A Historical Perspective

A Historical Perspective

“Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.”
2nd Chronicles 34:1-2

The scripture above tells us just a little about Josiah who was made king when he was only eight years old. But from the moment I read about him, I was very impressed because in the prior two generations of the kings of Jerusalem, they had ruled with evil intentions, and had turned their backs on God and their kingdom had suffered. But when Josiah began his rule he brought God back into the land, and the kingdom began to prosper again. This is how it was for the people of Israel as when they turned their backs on God they suffered, but when they worshipped God they prospered. During Josiah’s reign two impressive things happened. The Book of the Law was found and began to be followed, and Josiah began to celebrate the Passover again, which was a sacred part of their worship. These two events indicated that God was again part of the daily life of the Jewish people. The story of Josiah intrigued me because I believe we see this kind of history being repeated in society today. For instance as I have done much research of my family’s ancestors I have found that when a divorce occurred, which resulted in a broken family, it took about two generations for the family to mend and heal itself. During these two generations almost without exception divorces in the children’s family would continue until someone would break the cycle. Then the next generations would be divorce free for several generations, and the family would thrive. I believe there is much to be learned by looking at history such as Josiah as it repeats itself over and over, even down to our own generations.