What happened to… Josiah?

This is a part of a quirky “what happened to…” series

1. What happened to Josiah?
2. What happened to Goliath’s kids?
3. What happened to Zacchaeus?
4. What happened to Moses?
5. What happened to the Sons of Sceva?
6. What happened to Peter?
7. What happened to Jehu?

And now for the main attraction…

I feel this prophecy that we are in a time of Josiah is true but I’m nervous about came after Josiah’s reforms. But let’s start the story at the beginning…

Manasseh was – they say – the worst king in Israel and he did terrible things in the sight of the Lord.

But then his son was Josiah and he found the book of the Law and he put in place reforms…

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left. – 2Ki 22:1-2

And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. – 2Ki 22:8

For example this is just some of what Josiah did…

Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. And the king went up to the house of the LORD, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD. And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.

And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. – 2Ki 23:1-4

Josiah’s reforms resulted in God relenting and no longer making war against Judah… HOWEVER…

In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was kept. After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to meet him. But he sent envoys to him, saying, “What have we to do with each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war. And God has commanded me to hurry.

Cease opposing God, who is with me, lest he destroy you.

Nevertheless, Josiah did not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to fight in the plain of Megiddo. And the archers shot King Josiah. And the king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am badly wounded.” – 2Ch 35:19-23

And Josiah died. Then his son Jehoahaz  reigned for a while, but Egypt conquered Judah and installed one king and then another…

And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim.

But (Pharoah) Neco took Jehoahaz his brother and carried him to Egypt. Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God. – 2Ch 36:4-5

and after this Zedekiah reigned and did even worse.

The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.

But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy.

Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand.

And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. – 2Ch 36:15-18

I feel this prophecy that we are in a time of Josiah is true. And I’m not keen to see what may come next. I’m also not keen to be killed for opposing the Lord as Josiah was.

Imagine what may have happened if Josiah had not passed away?!

I can’t explain it, but I clearly sense there are two competing rivers flowing this world. The one is the judgement of God and the other is mercy/grace/favor as represented by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

In recent times the judgement river has become far more powerful.

I feel that for me to oppose the river of impending judgement will result in the removal of me.

I am quite sure that judgement is coming this year. I have felt God’s Presence today (Monday 29th March) and what came to me was to read Joel 2…

Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming; it is near, – Joe 2:1

The judgement is imminent. Months away. The locusts are coming and the harvest will not come in.

We did not learn from the last failure of the harvest, we did not change our ways, we did not soften our hearts!

Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.

Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God? The seed shrivels under the clods; the storehouses are desolate; the granaries are torn down because the grain has dried up.

How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep suffer. – Joe 1:15-18

We live in a time when God intends to raise up anyone He wants to, anyone who is willing to listen to Him and do His will. Bowing to a human structure to maintain legitimacy is a mistake, because by doing this you are not seeking your legitimacy in and through Him.

We live in a democracy… people vote for leaders. But it is not people who give you favor, it is not organisations, it is not the church, it is not prophets/seers, it is not church leaders. It is Jesus Christ Himself Who confers favor (all authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to Him, His Name is above all other Names).

It is only YHWH/Jesus Christ – they are One – Who chooses leaders and establishes them.

So… yes we face judgement this year. And Edom will be an extremely shocking event. But we also face rejoicing this year, because as Joel describes, He will pour out His Spirit on all flesh at this time.

The face of the earth will become quiet and peaceful. I understand that the harvest will not come in, but human society will be blessed incredibly as well. Shock may come from the troubles – and I keep thinking about the loss of 10% of the flocks in Mongolia because of a minus 40 degrees celcius winter there – and that will cause a dramatic change in society (the poor people are now going to leave their rural shamanic/occult traditions and become urbanised), but the change will be balance by rejoicing and renewal and blessing.

Meanwhile, Jesus Christ has been preparing many oasis all across the earth where everything will not be lost. These are the places where people will run to. They are where His Holy Spirit is now being poured out. These places have His Presence and there will be little or virtually no collapse there – because of the goodness of His Presence there. Just think of how Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Israel sailed through the collapse of the last two years. That is the kind of blessing that His Presence will bring and it is to be desired and protected!

And restoration will be a wonderful thing…

“Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before. “The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,

and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame.

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. – Joe 2:23-30

So this time will pass and He will restore. Is this locust-eating-the-harvest destruction a sure thing? I am convinced it is.

Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh and prophecy doom, because he knew God would change His mind and have mercy. I honestly think there is virtually no chance of that happening. And (until today) I’ve seen no evidence in scripture of that possibility, rather, I’ve seen assurances that He will NOT change His mind.

After the rescue job He performed on the world economy, did we rejoice and give the glory to Him? Or did we conceil, limit, obfuscate and cover up? No we did not praise Him for His favor towards us…

If favor is shown to the wicked, he does not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly and does not see the majesty of the LORD. – Isa 26:10

But now, in the book of Joel, I see a small leaf is offered… will you all humble yourselves and take it?

“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and

he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,

and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God? – Joe 2:12-14

So there is a remote possibility. Yes. It depends on world leaders, not on the church, not on believers.

But I don’t want to be Josiah and oppose what is coming – and be removed by Him. But if the leaders of the earth were to change their ways… things can change direction and disaster can be avoided.

This is an imperfect message, written by an imperfect person. My message is this… I urge leaders to embrace the sacrifice of Jesus Christ because it is the only way to be reconciled back to God and to come into a state of favor with God.

Embrace His Presence being poured out in your country. Protect it, welcome it – your economy and the well being of your citizens depends on it.

Thank you to those who support this ministry financially.

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This is a part of the Edom series…

• The day of vengeance of our God – Isa 34:8, posted on 7 October 2010
• Signs, a call to repent, posted on 20 June 2010
• Clapping, posted on 31 May 2010
• What happened to… Josiah? Posted on 5 April 2010
• My sword is bathed in heaven, posted on 22 January 2010