Josiah-Smashing Idols

By Mary Vee
II Chronicles 34

From the Journals of the Josiah

Photo Courtesy

I turned sixteen at my birthday party, yesterday. For eight years I have ruled the people of Judah with the help of advisors. No one expected a kid to rule a kingdom.

At sixteen, though, I started to put the pieces together of what had been happening in our city. The prophet Zephaniah taught me about the history of our people. He told me stories of some amazing people like Moses, David, and my great grand father, Hezekiah. These men worshipped God and lived their lives honoring Him.


And think, I am related to all of these men. Wow. I'd like to be like them.

As I grew, Zephaniah taught me the commandments God wanted us to obey. I may have been a kid, but I could still see the people of Judah were not following God's laws, and this bothered me. 

Now that I could understand more of what Zephaniah said, he spent more time with me, teaching me about God's love, what He has done for us, and what we should do to worship God.

When I turned twenty-years-old, I couldn't take the idol worship any more. I understood how very wrong this was. How could the people do that to the very God who made them and loved them? I went throughout Judah and Jerusalem to the high places and ripped down the Asherah poles, destroyed the carved idols and the images made by our people.

Energy flowed through my muscles. I really enjoyed smashing those idols. I took the pieces and threw them over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. I got rid of the priests who worshipped the idols.

I didn't stop there. Something inside me bubbled, an energy to destroy more idols. Everyone needed to know God was the only one to be worshipped. I led the army north into Ephraim, Simeon, Manasseh and as far as Napthali in the far north and the ruins around them. I tore down every altar and Asherah pole I saw. 

My muscles grew stronger each day. When I saw an idol I took and crushed it to powder and cut to pieces all the incense altars throughout Israel. That's right. I even went into Israel to clean up the idol worship. 

I tell you, my insides were warm, like the sun shining in my heart. May the Great God, the Lord Almighty be the only one we worship. Praise God for His mercy and kindness to us.

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1. What happened when Josiah turned sixteen?
2. Who taught Josiah the stories of great men of God?
3. Why did this mean so much to Josiah?
4. When Josiah turned twenty, what did he do?
5. How far did Josiah travel to do this job?
6. Why did Josiah feel good in the end?

Zephaniah-God Cares for His Own

By Mary Vee
Zephaniah

From the Journals of the prophet Zephaniah

Photo Courtesy

My great-great grandfather, King Hezekiah ruled Judah. 

Since Hezekiah died we have had a lot of trouble here in Judah. 

When I was little, my father told me what had happened to our people long ago. He said, "After years of trouble and disobeying God while King Ahaz led us, we celebrated when his son, King Hezekiah took over the throne. 

"Your great-great-grandfather Hezekiah proved his love for God by tearing down the idols, opening the temple doors, and teaching the people to worship God as He had commanded."

He looked at me with a tear in his eye. "Yes, Hezekiah was a great king." He sighed. "Then his son, Manasseh ruled. Manasseh liked all the glory that came with being king. He wanted to please the nations all around us instead of the Almighty God. 

"He brought back all the idols. The people of Judah listened to him, setting aside all the good Hezekiah had taught them." He squeezed his eyes shut. "Terrible. Just terrible. The new children born in the country didn't know about God. They learned to worship these awful idols."

"Then what happened?" I asked him.

"Well, son, God did as He said He would. The people were punished. The Assyrian army came and took many of the rich and smart men, women, and children from Judah and made them slaves. We who are here are all that is left. 

"Manasseh cried out to God and said he was sorry. God heard his prayer and let him come back home. His son, Amon became king and did bad things like his father had done. There were and still are many of us who are afraid of the kings."

My father had taught me the stories of what had happened to our people, even from the days of Moses. I loved learning the wonderful things God did, but was very sad to hear about the bad things our people did.


Now that I'm older, I have the chance to tell others how God took care of us and about the good leaders we had like Moses, Joshua, David, Hezekiah, and others. 

Bad king Amon has since died and his son, eight-year-old Josiah has been crowned king. He is too young to make decisions right now. I have been appointed as an advisor for him. 

Recently, God gave me a message that I wrote down. 

The message is: because of the years of disobedience to God's Word, the people of Judah would be punished. The day of the Lord is coming. 

No matter what I said, many of the people didn't care. They didn't listen to me or God's message. They kept doing the bad things they enjoyed.

The punishment will come. They will see. But after a time, God said,
"The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you.
He will quiet you with his love.
He will rejoice over you with singing."

I especially liked delivering the last phrase. Just think, God will rejoice over us with singing. Isn't that good news?

I am wondering what young Josiah will do as king. Will he be a good king like Hezekiah or a bad king?

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1. Who is Zephaniah?
2. Had the people of Judah obeyed God?
3. Why or why not?
4. Who is the new king?
5. How old is he?
6. Why is Zephaniah helping the king?
7. Did you know God sings?