Lesson 17: The Josiah Story
King Josiah might be the most underrated person in the Old Testament. Only he and Hezekiah are described as righteous kings after David. Yet hardly anyone has ever heard about him. His claim to fame is leading a MIGA (Make Israel Great Again) program in the seventh century BC. I thought it might be interesting to compare his with our present MAGA movement.
His story as told in scripture (II Kings 22, 23 and II Chronicles 34, 35) is quite fascinating. He began to rule in 640 BC at the age of eight after the assassination of his evil father, Amon. His 31-year reign is marked by restoring the Hebrew faith.
Josiah begins by eliminating pagan practices. Priests were using the religious tax to maintain pagan shrines across the nation and finance their own personal lifestyles.
Josiah gave the money to workmen to renovate the Jerusalem temple, which had fallen into great disrepair and was hardly used. The extensive repairs included removing pagan idols and articles that had been added by previous kings.
At one point, the workmen supposedly found an ancient document called the Book of the Law lost in the rubble. The prophetess Hulda supported its claim to be the ancient teachings of Moses. Modern-day scholars generally agree that it is some form of Deuteronomy, although many question if it is really an old lost and found writing. It might be a collection of contemporary pieces placed there to support the reformation and later used to form the Deuteronomy tradition.
The Bible reports reading this book forced Josiah to repent of his past actions and inspired him to pledge future compliance with God’s law. He then had it read to all the people with a call to do the same.
His reformation again centralized national worship at the Jerusalem temple. He also restored the Passover that had not been celebrated for a long time, bringing the faith back into the home.
This is a good place to compare MIGA with MAGA asking what each claims will restore the greatness of a nation.
MAGA thinks theirs is an economic policy that will bring wealth to the nation. By decreasing regulation of wealthy businesses and taxes on rich people, it will supposedly lead to prosperity that will trickle-down to benefit the economic welfare of everyone.
Although the MIGA program had to do primarily with religious practices, the biblical account emphases that these featured the rich helping the poor. It intentionally mentions that money went to the workmen in the restoration of the temple. Even more, when the Passover was restored, the king and his princes provided lambs from their personal flocks for the common people. Remember this was food to be eaten in a meal. It was a clearly a government program that helped the poor.
There is also a great contrast in attitude. The Bible praises Josiah for having a tender heart and being humble before God. Repentance was great part of his program. There is no humility in Trump who uses bullying, brutality, and cruelty to get his way. He has said he can’t think of anything he has done that God should forgive.
If we assume Josiah’s movement promoted laws now found in the book of Deuteronomy, we could continue at great length. The acts of the present administration are almost all the direct opposite of Torah teachings. However, these are the two practices specially mentioned in the four chapters.
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