Bird's-eye view
This passage records the tragic and jarring death of one of Judah's best kings. After the glorious spiritual high of Josiah's reforms and the magnificent Passover celebration, the story takes a sudden, dark turn. Josiah, the great reformer, makes a fatal political and spiritual miscalculation. He decides to interfere in a conflict that is not his, marching out to intercept Pharaoh Neco of Egypt. What makes the story so theologically potent is that God sends a warning to Josiah, but He uses the pagan Pharaoh as His mouthpiece. Josiah, in a moment of what appears to be pious stubbornness or nationalistic pride, refuses to listen, disguises himself for battle like the wicked king Ahab, and is killed. The passage concludes with the profound national mourning that followed his death. It serves as a stark reminder that even the godliest of men can err fatally, and that God's sovereign word can come to us through the most unexpected of channels.
The central lesson is one of discernment and humility. Josiah's great success in reforming the nation may have led to a blind spot in his own heart. He failed to recognize the voice of God because it came from a source he despised. This is not just a sad ending to a good king's life; it is a crucial pivot point in the history of Judah, setting the stage for the final collapse and exile. It demonstrates that personal piety, even at a high level, is no substitute for careful, humble inquiry before the Lord in every new decision.
Outline
- 1. The Good King's Fatal Error (2 Chron 35:20-27)
- a. The Unnecessary Confrontation (2 Chron 35:20)
- b. The Pagan's Prophetic Warning (2 Chron 35:21)
- c. The King's Stubborn Disobedience (2 Chron 35:22)
- d. The Inevitable Consequence (2 Chron 35:23-24)
- e. The Nation's Great Lament (2 Chron 35:24-25)
- f. The King's Final Epitaph (2 Chron 35:26-27)
Context In 2 Chronicles
This section comes immediately after the high-water mark of Josiah's reign, and arguably one of the high-water marks in all of Judah's history: the restoration of the temple, the recovery of the Book of the Law, and the celebration of the most magnificent Passover since the time of Samuel (2 Chron 35:18). The Chronicler has built up Josiah as a truly great king, a new David. The suddenness and tragedy of his death is therefore intentionally shocking. It serves as the turning point that precipitates Judah's final, swift decline into Babylonian exile. After Josiah, the narrative records a succession of four wicked and weak kings who undo all his good work. His death was not just a personal tragedy, but a national disaster from which Judah would not recover. It underscores the Chronicler's theme that the fate of the nation is inextricably tied to the faithfulness of its king.
Key Issues
- The Sovereignty of God in Using Pagan Rulers
- The Nature of Divine Revelation Outside of Scripture
- The Sin of Presumption in a Godly Leader
- The Parallel Between Josiah's and Ahab's Disguise and Death
- The Role of a King's Sin in National Judgment
- The Relationship Between Historical Narrative and Prophetic Lament
An Unlikely Mouthpiece
One of the most unsettling truths in Scripture is that God is not tidy. He is not a tame lion. He does not confine His operations to the channels we build for Him. This story is a prime example. Josiah was the reformer, the man of the Book, the king who restored the worship of Yahweh. Pharaoh Neco was a pagan, an idolater, a political opportunist. And yet, when it came time to deliver a crucial, life-or-death message to the covenant king, whom did God use? He used the pagan.
The text is explicit: Josiah "did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God" (v. 22). This forces us to wrestle with the fact that God can and does speak truth through fallen, and even unregenerate, sources. He spoke through Balaam. He spoke through a donkey. He named Cyrus His shepherd. Here, He speaks through Pharaoh Neco. This does not sanctify Neco or his religion. It simply demonstrates God's absolute sovereignty over all things, including the mouths of pagan kings. Josiah's failure was a failure of discernment. He judged the message by the messenger, assuming that nothing true could come from such a polluted source. He had just orchestrated the greatest Passover in centuries, and perhaps he felt spiritually invincible. This is a permanent warning to the church. We must have the humility to test all things and hold fast to what is good, regardless of the vessel God chooses to use. Truth is truth, even on the lips of a Pharaoh.
Verse by Verse Commentary
20 After all this, when Josiah had set the house in order, Neco king of Egypt went up to make war at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to meet him.
The timing is everything. After all this. After the revival, after the reforms, after the great Passover. This is when the test comes. Spiritual success is often more dangerous than spiritual failure because it can breed a subtle pride. The geopolitical situation is that the Assyrian empire is collapsing, and Babylon and Egypt are vying for the spoils. Neco is marching north to help the last vestiges of Assyria fight the Babylonians at Carchemish. His fight is not with Judah. Josiah's decision to intercept him is not explained, but it appears to be an unprovoked and presumptuous act of political maneuvering. He had no command from God to do this. He was stepping out of his lane.
