What a Difference

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to rule a country? I wonder what choices kings and queens and other leaders have to make every day. Imagine being able to affect so many people with every decision you make! The kings of Israel and Judah didn’t have to wonder what it would be like - they lived it. How did they make their decisions?

Ahab, the seventh king of Israel, came from a long line of mostly wicked kings. As king of Israel, he possessed power greater than anyone else in the land. One time he even killed one of his subjects - only to steal his vineyard. Even with all that power, Ahab found himself powerless to aid his people in their time of need. You see, Ahab refused to honor God. Despite repeated warnings from prophets, Ahab chose to worship idols, and he encouraged his subjects to do the same. Even though he knew the commandments of God, he purposely rejected them. As a result, God sent a terrible famine to Ahab’s kingdom; for three long years there was no rain in Israel. Rain finally returned when God gave a majestic and miraculous display of his power, proving to all of Israel that God was bigger than the false gods they served. Years later, Ahab decided to go to war with a neighboring kingdom. A prophet of the Lord warned him not to go to battle. Yet again, Ahab refused to listen to the voice of God. Ahab was killed in that battle.

Centuries later, another king ruled, this time, over Judah, not Israel (Israel and Judah had been divided into two separate countries). This king also came from a long line of wicked kings. King Josiah, however, who came to the throne at only eight years of age, was always concerned about the things of God. When he was sixteen years old, some of his workers found the Book of the Law - the only Bible that existed at that time - in the ruins of the Temple. The Law was read to Josiah. Grieved at the disobedience his country had displayed toward the God of the universe, Josiah immediately instituted reforms throughout the country. The idols were destroyed and the altars of the false gods were demolished. Josiah encouraged his people to follow the one true God and he endeavored to keep the feasts and observances that were commanded in the Book of the Law. However, Judah’s sins were great before the eyes of God. Not only was Judah’s past full of wicked kings, but even the people of Josiah’s day were not wholeheartedly pursuing God. King Josiah was devout and sincere, but his people weren’t. Sadly, Josiah’s efforts and reforms did not turn away Judah’s punishment, but God did reward Josiah for his righteousness: Josiah did not see Judah’s fall. The destruction of Judah happened after Josiah’s death. Josiah renewed the covenant between God and the people of Judah - even though he didn’t have much working in his favor. The people liked their gods, Josiah had no example of godly leadership (since his ancestors had all been wicked), and Josiah himself was only sixteen years old when he began the reforms of Judah. However, Josiah paid attention to the word of the Lord and obeyed what he read in the Scriptures. And do you know what God thought of that? “And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father; and he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left” (2 Chron. 34:2).

What a difference we see between Ahab and Josiah! Ahab ignored God, but Josiah listened to and sought God. Israel suffered famine because of their king’s wickedness, but Judah’s punishment was delayed because of their king’s righteousness. Ahab and Josiah did not have the Bible like we do today, but they had the Book of the Law (which was the beginning of the Bible) and they had the prophets who were sent by God. What mattered is what they did with what they had. Ahab refused to follow God. Josiah chose to listen. Look at the difference in their decisions and the outcomes! What difference could studying and obeying the Bible make in your life?