And Jeremiah Mourned Josiah: The First Battle of Armageddon and Tisha b'Av

At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him. For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives. The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the Lowland, and of the South of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, and Aijalon, and Gederoth, and Soco with the towns thereof, and Timnah with the towns thereof, Gimzo also and the towns thereof; and they dwelt there. For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he had cast away restraint in Judah, and acted treacherously against the LORD. And Tillegath-pilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not. For Ahaz stripped the house of the LORD, and the house of the king and the princes, and gave thereof unto the king of Assyria; but it helped him not. And in the time of his distress did he act even more treacherously against the LORD, this same king Ahaz. For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him; and he said: ‘Because the gods of the kings of Aram helped them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me.’ But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.

At that time Berodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent a letter and a present unto Hezekiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and showed them all his treasure-house, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oil, and the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures; there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not. Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him: ‘What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee?’ And Hezekiah said: ‘They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.’ And he said: ‘What have they seen in thy house?’ And Hezekiah answered: ‘All that is in my house have they seen; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.’ And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah: ‘Hear the word of the LORD. Behold, the days come, that all that is in thy house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be officers in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah: ‘Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken.’ He said moreover: ‘Is it not so, if peace and truth shall be in my days?’ Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool, and the conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And Hezekiah slept with his fathers; and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned five and fifty years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzi-bah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the nations, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. And he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD said: ‘In Jerusalem will I put My name.’ And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. And he made his son to pass through the fire, and practised soothsaying, and used enchantments, and appointed them that divined by a ghost or a familiar spirit: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him. And he set the graven image of Asherah, that he had made, in the house of which the LORD said to David and to Solomon his son: ‘In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put My name for ever; neither will I cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.’ But they hearkened not; and Manasseh seduced them to do that which is evil more than did the nations, whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel. And the LORD spoke by His servants the prophets, saying: ’Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, that were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols; therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I bring such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. And I will cast off the remnant of Mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; because they have done that which is evil in My sight, and have provoked Me, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.’ Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD. Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza; and Amon his son reigned in his stead. Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. And he did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the LORD, saying. ’Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the money which is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people; and let them deliver it into the hand of the workmen that have the oversight of the house of the LORD; and let them give it to the workmen that are in the house of the LORD, to repair the breaches of the house; unto the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons; and for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the house.’— Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand; for they dealt faithfully. And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe: ‘I have found the book of the Law in the house of the LORD.’ And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan, and he read it. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought back word unto the king, and said: ‘Thy servants have poured out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen that have the oversight of the house of the LORD.’ And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying: ‘Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book.’ And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the Law, that he rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying: ’Go ye, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.’ So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe—now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter—and they spoke with her. And she said unto them: ‘Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Tell ye the man that sent you unto me: Thus saith the LORD: Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read; because they have forsaken Me, and have offered unto other gods, that they might provoke Me with all the work of their hands; therefore My wrath shall be kindled against this place, and it shall not be quenched. But unto the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall ye say to him: Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: As touching the words which thou hast heard, because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spoke against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become an astonishment and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before Me, I also have heard thee, saith the LORD. Therefore, behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil which I will bring upon this place.’ And they brought back word unto the king.

And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up to the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD. And the king stood on the platform, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep His commandments, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all his heart, and all his soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this book; and all the people stood to the covenant. And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el. And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to offer in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that offered unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the common people. And he broke down the houses of the sodomites, that were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove coverings for the Asherah. And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from Geba to Beer-sheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man’s left hand as he entered the gate of the city. Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat unleavened bread among their brethren. And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nethan-melech the officer, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. And the altars that were on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king break down, and beat them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the detestation of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the detestation of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. And he broke in pieces the pillars, and cut down the Asherim, and filled their places with the bones of men. Moreover the altar that was at Beth-el, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and stamped it small to powder, and burned the Asherah. And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount; and he sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and defiled it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. Then he said: ‘What monument is that which I see’And the men of the city told him: ‘It is the sepulchre of the man of God, who came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Beth-el.’ And he said: ‘Let him be; let no man move his bones.’ So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria. And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke [the LORD], Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Beth-el. And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there, upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them; and he returned to Jerusalem. And the king commanded all the people, saying: ‘Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant.’ For there was not kept such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; but in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was this passover kept to the LORD in Jerusalem. Moreover them that divined by a ghost or a familiar spirit, and the teraphim, and the idols, and all the detestable things that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.

