GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
2 CHRONICLES 35:20-27
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20 After all this, when Josiah had repaired the House, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out against him. 21 So Neco sent messengers 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. God has commanded me to hurry. Stop opposing God, who is with me, or he will destroy you.”
The battle of Carchemish should have been of little interest to Josiah and to Judah. However, the Middle East has a way of causing panic, fear, and fury in the hearts of people around the world for their innumerable tempests in teapots. Like so many scammers and con artists, the Middle Eastern despots use phrases like “immediately,” “at once,” “as soon as possible,” and “no time to lose,” that makes otherwise peaceful people leap to action where no such leaping is called for.
In fact, while our author mentions Carchemish as a location, it was not yet the famous “Battle of Carchemish” that was about to take place. That was still three or four years away. Neco was in fact heading to Carchemish or its neighborhood in order to join with the Assyrians and to fight against Babylon in what would be the Battle of Haran in the summer (June-July) of 609 BC.
The political scene was this. The Assyrian nobility had used commanders of their conquered or allied nations to lead their own troops for many years. But the Medes, Persians, and the leaders of whatever remnants were left of the Sumerians, Akkadians, Hittites, and the people of Urartu in the far north, were being led mainly by Babylonians and not by many, if any, Assyrians. It’s easy to imagine the staff meeting conversation one evening: “Why are we fighting for these people who aren’t lifting a finger to fight for themselves?” Assyria began to fall as its own army turned on it. First, the south went (what we think of as Kuwait and Iraq today). Next, the north and the west turned on them, too, leaving only the upper Euphrates and the city of Carchemish left (in this simplified snapshot of history). Pharaoh Neco was actually moving north to help the Assyrian King, Assur-uballit, against the son of Nabopolassar of Babylon. That son was none other than Nebuchadnezzar.
Josiah of Judah moved to intercept the Egyptians under Neco in the valley east of the Hill of Megiddo (Har is “hill” in Aramaic, so “Hill of Megiddo” is “Ar-mageddon”). This was in 609 BC. Neco warned the King of Judah that he had been told by God to “hurry.” It is clear from our text that this was actually the word of God, the Creator, and not an Egyptian idol. The true God sometimes speaks to and through people outside his own prophets, such as when the false prophet Balaam tried to curse Israel but could only bless them (Numbers 23-24), and when the Lord troubled the dreams of Pilate’s wife before the crucifixion (Matthew 27:19).
22 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn aside from him. Instead, he disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco, which were from the mouth of God, but went out to battle in the plain of Megiddo. 23 The archers shot King Josiah; and the king said to his servants, “Take me away, because I am badly wounded.” 24 So his servants took him out of the chariot and carried him in his second chariot and brought him to Jerusalem. He died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. 25 Jeremiah also composed a lament for Josiah; and all the men’s choirs and women’s choirs have sung about Josiah in their laments to this day. They made this a customary practice in Israel. You can find them recorded with the laments. 26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his acts of mercy according to what is written in the law of the LORD, 27 and his actions, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
Josiah was a good king. We would even be right in calling him Israel’s last great king; perhaps the greatest since David. But he made a foolish mistake in disobeying the word of God. Perhaps he did not recognize the word of God in the message of the Pharaoh of Egypt, but as one commentator put it, “sanctified common sense would have been a perfectly adequate response” (Selman, Tyndale Old Testament Commentary: 2 Chronicles p. 542. He marched on the Egyptians at the geographical bottleneck of Megiddo, and disguising himself (probably as an ordinary prince or commander rather than as the king) he was shot, and carried away in “his second chariot.” This suggests that the first one was either badly damaged in the melee, or else the second one was bigger and he was able to be transported in more comfort. But either on the way or shortly after arriving home, he died. They buried him in the hillside of southern Jerusalem where David and Solomon and most of the kings had been buried.
Our prophet mentions the songs that were sung: many laments for the king. They became popular songs, even though they were sad, and the people remembered them and sang them. Some were by Jeremiah himself! Such laments are still in our culture today about other leaders or important men and woman who have died: “Abraham, Martin, and John” by Dion, “American Pie” and “Vincent” by Don McLean, and “Ohio” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. To this we could add the many songs about the ordinary soldiers who fought and died or who fought, survived, and continue to suffer because of Vietnam: “Fortunate Son, “We Gotta Get Out of this Place,” “For What it’s Worth,” “19,” “Still in Saigon,” and many more.
Luther applies all this simply and directly to Christ: “Josiah was killed because of his error (2 Chronicles 35:21-24). In brief, none of them, even the greatest kings from the beginning of the world, have governed their realms without great errors and injustices.”
Christ rules over us and over his kingdom purely, truly, and without any error. But Christ and his kingdom are mocked and belittled by the world. Josiah was held in high regard, even by his enemies. And so the world has things backward and upside down. This is the wake that Satan leaves behind him, kicking up a cloud of mistrust and doubt like dust in the air. But Christ is our true and perfect king. We follow after him because he himself is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We are brought to the Father through him, and so we trust in him. And when we make mistakes along our path, as Josiah did, we ask his forgiveness. And the glory of Christ is that he does indeed forgive.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – 2 Chronicles 35:20-27 Josiah’s end