Josiah's Obedience

  Could you imagine becoming King or Queen (or President/Prime Minister) of your country at the age of eight?  That is what happened to Josiah who is found in 2 Chronicles 34–35 and 2 Kings 22-23:1-30).  He was a king of Judah who wanted to please God, doing right in the God’s eyes (2 Kings 22:2), one of the few kings of Judah that actually did.  Josiah reigned for 31 years; so he was King during his young adult years.  
   During the 18th year of his reign, so Josiah would have been 26 at the time, the Book of the Law was found in the temple.  Up to that point during Josiah’s reign and in years prior, the copy of the Book, which were essentially the first five books of the Old Testament was buried away in the Temple and the people did not know what was written in the Book, nor could obey it either.  When the Book was discovered and read to Josiah (22:8-13), he realized how disobedient the people and he were. 
   Immediately Josiah let people know that they needed to humble themselves before God and be obedient to what was written in the Book.  God saw the humbleness of Josiah’s response and his responsive, repentant heart (vs 16-20), and blessed Josiah.  Josiah’s quick response to what he learned in Scripture diverted God’s judgment on the people of Judah.
   One of the first observations to consider is God used a young person to impact a c ...