Thus saith the LORD: The people that were left of the sword Have found grace in the wilderness, Even Israel, when I go to cause him to rest. ’From afar the LORD appeared unto me.’ ’Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; Therefore with affection have I drawn thee. Again will I build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel; Again shalt thou be adorned with thy tabrets, And shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry. Again shalt thou plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria; The planters shall plant, and shall have the use thereof. For there shall be a day, That the watchmen shall call upon the mount Ephraim: Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion, Unto the LORD our God.’ For thus saith the LORD: Sing with gladness for Jacob, And shout at the head of the nations; Announce ye, praise ye, and say: ‘O LORD, save Thy people, The remnant of Israel.’ Behold, I will bring them from the north country, And gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, And with them the blind and the lame, The woman with child and her that travaileth with child together; A great company shall they return hither. They shall come with weeping, And with supplications will I lead them; I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, In a straight way wherein they shall not stumble; For I am become a father to Israel, And Ephraim is My first-born. Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, And declare it in the isles afar off, and say: ‘He that scattered Israel doth gather him, And keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.’ For the LORD hath ransomed Jacob, And He redeemeth him from the hand of him that is stronger than he. And they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, And shall flow unto the goodness of the LORD, To the corn, and to the wine, and to the oil, And to the young of the flock and of the herd; And their soul shall be as a watered garden, And they shall not pine any more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, And the young men and the old together; For I will turn their mourning into joy, And will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, Saith the LORD. Thus saith the LORD: A voice is heard in Ramah, Lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; She refuseth to be comforted for her children, Because they are not. Thus saith the LORD: Refrain thy voice from weeping, And thine eyes from tears; For thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; And they shall come back from the land of the enemy. And there is hope for thy future, saith the LORD; And thy children shall return to their own border.

Return, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am a lord unto you, and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion; and I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And it shall come to pass, when ye are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more: The ark of the covenant of the LORD; neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they make mention of it; neither shall they miss it; neither shall it be made any more. At that time they shall call Jerusalem The throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem; neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.’

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: ’O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay in the potter’s hand, so are ye in My hand, O house of Israel. At one instant I may speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it; but if that nation turn from their evil, because of which I have spoken against it, I repent of the evil that I thought to do unto it. And at one instant I may speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; but if it do evil in My sight, that it hearken not to My voice, then I repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit it.

Then said they: ‘Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; For instruction shall not perish from the priest, Nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, And let us not give heed to any of his words.’

In his days Pharaoh-Necho king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates; and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him. And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead. Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. And Pharaoh-necoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a fine of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold. And Pharaoh-necoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim; but he took Jehoahaz away; and he came to Egypt, and died there. And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh; he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaoh-necoh. Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zebudah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates; and Josiah went out against him. But he sent ambassadors to him, saying: ‘What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war; and God hath given command to speed me; forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that He destroy thee not.’ Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Neco, from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo. And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants: ‘Have me away; for I am sore wounded.’ So his servants took him out of the chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had, and brought him to Jerusalem; and he died, and was buried in the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah; and all the singing men and singing women spoke of Josiah in their lamentations, unto this day; and they made them an ordinance in Israel; and, behold, they are written in the lamentations. Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his good deeds, according to that which is written in the Law of the LORD, and his acts, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

R. Shmuel b. Nahmani said in the name of R. Yohanan: Why was Josiah punished? Because he should have consulted with Jeremiah but he did not. What was Josiah's proof text? "And no sword shall pass through your land" [Lev. 26:6]. What does the word "sword" mean? If you interpret it as a non-peaceful sword, Scripture has already stated, "I shall restore peace upon the land." Rather, it means even a peaceful sword. But he did not know that his generation had found little favor in God's eyes. As Josiah was dying, Jeremiah noticed that his lips were moving. Jeremiah said: Perhaps, God forbid, he is saying something unworthy out of pain. He crouched down and heard him justifying the judgement that had been passed on him. Josiah was saying: "The Lord is righteous, for I rebelled against His word [Lamentations 1:18]. At that moment, Jeremiah lamented him saying: "The air we breathe, the anointed one of God, was trapped in their pits" [Lam. 4:20]. ..............................

(1) The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD: (2) “Go down to the house of a potter, and there I will impart My words to you.” (3) So I went down to the house of a potter, and found him working at the wheel. (4) And if the vessel he was making was spoiled, as happens to clay in the potter’s hands, he would make it into another vessel, such as the potter saw fit to make. (5) Then the word of the LORD came to me: (6) O House of Israel, can I not deal with you like this potter?—says the LORD. Just like clay in the hands of the potter, so are you in My hands, O House of Israel! (7) At one moment I may decree that a nation or a kingdom shall be uprooted and pulled down and destroyed; (8) but if that nation against which I made the decree turns back from its wickedness, I change My mind concerning the punishment I planned to bring on it. (9) At another moment I may decree that a nation or a kingdom shall be built and planted; (10) but if it does what is displeasing to Me and does not obey Me, then I change My mind concerning the good I planned to bestow upon it.

(20) After all this furbishing of the Temple by Josiah, King Necho of Egypt came up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out against him. (21) [Necho] sent messengers to him, saying, “What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I do not march against you this day but against the kingdom that wars with me, and it is God’s will that I hurry. Refrain, then, from interfering with God who is with me, that He not destroy you.” (22) But Josiah would not let him alone; instead, he donned [his armor] to fight him, heedless of Necho’s words from the mouth of God; and he came to fight in the plain of Megiddo. (23) Archers shot King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, “Get me away from here, for I am badly wounded.” (24) His servants carried him out of his chariot and put him in the wagon of his second-in-command, and conveyed him to Jerusalem. There he died, and was buried in the grave of his fathers, and all Judah and Jerusalem went into mourning over Josiah.