The Bible In Paintings, # 156: KING JOSIAH FINDS GOD AND HIS WORD, THEN ACTS ACCORDINGLY

Bing Images ^ | c.2200 BC - c.95 AD | by the Father, Son & Holy Spirit

[Hebrews 11:6]

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KING JOSIAH

FINDS GOD

& HIS WORD,

TAKES ACTION

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2^nd
K I N G S
2 2 – 2 3
New International Version, emphases added
Abrdgd: the complete text is in your Bible


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C L I C K :

To read 2^nd KINGS 22-23 in full
To hear MAX McLEAN reading it
To hear a DRAMATIZATION of it
To watch an ANIMATION of 2^nd Kings

6 4 0 -
6 0 9
B. C.

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CHAPTER 22

1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.

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3 In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan, to the temple of the Lord. He said: 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. 5 Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair the temple of the Lord— 6 the carpenters, the builders and the masons. Also have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple. 7 But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are honest in their dealings.”

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8 Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. 9 Then Shaphan went to the king and reported to him: “Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.

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by JULIUS SCHNOOR VON CAROLSFELD
"Shaphan Reads the Book of Law to Josiah"

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by LEONAERT BRAMER
"The Reading of the Law before Josiah"

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11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. 12 He gave these orders: 13 “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”

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14 Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Akbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to the prophet Huldah.

15 She said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all the idols their hands have made, my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.’ 18 Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: 19 Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people—that they would become a curse[b] and be laid waste—and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. 20 Therefore I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.’”

So they took her answer back to the king.

CHAPTER 23

1 Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.

4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. 5 He did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts. 6 He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people. 7 He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah.

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by WILLIAM BRASSEY HOLE
"King Josiah Cleansing The Land Of Idols"

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8 Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense.

10 He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice their son or daughter in the fire to Molek.

12 He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley. 13

15 Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also.

19 Just as he had done at Bethel, Josiah removed all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria and that had aroused the Lord’s anger. 20 Josiah slaughtered all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones on them. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

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by JOSIAS HERVORMING
"Josiah Has the Idolatrous Priests Killed"

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21 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.” 22 Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.

24 Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the Lord. 25 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.

26 Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to arouse his anger. 27 So the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’”

28 As for the other events of Josiah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

29 While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Necho faced him and killed him ..at Megiddo. 30 Josiah’s servants brought his body in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

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by WILLIAM BRASSEY HOLE
"The Death Of King Josiah At Megiddo"

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by FRANCESCO CONTI
"Death of King Josiah"

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→ a n d…. f i n a l l y ←

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by ANTONIO ZANCHI
"The Death of King Josiah"

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Preview of
COMING
ATTRACTIONS

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SNEAK PEEK: Next time,
DEFEAT &
DEPORTATION

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R E S O U R C E S

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If you'd like to see for yourself the Bing page
which yielded most of the works above, here is the link:

Josiah and the Money for the Temple

Image Sources are provided for most individual works.
Where no attribution appears below a work,
the source did not provide the artist's name.
Works are numbered to facilitate your commenting.

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Links to three masters who painted Biblical scenes prolifically:

REMBRANDT HARMENSZOON van RIJN

GUSTAV DORÉ
241 wood engravings for
La Grande Bible de Tours

JAMES TISSOT
180 watercolors depicting Bible scenes

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Links to two Bibles with comprehensive illustrations:

The Art Bible (1896)

The Maciejowski-Morgan Bible (c.1245)

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This series keeps moving from one Bible passage to another,
so here is a fascinating and enjoyable link to assist in following along:
BIBLE TIMELINE

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Here are links to the
PREVIOUS 155 POSTS IN THIS SERIES
with descriptive titles to assist you in finding those which interest you

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Finally, what God did to initiate The Bible In Paintings:
HOW GOD STARTED THIS SERIES
BY SHOWING ME JUST ONE PICTURE

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SPECIAL THANKS
to FReeper left that other site,
who allowed God to make her His conduit
for incomparable enthusiasm, encouragement,
education, advice and technical assistance!

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NOTES ON MY SELECTION CRITERIA

A r t Q u a l i t y

The Bible and its Author are my focus, not the art: this is The Bible in Paintings, not "Great Paintings" nor even "Good Paintings." So, works need not be masterpieces to qualify for inclusion here—they don't need to be housed at the Louvre nor auctioned by Sotheby's. They only need to illustrate successfully some aspect of the Biblical text or, frankly, just tickle my fancy, which I'm always asking the Holy Spirit to guide.

