2 Chronicles 34:1-3 - Sermon Bible Commentary

Bible Comments

2 Chronicles 34:1-3

I. The story of Josiah shows that a child may become a Christian very early in life. He was but fifteen years old when he is spoken of as "seeking the God of his father David."

That was the first that people knew of it. But probably he had been a prayerful boy long before that.

II. The narrative of this young king shows also that young persons may become Christians without the excitement of a revival. When Josiah began the reformation of his kingdom, he stood absolutely alone. He started the revival by being the first convert.

III. King Josiah's conversion shows that a young person may become a Christian just at the time when the pleasures of the world are most attractive.

IV. The story of Josiah shows that a child may be a Christian without being unmanly or unwomanly. Judah never had a more spirited and gallant prince. He put down the bad men of the realm right and left most valiantly. Not one of them dared to insult him.

V. The story of Josiah suggests also that one who becomes a Christian early in life is likely to become a better man than one who first lives through a career of sin.

VI. The story of Josiah suggests that the way for a young person to become a Christian is to make a business of doing right.

A. Phelps, The Old Testament a Living Book,p. 161.

Reference: 2 Chronicles 34:1-4. Sermons for Boys and Girls,p. 338.

2 Chronicles 34:1-3

1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.

2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.

3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.