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Why wouldn't God want to forgive His people after repenting? It would seem that by not forgiving things were allowed to get worse. Anyone have any ideas?

Could it be that Josiah's depth of repentance wasn't entirely shared by his people?

There were several good kings that were preceded and followed by bad kings that did not repent like Josiah but still seemed not to incur the wrath that God saved for Judah under Josiah's reign. If Josiah's act of repentance was even greater than anything David had done then why shouldn't God have acted in a way to encourage that kind of obedience and piety instead of killing off an otherwise great king to be replaced by another bad one?

2 Kings 22: 18-20 When we are overwhelmed by sins, God forgives our sin.

Is peoples behavior the same regardless of their environment?
Or do people tend to rationalize sin based on their surrounding?

When the world says, give up Hope whispers, try one more time.
God Bless

I don't mean to sound facetious but maybe the answer lies somewhere in "...the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah". (2 Kings 23:28)

I must say, the stories of the succession of kings in the OT leave me quite befuddled. There often seems to be no discernable reason for God's decisions and actions.

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Some say Jesus was not a pacifist...

"Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword."
Matthew 26:52 (NIV)

For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.
Galatians 5:14

The spirituality of the kings of Israel was like a roller coaster - up then down. God rewarded the good kings like Josiah by staying his hand of judgment until the king passed away. Although, I admit this is somewhat simplistic on my part; God must judge for sin and when the sins of his people "reach heaven" He must act according to His holy nature.

Winner,
The writer of Kings is simply noting that despite the repentance and renewal carried out by the reforms of Josiah, the nation simply failed to make this a part of their practice and were thus destroyed. Immediately after Josiah (in fact it was the immediate generations after him in his family) the nation rebelled against everything Josiah had sought to reform. They rejected the prophets and the covenant which they had entered with the LORD. This meant that there could be no deliverance from the impending judgment.

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Everyone is equal at the foot of the cross...just some are more equal than others.
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