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 polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. 2 Kings 23:16.
And he cried against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD: Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. 1 Kings 13:2.
"In carrying out these proceedings, Josiah was prompted by his own intense hatred of idolatry. But it is remarkable that this act was predicted 326 years before his birth, and his name also was expressly mentioned, as well as the very place where it should be done (1 Kings 13:2)This is one of the most remarkable prophecies contained in the Bible." Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown (Bible expositors).
Many professing Christians rail with great vehemence against absolute pre-destination and election, and will not have it that the Most High can do as He will; that He is arbitrary in all of His ways.
Josiah was no doubt carrying out his 'free' will, yet all the while his 'free' will was under the sovereign hand of God! Truly, The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will. Proverbs 21:1.
It oftentimes bamboozles me that otherwise sound and earnest Christians cannot accept the doctrine of absolute pre-destination/election; if the Bible didn't clearly teach it in numerous places, the above account being only one example, how could future Bible prophecy ever be fulfilled? How, o how, would God's great plan of the ages be fulfilled in Christ if He were to be subject to our pathetic whims and vagaries?
Think on these things!
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