But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, "What have we to do with each other, O King of Judah? I am not coming against you today but against the house with which I am at war, and God has ordered me to hurry. Stop for you own sake from interfering with God who is with me, so that He will not destroy you."This is very interesting. An Egyptian king both knows God, and knows that God has called him to attack another nation. When else in this time did that happen? We're used to seeing God use Israel and Judah against other nations, but not this time. This time, he uses Egypt against someone else. We don't know who that nation is; we only know that they are at the Euphrates, which means that the Egyptian army would have to cross Judah to get there.
Why did Josiah not listen to the king of Egypt? I can understand if he thought the king was simply saying what he thought Josiah wanted to hear. But was that it? Did the king's pride perhaps get in the way? He saw someone else being used by God, in a way that meant almost literally stepping on him to do God's work, and he resented it? Did Josiah do something that angered God, or was this a test that Josiah failed? I don't know, but I can't say I would have likely done anything different.
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