UNROLL
Early morning in the empty inner court of the temple: before the porch steps of the long, plain stone house with its two bronze pillars stands a slender youth in a deep-blue robe, alone and small, seen from behind, head bowed and hands open at his sides, under a calm, pale sky.

The Book of

2 Chronicles 34

At sixteen he began to seek God. At twenty-six he found the book that changed everything.

33 verses≈ 9 min4 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1SolomonWisdom asked at Gibeon
  2. 2–5The templeBuilt on Mount Moriah
  3. 6–7DedicationIf My people humble themselves
  4. 8–9Solomon's gloryThe queen of Sheba
  5. 10–16DivisionRehoboam to Asa
  6. 17–20JehoshaphatThe battle is God's
  7. 21–24Dark yearsJehoram to Joash
  8. 25–28Proud kingsAmaziah to Ahaz
  9. 29–32HezekiahDoors opened, Passover kept
  10. 33–35Manasseh to JosiahMercy and the Book foundChapter 34
  11. 36Exile and returnMay he go up

Josiah Reigns in Judah

Judah

Josiah of Judah · 31 years

  1. Eight, thirty-one years in Jerusalem

    Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years.

  2. did right

    In the ways of his father David

    And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

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Josiah Destroys Idolatry

In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his father David, and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images.

2 Chronicles 34:3

Late afternoon among the half-ruined stone houses of an old hill town of the north: roofless walls, weeds in the lanes and a broken gateway; in a small open place the king's men break up a stone altar and cut down a wooden pole while a few villagers in worn wool watch from a doorway.

Josiah did the same in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins around them. He tore down the altars and Asherah poles, crushed the idols to powder, and cut to pieces all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Reflect

While he was still young

Josiah had no book of the law to read yet, and his father had served idols. Still, “while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his father David.” What would it look like for you to begin seeking God now, with what you have, rather than waiting until life is settled?

Josiah Repairs the Temple

Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, in order to cleanse the land and the temple, Josiah sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God.

Morning at a plain stone gate of the temple court: two Levite gatekeepers in undyed linen receive small cloth bags of weighed silver from a weathered farmer and his son in rough brown wool and sheepskin, a bronze balance on a plank table, the long, plain stone house of the temple small beyond the gate.

So they went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites who guarded the doors had collected from the people of Manasseh and Ephraim, from all the remnant of Israel, from all Judah and Benjamin, and from the people of Jerusalem.

They put it into the hands of those supervising the work in the house of the LORD, who in turn gave it to the workmen restoring and repairing the house of the LORD. They also gave money to the carpenters and builders to buy dressed stone, as well as timbers for couplings and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to deteriorate.

Midday in the temple court during the repairs: laborers carry limestone blocks and cedar beams up a plank ramp against the plain stone wall, while Levites in undyed linen stand beside the ramp overseeing, two playing small wooden lyres and one holding a pair of bronze cymbals, an older Levite pointing.

And the men did the work faithfully. The Levites overseeing them were Jahath and Obadiah, descendants of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, descendants of Kohath. Other Levites, all skilled with musical instruments, were over the laborers and supervised all who did the work, task by task. Some of the Levites were secretaries, officers, and gatekeepers.

Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law

A side room of the temple under repair: new cedar beams propped against a wall of pale dressed stone, a stack of fresh-cut blocks, stone dust in a single shaft of morning light; on a low stone ledge lies a rolled scroll tied with a cord, gray with dust.

While they were bringing out the money that had been taken into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given by Moses. And Hilkiah said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD!” And he gave it to Shaphan.

I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD!

2 Chronicles 34:15

Then Shaphan brought the book to the king and reported, “Your servants are doing all that has been placed in their hands. They have paid out the money that was found in the house of the LORD and have put it into the hands of the supervisors and workers.”

A lamplit, cedar-paneled room in the king's house: Shaphan the scribe sits on a low stool reading aloud from a partly unrolled scroll, and the young King Josiah stands before him gripping the neck of his blue robe and tearing it open, his face stricken; a servant at the door has stopped still.

Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.

When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes

Josiah
Josiah

and commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the servant of the king: “Go and inquire of the LORD for me and for those remaining in Israel and Judah concerning the words in the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that has been poured out on us because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD by doing all that is written in this book.”

Question

Quick question

The book was found while the money for the repairs was being brought out.

Who found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD?

Huldah’s Prophecy

Early morning in Jerusalem's newer western quarter: a lane of flat-roofed stone houses inside a broad wall of rough stone; five men from the king stand at a plain wooden door, and Huldah the prophetess in a deep-green head covering stands in the doorway, listening, as a woman with a water jar passes.

So Hilkiah and those the king had designated went and spoke to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, the keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the Second District.

A quiet room in a stone house in soft morning light: Huldah the prophetess sits on a low bench by a small window, her hands folded, speaking gravely to the king's men, who stand with their heads bowed; a clay lamp and a loom against the wall.

And Huldah said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Tell the man who sent you that this is what the LORD says: I am about to bring calamity on this place and on its people, according to all the curses written in the book that has been read in the presence of the king of Judah, because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. My wrath will be poured out upon this place and will not be quenched.’

0:27

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, tell him that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘As for the words that you heard,

because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its people, and because you have humbled yourself before Me and have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have heard you,’ declares the LORD.

2 Chronicles 34:27

‘Now I will indeed gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the calamity that I will bring on this place and on its people.’” So they brought her answer back to the king.

Josiah Renews the Covenant

Morning in the crowded temple court: on the porch steps of the long, plain stone house with its two bronze pillars, King Josiah in a deep-blue robe reads aloud from a scroll held open in both hands, priests and Levites near him; below, people of every age fill the court, listening, seen mostly from behind.

Then the king summoned all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And he went up to the house of the LORD with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the Levites—all the people great and small—and in their hearing he read all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD.

So the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments, decrees, and statutes with all his heart and all his soul, and to carry out the words of the covenant that were written in this book.

Then he had everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin take a stand in agreement to it. So all the people of Jerusalem carried out the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

And Josiah removed all the abominations from all the lands belonging to the Israelites, and he required everyone in Israel to serve the LORD their God. Throughout his reign they did not turn aside from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.

Pray

A tender heart

Thank God that His word, though lost and forgotten, is never gone. Ask Him for a heart like Josiah’s, tender when it hears His word rather than hard. Pray for leaders who read God’s word aloud and lead others to keep it, and for faithfulness that lasts, so that like Judah under Josiah we “did not turn aside from following the LORD” all our days.

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2 Chronicles 34

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A verse to carry with you

In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his father David, and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images.

2 Chronicles 34:3

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