Josiah, The Boy King Chapter 2, Part 1

JOSIAH, THE BOY KING    CHAPTER 2, PART 1

            Josiah clung tightly to his mother’s neck and repeated his question again.  “Are they going to burn me in the valley of Molech?”

            “No, son,” Jedidah whispered as she held him close.  “The fires are no longer burning in the valley of Molech.  They went out when your grandfather Manasseh was captured and taken to Babylon, before you were born.”

            “But why was he captured, Mommy?  And why did he have chains on today when he came back?  You said you would tell me.  Tell me now, please.”

            “No, it’s bedtime and you’ve had enough excitement for one day.  Lay your head down on the pillow and get some sleep.”

            Jedidah sat by Josiah’s bed for a long time, singing some of the songs King David had written and sung to his sheep to quiet them down when he was a shepherd boy.  As she sat she wondered if things really would be different now the King Manasseh had come back.  Finally Josiah slipped off into a deep sleep and his mother went to bed as well.

            The next several days were very busy around the palace.  True to their word the soldiers from Babylon marched on through Jerusalem and down toward Egypt where they were going to capture another king and teach him the same lesson they had taught King Manasseh.

            At least they thought they had taught King Manasseh a lesson.  But that’s not the way Manasseh told the story.  Right after the Babylonian charioteers and cavalry and foot soldiers left the city, the king issued a proclamation.  Twenty-five men with ram’s horn trumpets walked all over the city carrying large scrolls.  They would stand on a corner and blow the trumpets to gain the attention of as many people as possible.  When a crowd gathered they would unroll the scroll and read it just as loudly as they could.

            “Thus saith, Manasseh, king of Judah, servant of the most high God.  All my kingdoms hath the Lord restored to me when I entreated Him in my time of trouble.  Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.  And He hath instructed me to rebuild the altar which is on the mount of the Lord, and to offer sacrifices and burn offerings as He commanded to Moses and our fathers.  Therefore let it be known unto all the dwellers in Jerusalem and all the inhabitants of Judah that King Manasseh will obey the Lord and Jehovah will be the only God he serves.”

            Josiah and Jedidah heard one of the groups of trumpeters right outside the palace and Josiah darted out through the gate to listen with his mother right behind him.

            “Is that good, Mommy?” Josiah asked.  “Does that mean the fires in the valley of Molech won’t be started again?  Does Jehovah God get angry if kings don’t offer their sons to Him?  What kind of sacrifices is grandpa going to offer, Mommy?  Huh?”

            “Hush, Josiah.  No, Jehovah does not get angry like that.  In fact, He was angry with Manasseh because he DID offer his son in the fire.  Let’s sit down here on the steps and I will tell you a story.”

            Josiah loved stories, so he plopped down on the stairs, propped his chin in his hands and waited for his mother to begin.

            “Well, you remember that I told you how young King Manasseh had two counselors.”

            “Bar-Abel and Isaiah.  Is that right, Mommy?”

            “That’s right.  But pretty soon he didn’t listen to Isaiah any more.  He didn’t call him into the palace for conferences.  He didn’t ask Isaiah if he had any visions or messages from God.  He just listened to Bar-Abel and did whatever he told him to do.”

            “I bet Bar-Abel liked that.”

            “He did for while.  But Isaiah knew he had a message from Jehovah-God.  He didn’t give up trying to get his message to the king.  When the king wouldn’t call him to the palace, Isaiah went to the people.  He would walk through the city, right past the palace and then out into the valley beyond.  Everyone who saw him would follow him because they knew he was going to deliver another message from God.  And he never disappointed them.”

            “Did you every hear him preach, Mommy?”

            “No, that was even before I was born.  But I’ve heard my father tell about it many times.  Isaiah was a very old man by this time with hair as white as snow.”

            “What’s snow, Mommy?”

            “Josiah, how am I going to tell you this story if you keep on interrupting.  Snow is very cold and very white.  We don’t have it here in Jerusalem very often, but up in the mountains, like up on Mt. Hermon there is lots of snow.  Anyway, Isaiah’s hair all turned to white he was so old and he had a long white beard that came all the way down to his waist.”

            “O, I think I would have liked him, Mommy.”

            “I believe you and Isaiah would have been very good friends.  But he didn’t have very many friends back then.”

            “Why not, Mommy?”

            “Well, it was because he was telling the people what God wanted them to hear and they didn’t much like that.  The people were following King Manasseh and Bar-Abel.  They were worshipping false idols and even offering their sons to the god Molech just like the king.  On the Sabbath day they would bring a sacrifice to God so people would think they were keeping the law, but then they would turn right around and cheat each other and steal from one another and even kill.

Isaiah would stand before them to preach and hold up his hands in the air until everyone was very quiet.  Then he would begin talking in a very soft voice so people had to strain to hear him.  And it would get quieter and quieter until everyone was absolutely still and they could all hear every word he was saying.

            “Hear ye the word of the Lord ye rulers of Sodom.  Give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.”

            “Sodom and Gomorrah?”  Josiah looked up at his mother.  “I thought you said he was preaching here in Jerusalem?”

            “He was.  But the people were so wicked that he was telling them they were as bad as Sodom and Gomorrah before God destroyed those cities.  That’s one of the reasons the people didn’t like him.  But it got their attention and so he went on.”

            “Don’t you know that God is tired of all your sacrifices?  Don’t you know that He is weary of your hypocrisy?  Don’t you know that He will not listen to your prayers when your hands are full of blood?  Listen to me and let us reason together.  Wash you.  Make you clean.  Though your sins he as scarlet they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool.  But if ye refuse and rebel—ye shall be devoured with the sword.”

            “Wow, he really told them, didn’t he.”

            “Yes, he did.  And Bar-Abel and his followers hated him for it.  They were afraid of him because they knew that he was telling the truth and they didn’t want the king to hear the truth.  So they came up with a plan to get rid of him.”

            “To kill him?”

            “That’s what they wanted to do.  But they didn’t dare.  Isaiah still had some friends.  Not everyone was worshipping Baal and those people who still loved Jehovah were taking special care of Isaiah.   Your other grandfather, my father, was one of them.”

            “Really, Mommy?  What did he do.”