After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Neco king of Egypt came up to make war at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to engage him. But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, "What have we to do with each other, O King of Judah? I am not coming against you today but against the house with which I am at war, and God has ordered me to hurry. Stop for your own sake from interfering with God who is with me, so that He will not destroy you."
However, Josiah would not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to make war with him; nor did he listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to make war on the plain of Megiddo. The archers shot King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, "Take me away, for I am badly wounded."
So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in the second chariot which he had, and brought him to Jerusalem where he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. Then Jeremiah chanted a lament for Josiah. And all the male and female singers speak about Josiah in their lamentations to this day. And they made them an ordinance in Israel; behold, they are also written in the Lamentations.
Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his deeds of devotion as written in the law of the LORD, and his acts, first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. – 2 Chronicles 35:20-27
If ever there was a man under divine guidance, it was Josiah. According to 1 Kings 13:2, a prophet went up to the altar of idolatry and told Jeroboam that a king named Josiah would come along and destroy that altar. Long before Josiah was born, his destiny, as far as the reforms he carried out, were established. He was a righteous man, loved by his people. Yet he fell in a foolish, unnecessary battle.
Now imagine you are Josiah, king of Judah, reigning in Jerusalem. You had accomplished much. Your efforts had been successful. You are in the will of God, and you know it. Word comes that the king of Egypt is crossing or crossing near your territory. Perhaps it was a diplomatic faux pas. Perhaps Josiah perceived it as a threat to his sovereignty. Perhaps it would cause him problems in negotiations with the threatening power of Babylon. Josiah felt he had to challenge Neco – whatever the cause may have been.
He may have sent an ambassador at first to try and warn off Egypt, and it may have been to the ambassador that Neco gave his message. On the face of it, the statement is fairly diplomatic and inoffensive. Most of us read it and think immediately that Josiah should heed this warning to avoid a tragic outcome. The King of Judah may have seen it differently. He may well have said, “Who is this Egyptian to tell me the will of God? After all, I’ve been walking in God’s will all my life – why, even before. Am I not the prophesied one who would bring restoration and revival to the kingdom? This king thinks he can avoid a battle with such a transparent ploy? What a fool.”
On the other hand, I possibly don’t give Josiah enough credit since he did choose to go into battle with Neco wearing a disguise. He may have thought the Egyptians would target him specifically if they saw him in royal robes. He seems to have been cautious at least in his approach. It’s possible that, given the state of his alliances, he felt he had no choice but to try and stop Neco, even a the risk of his life. Instead of offended arrogance, Josiah may have died on behalf of honor and courage. Given the pattern of his life up to that point, it’s more than likely.
It’s really a rather difficult position. There are many people who use the name of the Lord as a means of manipulating or intimidating others. This is truly taking the name of the Lord in vain. When the Assyrians were about to lay siege to Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah and Isaiah (see Isaiah chapters 36 and 37), they sought to dishearten the defenders by telling them that it was the LORD who had sent the Assyrian army to destroy the city (Isaiah 36:10). In that case it was not true. The text indicates that the Assyrian messenger, Rabshekah, spoke to the defenders in their Hebrew language and used the covenant name of God.
An enemy may be coming with deceit and deception to destroy us. Conversely, someone we perceive as an enemy may be speaking to us as an oracle of God. How do we know the difference? How can we have faith in any outcome if we don’t know going in what the will of God is?
For one thing, we have to stay tuned to the voice of the Spirit. One means of doing this is to listen to the godly and the sage. Wise people around us are giving us insight all the time if we will only give heed to what’s being said. Not long ago I was watching an episode of “Arrested Development” from the first season, I think. The imprisoned family patriarch keeps repeating to the son that “there’s always money in the banana stand.” He says it sort of nonchalantly as he’s eating ice cream or whatever. The teenage grandson has been put in charge of the banana stand and has been losing money. To cover up the loss, he comes up with a plan to torch the stand. His father learns of the plot, but, in an effort to encourage him as his father never did, he helps him burn it to the ground. The patriarch loses his cool when he learns of this, grabbing his son, and saying, “There was a quarter million dollars in the walls of the banana stand!”
The son replies, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Another way to stay tuned is to study the Bible. The Word of God, as Hebrews 4:12 tells us, is an instrument of discernment. It opens, analyzes and exposes our motives and intentions. It doesn’t necessarily happen overnight, nor can we simply flip a Bible open blindly and be guaranteed to get a special revelation. That works sometimes, but it’s not something to count on in every crisis. The Word works best when it is attended to and absorbed on a regular basis. It seeps and sinks into our hearts and our being and serves to guide us even below the level of awareness. Meditating on the Word goes well with prayer and will help to give us the insight we need to discern our Father’s will in any situation.
And don’t summarily dismiss what the enemy says. Satan is a tool. We can hear the voice of the Lord in the oddest places and circumstances, if we are listening for God. As Balaam learned, even the most unlikely ass can speak prophetically.
The truth is that Josiah may have been as destined by God to die in battle as he was to destroy the high places and pagan altars. That’s beyond the understanding of man. Physical death is not the worst thing that can happen to us. Sometimes a life’s work is simply finished, and the person is set free of the cares and toils of this world. Those left behind lamented his passing but Josiah was with the LORD – “where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest”.
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