“In his days Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt went to the aid of the king of Assyria, to the River Euphrates; and King Josiah went against him. And Pharaoh Necho killed him at Megiddo when he confronted him” (2 Kings 23:29 NKJV).

King Josiah was the last of the good kings in Judah. It was written of him that there was no king like him, neither before or after, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, soul and might. Yet, the brief description of his death in battle sadly does not include any reference to him inquiring of the Lord beforehand. He was wounded at Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley, also called the valley of Armageddon. His servants carried him back to Jerusalem, where he was buried in his own tomb.
 
Josiah’s death was described in more detail in 2 Chronicles 35, including even the mourning of Jeremiah the prophet and all Judah in its report. The death of Josiah marked the swift decline of Judah to its ultimate fall to Babylon. The Lord had delayed judgment on Judah for Josiah’s sake (2 Kings 22:19-20), but afterwards, judgment came just as the Lord had said.