Righteous Child

Can you imagine being just eight years old and being made king? That is exactly what happened to Josiah. 

In 2 Chronicles 34:1-2 (NLT) we learn:

Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. He did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight and followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn away from doing what was right.

Wow! Josiah not only became king, but he also chose not to follow in the ways of his father. Josiah chose to please God. 

We see in 2 Chronicles 34 that Josiah began to seek God in his youth. He goes on to put a stop to the worship of false gods. Then he proceeds to restore the worship of the one true God. He commissions the repairs of the temple. During this time, the Book of the Law of the Lord that had been written by Moses is found. When Josiah hears its words, he despairs. He tears his clothes. He then gives orders to seek the Lord. 

Imagine that! Even in those days the law fulfilled its purpose. Romans 3:19-20 shows us the law’s purpose.

Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.

We see Josiah repent and seek the Lord. Just as now in the new covenant we have through Jesus, God forgave Josiah and turned His wrath aside for the remainder of Josiah’s life. God’s grace was extended even then to those who repented.

This is explained it Romans 3:21-26.

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

Josiah goes on to lead the nation to repent and this leads the people into God’s grace. So, it seems no coincidence to me that the first celebration he reinstated in 2 Chronicles 35 was Passover. After all, Passover was, of course, a foreshadowing of what Jesus would do and now has done for us. 

Revelation 13:8 lets us know that Jesus is:

… the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made.

Jesus was the plan from the beginning. 

Thank You, Jesus, for all You did. Amen!

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Scripture is quoted from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.