21 But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “What have I to do with you, O King of Judah? I am not coming against you today but against the house with which I am at war, and God has said for me to hurry. Stop for your own sake from interfering with God who is with me, so that He will not bring you to ruin.”
Neco's response is surprisingly reasonable. He essentially says, "This is not your fight. Stay out of it." But then he makes a stunning claim. He says "God" (Elohim, the general term for God, not the covenant name Yahweh) has commanded him to hurry. He warns Josiah not to interfere with God's plan. Now, a godly king should not take a pagan's claim at face value. But he should at least take it seriously enough to inquire of the Lord for himself, especially when his own course of action was not based on any clear divine command. Josiah's failure here was not gullibility, but a proud refusal to even consider that God might be speaking.
22 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.
Josiah's stubbornness is fatal. And his tactic is telling. He disguised himself. Where have we seen this before? King Ahab of Israel, one of the most wicked kings in history, disguised himself before the battle at Ramoth-gilead after ignoring the true prophet Micaiah (1 Kings 22:30). For Josiah, the great reformer, to imitate Ahab's folly is a shocking spiritual backslide. It reveals a lack of faith, a reliance on carnal strategy instead of trust in God. The Chronicler then gives the divine verdict: Josiah was disobeying a direct word "from the mouth of God." His decision to fight on the plain of Megiddo, a historic battlefield, sealed his fate.
23 Then the archers shot King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am badly wounded.”
The disguise did not work for Ahab, and it does not work for Josiah. A random arrow found its mark with Ahab, and here the archers find theirs. You cannot hide from the sovereign will of God on a battlefield. When God has spoken a warning, no amount of human cleverness can avert the consequences of ignoring it. The arrow finds the chink in the armor, and the great king is brought down. His last words are a simple, painful admission of defeat.
24 So his servants took him out of the chariot and drove him in the second chariot which he had, and brought him to Jerusalem where he died, and he was buried in the tombs of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
His death was a national catastrophe. He was brought back to Jerusalem, the center of his reforms, to die. The mourning was universal and profound. He was a beloved king, and the people knew they had lost someone special. This was not the death of a tyrant; it was the tragic death of a flawed hero. The grief was not just for the man, but for the era of hope that died with him.
25 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 a statute in Israel; behold, they are also written in the lamentations.
The prophet Jeremiah, who had been a contemporary and supporter of Josiah's reforms, leads the nation in mourning. This shows the depth of the tragedy. The death of this king became a fixture in Israel's liturgical memory, a "statute" to be remembered. It was a wound so deep that it was memorialized in song for generations, a reminder of what they had, and what they had lost through one foolish decision.
26-27 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his deeds of lovingkindness according to what was written in the law of Yahweh, and his acts, first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
The Chronicler ends his account of Josiah's reign with the standard formula, but with a crucial addition. He highlights Josiah's "deeds of lovingkindness" (hesed), his covenant faithfulness. This is important. The Chronicler wants us to know that Josiah's final, fatal mistake did not erase his life of faithfulness. He was a good king who made a bad end. His life was defined by his loyalty to God's law, even if his death was caused by a momentary lapse. It is a word of grace, reminding us that while sin has consequences, it does not get the final word for those whose lives are characterized by faithfulness.
Application
The story of Josiah's end is a sobering one, and it is filled with application for us. First, we must beware the danger of success. It was "after all this," after the great revival, that Josiah stumbled. When God has blessed us, when ministry is going well, when we have won some victories, that is precisely when we are most vulnerable to pride and presumption. We must not assume that yesterday's victories guarantee tomorrow's wisdom.
Second, we must cultivate the humility to hear God's truth from any quarter. God is sovereign, and He is not restricted to using our favorite preachers or authors. Truth can be spoken by a co-worker, a pagan philosopher, or even a Pharaoh Neco. Our job is not to police the messengers, but to test the message against the clear standard of God's written Word and to seek His face in prayer. A proud heart cannot be taught, and Josiah's pride stopped his ears to a direct warning from God.
Finally, this passage shows us why we need a better king than Josiah. Even the best of earthly kings was a flawed man who could make a fatal mistake. Josiah's death brought grief and ruin to his nation. Our King, the Lord Jesus, never made a misstep. He listened to His Father's voice perfectly. And His death, unlike Josiah's, was not a tragic error but a deliberate, victorious sacrifice. Josiah died at Megiddo because of his disobedience. Christ went to Calvary in perfect obedience, securing a victory that could never be undone. Our ultimate trust must not be in any human leader, no matter how godly, but only in King Jesus.