Teens in the Bible - Josiah

Chapter 14 teen Josiah, young king

Josiah became king of Judah at the young age of 8! I think we can safely conclude that he didn't take control of his empire until he was somewhere in his teens. It’s also a pretty safe assumption that he got married then, too, as we know that he had several sons, one of which succeeded him upon his death at age 39. Verse 2 of 2 Kings 22 says, “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.”

Josiah is one of the most highly approved kings of the Bible. Why? Because later he did a very thorough house cleaning, ridding the land of all the things that were abominable to the Lord: idols, shrines, and pagan priests. He tore down the altars to false gods and desecrated the place where people were sacrificing children. He did all this because he read “the book of the Law” which was discovered in the Temple (apparently a little dust had accumulated on the ancient tome).

He read it! Hmm. Interesting. It looks like just having a Bible on the coffee table won’t get you to the Truth. You have to read the Word of the Lord. Josiah was already “right in the eyes of the Lord”, but when he read the Word and acted on it he became great.

According to scripture Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah. These became a tradition in Israel and were written in the Book of Laments which has since become lost.

(Next Saturday tattletale teen Joseph)
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Just having a Bible on the coffee table won't get you to the truth.

Josiah is one of the most highly approved kings of the Bible. Why?