Yay, it's time for Josiah!
Verses 1-2 tells us that Josiah was eight years old when he became king and reigned thirty-one years. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord. (640-609 B.C.) He was the last good Davidic king prior to Judah's exile.
The MacArthur Bible Commentary places this passage in the historical context of the passing if control of this region from the Assyrians to the Babylonians with the devastating sacking of Nineveh in 612 B.C. and the Assyrian empire complete fall in 609 B.C.
In verses 3-7 we learn that Josiah was having repairs done to the temple. In his 18th year of reign, he send the high priest in to count the money so that they can give it to the workmen for materials for the repair. Then he adds the specific instruction not to manage the money, but to trust the workmen for they deal honestly. That's high praise from this king. It also tells us something about how he viewed and treated people. Many other kings wouldn't have given any consideration to workers. And for that matter, the fact that he was prioritizing the temple work also reflects very well on him. We see here a king like the lord had commanded when He told them about how to be a King of God's people in Israel.
Meanwhile, in verses 8-10, the high priest finds the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord. He passes it to the king's secretary to read. The the secretary goes back to the king to report that all of the money has been removed and given to the temple repair workers. And then the secretary reads the Book of the Law to the King.
Before I tell you what happens next, let me remind you that in God's instructions at the Jordan, when he predicted they would want a king, was that the king would write by hand his own copy of the law. The tells me the king was to be literate. This king was eight when when he became king, he had the time to learn and yet the book of the law had to be read to him. It's not a criticism of him, but of the times. We can see that learning to read and understand the law wasn't important enough to pass on to your royal children. The fact that the word had been hidden tells you that Manasseh, or one of the other terrible kings, had destroyed as much scripture as was not hidden by someone. Not good.
Now the wonderful part.
11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. 12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.” II Kings 22:8-13, ESV, emphasis mine.
There's a pop-culture, slang phrase right now, "he understood the assignment." Well, King Josiah did, indeed, understand. With thunderous insight he was moved to action.
But before we dive into Josiah's action, I want to take a moment for a shout out to Shaphan the secretary and to Hilkiah the high priest. Shaphan was the man Josiah originally sent to the temple to start the process of counting the money and getting it to the workman. Hilkiah was the one who counted the money and presented it to Shaphan to take care of. And both of the were presented with the knowledge that came from reading the Book of the Law. They both had a choice. They could relegate the truth back into oblivion, where it came from- leaving everyone else in the dark, or they could do their part to share it-without having control over what happened to it after that.
They chose to share.
Josiah gets a lot of credit for being one of the best kings. Doing the right thing. Walking well with the Lord, especially in light of what he learned from the book 18 years into his reign. But that part wouldn't have happened if EITHER Shaphan or Hilkiah decided to act in fear or selfishness or laziness or any of a hundred other motivations to Not act.
What do I choose?
Do I share the book? Or do I let one of those hundred motivations keep me from inspiring the next Josiah to act in a way that has far reaching outcomes. Maybe I can only make small choices with small outcomes, but the same could be said about a match. Maybe it only sets off a small spark; but maybe the chain reaction from that spark could light up an entire nation for the Lord.
8.31.24
Ok, back to the main stage. In verse 11, Josiah tore his clothes, "when the king heard the words of the book of the law." Sound familiar.
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Romans 10:17, ESV
The Word changes us. Jesus is the Word (John 1:1). We see even before Jesus walked among us, His Word changed hearts. Tearing his clothes was a sign of grief and repentance. We established above that Josiah was a good king, doing good things, and even so, the Book of the Law showed him his need for a right relationship with God.
Neither Shaphan or Hilkiah accompanied the scripture with a sermon or handed Josiah a tract. They just read the words.
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? Romans 10:14, ESV
My point is this--our job is to share the Word. It becomes God's job to change a heart. We'll all approach this task in different ways, depending on our giftings and trainings; but it's the Word. That's what we have to keep front and center when we want to talk to people about our Lord.
So then what? Once Josiah realized his (and his nation's) sin, what came next? He inquired of the Lord. He used the high priest, scribe, and the system at the time, but the goal was the same--talk to God. We have the unequivocal privilege of being able to inquire of the Lord directly because the veil was torn by the work of Jesus and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. Hallelujah! However, Josiah did right by the method that was offered to him at the time; in Israel kings and priests were to keep strictly separate tasks.
Now something rare and a bit strange happens.
Verse 14 lists the five people sent to inquire of the Lord--one of whom was the high priest. From what we read in other stories in the Bible, the high priest should go to them temple and seek the Lord. That is not what happens. These are hard times when the nation has not been following the Lord, the temple is under repair, and the high priest has only recently read the Book of the Law for himself. So they...
...went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter), and they talked with her. 15 And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. 18 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 19 because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. 20 Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king. II Kings 22:14b-20, ESV, biblegateway.com, emphasis mine
I know that's a long passage, and there's a lot there; but it's all intermingled, so I wanted to include it in tact.
First, verse 14b. Those five religious leaders went out into a suburb of Jerusalem, to a woman, who was some sort of clothing specialist (maybe religious, maybe royal?). This was truly and upside down moment. It should have been them, especially the high priest. A man, in the temple. But this was not the only time God had to use a woman because everyone else had lost there way. It was very rare, but Deborah is another example. These weren't women trying to take men's roles, as we are seeing in many modern churches. She had a job working with clothes. And she wasn't a medium or other unsavory spiritualist. The MacArthur commentary points out that there were significant known, prophets at this time, including Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah; but they chose this woman over them for some reason.
But she must have had a reputation, because they went straight to her to inquire of the Lord. And boy did she have an answer from Him.
She has a "thus says the Lord" response. Not just friendly advice or even a passage from the word; but a fill blown message, as we read about from prophets like Isaiah.
There are two parts to this message.
The first part of the message is, "You're darn right I'm angry. The wrath is coming and it's well passed time. I've been patient and now there is devastation coming."
The second part of the message is, "I saw that you were penitent, humble, you tore your clothes and wept, so I am going to spare you from what's coming."
Notice that this time, the king's repentance wasn't enough to save the nation. When God's longsuffering is complete, and He knows the people simply are not going to change under these circumstances, He does not change His mind. But He did honor the individual actions of the one whose heart showed genuine change. We saw something similar with one of the worst kings, Ahab. The devastation is still coming, but I will spare you because of your heart.
It's such a clear picture of what the Lord values. actions that reflect the heart.
Ryrie makes an interesting commentary on Josiah's promise from God. They point out that (spoiler alert) Josiah dies in battle. So the peaceful end that God promised was peace with God, not peaceful as humans might define it. But it's the only peace that matters for eternity. (And I think Kings at that time would prefer to die in battle- I think that was a better requiem for a king. MacArthur expands on this a bit and points out that he also did not have to see the utter destruction of Jerusalem.
As a side note, The Warren Wiersbe commentary on II King and II Chronicles, Be Distinct, has a little section on the life and family of Shaphan, the secretary from the early part of the chapter. His children and grandchildren continue to play a significant, and mostly positive, role and show up in other Old Testament books, such as Ezekiel and Jeremiah.