After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates; and Josiah went out against him. But he sent messengers to him, saying, "What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against the house with which I have war; for God commanded me to make haste. Refrain from meddling with God, who is with me, lest He destroy you."

2 Chronicles 35:20-21 (read v.22-17 for the rest of the story)

Why did good king Josiah insert himself and his army into a battle that was not his? Even the pagan king Necho of Egypt, warned Josiah that the battle was not his to “meddle” in. Granted, seldom does godly counsel come from pagans, but in this case we may wonder because as the story unfolds, Josiah goes to war and is killed!

Here again, we may not know for sure that it wasn’t God’s will for Josiah to be killed. But I sincerely doubt it was since Josiah was arguably the most godly king to occupy the throne of Judah. What then do I learn from this?

(1) I must be careful about meddling in things that are not mine. Think about that when tempted to “take a dog by the ears,” as Solomon describes meddling in strife that is not your concern in Proverbs 26:17.

(2) While it was “ultimately” God’s decreed will that Josiah should die since it happened, that doesn’t mean it was God’s will that Josiah jump into a fray that was none of his business. This reminds me that I do not have perfect knowledge or insight into why certain things happen as they do.