We have another spiritual emergency, and so Josiah, like Hezekiah, in his zeal for God, forced the leaders of Judah to follow God. Just like Hezekiah had to do, Josiah had to use the power of his office as king to make the people do what was right.
Josiah was not pussyfooting around. He was using the power of his office as king, and he made them do it.
What we have here is a dictatorship. It was not just a king ruling. He simply took over the nation, lock, stock, and barrel. As in the time of Hezekiah, a crisis was reached. Either their sins had to be purged, or a calamity of going into captivity was going to very shortly occur. We have a national emergency, and in this national emergency Josiah acted as he did.
