Now, we're turning in our Bible
study this evening to 2 Kings 23, but also we're going to reference
2 Chronicles 35. So you find, first of all, 2
Kings 23. And I'm entitling the message
from the word that I found in verse 25. And this is the verse
that caught my attention immediately when I read through this. And
like unto him, that is Josiah, there was no king before him."
Now that's saying a lot because that would include David, that
would include Solomon, that would include Hezekiah, that would
include Jehoshaphat, these other kings. And like unto him, there
was no king before him that turned to the Lord with all his heart. Now, this is what God says of
this king. This is not what I'm saying,
this is what God is saying. This is God's testimony about
Josiah. And he did so with all of his
soul, with all of his might, with all of his heart, with all
of his might and soul, according to all that the law of Moses
Neither after him arose there any like him." Certainly, as
we read in the closing part of this history of Judah, that his
two boys certainly didn't do that which was honoring unto
the Lord. And then shortly Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of Babylon, comes through and just wipes the place out,
destroys the temple, carries thousands and thousands and thousands
of them back to Babylon, and kills many, kills all the priests,
kills many other people, and the city is devastated. Now,
I'm entitling the message then from that verse, No king like
Josiah. No king like Josiah. Now this
is God's true testimony concerning this sinner. Now this man was
a sinner. He was a sinner made a new creature
in Christ. But also, the Lord also says
this in a similar way of Hezekiah. Remember, if you look back at
chapter 18, chapter 18 verse 4, remember when Hezekiah came
to the throne? Verse 3, it says, in 2 Kings
18 verse 3, he did that which is right in the sight of the
Lord according to all that David his father did. He removed the
high places, break the images, cut down the groves, breaking
pieces of the brazen serpent that Moses had made. For unto
this day the children of Israel did burn incense to it, and he
called it in the hushed, and remember, a worthless piece of
brass. And he trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after
him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any
that were before him. For he claimed unto the Lord,
departed not from following him, but kept his commandments which
the Lord commanded Moses. The Lord was with him, and he
prospered with us wherever he went forth, and he rebelled against
the king of Assyria, and did not serve him." Now, it says
that of Josiah. It says that also of Hezekiah. Both are true. And don't ask
me to try to reconcile those statements. No need to reconcile
God's testimony, God's truth. This is the true testimony of
God concerning Josiah and concerning Hezekiah. I looked up Josiah's
name and it's interesting. His name means Jehovah Heals. Jehovah Heals. Now God gives
much attention to this king of Israel, the king of Judah, named
Josiah. Jehovah Heals. And certainly
in Exodus 15, that's one of the seven names of Jehovah. Remember,
Jehovah Sidkenu, Jehovah Rapha, Jehovah Shalom, but Jehovah Rapha
means the Lord that healeth thee, Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Shalom,
all those seven names. And one of his names is Jehovah
Jireh. He is the Lord that healeth thee. And certainly every aspect of
our spiritual health is found in our Jehovah. Some of the old writers called
the Lord Jesus Christ Jehovah Jesus. He is Jehovah our Savior. Certainly every aspect of our
spiritual health is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see,
He is all our healing. He is all our healing. He is
the Lord that healeth thee. We read from Isaiah 53, with
his stripes we are healed. He took our diseases and gave
us his health, gave us his righteousness. And he has blessed us with all
spiritual blessing in the heavenly, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the rest of this chapter
in 2 Kings 23, We see the sad story of the death of Josiah. He dies when he's just 40 years
old. He reigned in Judah for 31 years. He was just 8 years old, remember,
when he came to the throne, very young king, 8 years old. He reigns
31 years and the Lord removes him from the scene. We would
say 40-year-old man, his life is short isn't it? That was a
short life. That was a short life. But his
death is according to the mercy of the Lord. That's right. And the will of the Lord. You
see man's days are determined of the Lord. How long will you
live here? Just exactly as long as the Lord says that you'll
live here. Man's days are determined Not by your doctor, but by God
Almighty. It's appointed. God's appointed
the day of our death. But the Lord removes him in an
early way to spare him from seeing the destruction of Jerusalem.
Remember the word of the Lord spoken through Huldah? That Josiah
would not see the wrath of God and the destruction of the temple
and the destruction of the city. Turn back to 2 Kings 22. 2nd Kings 22 verse 19, this is
God speaking through this woman. Remember Huldah, the prophetess.
