Josiah became king at the age of eight years old. His father, Amon, had been king for two years before he was assassinated by a group of court officials and attendants. While Amon was king, he did evil in God’s sight, including extensive worship of pagan gods. Josiah did not have a father to counsel him in how to be obedient to God. Instead, God provided someone that counseled Josiah with Godly wisdom and Josiah responded to the instructions in a humble and obedient fashion.
In Josiah’s eighteenth year as king, he ordered repairs to be made to the temple. During the construction, a copy of the first five books of the Old Testament, written by Moses, were found. As Hilkiah, the High Priest began reading to Josiah, from the Book of the Law, Josiah was greatly troubled; because he became aware of God’s commandments and how disobedient the people of Judah had become.
While Josiah was able to eliminate the pagan idols from public places, the hearts of the people were turned away from God; and the prophets revealed that God was about to punish Judah for its wickedness. [Reflection is based on the Bible Reference – 2 Kings 22:1-23:27]