Ready to go home.

Ready to go home.
Originally uploaded by abigail0723.

King Josiah of Judah

I said earlier that we have chose biblical names as first names. Abigail in Hebrew means, "The Father Rejoices" I have always wanted a little girl, so the name fit well. It truly means that "The Father", as in God, rejoices.

The name Josiah does not have definite meaning to it, but his life story is special to us. You can read it in 2 Kings 22:1-23:30 and 2 Chronicles 34:1-35:27

King Josiah came at a time in Judah (the southern kingdom of Israel) when generations of people had not followed God. There was corruption in every aspect of life. His father, Amon, was killed when Josiah was 8 years old. He became king at eight.

Early in his reign as king he instituted reforms and took steps to rid the country of idols. At age 25 Josiah decided to renovate the Lord's temple, deteriorated with age. As the workers were cleaning they found a book that no one knew of in a room that was rarely used. It was the BIble. Or at least as they knew it. The first five books.

As King Josiah listened to the Bible being read, he was struck with grief and terror. He was certain that the Lord was furious with Israel.

Immediately, Josiah began to eliminate pagan worship and renew the covenant Israel had with God.

It was said of Josiah in 2 Kings 23:25, "Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength."

He changed the ways of his people. He read and honored the Word of God. As a result of clinging to God's Word, he lead his people back to God. And never was there a king before or after him that was as good.

We pray that our little ones will follow King Josiah's path.

Here is our little man just before we left the hospital.