This research paper by Joseph Hyatt, submitted to Dr. William Ross in partial fulfillment of OT-5250 at Reformed Theological Seminary, examines 2 Chronicles 35:20–25 and the theological meaning behind King Josiah’s death at Megiddo. Hyatt argues that Josiah’s fall signifies more than a political miscalculation; it is a covenantal unraveling that functions as an anti-Adam, anti-image of God moment and a reversal of the Exodus.
Through close reading of Chronicles and intertextual engagement with Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy, the paper frames Necho’s warning as a genuine word from God, highlights Josiah’s refusal to listen, and traces how the king’s disguise, wounding by archers, and state funeral parallel—and invert—earlier royal patterns. These narrative moves reveal the limits of reform apart from obedience to divine speech and explain how Judah’s slide into Egyptian control anticipates the Babylonian exile as a dramatic reversal of Israel’s redemption.
Hyatt concludes that the tragedy of Josiah points beyond Davidic hope to the **true and obedient Second Adam—Christ—**whose perfect obedience restores God’s image and accomplishes the greater Exodus for God’s people.
Course and date: OT-5250 — May 13, 2021
