JOSIAH & JOB!

Josiah was a king of Judah (the tribes of Benjamin and Judah out of the 12 tribes) during the seventh century BC. WIKIPEDIA has the following to say:

Josiah or Yoshiyahu ( /dʒoʊˈsaɪ.ə/ or /dʒəˈzaɪ.ə/;^[1][2] Hebrew: יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ, Modern Yošiyyáhu Tiberian Yôšiyyāhû, literally meaning “healed by Yahweh” or “supported of Yahweh“; Greek: Ιωσιας; Latin: Josias; c. 649–609 BC) was a king of Judah (641–609 BC) who instituted major reforms. Josiah is credited by most historians with having established or compiled important Jewish scriptures during the Deuteronomic reform that occurred during his rule.

Josiah became king of Judah at the age of eight, after the assassination of his father, King Amon, and reigned for thirty-one years,^[3] from 641/640 to 610/609 BC.^[4]

THE BIBLE says the following about King Josiah:

2 Kings 23:25 KJV

King James Version

And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.

So, as per the Bible there was no King before Josiah, nor after Josiah, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, soul and might. David was his forbear, even he doesn’t measure up to the standards of Josiah.

But the end of Josiah is unexpected. The Egyptian King Necho is at war with the Assyrian king, and at the time, the Egyptian king tells Josiah that Necho’s war was with the Assyrian king and therefore Josiah should not involve himself in the war. However Josiah would not listen and he engages himself in the war with Necho and gets killed. A perfect man, Josiah was, yet his end did not conform to “A THOUSAND SHALL FALL AT THY SIDE AND A TEN THOUSAND AT THY RIGHT HAND, BUT IT SHALL NOT COME NIGH THEE.”

Jeremiah the prophet laments over such type of departure of Josiah. Totally unjustified against the touchstone of the tenets of the Bible.

In the Book of II KINGS, by way of explanation, it was given that GOD could not forget the deeds of Manasseh, his Grandfather and therefore he met with such a fate. I have to agree that it could be right. In Deuteronomy 5:9-10 God says, “I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands.”

Therefore it is not difficult to rationalize and say that God has time only till the third and fourth generations to settle the iniquity of the fathers. SO Josiah was already the 3rd generation, counting down from Manasseh, Amon and then Josiah. So one could rationalize that Josiah, for no fault of his had to bear the brunt, as the time was running out for God to visit the iniquities of the fathers.

We come to the story of Job. According to the Bible, Job was faultless. Wikipedia is precise in its summary:

The Book of Job begins with an introduction to Job’s character — he is described as a blessed man who lives righteously. God‘s praise of Job prompts Satan to challenge Job’s integrity and suggesting that Job serves God simply because he protects him. God removes Job’s protection, allowing Satan to take his wealth, his children, and his physical health in order to tempt Job to curse God. Despite his difficult circumstances, he does not curse God, but rather curses the day of his birth. And although he protests his plight and pleads for an explanation, he stops short of accusing God of injustice. Most of the book consists of conversations between Job and his three friends concerning Job’s condition and its possible reasons, after which God responds to Job and his friends, opening his speech with the famous words, “Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.”^[1] After God’s reply, Job is overwhelmed and says, “I am unworthy – how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth.”^[2] Many interpretations read this as Job realizing how little he knew when he says to the Lord, “My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you.”^[3] Other scholars and readers, however, find this explanation unsatisfactory, since the problem of Job (the innocent man suffering at the hand of God) is not addressed. Job’s response to God shows none of the anger, passion, or piety he demonstrated in the rest of the story, even when God does not give Job the direct answer he has demanded for much of the book.^[4] Then Job is restored to an even better condition than his former wealthy state.^[5] Job was also blessed to have seven sons and three daughters named: Jemimah (which means “dove”), Keziah (“cinnamon”), and Keren-happuch (“horn of eye-makeup”). His daughters were said to be the most beautiful women in the land.^[6] “Job went on to live one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations.”^[7]

In the history of Job, there is REDEMPTION; but in the history of JOSIAH there is an unjustified end. Josiah comes out as a undeserved TRAGIC HERO.

Jesus therefore aptly says at LUKE 13:2 onwards:

² Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? ³ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ⁴ Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

So death is unavoidable, but when DEATH OCCURS, let us be prepared. It is not because of our RIGHTEOUSNESS that we get to live long, but because GOD’S agenda CANNOT BE KNOWN TO MAN. Manasseh, despite being the worst offender of the Kings of Judah, ends up ruling for close to 59 years- maybe because of the goodness of his father Hezekiah- but his sons and grandson do not get the benefit of Hezekiah’s goodness as Manasseh’s evil overtook them eclipsing the goodness of Hezekiah.

In my opinion, JOSIAH was self-righteously arrogant. He could have sought God’s will when Necho also invokes the name of God. Maybe the prophets with their urim and thummim (whatever that be!) could have revealed that his fight was not favourable.

HUMILITY and SKILL are more important than  RIGHTEOUSNESS! Otherwise i cannot justify David’s successes and the GRACE he obtained from God.