King Josiah’s Bad Example of Responding to God Shaking the World

The Old Testament has a very good illustration of human response when God is shaking the world system. By looking at godly King Josiah’s story, we learn how not to respond. The Bible says that he was one of the finest, most holy—if not the best—king that Israel or Judah ever had:

(2 Kings 23:25 ISV) There had been no king like him before him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his strength, in obeying everything in the Law of Moses. No king arose like Josiah after him.

However, Josiah died needlessly because he failed to recognize God at work—shaking up the world system around him. Instead of watching and respecting what God was doing (ultimately for his good), he interfered by stepping into the middle of it, and suffered needlessly:

(2 Chronicles 35:20–24 CEV) Some time later, King Neco of Egypt led his army to the city of Carchemish on the Euphrates River. And Josiah led his troops north to meet the Egyptians in battle. (21) Neco sent the following message to Josiah: “I’m not attacking you, king of Judah! We’re not even at war. But God has told me to quickly attack my enemy. God is on my side, so if you try to stop me, he will punish you.” (22) But Josiah ignored Neco’s warning, even though it came from God! Instead, he disguised himself and marched into battle against Neco in the valley near Megiddo. (23) During the battle an Egyptian soldier shot Josiah with an arrow. Josiah told his servants, “Get me out of here! I’ve been hit.” (24) They carried Josiah out of his chariot, then put him in the other chariot he had there and took him back to Jerusalem, where he soon died. He was buried beside his ancestors, and everyone in Judah and Jerusalem mourned his death.

God sent the king of Egypt to fight the king of Assyria—both were potential enemies of Judah. God is a genius; this war would have weakened their militaries, and perhaps completely devastate one of them. This would in turn eliminate or weaken one of Josiah’s greatest threats. Unwisely, Josiah led his army out to stand against the king of Egypt—who was on a mission for God—and got himself killed; “But Josiah ignored Neco’s warning, even though it came from God!” (2 Chr. 35:22 CEV). God was shaking up the world’s dominant powers; wisdom said to stand back and allow him to do it. It was folly to try to stop him or to interfere.

We can tend to “feel sorry” for those who suffer when God is shaking the world system. Some lose their homes; some lose their careers, while others suffer public humiliation. Big businesses crash and burn, while governments are embarrassed as their incompetence or mishandling of finances is exposed. However, we must remember that God is just—the perfect judge. We simply should admire his amazing competence; in his perfect love and justice, he is able to judge and shake without malice, revenge, or injustice.

One reason we could miss God’s operation in these times of shaking is that we tend to focus only on God’s love and gift of peace; by so doing, however, we can easily overlook the truth that Jesus came to bring a “sword”:

(Matthew 10:34 BSB) “Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

We must keep in mind that God’s overall goal is for long-term peace and security. Yet he didn’t promise peace to everyone; he promised it to his family—those “on whom his favor rests”:

(Luke 2:14 BSB) “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests!”

Wisdom says to put all your treasure with God for safekeeping, then simply to trust him; and to obey what he says to do with it. Meanwhile, you admire what he is doing in the world—without interfering or getting in his way.

This makes me think of another situation from my childhood. My father was a contract worker; he and his brothers undertook whatever work they could to provide for their families. At one stage, they had a contract to clear the trees from the site of a proposed electricity transmission line. One school holiday, when I was about nine years old, my brother and I went with him. This may sound like a dangerous holiday for young boys, but it taught me a very important principle that applies today.

My dad was an experienced tree feller; he knew exactly what he was doing. With chainsaw in hand, he would walk around the base of the tree looking up. He would test the wind, and eventually predict with great accuracy which way this tree was most likely to fall. Working with that in mind, he proceeded to cut it down—using ingenious cutting techniques. I never saw him get this wrong; nevertheless, he still took every precaution, as he had seen it go amiss with dire consequences.

As you would expect, when the chain saw was at its noisy full power, and when smoke, chips, and sawdust were flying, dad’s first priority was to keep my brother and me safe. Amazingly, he told us not to wait in the truck, not to play away from him, nor even to watch at a safe distance. Instead, he told us to stay close to his legs. This way, he believed that if the tree fell in an unexpected direction, we would be safer.

You see, at the full extent of a falling tree, the movement is very fast, and the reach of the cascading limbs wide. If we were in that vicinity when it began to fall—distracted as boys playing often are—our little legs would be unable to get us out of the way quickly enough. However, at the base of the tree, the falling is in slow motion; stepping aside is relatively easy. Dad wanted us near his legs so he could feel us there amid the danger, keep an eye on us, and usher us to safety if anything went wrong.

I was not only thrilled to be so close to my dad for the whole week, I was enthralled by his skill and the way he did his work; I learned a great deal. Most importantly, thanks to us following his wise advice, we all returned home safely.

Interestingly, my father was the one doing the shaking that day, and making a lot of noise as he went about it. His dealings made a lot of birds and insects homeless. The falling trees shook the ground; their displacement and subsequent burning destroyed the livelihood of many tree-dwellers, and changed the local scene permanently. Yet for his sons, the one doing the shaking was also the safe haven; the safest place for us was to stay very close to our father. Despite him being the source of great upset, hurt, and displacement that day, he wasn’t doing it to hurt us. He was doing it to provide for us, and to keep us secure with a roof over our heads and food on our table.

I believe we can all learn from this story. In these times of unprecedented world shaking, we need to stay close to the very one that is doing the shaking. To those in the world, this is a very scary time, and God would seem to be the problem. But to us in his family, God is the solution, the safe haven—our provider and protector. We are safest when pressing into him. This is borne out in God’s word:

(Psalms 91:1–5 dkjv) He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. (2) I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. (3) Surely he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. (4) He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings shall you trust: his truth will be your shield and buckler. (5) You will not be afraid of the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flies by day.

This amazing psalm goes on to describe a litany of troubles, and how God can protect us from each of them. However, to enjoy his shelter, we must meet the condition stated in the first verse: “He that dwells in the secret place of the most High.” To enjoy God’s complete protection from all that is going on in the world today, we must dwell permanently in the secret place with him—not just visit him there occasionally (if at all). If we stay close to our Father’s legs, so to speak, and if we have our life founded firmly on his word, the shaking will not harm us; it will benefit us.

Today, don’t be like king Josiah; he was a holy, God loving believer. But he didn’t realise that his God was shaking up world powers, and tried to interfere. This avoidable mistake cost him his life, and no doubt the lives of many of his followers. Let’s realise that Jesus brings a sword and shakes the world system; and that he does this for our benefit—not to destroy us. However, to live in God’s benefits for you, I encourage you to stay close to your Heavenly Father’s legs while he is doing the shaking: dwell in his secret place, confess his word, praise him at all times, thank him endlessly, and most certainly, keep your eyes on Jesus:

(Hebrews 12:1–2 NLT) … let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. (2) We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne.