The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”
Not since the days of the judges who led Israel, nor throughout the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah, had any such Passover been observed.
But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the LORD in Jerusalem. - 2 Kings 23:21-12 NIV
Of all the Old Testament kings, Josiah is my favorite. His story is not as exciting as that of King David. He didn't kill a pesky giant with a slingshot and small stone. He didn't slay ten thousands of Israel's enemies. All he did was try to be what God had wanted the Children of Israel to be all along, God followers.
Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses. - 2 Kings 23:25
Josiah certainly didn't get this heart for the Lord from his family. His father, Amon, was an evil, idol worshipper, His grandfather, Manasseh finally followed the Lord, but only after years of building up the high places that his father, Hezekiah, destroyed, re-instituting idol worship, practicing sorcery and divination and even sacrificing his own son in the fire.
Josiah was surrounded by the wicked remnants of his family, yet his heart was open to the Lord and the more he learned about God's requirements, the more he instituted God's laws, with all his heart, soul and strength. There were no compromises where Josiah was concerned. His family before and his sons after were not God followers, but during his lifetime, there was no mistaking what it meant to follow after God and keep the Law of Moses. For one brief, shining moment, the hearts were turned to God.
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