that in case they ever had kings, each
king was to write out the whole of it from the original copy which was
kept in the ark. "And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein
all the days of his life . . . that his heart be not lifted up above
his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the
right hand or to the left; to the end that he may prolong his days in
his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel[3]."

However, considering how soon the nation fell into a general disregard
of the law and worship which God gave them, it is not wonderful that
these wholesome precepts were neglected, which could not be performed
without testifying against their multiplied transgressions. And much
more when they took to themselves idols, did they neglect, of course,
to read the law which condemned them. And when they had set a king
over them against the will of God, it is not strange that their kings,
in turn, should neglect the direction given them to copy out the law
for themselves, such kings especially as fell into idolatry.

All this applies particularly to the age in which Josiah succeeded to
the throne, so that it is in no way surprising that he knew nothing of
the law till it was by chance found in the Temple some years after his
accession. The last good king of Judah before him was Hezekiah, who
had been dead sixty or seventy years. That religious king had been
succeeded by his son Manasseh, the most profane of all the line of
David. He it was who committed those inexpiable sins which sealed the
sentence of Judah's destruction. He had set up an idol in the Temple;
had made his son pass through the fire; had dealt with familiar spirits
and wizards; had "shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled
Jerusalem from one end to another," in a word, had "done wickedly above
all that the Amorites did which were before him[4]." On his return
from captivity in Babylon, whither he was taken captive, Manasseh
attempted a reformation; but, alas! he found it easier to seduce than
to reclaim his people[5]. Amon, who succeeded him, followed the first
ways of his father during his short reign. Instead of repenting, as
his father had done, he "trespassed more and more[6]." After a while,
his subjects conspired and slew him. Josiah was the son of this wicked
king.

Here, then, we have sufficient explanation of Josiah's ignorance of the
law of Moses. He was brought up among very wicked