And because thy heart was tender, thou hast humbled thyself before
the Lord. Verse 19, 2nd Kings 22, when
thou heardest what I spake against this place, against the inhabitants
thereof, that they should become desolate and accursed, and hath
rent thy clothes, and wept before me. I also have heard thee, saith
the Lord. Behold, therefore, I will gather
thee into thy father's, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave
in peace, and then I shall not see all the evil." Now watch
it, all the evil which I bring upon this place. I thought Sennacherib did that.
What does it say here? The evil which I'll bring upon
this place. God used those pagan kings for
his own purpose. And they brought the king word
again. Josiah died in peace. We read from Isaiah 52.1 about
Josiah being removed from the evil to come. You remember that
verse? Let me read it to you again.
The righteous perish, and he was a righteous man. in Christ. And no man layeth it to heart,
merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous
is taken away from the evil to come. And he shall enter into
peace. Now it's a blessing. Blessed
are those who die in the Lord. But it's not a blessing to die
if you're not a believer trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. Josiah
dies according to the will of the Lord, by the appointment
of the Lord, by the purpose of the Lord. It was not an untimely
death. Sometimes when a young person
dies, you go to the visitation at the funeral home and someone
says, well, it was an untimely death. No, it wasn't. No, it
wasn't. He died on time. God's time. It was according to the time,
because the Lord said Deuteronomy 32, 39, I kill, I make alive,
I wound, and I heal. Neither is there any that can
deliver out of my hand. I, the Lord, do all these things. Now, in verse 23, or chapter,
2 Kings chapter 23, in verse 25, And like unto him,
Josiah was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord
with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his might,
according to all the law of Moses, neither after him arose there
any like him. Now, this description of Josiah
is God's testimony concerning this man. It is a good and vivid
description of what the Lord made of Josiah. It is God which worketh in you
both to will and to do of his good pleasure. But it also is
a good description of who Josiah represents every good king in
Judah that is said they did that which is right in the eyes of
the Lord. That is a picture of the King
of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our
Jehovah. He is our King and Lord. Not by what we have done, but
rather by what God has decreed. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
honor his own law that we had broken. He is The King of Peace,
He made peace for us with His own blood. He is the King of
Righteousness. He's called the Lord Our Righteousness. And He freely gives that righteousness
to His people. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputed righteousness without works. Now Josiah dies according
to the time and will of God, as I said earlier. He dies according
to the will of the Lord, and he dies according to the exact
time of the Lord. And the Lord says, he died in
peace and the Lord took him in mercy. It was an act of the Lord's
mercy, not judgment, mercy. Even the Lord Jesus Christ dies
for us at the appointed time, bearing our sins in his own body. Had the Lord our God not charged
our sin to the Lord Jesus Christ and made them really his, he
would not have died. The wages of sin is death. The
Lord Jesus Christ dies the appointed death at the appointed time,
the appointed way, for the appointed people, for the appointed purpose. Remember the Lord said, no man
takes my life. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. And I read Acts 2.23 on Sunday,
him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, you have taken and by wicked hand have crucified and slain
the Lord of glory. So Josiah dies the appointed
death at the appointed time for the appointed reason. It was
an act of God's mercy, not of judgment, but of mercy. And the
Lord Jesus Christ dies the appointed time, an act of judgment and
an act of mercy in Christ Jesus and Him crucified. Now here's
the second thing I want us to consider. Look at verse 26 in
2 Kings 23 verse 26. Notwithstanding, or nevertheless,
the Lord turned not from the fierceness of His great wrath,
wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah because of all
the provocations at Manasseh, that's another king who had a
great reformation. and provoked him with all, and
the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as
I removed Israel, talking about the northern ten tribes, and
will cast off this city, Jerusalem, which I have chosen, and my house,
of which I said, my name shall be there. Nevertheless, the Lord
did not turn away his anger, his wrath, toward those who had
committed gross, gross idolatry. Now, there's a lot of people
in our religious day, and this has been this way for a good
number of years, And this Bible has a lot to say about the wrath
of God, the judgment of God, and the anger of God. The psalmist
said God's angry with the wicked every day. But all we hear in
this religious world is God is love, God is love and then he
loves everybody. Well, the scripture that is true,
God is love, but let us never forget that God is holy. That's
his central attribute and he cannot look at sin with indifference. His wrath, his anger is his holiness
stirred in activity against sin. God was angry with Judah because
of their sin. Now look at this statement, the
Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath." Wow, what
is the fierceness of his great wrath? I can't describe it. I
can't begin to describe the fierceness of his great anger toward sin. As the Lord had threatened to
do he did, just as he destroyed the kingdom of Israel to the
north, those ten northern tribes, so likewise the Lord did to the
tribe of Judah and Benjamin, carried both into captivity,
the Lord makes no idle threats. Now like the sayings of men,
It is true, he that believeth on the Son hath life. He that
believeth not the Son, uh-oh, the wrath of God abides on that
person. Not the love of God, the wrath
of God. This chosen people, this nation,
this elect, national Israel, a natural elect through Abraham,
had so many advantages given to them. They had the word of
the Lord, they had the prophets of the Lord, they had the priesthood
of the Lord, they had the temple of the Lord, they had the mercy
seat upon which the blood was sprinkled, but their heart was
so full of rebellion and sin and idolatry, they would not
let it go, and the Lord said, judgment's coming. Now if you
hold your place there and find Jeremiah over here, Isaiah, Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a prophet in those
days of Josiah. You remember we read that Jeremiah
lamented when Josiah was killed. But if you look at Jeremiah 18,
Jeremiah 18. Verse 15, we'll begin there,
Jeremiah 18, 15. Because my people have forgotten
me, they have burned incense to vanity and have caused them
to stumble in the ways... in their way from the ancient
paths, to walk in the paths in a way not cast up, to make their
land desolate and a propensial hissing. Everyone that passeth
thereby shall be astonished and wag his head. I will scatter
them as the wind, as with the east wind before the enemy. I'll
show them the back and not my face. in the day of their calamity."
