Been having a study in the Kings of Israel in Sunday School class at my church. One thing that recently struck me is the matter with Josiah near the end of his life. In the context of the following passage, Huldah the prophetess informs Josiah of a coming judgment from God upon Judah:
*"And she said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to 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 burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched." - II Kings 22:15-17*
(As an aside, we are greeted here with the terminology typical of the wrath of God in ET circles, yet obviously the quenching did indeed cease after Nebuchanezzar pillaged, beseiged, and burnt Jerusalem and took the people of Judah away into captivity in Babylon. And there they remained in Babylon until the seventy sabbaths of years were fulfilled.)
However, Josiah is spared seeing these things come to pass:
*"But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the LORD, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;
Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD. - II Kings 22:18-19
Now at this point, I expected that God would save Josiah from the coming wrath due to his repentance, however this was done in a way I unexpected:
"Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again." - II Kings 22:15-20 - II Kings 22:15-20*
So basically Josiah was rewarded in his repentence with death, so that he would be spared seeing the destruction and eventual captivity of Israel. Of course, in his remaining time, he did clean up the town and got the people right with the Lord, even knowing his death was immediately pending. Still, I think it odd that God was doing him a favor by putting him to sleep.