Josiah became king at the age of eight, yes eight years old! It must have been difficult enough at that age, but to be made king after his father had been assassinated, exceedingly so. He reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem and his mother’s name was Jeddah, the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. Wait for it…. He did right in the sight of God and walked in the ways of David his ancestor, turning neither to the right or left (v1,2). How amazing is that, after his grandfather and father were wicked? Maybe the repentance of his grandfather Manasseh had something to do with it, as that would have happened around the time of his birth. This king was foretold in 1 Kings 13 some three hundred years before.
People have often asked if a child can believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be born again. Are they too young? My usual answer is yes, they can, if Josiah could be king at eight, then there is no reason why a child cannot become a Christian. I am sure that he had advisers, therefore, becoming a Christian is the work of Almighty God, so, what more do we need. A child can have faith, recognise wrong, repent and receive the Lord Jesus Christ and trust in Him.
We move quickly forward eighteen years that the king sent Shaphan the scribe, son of Azariah the son of Meshullam, to the LORD’s house. The message was for Hilkiah the high priest. According to Jeremiah 1:1,2 he was the son of Hilkiah. The message was telling him to count the money brought into the LORD’s house, gathered from the people. It was to be given to overseers for those working to repair the damages, to carpenters, builders and masons, to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house. Because they deal faithfully, they did not need to keep accounts (v3-7), but to get on with the work.
In Deuteronomy 31:24-27 we read that there was to be a copy of the Book of the Law kept beside the Ark of the Covenant. Each king was to have his own personal copy and to read it (Deuteronomy 17:18-20). And the entire law was to be read to the assembly of the nation once every seven years at the Feast of Tabernacles (Deuteronomy 31:9-13).
Evidently, this had been neglected and Hilkiah found the the book in the LORD’s house, and he reported this to Shaphan and gave it to him, and he read it (v8).
Shaphan returned to the king and reported the work he had instructed Hilkiah to do, and almost as an afterthought, ‘he has given me a book.’ Shaphan read it before the king (v10). It had been neglected because they had been disobedient. Shaphan referred to it as ‘a book,’ not ‘the book’. One gets the impression that it was dusty and perhaps hidden through neglect.
The first recorded public reading of The Law is in Joshua 8:34. The next recorded reading is in the reign of Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17:7-9) more than 500 yers later. This reading is some 250 years later. There may have been others not recorded, but the fact that these are recorded could well mean that it was rarely done, if ever.
Whenever God’s Word is read and revered, revival usually follows. There have been other instances throughout history which show that God’s Word has a transforming power (see Hebrews 4:12).
When Josiah heard the words of The Book of the Law, he tore his clothes (v11). It had a profound impact upon him. Tearing one’s clothes represents an expression of horror and astonishment. It was deep conviction on Josiah’s part that this Book had been neglected.
This deep conviction of sin is a work of The Holy Spirit (John 16:8). There are many examples of this down through history. Many of us pray that it will happen today. We can only read and preach God’s Word and trust Him to work in people’s hearts. James tells us that we should humble ourselves before God. Let’s pray that others, especially those who we love, will do just that.
Josiah commanded Hilkiah, the priest, Shaphan and his son Ahikam, Achbor and Asaiah to go and seek the LORD s to what he and the people were to do next. He recognised that the LORD’s wrath was great against them because their fathers had not obeyed the words of The Book (v12,13). He recognised that they deserved the judgment of God for their sin.
We must confess our sin to the Lord before we can expect His blessing and forgiveness.
The men went to Huldah the prophetess who lived in Jerusalem. Apart from this passage and the parallel passage in 2 Chronicles 34:22, we know little of this woman. We know that there were other prophets in Judah – Jeremiah and Zephaniah but for some reason, they chose Huldah, apparently with Josiah’s consent (v14-17). They told her why they had come and she gave them the word of The LORD God of Israel. “Behold I will bring calamity on this place and its inhabitants, (v16) all the words of the Book which the king of a Judah had read.” This was because they had forsaken God and burned incense to other gods.
Josiah knew that they deserved the judgment of God, God’s was true and that He was faithful.
The prophetess told them to tell Josiah that because he had humbled himself and repented before the LORD (v19) the LORD would have mercy on him and His judgment would come just after his own death. He would go to his grave in peace (v20). Josiah’s repentance was not to prevent God’s judgment on the nation, but it would delay it.
God’s judgment is sometimes mercifully delayed because of the tender hearts of God’s people. He even delayed it with Ahab, the wicked king (1 Kings21:25-29).