Often, artists misrepresent the Scripture, but unless the error is material, licentious or heretical I usually include the artwork, trusting that the Spirit is perfectly capable of defending Himself. So, with such forgiving filters, it means that you're seeing practically everything I'm finding.

T e x t S e q u e n c i n g

The Protestant Canon does not (for several reasons) follow a strictly chronological sequence. There are many examples where, for God's good purposes, stories are told out-of-order. Nevertheless, for the sake of simplicity, clarity, and my sanity, I have chosen to proceed linearly and methodically from Genesis onward, illustrating each Bible passage as we come to it. Where two passages cover the same incident I omit the second telling, excepting the four Gospels which I will treat synoptically. Now, onward!

P a c i n g

The pace here may seem appallingly snail-like to those eager to see their favorite events illustrated. My commission is to search for art on each Bible passage in sequence: if I find enough, then it becomes the next installment, even if undramatic (but where there is little or no art, that Bible passage goes untold here).

Then, there is the human element: this is not actually a daily series, because I can only research, compose, edit and post five or six of these installments weekly. And because I only get to do this series once, I'm taking my time, chiefly by posting everything; if I find lots of art, I don't cherry-pick some and discard the rest. Rather, I line up all of them and then sort them into manageable bunches, often resulting in multiple days' episodes of the same story. Obviously, I like being thorough. Were you in a big hurry?

The Bible is a thick book, as you know; but we'll get there eventually, Lord willing—this is His project, after all. And always remember:
love, joy, peace, patience kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control is a fruit of the Spirit!

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Art is merely the Toy Department of Bible study,
so I'm just having fun here—I hope you are, too!
Thank you for your understanding.

Hebrews 11:6
Dan Lewis
DodgerDan
'55 '59 '63 '65 '81 '88 '20

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To be alerted to each new posting,
either reply here or FRmail me.

No contracts, startup charges or monthly fees;
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[Hebrews 11:6]

At the Holy Spirit's prompting, I am surveying "Bible art" to give God glory, as many of these artists have done, and for my own amusement and learning; and I thought others might enjoy it and be blessed by it, too. My plan is to proceed methodically from left-to-right, Genesis to Revelation, as the Lord wills. Back soon with another.

The Bible encourages us to meditate on it (Ps. 1:1-3, 119:11-16, etc.); these artists have done so, and their works can assist us and enrich our own thoughts about biblical characters, incidents and concepts, and increase our faith in He who is behind it all. As you encounter and consider these images and the related Scriptures and the Spirit enlightens your understanding, please share it with us!

But it is not only oil-on-canvas that can so help us; I refer to the astonishing video series The Chosen, which strolls through the four Gospels at the most leisurely pace. The eight episodes of Season 1 are finished, and the second of a planned seven seasons is being filmed right now. I say "leisurely" because after an entire year's viewing Jesus still has only seven of the apostles (although He's preparing to call up Thomas from the minor leagues--but Thomas is skeptical, of course). Anticipating a canvas of fifty-plus hours instead of a movie's paltry two hours, The Chosen turns the characters (especially including Jesus!) into three-dimensional humans and brings the Gospels alive--you have never seen anything even remotely like it! Here is the Official Trailer.

Here is a link for free viewing of The Chosen: "Works with your phone, tablet, and you can cast to your Roku or Chromecast." Last fall I paid $34.98 for DVDs and ongoing internet access—best 35 bucks I've ever spent (I don't recall how much our marriage license cost, but then it was 43 years ago).

[Hebrews 11:6]

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P r e s e n t e d . . F o r . . Y o u r

CONSIDERATION

ENJOYMENT

& BLESSING

[Red Badger]

Josiah is the perfect example of a good king who made a stupid decision. Even though he was by most measures a ‘good’ king, he decided to fight against a Pharaoh who had no reason to fight him, and even told him “Your God told me to go up and fight the Assyrians.”................

[left that other site]

Good morning! :-)

[Hebrews 11:6]

Bible-readers who share your alertness find many stories illustrating the same human foibles and follies which befall them today. God wants us to see ourselves in the Bible’s pages: who cannot look back on Josiah-like folly in his own life?

[Red Badger]

God will not stop you from doing stupid things.................

