2 Kings 22:1-3
Back in 1 Kings 13 we read this:
And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2 Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, "O altar, altar! Thus says the Lord: 'Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men's bones shall be burned on you.
Josiah was 8 years old when he became king. His grandfather had been an evil king; his father just as bad. His father was assassinated after just two years. In spite of these things, Josiah became a righteous king and he reigned for 31 years. For an eight-year-old to rule in this way has to attest to some Godly people in his life. There had to be priests and elders influencing him and advising him in the ways of the Lord.
In 2 Chronicles 34:3-7 we see Josiah began a period of reformation. He began to purge the land of its wickedness and idolatry. He but down the wood images, carved images and molded images. He sacrificed the pagan priests on their pagan altars.
2 Kings 22:4-10
Josiah directed the scribe to go to the house of the Lord and insure the money collected was being used to hire craftsmen to repair the House of the Lord. It was at this time that the high priest found the book of the law. This seems strange to us that we might imagine the priests had fallen so far as to not even know where the book was, or that they had it. Yet, we see in our culture many churches that have done the very same thing; the book is considered old, outdated or irrelevant; it is offensive by nature and therefore put away so as not to offend. Hiliah showed the book to the scribe who took it to the king and read it before him.
One of the things a new king was supposed to do was write out a copy of the law. It was time consuming and tedious but assured they know of the law and knew what was it it. It's not clear where they got away from this; likely in the reign of his father and grandfather.
2 Kings 22:11-13
Once it was read in the presence of the king he realized their disobedience. There is great wrath stored up for them in their disobedience. The king was filled with grief and concerned for his nation. Action was required, but what? He sent a group of men to inquire of the Lord.
2 Kings 22:14-20
The prophetess speaks and says God will bring evil(as in judgment) on Jerusalem. The judgment and curses were what was promised by God if they were disobedient and rebellious. This was set. However, because Josiah mourned and tore his clothes, God would spare him from seeing the calamity that was coming on them. He would die in peace and be with his fathers when it happened.
©2016 Doug Ford
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