God said, judgment's coming. They're not going to see my face.
They're going to see my back. They're going to see the judgment
of God, the judgment of God. And they were carried away into
captivity. And the Lord did come through
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and he did wreak havoc and destroyed
the city, the temple, and carried many thousands away into captivity. Seventy years later, almost after
two generations had died off, The Lord raised up a pagan king
named Cyrus who liberated those Jews, and that's what the book
of Ezra and Nehemiah is about. Seventy years later, some went
back to rebuild the city, rebuild the walls and temple. And when
they came back, you know what they confessed? Ezra the priest
and Nehemiah, their confession was, the Lord has done right. We have done wickedly. Shall
not the judge of all the earth do right? We know this too when
we talk about the fierceness of the Lord's anger. We know
this as well. That the fierceness of His wrath
was not turned away from the Lord Jesus Christ when He was
made to be sin for us, When our sin was made to be laid upon
Him at Calvary, what did the Lord Jesus Christ experience?
The fierce anger of the wrath of God against the sin of God's
people charged to Him. Jeremiah again lamented about
it in Lamentations chapter 1 verse 12. Let me just read it to you.
Don't turn. Is it nothing to you all you
that pass by? Behold and see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done to me wherewith the Lord
hath afflicted me in the day of his Fierce anger, that's what
happened at Calvary. It wasn't what men did at Calvary,
it's what God was doing at the cross. It pleased the Lord to
bruise him. The good news of the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ, it's the power of God and the salvation,
that the Lord Jesus Christ took all the sins of his people, he
made them his own, took the righteous judgment and holy wrath of God
against our sin and put away our sin by the sacrifice of himself. Now, in Christ Jesus, there is
no wrath and no judgment for those who are in Christ Jesus. There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus. But God, who is rich in mercy,
For His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sin." The Lord Jesus Christ was forsaken there at
Calvary. You remember He cried when He
was made sin for us. He cried, My God, My God, why
hast Thou forsaken Me? Because God is holy. Read Psalm
22. Because our sin was laid on Him, and because the Lord
Jesus Christ was forsaken by God, the Lord will never forsake
us in Christ Jesus. He said, I'll never leave you,
I'll never forsake you. He forsook Him because He was
made sin for us. And having put away our sin,
the Lord said, I'll never forsake you. I'll never, no never, no
never turn away from thee. I want you to find 2 Chronicles
35, 2 Chronicles 35. Here's the third thing I wanted
to consider here in 2 Chronicles 35 verse 20. And here we have
some more details given about the death of Josiah and how the
Lord now, keep this in mind, how the Lord brought this to
pass in His good and sovereign providence. It wasn't by luck,
chance, or fate that Josiah bumped into this arrow. God ordained
this arrow. God shot this arrow in the heart
of Josiah when he died. Now verse 20, 2 Chronicles 35,
After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, everything
had been restored. They had had that great day of
the Passover. The temple had been restored.
