I stopped when I read 2 Kings 23:25: "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." There was never a king who turned to the LORD like Josiah? What about David?
The Concordia Self-Study Bible points out that a similar line is used to describe King Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18:5-6. This commentary points out that Hezekiah is held up more for his trust in the LORD while Josiah for his observation of the Mosaic law. However, in 18:6 one of the follow-up points for Hezekiah is that he kept the commands God had given Moses.
I wonder if these statements have to do with the settings in which these kings ruled. Hezekiah trusted in God while the Assyrian threat loomed--even while 185,000 soldiers waited just outside the city to take Jerusalem. In Josiah's case the kingdom of Judah was close to its end with the people almost past the point of no return. It was in this setting that Josiah would have to make his push for the people to repent and return to the Mosaic law.
So while the Bible offers chapters and chapters (and psalms and psalms) of how David trusted God in some extremely tough circumstances, perhaps Hezekiah and Josiah had a "leg up" on David for turning to God through even more intense circumstances?
In the absence of further commentary, that's my theory. Does anyone else have any thoughts--or have you heard an answer to this before?
"The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one" Psalm 14:2-3. There is no one who does good, or even seeks God, by nature. What descriptions like that of Josiah highlight is God's amazing grace, his willingness to clothe us in Jesus righteousness by faith. I believe it was Max Lucado who made something of a big deal in one of his writings about how David is the only person described in the Bible as being "a man after my [God's] own heart." (Acts 13:22). Yet David is critically acclaimed for his sin string - lust, adultery, murder, cover-up. But God's amazing grace removed his sin, and so David, by faith, was righteous - perfect - in God's eyes.
ReplyDeleteCouple with that Paul's encouragement to "aim for perfection" (2 Corinthians 13), "press on toward the goal" (Philippians 3) and the Apostles' pleas to "make every effort" (Luke 13, 2 Peter 3, the unknown writer to the Hebrews in chapters 4 and 12). In the context of God's underserved grace, we understand that these passages do not refer to any ability on our own part to earn God's favor or a place in eternal life. But they are warnings to remain in the faith, and also come with promises to experience spiritual blessings (reference all of God's instructions to the Israelites that said, "if you do this, you'll receive/experience this; if you don't this, you'll receive/experience that). Earthly life is better when one follows God's design (even though we forget that or don't trust it to be true so often, taking matters into our own hands instead and making a mess of things). Josiah and Hezekiah are shining examples of child-like faith that blossomed into mature faith, fully practiced in the things they did and said in their everyday lives. That's something for all of us to strive for out of love for God, knowing that when we falter and fail, Jesus is there to forgive and restore.
On the basic playing field of sin, Josiah and Hezekiah are no better than we are - breaking one command is as breaking them all. On the basic playing field of grace, Josiah and Hezekiah are not more deserving than we are - they were in need of God's grace just as much as each of us is. What they have is credited righteousness, coupled with exemplary lives of loving response to that undeserved grace. In view of God's mercy crediting us likewise, may we have the same resolve to live according to God's commands.