CHAPTER 22

(641 B.C.)

JOSIAH REIGNS OVER JUDAH THIRTY-ONE YEARS; THE LAST GOOD KING OF JUDAH

¹Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mothers name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath. (Josiah was the second youngest king to begin his reign, with Joash being the youngest, at seven years old. Manasseh, Josiahs grandfather, was brought up under Godly Hezekiah, his father. Sadly, Manasseh became the worst king of all, but repented at the end. Josiah, the grandson of Manasseh, was brought up under his wicked father, Amon, but became one of the Godliest kings.)

²And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left (Josiah was predicted by name more than 300 years before his birth [I Ki. 13:2]; in noting the comments made by the Holy Spirit concerning these particular kings, it should give us pause regarding what He might be saying concerning us).

THE TEMPLE REPAIRED

³And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the Scribe, to the House of the LORD, saying (the Prophet Jeremiah stood in the same relation to Josiah as Isaiah was to Hezekiah; there is a possibility that Josiah and Jeremiah were boys together, and that Jeremiah helped in the conversion of Josiah; in fact, his conversion took place when he was 16 years old [8 years into his reign]; Jeremiah was called to be a Prophet in the thirteenth year of Josiahs reign [Jer. 1:2], when Josiah was 21 years old),

⁴Go up to Hilkiah the High Priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the House of the LORD, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people (after the wicked doings of Manasseh and Amon, a renovation of the sacred building was required, and the money needed was being raised by a collection):

⁵And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the House of the LORD: and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the House of the LORD, to repair the breaches of the House (the doers are not the actual workmen, but the superintendents or overseers of the workmen),

⁶Unto carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the House.

⁷Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully (the superintendents and overseers were impeccably honest).

THE BOOK OF THE LAW DISCOVERED

⁸And Hilkiah the High Priest said unto Shaphan the Scribe, I have found the Book of the Law in the House of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the Book to Shaphan, and he read it. (Actually, this was the original Pentateuch, which had been written by Moses, and had been laid up by the side of the Ark. It probably was hidden there during the reigns of Manasseh and Amon, because of their wickedness in turning against Jehovah. It had been written by Moses from the Mouth of God more than 800 years before Josiah was born. So, this was an incredible discovery.)

⁹And Shaphan the Scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Your servants have gathered the money that was found in the House, and have delivered it into the hand of them who do the work, who have the oversight of the House of the LORD (we have carried out the kings orders exactly, in every particular).

¹⁰And Shaphan the Scribe showed the king, saying, Hilkiah the Priest has delivered me a Book. And Shaphan read it before the king (exactly as to how much he read, we arent told; however, it must have been a goodly portion; the Pentateuch consists of the first five Books of the Bible).

JOSIAH HEARS THE WORD OF GOD; REPENTS

¹¹And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he rent his clothes (it is easy for a man to know whether he has spiritual life or not if, when reading the Bible, he is neither comforted nor terrified; then it is evident that his soul is dead; Josiah was truly born from above, for he trembled exceedingly when hearing words written by God those many years before).

¹²And the king commanded Hilkiah the Priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the Scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the kings, saying,

¹³Go you, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this Book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this Book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us (Josiah recognized that Judah had done, and was still doing, exactly those things against which the threatenings of the Law were directed; Judah had forsaken Jehovah, gone after other gods, made to themselves high places, set up images, etc.).

¹⁴So Hilkiah the Priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the Prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college;) and they communed with her. (The word college has nothing to do with institutions of learning, but rather referred to the lower city. The highest officers in the land were sent unto a woman Preacher. Why were they not commanded to go to the great men Preachers, Jeremiah and Zephaniah, who were, at this time, attached to the Court? No doubt the Holy Spirit, for whatever reason, moved upon Josiah to go to Huldah. There are other women Preachers mentioned in the Bible, as well: Miriam, Deborah, Isaiahs wife Nodiah, Anna, and Philips daughters, together with many women Preachers forever framed in the letters of the Apostle Paul.)

THE PROPHECY OF HULDAH: JUDGMENT ON JUDAH

¹⁵And she said unto them, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,

¹⁶Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the Book which the king of Judah has read:

¹⁷Because they have forsaken Me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore My wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.

¹⁸But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words which you have heard;

¹⁹Because your heart was tender, and you have humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard what I spoke against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and have rent your clothes, and wept before Me; I also have heard you, says the LORD (a true, sincere heart, broken before God, will always be recognized by the Heavenly Father; this which Josiah did is that which the modern Church desperately needs to do, as well!).

²⁰Behold therefore, I will gather you unto your fathers, and you shall be gathered into your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again. (Josiah died in battle against the Egyptians, but was buried in peace, meaning that he did not see the terrible evil which came upon Judah, ultimately bringing about the destruction of the nation. While Josiah was Godly, Judah, by and large, continued on in her evil ways; consequently, judgment could not be withheld any longer, so the Lord took the Godly king into Paradise, even as we shall see in the following Chapter.)