II Kings 23:32 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.
I would like you to ask yourself two questions at the end of this day. “How much have I accomplished?” “How long will it last?” Those are two separate but related questions, and probably none of us are completely objective when we ask ourselves these questions. Though we may either be too hard or too easy on ourselves, both of these are questions worthy of our consideration today.
Some people are task doers. They love to burn through a long list of tasks and get them done. That is not a bad thing. It is a wonderful feeling when at the end of the day you can have a ready answer when someone asks, “What did you do today?” Some days I can’t really put a finger on a list of things I have done, but maybe a couple of major questions have been answered or a couple of important relationships have been shored up. Only God knows the importance, impact, and the longevity of such accomplishments.
In any event, King Josiah is a man I admire. He was a man of action who accomplished much and trusted God. II Kings 23 gives a summation of King Josiah’s life. The Bible says, “And the king went up into the house of the LORD…and he read in their ears all the words of the book.” Josiah “made a covenant before the LORD.” The Bible says that Josiah took out all the vessels of Baal that were in God’s temple and destroyed them. He “put down the idolatrous priests.” He “brought out the grove from the house of the LORD.” He “brake down the houses of the sodomites.” He “defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense… and brake down the high places.” He destroyed the place where people had sacrificed their own children to false gods. He “took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun.” He “burned the chariots of the sun with fire.”
The narrative of Josiah’s destruction of the remnants of idolatry goes on, but the summation of his life is found in verse 25, which says, “And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.” Of evil Ahab, the Bible tells us there was none like him before or after. Now Josiah was his antithesis, the anti-Ahab. There was no king before or after quite like Josiah!
What a marvelous man! What a godly king! I like Josiah. I admire Josiah. He thought right. He did right. He thought about the words of God’s law and he accomplished them. So, how much did Josiah accomplish? Much, and for that we thank God and applaud Josiah’s dedication.
But, as to the second question, “How long did it last?” the Bible tells us that he died, as all kings do, and Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, was anointed king in his father’s stead. Verse 32 goes on to say, “And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.” So, how much did Josiah accomplish that lasted very long after his death? There were a number of things, but not nearly as much as would have been accomplished if he had invested in his son the kind of energies he invested in all the other great accomplishments of his life.
It is not as if you have to choose between getting things done or investing in the children who will continue that work when you are gone. But, tending to all the urgencies in life will not matter if you are not investing in the children and people who will carry on the work after you are gone.
Someone has said “One does not quickly replace men of experience.” That is true, but the way you give young people experience is by teaching them the truth. There are many great men and women of God throughout history who accomplished much but did not reach their own children, invest in the next generation, or teach people who would follow in the right way.
Today, I don’t feel harshly towards Josiah. I think he was a good man. But he was a man whose legacy was limited because while he accomplished much, it did not last long.