Two hundred years before Judah went into captivity a prophet prophesied that a king named Josiah would rise up and deal with idolatry in Israel (1 Kings 13:2). Two centuries later a nine-year-old named “Josiah” came to the throne. At this time the Temple was abandoned and in total disarray. The young king commanded that the priests clean all the rubble and refuse out of the temple and a two-hundred-year-old scroll was found with the prophecy. Imagine reading an obscure two-hundred-year-old text that mentioned you BY NAME and what you would do as king!
Josiah was a good king and brought reforms and repentance to the nation that had not been seen since the days of Samuel the Prophet. What is the rest of the story? At that time Egypt in the south and Assyria in the north were at war with the nation of Judah lying between them. The king of Egypt was moving an army against Assyria and Josiah went out to block his way. In the battle Josiah is wounded and dies (2 Chron. 35:24). As a result, his three ungodly sons vie for the throne, fail miserable and the kingdom falls and goes into captivity. What is the lesson?
Before Josiah went into battle a prophecy came to him not to do so (2 Chron. 35:21). Assyria was no friend of Judah and in fact, in scripture, Assyria is a type of the anti-Christ. Josiah ignored the prophecy and died as a result. A good king perished and because of this the entire nation went into captivity for 70 years and Jerusalem and the Temple were razed to the ground. Surely God didn’t bring Josiah to the throne for such an outcome but he refused to listen to the word of the Lord and not only he but the entire nation perished.
What has the Lord said to you lately? How seriously did you take what was said? 1 Thess. 5:20 tells us “despise not prophesying.” Josiah, a good and righteous king who had brought unprecedented revival to God’s people perished because he lightly esteemed the word of the Lord in a moment of distraction and inattention. Our lives and destinies at times hang by the thread of one small obedience. Again what has the Lord said to you in your life? What prophecies have gone out over you that lie neglected and overlooked? What if the whole of your destiny pivots on one act of alignment to the word of the Lord? Do you think it doesn’t matter or that God loves you too much to let you fail regardless of whether you obey or seek His face? Josiah’s life and reign were all that stood between the kingdom and total annihilation but still, he perished because of a cavalier attitude toward God’s command. Just take a moment today and ponder whether your life’s direction could be different if you visited again those words spoken over you and aligned yourself afresh with their mandates.