[Hebrews 11:6]

♫Well, hello Mary-Lou♫

[left that other site]

Goodbye Heart! :-)

[Hebrews 11:6]

Masterfully stated. On how many tombstones should that appear?

[Red Badger]

Most of them......................

[Hebrews 11:6]

Is that song on an endless loop in your noggin?

[Hebrews 11:6]

LOL

[left that other site]

Only when triggered. LOL.

[etabeta]

What was Necho’s motivation to kill Josiah? From what I have once read in Jewish Virtual Library, Josiah went to Megiddo to meet the Pharaoh. No mention of wanting to fight him. Maybe I am dense.....

[Hebrews 11:6]

What was Necho’s motivation to kill Josiah?

Self-defense?

29 While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Necho faced him and killed him

[.30Carbine]

Josiah has always been one of my favorites. Many thanks for including the Scripture in between the paintings.

[Hebrews 11:6]

"Including the Scripture" is my standard and constant format, because it is my chief concern: every day, my prayer is that the art will attract viewers and focus their attention and thinking on the Word. So, if you'll pardon my echo, rather than "including the Scripture in between the paintings," I am actually including the paintings in between the Scripture.

[etabeta]

OK, I have read more Initially, it was not clear to me what Josiah had to do with Egyptians and Assyrians. Ignorance is not bliss! Thanks.

[OneVike]

Thanks. there is a lesson in Josiah's life for all Christians.

But first a contrast between him and King David. Mind you, King Josiah was the most righteous King ever of both Kingdoms. Including when the Kingdom was united under David and Solomon. This from 2 Kings 23:22

Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.

However, he refused to believe God spoke to him through the Pharaoh.

His death in battle reminds me of the time when David was preparing to battle the Philistines.

David had already defeated them in a similar battle, in 2 Samuel 22:19

So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” And the LORD said to David, “Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.”

Well again the Philistines came upon David for battle, and this time the Lord told David not to go into battle as he did before. 2Samuel 22-25

Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. Therefore David inquired of the LORD, and He said, “You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. “And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the LORD will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” And David did so, as the LORD commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.

Thus David could have figured, he defeated them once he can do so again. Had he done so, he would have been defeated, and killed. Now mind you, God would have allowed him to die, because at this time Solomon had already been born. This was after his encounter with Bathsheba and God blessed her with the birth of Solomon. So God's promise to bring the Messiah through David was already cemented. Yet David was faithful and inquired instead of leaning on his own understanding and good King Josiah did.

If King Josiah did not trust the prophecy from the Egyptian Pharaoh, he should have inquired of the LORD himself through his prophets, and then he would know from the Lord that he should not go to battle, and he would not have died so young.

As I looked for any time God removed a good king from power. I could not. So my mind told me God will not remove trump. Then I remembered good king Josiah. He made one mistake, and not cost him his life.

This is a lesson we Christians need to understand about the Law of Moses. We have Christ so we can err, and still gain forgiveness, but the Mosaic Law says that unless you follow the WHOLE LAW, you are in violation of it. So these legalistic individuals who want to hold tight to certain Jewish rules and regulations, like observing the sabbath on Saturday, but yet others they do not. They fail to realize that observing any Mosaic Law, outs you in bondage to them all.

An example of this would be, a person who some how was able to follow the whole Mosaic Law from birth till a very old age. They are the perfect Christian. So, one day they are traveling to their church on Saturday, and someone pulls out in front of them and just before the cars collide, the perfect human yells out, "You fool", then a second later they collided and the perfect man flies through his windshield and lands on the pavement dead.

Darn, he almost made it. Too bad, too sad, he went to hell, because the Law could not save a person who broke even one commandment. He should have put his trust in Jesus, the perfect Lamb fulfilled the whole law, without ever breaking even one commandment.

This is the lesson of Josiah for us Christians. He was the best king of all, yet he failed to head God's warning. He could have inquired from a prophet, but he didn't like where the warning came from. Kind of reminds you of Balaam and the Talking Donkey. Doesn't it.

[Hebrews 11:6]

The whole scenario seems nonsensical to me. Why would Necho march all the way to the Euphrates, to help Assyria? Must be 500 miles. We’re offered no explanation at all, merely a bare-facts report. My inference is that Josiah’s territorial testosterone skyrocketed at Necho’s mere presence, which the text implies was altogether unrelated to Judah.