2 Kings · chapter 22 of 25
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2 Kings 22 tells how Josiah, king of Judah since the age of eight, orders the temple repaired in his eighteenth year. The high priest Hilkiah finds the book of the law, and on hearing it read the king tears his clothes and sends to inquire of the Lord. The prophetess Huldah announces that judgment will come on Judah, but that Josiah, for his humble heart, will not see the disaster and will die in peace.
After the reigns of Manasseh and Amon, the people of Judah had almost completely abandoned the law of the Lord. 2 Kings 22 shows a decisive change: a young king who seeks the Lord and a forgotten law that reappears in the temple. It is the beginning of the deepest reform in Judah and one of the clearest scenes of what happens when God's word is heard again.
Josiah becomes king at eight and reigns thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother is Jedidah. He does what is right in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of David his father, turning aside neither to the right nor to the left.
In the eighteenth year of his reign, Josiah sends the scribe Shaphan to the house of the Lord to tell the high priest Hilkiah to count the money the doorkeepers have collected and give it to the workmen to repair the temple: carpenters, builders and masons, who also buy timber and stone. No accounting is asked of them, because they deal faithfully.
Then Hilkiah tells Shaphan that he has found the book of the law in the house of the Lord, and gives it to him. Shaphan reads it, reports to the king about the money and tells him that Hilkiah has given him a book, and reads it before the king. When the king hears the words of the book of the law, he tears his clothes. He orders Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan and Asaiah to inquire of the Lord for him, for the people and for all Judah, for great is the wrath of the Lord against them, because their fathers have not obeyed the words of this book.
They go to Huldah the prophetess, wife of Shallum, who lives in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter. She answers that the Lord will bring disaster on this place and its inhabitants, according to all the words of the book, because they have forsaken him and burned incense to other gods, and his wrath will be kindled and not quenched. But to the king who sent them she says that, because his heart was tender, he humbled himself before the Lord, tore his clothes and wept, the Lord has heard him. He will be gathered to his fathers in peace, and his eyes will not see all the disaster the Lord will bring on this place. They take the answer back to the king.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Josiah does what is right in the sight of the Lord, walks in the way of David and turns aside neither to the right nor to the left. As a child in a corrupt environment, the text presents him as a model of steady faithfulness.
The high priest Hilkiah says he has found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. The book, lost during years of idolatry, reappears in the middle of an ordinary repair. God allows his word to be heard again when his people are ready to listen.
On hearing the words of the book of the law, the king tears his clothes. His reaction shows repentance and fear before what God had said, unlike earlier kings who ignored his word.
Huldah says that because Josiah's heart was tender and he humbled himself before the Lord, the Lord has heard him. Humility before God's word is what moves his mercy, though judgment on the people stands.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Eight years old. — 2 Kings 22:1
Answer: That the house of the Lord be repaired with the money from the offerings. — 2 Kings 22:3-5
Answer: The book of the law in the house of the Lord. — 2 Kings 22:8
Answer: He tore his clothes. — 2 Kings 22:11
Answer: The prophetess Huldah. — 2 Kings 22:14
Answer: That he would be gathered to his fathers in peace and not see the disaster coming on Jerusalem. — 2 Kings 22:19-20
Josiah reacted with humility when he heard God's word. We often know the Bible but hear it without being moved. In a class or small group you can ask when the last time was that a Bible reading made us change something, and how we can receive Scripture with a tender heart.
The finding of the book also reminds us that God's word can be forgotten in the middle of religious activity. There are churches with repaired buildings and closed Bibles. And Huldah's answer shows that the Lord is both just and compassionate: he does not ignore sin, but he draws near to the one who humbles himself.
2 Kings 22 ends with Huldah's answer carried back to the king, who will now decide how to act. In chapter 23 Josiah will gather the people, renew the covenant and carry out a reform that reaches the whole kingdom.
The text calls it the book of the law. Many scholars think it was all or part of Deuteronomy, because of its focus on the covenant and on blessings and curses. The account does not specify, and the reform that follows matches several of its rules.
She was a prophetess of Jerusalem, wife of Shallum. Although there were other prophets at the time, such as Jeremiah and Zephaniah, the king sent to consult her, and her word was accepted with authority. She is one of the few women prophets mentioned in the Old Testament.
Because his humility moved the Lord to show mercy to him personally. The judgment on Judah still stood because of accumulated sins, but Josiah would not see it. The promise does not mean a peaceful death in battle, only that he would not see the destruction of Jerusalem.