Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.
God's own verdict closes the record of Josiah's reforms: no king ever turned to the Lord as he did. So what made this young king unequalled, and why did God still judge Judah?
A commendation from God Himself
The praise here is God's own, not man's. One writer draws a principle from that:
An Outline of Sound WordsThe Lord has given His faithful servant a remarkable commendation. He notices everything in His people that comes from Himself and is done for Himself.
Not his merit, but God's Word in him
We might read the verse as a tribute to Josiah's own goodness. One writer points somewhere else — to the book found in the temple:
H. L. RossierRight to the end of his life, Josiah put into practice the principles he had drawn from the Scriptures. There was no king like him, before or after. That was not because of his own merit or his own righteousness. It was because the Word of God, mixed with faith in his heart, had become part of the man himself.
"According to all the Law of Moses"
Hezekiah receives a similar "none like him" (2 Kings 18:5), so the two statements must be read as praising different things:
J. N. DarbyWhat distinguished Josiah was his carefulness to observe the law of Moses, the book of which had been discovered in the temple; trust in the Lord had characterised Hezekiah; and in these respective characteristics they are both unequalled as to their walk.
Commentators differ on how these two men compare. One writer ranks Hezekiah higher, and reads their two commendations as marking two different footings before God:
The Bible TreasuryEvidently Hezekiah is on higher ground than Josiah… He is noted for his trust in the Lord (2 Kings 18:5), that is, he took the ground of grace. Josiah took rather the ground of law.
Three things that made it possible
The verse gives the result. One writer names three reasons behind it, and applies them to us:
W. W. FeredayJosiah was able to do wonderful things for God in a very hard time. First, he sought the Lord with all his heart. Second, he was determined to obey the written Word of God in every detail. Third, he worked hard to throw out of his own life, and out of everything he had influence over, all that did not agree with God's law. Where these things are found in any place, we might see great things yet, so gracious is our God.
One whole heart among many half-hearted ones
The wholeheartedness is Josiah's own, and the same period supplies God's assessment of everyone else:
Leslie M. GrantThis illustrates what the devoted energy of faith on the part of one man can accomplish… In the days of Josiah the Lord told Jeremiah, "Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but in pretense" (Jer. 3:10). Josiah had turned to God with his whole heart, but not so with the people generally. They could (and did) easily go in the opposite direction when Josiah died.
Why the judgment still fell
The praise of verse 25 stands next to the statement that God's anger was not turned away — a tension one writer resolves by distinguishing what grace does from what God's government requires:
Leslie M. GrantJosiah's faithfulness had only delayed the judgment during his own reign… Though God's grace may triumph over man's sin to save him from eternal judgment, yet God's government requires the judgment of whatever evil has been done.
The warning after the praise
The commendation is not the end of Josiah's story. What comes next is abrupt:
W G TurnerAdd to this his splendid character in 2 Kings 23:25, and we have a word-portrait of a devout, zealous, humble-minded, tenderhearted servant of God — up to a certain point in his life. Then, like an alarm bell, come three short words with a dark meaning: "After all this." They bring us without warning to a collapse. It is a sad one, and full of tremendous warning for believers today.
Summary
- Word first. Josiah found a lost book, believed it, and made it his own. His unequalled devotion came from Scripture mixed with faith, not from his own merit.
- Heart next. Three things made his work possible. He sought God with his whole heart, obeyed the written Word in every detail, and cleared out all that went against it.
- Youth. At 26, Josiah's own energy of faith carried out obedience to God's Word — a young believer can be a faithful example too.
- Limit. God noticed every bit of Josiah's faithfulness. Yet His government still demanded judgment on the evil already done.
- Warning. After the finest praise ever given to a king come three words: "After all this." A collapse closed the very life God had praised.