Josiah’s Sweeping Reform

Josiah removes idolatrous vessels and priests, destroys high places and Topheth, defiles Bethel’s altar, and fulfills the old prophecy about the named king. Josiah launches the most sweeping reform narrated in Kings, renews covenant, purges illicit worship, fulfills the old prophecy against Bethel, and celebrates an extraordinary Passover. Yet even this exemplary reform does not erase the accumulated judgment announced against Judah; the tension prepares the reader for exile and for a greater solution than another temporary reforming king.