Josiah reads Deuteronomy, and it hits him like a ton of bricks. He realizes his people are doomed unless they mend their ways. They are breaking every law in the book (or, on the scroll). No wonder the Lord is so furious at them! Josiah rends his clothes in sorrow. But it's too late. A lady prophet, Huldah, says the Lord has already doomed Judah—the land will become "a desolation and a curse."

Still, an optimistic Josiah tries to change God's mind. He reads the whole scroll out loud to the Israelites, then topples all the idols, knocks down the temples of the male prostitutes, destroys the pagan monuments built by Solomon, unearths pagan cemeteries, and incinerates human bones on the heretic altars. He even restores Passover. Josiah is like no king before or after—he's almost a second coming of Moses—but it's not enough. "The Lord did not turn away from His awesome wrath."

This seems very unfair of God. Josiah does everything possible to restore his people into God's good graces. He follows all of God's orders. By the time of Josiah's death, the Judahites are as holy as they have ever been, yet He doesn't forgive! It seems oddly merciless. If He won't save the faithful, what's the point of believing at all?

Chapter 24 and Chapter 25
The end is here. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invades and makes quick work of Judah. Judah's new king Jehoiakim becomes a vassal, then rebels. Neb crushes the rebellion, takes the king prisoner, deports all the able men to Babylon, and loots Jerusalem.

The Babylonians install a puppet king, who also rebels. That rebellion is crushed, as well. A Babylonian commander sacks the temple and executes the priests. Jerusalem is turned into a ghost town, with only its poorest inhabitants left to till the fields.

This marks the end of the glory days of the Israelites. The hope and opportunity of the Torah have been squandered. It's hard to see what hope, or faith, could remain after such tragedy. Yet there's enough that the Israelites wrote down these books and preserved their memory of God's love through a brutal exile.

The book of Kings ends with an incredible, heartbreaking vignette. After the conquest of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar releases deposed king Jehoiakim from prison and keeps him as a court retainer. Neb lets the former king eat at his table every day and gives him a daily allowance. The last king of Judah is a pet, a domesticated animal, an obedient monkey serving a pagan master. This is the fate of God's chosen people, and their king.