“Don’t trouble trouble ’til trouble troubles you; you’ll only make your trouble double-trouble when you do.”
From his days as a child-king, Josiah “did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left” (2 Chron 34:2). By age 16, he was fully engaged in ridding the land of every false altar and idol. At 26, his passion to bring spiritual restoration led to a wholesale reconstruction of the temple. It wasn’t until the high priest discovered the scroll, probably Deuteronomy, that he realized how great the chasm was between God’s absolute holiness and man’s feeble efforts. But rather than be discouraged, he redoubled his efforts in aligning his life and the lives of his people with God’s Word. The covenant was renewed, the Passover held, and thirteen years of peace and prosperity, unmentioned in the chapter, resulted from God’s favor. But then we read, “After all this…” (2 Chron 35:20). I am reminded of two key verses about zeal. One, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up,” is applied to the Lord Jesus and the unswerving passion with which He sought to cleanse the temple and restore the Word to the people, just as Josiah had done (Ps 69:9; Jn 2:17). But the second refers to the Jewish people of Paul’s day. He wrote, “I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Rom 10:2). Sadly, this also came true of Josiah. We are told that Pharaoh Necho’s army was cutting through Israel on their way to do battle at Carchemish. He warned Josiah not to pick a fight with him, but in his misplaced zeal, and without inquiring from the Lord, Josiah engaged the Egyptians, was mortally wounded, and not only he, but the reforms he had brought, died that day. Nonetheless, the inspired writer notes “the rest of the acts of Josiah and his goodness, according to what was written in the Law of the Lord” (2 Chron 35:26).