2 Kings 22:1-2--Josiah Reigns in Judah

2 Kings 22:1-2
English Standard Version

Josiah Reigns in Judah
22 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

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There will be much to say about King Josiah later, but today's passage that summarizes his coming to power is short as the author wants to jump right into the reforms that he made to reverse course from Manasseh and Amon.  Josiah was young--only 8 years old when he became king.  He would reign 31 years in Jerusalem, and he was one of the best kings that we will see in the history of Judah and Israel.  It has been a while since we heard such commendation "He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left."  As we look at the rest of this chapter and the beginning of the next chapter, we'll see exactly why the author says that, but Josiah's first task when he becomes king is to restore the Temple as the place to worship the LORD and Him only.  In the process of doing so, the high priest will find the Book of the Law (that is probably referring to the book of Deuteronomy, a copy of which was to be placed in the Holy of Holies near the Ark of the Covenant so that they could read it to the people at least once every year).  When they read this the hearts of the priests, the king, and the people are broken and they repent of the wickedness they have done, and they reform the culture and bring back the celebration of the Holy Days (holidays) like Passover which the people had failed to observe while they were worshiping their idols.

That's a brief summary of what we'll be talking about in the days going forward until we reach the death of Josiah towards the end of chapter 23.  Of course, more will be said about him in 2 Chronicles, but we'll get there when that statement is made.