April 14, 2025 - 2 Kings 22-25

"Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him. Still the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. And the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”” - 2 Kings 23:25-27

The author indicates that Josiah was even greater than David in the above quote verses. Josiah adhered to the word of the Lord even more fervently than him and had the most far reaching reform of any of the righteous kings of Judah. He was great David’s greater son. Despite all of his reforms, the Lord was unwilling to turn his wrath away from Judah. This sins of the previous kings such as Manasseh were too great, and he had already fixed himself to do this. So, despite all the efforts of this great king Josiah, he could not protect his people from God wrath by Babylonian exile.

Jesus is an even greater son of the great David. He too loved the “Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might” and lived righteously according to the Law, but he did not fail where Josiah failed.

“By taking God’s wrath on himself, he delivers his own people from it.”

https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/article/no-king-like-him-no-not-him/