Josiah’s Rule as King of Judah
v1 Josiah was 8 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 31 years. His mother’s name was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah. She was from Bozkath. v2 Josiah pleased the Lord in everything that he did. He behaved in the same way as his ancestor David had done. Josiah obeyed all God’s laws.
v3 In the 18th year when Josiah was ruling, he sent Shaphan the secretary to the Lord’s temple. Shaphan was Azaliah’s son and he was also Meshullam’s grandson. v4 Josiah said, ‘Go to Hilkiah, the chief priest, and tell him this. “Get the money ready that people have brought into the Lord’s temple. That is what the priests on duty have collected from the people. v5 Tell those priests to give the money to the men that control the work in the temple. Those men must pay the workers who are repairing the Lord’s temple. v6 Those workers include those men that work with wood. They include the builders. And they also include those men that work with stone. Those men must also buy wood and stone to repair the temple. v7 They are honest men. So they do not need to tell us how they have spent the money.” ’
v8 Hilkiah, the chief priest, told this to Shaphan the secretary. ‘In the Lord’s temple, I have found the book that contains the law.’ He handed the book to Shaphan, who read it. v9 Then Shaphan the secretary gave this report to the king. ‘Your servants have taken the money that was in the Lord’s temple. They have given it to the men that control the work at the temple.’ v10 Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, ‘Hilkiah the priest has handed a book to me.’ And Shaphan read it to the king.
Commentary
Josiah became king when he was 8 years old. He ruled for 31 years, from 640 to 609 B.C. He pleased God and he obeyed God’s laws. In 2 Chronicles 34:3, we learn this. When Josiah was 16 years old, he began to worship the Lord. After that, Josiah began to destroy the places where people worshipped other gods. He did that when he was 20 years old. He destroyed the altars where people worshipped Baal. And Josiah destroyed the images of Asherah (the female god).
Josiah began to repair the temple when he was 26 years old. Josiah collected money for the temple. He did it by the same method that Joash had used earlier. The people that used the money during Josiah’s rule were honest. And the work to repair the temple began at once.
While people were repairing the temple, Hilkiah, the chief priest, found a book there. It was the book that contained the law. Many people believe that it was the Book of Deuteronomy. Probably Josiah already knew something about God’s laws. But the book had a powerful effect on Josiah. Deuteronomy chapter 28 warns about God’s punishment if people do not obey God’s law. Such passages upset Josiah greatly.
The Bible is God’s message to men and women. Whenever people rediscover the Bible, it has a powerful effect on their lives. It urges them to trust God, and to obey him completely. It warns them that they must not neglect God. It is the most important book in the world.
It may astonish us today that the priests had actually lost the Bible! At that time, people had to write each copy by hand. And not many people could read or write. So there were few copies. And evil kings had ruled Judah for a long time. During Manasseh’s and Amon’s rules, people worshipped false gods in the temple. People had new gods to worship, so they put the old books away. Many years passed, and people forgot about the old books. But when the work began in the temple, the chief priest found this book. Immediately, he realized its importance, so he sent it to the king. Other books of the Bible existed at this time too. Perhaps the chief priest discovered those books later. But it was this first book that upset Josiah.
Josiah did not have a complete Bible. He only had a small part. But he realized that it was extremely important. He listened to it. And then he acted because of its message. Today there is a complete Bible in very many languages. And across the world, Christians are working to translate it into the languages that have no Bible. But today, even when people can read it, many people still neglect it. ‘God wants to rescue us. We certainly will not escape if we neglect his message’ (Hebrews 2:3).
Words From the Book
v11 When the king heard the words from the book, he tore his clothes. He was very sad. v12 He gave this order to Hilkiah the priest. The order was also for Shaphan’s son Ahikam and Micaiah’s son Acbor. And the order was also for Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s servant. v13 The king said, ‘Go and ask the Lord on behalf of Judah’s people and myself. What must we do about what the writer teaches in the book? The Lord is angry with us. Our ancestors have not obeyed what the writer teaches in the book. They have not done what its writer orders us to do.’
v14 The king said that to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan and Asaiah. They went and they spoke to a female prophet, Huldah. She lived in the new district in Jerusalem. Her husband was Shallum. He was the son of Tikvah and he was also the grandson of Harhas. Shallum looked after the clothes in the temple.
v15 Huldah told this to those men. ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, says this. “Tell this to the man that sent you to me. v16 I will bring disaster to Jerusalem and I will punish its people. I will do those things even as the writer says in the book. v17 They have stopped worshipping me. They have burned incense to give honor to other gods. The people have made me very angry because of their idols. My anger is so great that nothing can stop it.”
v18 The king of Judah sent you to ask the Lord what to do. Say this to him. “The Lord, the God of Israel, says this about the words that you heard: v19 You heard what I said about this place and its people. I said that I would destroy this place. I said that I would punish its people. But you repented. You became humble in front of the Lord. You tore your clothes and you wept. I have heard you, says the Lord. v20 So when you die, people will bury you in peace. You will not see that disaster happen. It will not happen when you are alive.” ’ So the men told Josiah about Huldah’s answer.
Commentary
When King Josiah heard about the book, he was very sad. He asked his officials to discover what God wanted him to do. Josiah realized that God was very angry with the people in Judah. They had not obeyed God’s laws. Josiah wanted to do something so that God would not still be angry with them. Josiah wanted to hear what he should do about that. The officials went to talk to Huldah, a female prophet. It seems that her husband was well-known. He had an important job, perhaps in the temple as our translation says, or perhaps in the palace. And maybe that is how the officials knew about Huldah.
Huldah told Josiah that God would destroy Jerusalem. And God would punish its people. The people had made him very angry because they had worshipped idols. Their evil deeds had become so severe that they could not avoid punishment.
However, Huldah promised Josiah that he would not see that disaster. It would not happen during his life. That was because he had become humble towards God. Those people that are afraid of God’s anger are least likely to suffer it.
We learn from the Bible how God wants us to behave. 2 Timothy 3:15-17 tells us that the Bible is God’s message to us. Like Josiah, we need to read God’s message. We also need to discover what it means. Then we must obey what God tells us to do in it.
Like Josiah, we too live in an age when God’s punishment is certain (2 Peter 3:10-11). God will not allow evil governments to rule this world always. He will end their power. That is certain and nothing can prevent it. (See Revelation chapter 18.) God would not be a fair judge if he did not act to punish sin.
But although God’s punishment is certain, we do not have to suffer that punishment. Like Josiah, we can be humble in front of God. We can repent and we can choose to trust God. Jesus himself suffered the punishment on behalf of those people who will trust him. And in the end, the people who trust God will live in his new heaven and new earth (2 Peter 3:13).
As God promised, Josiah did not see the disaster. But he did not live a long life. As we shall see in 23:29, Josiah died in an unnecessary battle. At that time, he was foolish. And he did not ask God what he (Josiah) should do.
But Josiah was not foolish when he received Huldah’s message. He was completely loyal to God. Josiah knew that he could not prevent disaster in Judah. But he could still do many good things. He could stop the worship of idols. He could teach God’s law to the people. He himself could obey God. And he could try to persuade everyone else in Judah to do the same things.
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