And here comes this king of Egypt He's called here just Niko, Pharaoh
Niko or just Niko. Came up to fight against Carchemish
by the Euphrates and Josiah went out against him. Now, this is,
you know this is ordered of God. If you look at your map from
where Egypt is and all the way up north above way up above Judah
and Jerusalem, way up to the, now it's called Southern Turkey. There's this city that was part
of the empire of the Assyrians and this city, Carchemish, by
the Euphrates River. And now, for the king of Egypt,
down here in the south, to march up to this city, what lies in
between? Jerusalem. Jerusalem does. So he marches this large, it
has to be a massive, massive army. To take on the king of
Assyria, it has to be a massive army. And he sent, that is, Nico,
the Pharaoh, he sent ambassadors to Josiah and said, I don't have
a fight with you. Just let me pass by. I don't
have a fight with you. What have I to do with thee,
thou King of Judah? I've not come up against thee
this day, but against the house wherewith I have a war. For God
hath commanded me to make haste, for there thee from meddling
with God, who is with me, that he destroy you not." Now, how
God worked in the heart of this pagan king, I don't know, but
he did. Nevertheless, verse 22, Josiah
would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself that
he might fight with him, and hearken not unto the words of
Necho from the mouth of God. Now, don't overlook that, from
the mouth of God. And came to fight in the valley
of Megiddo, and the archer shot at King Josiah. And the king
said to his servants, Have me away, for I am sore wounded,
and his servants therefore took him out of the chariot, put him
in the second chariot that he had, and brought him to Jerusalem,
and he died. And he was buried in one of the
sepulchres of his father, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned
for Josiah." Now, we see the sovereign providence of the Lord,
His almighty hand, directing and controlling all things. He controlled the mind and the
thoughts and the motives of this pagan king named Necho. Directing and controlling all
things. Now, in Proverbs 21, remember
that scripture? The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord and he turns it like the river whether so ever he
will." Isaiah 46, you remember that?
God said, I've spoken it, I'll bring it to pass, I've purposed
it, I will do it. Even calling a ravenous bird
from the east, a man that would execute my counsel from afar,
I've spoken it, I'll do it. The Lord is still the absolute
sovereign over all and every president, including Obama, including
Mr. Trump, he's the sovereign over
every king, democrat, republic, the Lord's nonpartisan. Every
king, every president is under his absolute control. Every president, every king,
every evil dictator, that clown in North Korea, He's under the
control of Almighty God. That's right. Every president,
king, and evil dictator in this world is under the absolute sovereign
control of Almighty God, and He uses them for His own purpose. He uses them for His own purpose. Now, people who do not believe
God's Word They will not have that. If you're a believer, you
believe God's Word. And when you read these things
in His Word, you say, well, that's so. That is so. We see that in
the appointed death of the Lord's King, Josiah, that Pharaoh in
Egypt wanted to war against this city of Carchemish on the Euphrates
River, a city in the Assyrian kingdom. And he did so because
God put that on his heart. God put that on his mind, just
as the Lord put on the mind of Josiah to go out and meet him.
Just like the Lord used another pharaoh down in Egypt, you remember
many, many years before, don't turn, let me just read this to
you. In Romans chapter nine, Remember this scripture, verse
17, for the scripture says unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose,
have I raised thee up that I might show my power in thee. How about
that? And here's another Pharaoh, God
raised him up, Necho, that he might show his power in him. that I might show my power in
thee, that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore
hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will,
he will harden. The king's heart and every man's
heart is in the hand of the Lord. God not in your hand, you're
in his. In the hand of the Lord, he'll
do his eternal purpose and pleasure. In order for Pharaoh Necho to
get to this city of Assyria, he has to march toward Jerusalem. He has to march toward Josiah. Now, no doubt they hear that
the Egyptian army is coming north. And Josiah, in his zeal, and
in his willingness to defend Jerusalem and defend Judah, goes
out to meet this king. Now, most of the commentators that
I read, including Robert Hawker, John Gill, Matthew Henry, all
the commentators that I read about what Josiah did right here,
they all are critical and find fault with what he did. Now,
most of the time I agree with those old timers, but remember,
they're still men. I believe they're all wrong.
