those who have sinned against you, and in the multitude of your mercies you have appointed repentance for sinners, so that they may be saved. Therefore you, O Lord, God of the righteous, have not appointed repentance for the righteous, for Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, who did not sin against you, but you have appointed repentance for me, who am a sinner.
For the sins I have committed are more in number than the sand of the sea; my transgressions are multiplied, O Lord, they are multiplied! I am not worthy to look up and see the height of heaven because of the multitude of my iniquities. I am weighted down with many an iron fetter, so that I am rejected because of my sins, and I have no relief; for I have provoked your wrath and have done what is evil in your sight, setting up abominations and multiplying offenses.
And now I bend the knee of my heart, imploring you for your kindness. I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I acknowledge my transgressions. I earnestly implore you, forgive me, O Lord, forgive me! Do not destroy me with my transgressions! Do not be angry with me forever or store up evil for me; do not condemn me to the depths of the earth. For you, O Lord, are the God of those who repent, and in me you will manifest your goodness; for, unworthy as I am, you will save me according to your great mercy, and I will praise you continually all the days of my life. For all the host of heaven sings your praise, and yours is the glory forever. Amen.
[3] King Josiah was one of the handful of examples regularly brought up by the early Church Fathers when the issue of young clergy or young leaders was raised. E.g., Epistle of Saint Ignatius to the Magnesians, 3; Epistle of Maria the Proselyte to Ignatius; Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, 2, 1
[4] Considering what is said about King Josiah in Scripture, it is odd that more references weren't made to him in the early Church, especially as a type of Christ. One of the few examples that do exist is by Aphrahat: "Josiah also was persecuted as Jesus was persecuted. Josiah was persecuted, and Pharaoh the Lame slew Him; and Jesus was persecuted, and the people that were made lame by their sins slew Him. Josiah cleansed the land of Israel from uncleanness; and Jesus cleansed and caused to pass away uncleanness from all the earth. Josiah hallowed and glorified the name of his God; and Jesus said:--I have glorified and will glorify (His Name). Josiah because of the iniquity of Israel rent his clothes; and Jesus because of the iniquity of the people rent the vail of the Holy Temple. Josiah said:--Great is the wrath that shall come upon this people; and Jesus said:--There shall come wrath upon this people, and they shall fall by the edge of the sword. Josiah cast out uncleanness from the Holy Temple; and Jesus cast out the unclean traders from His Father's house. For Josiah the daughters of Israel mourned and wailed, as Jeremiah said:--O daughters of Israel, weep for Josiah; and over Jesus did the daughters of Israel weep and mourn, as Zechariah said:--The land shall mourn, families over families. (Aphrahat, Demonstration 21, 17)
[5] The tendency is perhaps to try and see the good in all of Josiah's decision, but as is obvious from the life of King David, even the holiest of men can sometimes make grave errors or fall short. The Scriptural text supports the idea that King Josiah did indeed make a mistake in judgment here (2 Chr. 35:21-23). The Fathers also seem to take this view (e.g., Blessed Jerome, Letter 68; cf Jerome, Against the Pelagians, 2)
[6] Hippolytus, Extant Works and Fragments, Part 1: Exegetical, Daniel, 1; Saint Eucherius of Lyons, On Contempt for the World; Saint Ambrose, Three Books on the Duties of the Clergy, 2, 30; Blessed Jerome, Against Jovinianus, 2, 4; Saint John Chrysostom, Homily15 on Philippians
Icon of Saint Josiah...
