seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Chronicles 35:20 After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Necho king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah marched out to meet him in battle. 21 But Necho sent messengers to him, saying, “What quarrel is there, king of Judah, between you and me? It is not you I am attacking at this time, but the house with which I am at war. God has told me to hurry; so stop opposing God, who is with me, or he will destroy you.”
22 Josiah, however, would not turn away from him, but disguised himself to engage him in battle. He would not listen to what Necho had said at God’s command but went to fight him on the plain of Megiddo.
23 Archers shot King Josiah, and he told his officers, “Take me away; I am badly wounded.” 24 So they took him out of his chariot, put him in his other chariot and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. He was buried in the tombs of his ancestors, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him.
25 Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah, and to this day all the male and female singers commemorate Josiah in the laments. These became a tradition in Israel and are written in the Laments.
26 The other events of Josiah’s reign and his acts of devotion in accordance with what is written in the Law of the Lord— 27 all the events, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
This is from the easy English commentary.At that time, there were three powerful nations. They were Assyria, Babylon and Egypt. While these nations were about equal in power, Judah could be a free nation. But Assyria was becoming the weakest of the three nations. Babylon was becoming the most powerful and they fought with Assyria. King Neco of Egypt decided to try to help Assyria against Babylon. In 609 BC he went to fight at Carchemish at the Euphrates River. To do this, Neco and his army had to pass through the territory of Israel.
Josiah decided that he would not allow the soldiers from Egypt to pass through the territory of Israel. He took his army to fight against Neco’s army. Neco tried to stop him. Neco did not want to fight against Josiah. He just wanted to pass through the territory. He said that God had sent him. So, to fight against Neco would be to fight against God.
Josiah would not listen to what Neco said. And he did not believe that it was from God. With his army, he set up his position in the open country in the Jezreel Valley. That was near Megiddo town. Josiah changed his clothes so that the enemy would not recognise him. Neco’s men shot arrows at Judah’s army. And an arrow hit Josiah.
The Jezreel Valley has other names. These are the valley or plain of Megiddo and the valley or plain of Esdraelon.
Jeremiah was a prophet during the rule of Josiah. He wrote songs for Josiah’s funeral. These songs were in a book of songs for funerals. This book is not the book of Lamentations, which Jeremiah wrote. We do not now have this book of songs. Later, Jeremiah wrote this about Josiah:
I got this from biblestudytools.com.Commentators are not agreed whether it was really a divine commission given him through Jeremiah, or whether he merely used the name of God as an authority that Josiah would not refuse to obey. As he could not know the truth of Necho's declaration, Josiah did not sin in opposing him; or, if he sinned at all, it was a sin of ignorance. The engagement took place. Josiah was mortally wounded ( 2 Chronicles 35:23 ).
Neither the commentary, nor the verses, say that Josiah prayed before going into war. If he had stopped to ask God directly.... or through Jeremiah.... he would have learned that he shouldn't go to war that day. God already warned Josiah that He was going to punish the nation of Judah for not keeping His laws... but God allowed that punishment to wait until after Josiah's death. I wonder.... did Josiah forget? Did Josiah just figure that as long as he was alive there was a possibility that God would change His mind. Did Josiah think some miracle was going to happen out on that field? Josiah got out of his luxurious king's chariot... and into a fighting chariot.... I guess he figured if he dressed like a commoner and fought like a commoner than he would not be killed. I guess he should have talked his plan over with God. I guess he should have checked to make sure God was with him as he rolled into battle.