I believe they're all wrong. They said that Josiah should
have taken heed to the words of Necho and retreated and lived
on. But that wasn't the will of the
Lord. Now you see, when you read the
books of men, remember that they are men. But remember the testimony
of our Lord about Josiah. Remember what he said? He did
that which was right. What was he doing here? He did
that which was right in the sight of the Lord. And there's no king,
God said there's no king like him. This also must be said of
what Josiah did here. He turned not to the right hand
or to the left hand. He acted not out of an evil impulse,
did he? or out of a wicked motive, he
acted out of zeal to protect Judah and Jerusalem, to protect
the temple, the priest, and the way of how we're gonna worship
God through the Passover sacrifice. I just know that's so. John Gill's
wrong. Robert Hawker's wrong. And I
don't disagree with them old brothers very often, but they're
wrong on this point. Josiah, now notice this, it says
in verse, this phrase caught my eye, nevertheless verse 22,
Josiah would not turn his face from him. He would not turn away. He disguised himself that he
might fight with him, hearken not to the words of Necho from
the mouth of God and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo. I thought about this too. Remember
it says about the Lord Jesus Christ, His face was set like
a flint. He would not turn away His face. He would not turn, the Lord Jesus
Christ would not turn away from the battle to accomplish our
salvation in going to Jerusalem. Remember, His face was set like
a flint and He would not turn from it. But prayed, Father,
Thy will be done. I know that was Josiah's prayer.
Some of those old writers also say that Josiah should have went
back and asked Jeremiah and asked these other men. It was time
to act. And he did so not out of an evil
intent. He was protecting his family
and his city and his people. And this is exactly what the
Lord Jesus Christ did for us. Isaiah 50 says, The Lord God
will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore
have I set my face like a flint, I know I shall not be ashamed.
We are going to study in Luke chapter 9 verse 51, And it came
to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up,
He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem. Like Josiah,
He would not turn His face away from the enemy or from the battle. And the Lord Jesus Christ did
that for us. His disciples didn't want Him
to go to Jerusalem and die there, remember? They tried to stop
Him. And He said, you saviors, not the things that be of God,
but those that be of men. You reckon anybody tried to stop
Josiah? Get out of my way. Get out of
my way. See, the Lord put that on his
heart too. And here we have this battle. Josiah enters the battle
desiring that the will of the Lord be done. And he gives his
life willingly on the battlefield to protect his family. That's
exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ did. And we know in the gospel,
Christ died for his bride, for his family, and secured their
everlasting salvation. He loved the church and gave
himself for it, just like Josiah did. He gave himself for his
people. And that's exactly what the Lord
Jesus Christ done for us. Now, you might be thinking, well,
the type is not a complete type. Types and pictures are not. Josiah
is defeated, he is dead, and Jerusalem is carried off into
captivity. So the type there is not perfect,
but it is a type and picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
here's the last thing I want us to consider. Back in 2 Kings
23, turn back over there, I'm almost done. In 2 Kings 23, Verse 31, here we see
that Josiah has died, and Jehoiaz was 23 years old when he began
to reign, and he reigned just three months in Jerusalem. And
his mother's name was Hamuto, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libna. And he did that with his evil
the three months that he reigned, Pharaoh Necho took him, put him
in bands, carried him off to Jerusalem, I mean carried him
off to Egypt and it says in verse 34, there he died. Now, Pharaoh
Necho put Jerusalem under his rule. He controls the throne
and he controls the money. He takes the son of Josiah, Jehoiaz,
back to Egypt and he dies there. He controls everything in Judah
and demanded all of their money or put a high tax on their money.
Now, Josiah is dead, his son is dead, and now Judah once again. Now you think about this. Think
about this. From Egyptian bondage, 430 years. When they, 70 men, Jacob and
his sons, went down to Egyptian bondage, 430 years. God delivers
them. Forty years they wander around
in the wilderness. God raises up a king, David,
Solomon, all these different men. And the kingdom after that
just goes downhill, downhill, downhill. Along comes a bright
spot in Hezekiah and Josiah, but after that it goes downhill
quickly. Now, where are they now? Back
under Egyptian bondage. Isn't that amazing? The amazing
providence of the Lord, He delivers them, they go through all those
years of rebellion, now they're right back under the thumb of
Egypt, and God has to deliver them again. What a sad story
of rebellion and sin against Almighty God. Now, when the Lord
delivered them from Egyptian bondage the first time, brings
them through the Red Sea, it wasn't just a few months and
they were ready to stone Moses and said, we're going back to
Egypt. Where are they now? Back down
in Egypt under the control not physically in Egypt, but under
the control of Pharaoh once again. You see, God is God over all
things. You couldn't dream up a story
like this. The Lord brought this to pass. But here's my closing thought.
Here's my closing thought. This is our story too. Apart
from His grace, because we were born in sin and in bondage and
we wander all of our life until the Lord in his mercy saves us
by his grace, calls us out of darkness and if he would not
have done that We were born in bondage and we would have died
in bondage. The Lord said, if you believe
not that I am, you'll die in your sin. But his grace brought
us out to himself. We can say with the apostle Paul,
I am what I am by the grace, the grace, the grace of God,
the grace of God.