The Rest of the Story: More about Hezekiah and his great grandson, Josiah

More about Hezekiah

We discussed in Sunday's class Hezekiah's priorities and how the first thing he did when he became king was to cleanse the temple, sanctify the priests and restore temple worship.
His trust and faith in the Lord and in the Lord's prophet, Isaiah,  enabled him to be a great king and leader to the people of Judah. He was inspired, directed and miracles occured because of his faithfulness.  He extended an invitation to all of Israel to join with him and the Kingdom of Judah in temple worship, but the northern kingdom of Israel, "laughed him to scorn" and refused to join with them.  Consequently, Israel was overcome by Assyria and the ten tribes are lost and dispersed.
Interestingly, Hezekiah's son and grandson reverted to idolatry and wickedness and the people of Judah were again led away from worshiping the only true God.  Consequently, they were oppressed and invaded by Egypt.

Hezekiah's Great-Grandson, Josiah

Hezekiah's great-grandson, Josiah began his reign when he was only eight years old and his reign is chronicled in 2 Chronicles 34-35.  He destroyed idolatry in Judah and again restored and repaired the temple.  During the restoration, a copy of the law was discovered and in reading the scriptures, Josiah realized how far Judah had strayed from true worship. He immediately rent his clothes in repentance and consulted the prophets. He and his people again covenanted to serve the Lord and even though it was prophesied that Judah would suffer the consequences of their idolatry and wickedness, Josiah would not have to see the fulfillment of the prophecy because of his righteousness.  Josiah was the last righteous king of Judah and after his death (609 BC) his kingdom fell into decline and eventually was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon in 587 BC. (Lehi and his family left Jerusalem approximately 600 BC, before the Babylonian conquest)