Josiah: Spiritual Revival

2 Chronicles 34-36

The Ten Signposts of the Bible
CAMDE—400—CALY
Creation. Abraham. Moses. DAVID. Elijah. 400. Christ. Apostles. Letters. Yet-to-Come.

After Hezekiah’s death, his son Manasseh became king and reigned for fifty-five years—the longest reign in Judah’s history. His rule was marked by wickedness and deep spiritual corruption, so God prepared judgment against the southern kingdom. 

2 Kings 21:10–12
And the Lord said by his servants the prophets,  “Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols, therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.” 

Later in Manasseh's life, the king of Assyria conquered Jerusalem, took him prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles, and carried him off to Babylon. 

2 Chronicles 33:12–13
And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God. 

Although God graciously worked in Manasseh’s life, wicked practices had spread throughout the land, and divine judgment was forthcoming. 

After Manasseh died, his son Amon reigned for two years and was as wicked as his father. Then Amon’s son, Josiah, became king. Josiah was the last godly king before the Babylonians invaded and forced the southern kingdom into captivity in 586 BC.

Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for thirty-one years. Perhaps God used the stories of his great-grandfather Hezekiah to capture his heart, for Josiah “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left” (2 Kgs. 22:2). 

For fifty-seven years, Josiah’s father and grandfather had led Judah astray. But under Josiah, the spiritual climate changed. Scripture offers a powerful testimony to his faith. At sixteen, he “began to seek the God of David his father” and at twenty, he began to enact spiritual reform (2 Chron. 34:3). For six years, he led his men throughout Judah in demolishing altars to pagan gods. After that, he turned to repairing the temple, which had been neglected for nearly six decades. During the work, an important discovery was made. Hilkiah the priest found “the Book of the Law of the LORD given through Moses” (2 Chron. 34:14). Josiah responded in this way:

2 Chronicles 34:19–21
And when the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah . . . saying, “Go, inquire of the LORD for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according to all that is written in this book.” 

Hilkiah found a prophetess who explained that, because of Judah’s sin, disaster was coming. Yet because Josiah was humble and tender before the Lord, the devastation would not come until after he died (2 Chron. 34:26–28). 

Do you remember how Hezekiah reacted when he heard a similar message? His attitude was, ‘Well, at least it won’t happen in my lifetime.’ 

Josiah responded differently. He gathered all the people and read God’s Word to them. He “made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book” (2 Chron. 34:31). He also “made all who were present in Israel serve the LORD their God. All his days they did not turn away from following the LORD, the God of their fathers” (2 Chron. 34:33). 

Josiah not only heard God’s Word but also committed himself to obeying it. This was evident in the way he celebrated the Passover at the proper time and in the prescribed manner. Those who remained in Israel under Assyrian rule, along with those in Judah, joined together to celebrate the feast. It was a Passover of unusual significance. Scripture says, “No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as was kept by Josiah, and the priests and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was kept” (2 Chron. 35:18–19). This is a picture of spiritual revival. God used his Word to change the hearts of his people.

Now fast-forward thirteen years. Much was happening in the world. The Assyrian Empire was in decline. Its capital city, Nineveh, had fallen, and the Assyrians had retreated to Carchemish in what is now northern Syria. At Carchemish, the Babylonians had the Assyrians pinned down.^[1] Meanwhile, King Neco of Egypt was marching through the Jezreel Valley on his way to assist them.  

Evidently, Josiah sided with the Babylonians and intercepted the Egyptians on their way to Carchemish. Neco tried to persuade him not to oppose Egypt, saying “What have we to do with each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war” (2 Chron. 35:21). Josiah refused to withdraw and was killed in battle. 

Josiah’s godly leadership brought spiritual revival through his faithful devotion to the Word of God. In difficult times, he used Scripture to renew spiritual commitment and call the people back to God.  

Anne Daly passed from death to life on May 9, 2026. Her obituary beautifully stated that God “drew her to Himself in His grace, saved her, faithfully led her on her sojourn in this life, and after glioblastoma brought her life on this earth to an end, finally brought her home to her eternal dwelling place with Him.” 

Scripture anchored Anne throughout her battle with cancer. She especially loved reading Psalm 19 because it helped her meditate more deeply on God’s glory, sovereignty, and grace. As she endured illness, chemotherapy, and radiation, she said, “The hard days make God’s word sing.” 

In difficult days, Josiah restored God’s Word to the people— and those hard days made God’s Word sing.

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Read and reflect on 2 Chronicles 34–36.  What areas of your life need to come back under the authority of God’s Word?

Talking to God: Ask God to open your eyes to see where change needs to occur. 

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