Finding The Lost Law. 2 Kings 22:1-13
The Decline and Fall of Israel and Judah
INTRODUCTION
The Second Book of Kings is a continuation of the First. It records the reigns of fifteen kings in Judah and of eleven kings in Israel. In Judah the dynasty of David continued to the end, while in Israel there were nine changes of dynasty.
The northern kingdom maintained an unbroken course of idolatry, until the nation was ripe for destruction. The end came in 722 B.C., when Samaria was taken by the Assyrians. Judah continued her course for nearly 150 years longer. But in spite of the efforts of prophets and good kings, the tide of idolatry could not be stayed, and Jerusalem fell before the Babylonians, 586 B.C. Nothing but the Exile could avail to purify the nation and restore the spirit of true worship.
II. FROM THE FALL OF SAMARIA TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM, II Kings 18-25
3. The Reign of Josiah, 2Ki_22:1-20; 2Ki_23:1-30
51. What remarkable discovery was made in the reign of Josiah?
FINDING THE LOST LAW
JOSIAH REIGNS IN JUDAH
Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.
He did what was right in the sight of the LORD and walked in all the ways of his father (ancestor) David, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
JOSIAH REPAIRS THE TEMPLE
In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam the scribe to the house of the LORD, saying,
“Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, so that he may count the entire amount of money brought into the house of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. [2Ki_12:4]
And have them deliver it to the hands of the workmen who have been appointed over the house of the LORD, and have them give it to the workmen who are in the house of the LORD to repair the damages of the house–
that is, [have them give the money] to the carpenters and the builders and the masons–and to buy timber and cut stones to repair the house (temple).
However, no accounting shall be required of them for the money placed in their hands, because they act faithfully.”
HILKIAH FINDS THE BOOK OF THE LAW
Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house (temple) of the LORD.” Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought back word to him: “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have placed it in the hands of the workmen who have been appointed over the house of the LORD.”
Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it [aloud] before the king.
Now when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes.
Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the servant of the king, saying,
“Go, inquire of the LORD for my sake and for the sake of the people and for all Judah concerning the words of this book which has been found, for great is the wrath of the LORD which has been kindled against us, because our fathers have not listened to and obeyed the words of this book, so as to act in accordance with everything that is written concerning us.”
FINDING THE LOST LAW
JOSIAH REIGNS IN JUDAH
In the midst of a dissolute court, Josiah’s young life grew as a palm on the desert-waste. At the age of sixteen he sought the Lord, and at eighteen he became even more earnest and devoted, as though some special quickening had passed over his soul and led him to set about the repair of the Temple. In this he was greatly aided by Hilkiah. It was a fair sunrise, though the day was prematurely overcast.
During the process of renovation a copy of the Book of the Law was discovered, and Shaphan read it before the king. It is supposed that the passage which he recited and which so greatly moved his soul, was Deu_28:1-68; Deu_29:1-29; Deu_30:1-20, where are enumerated the awful consequences that would follow the failure to observe God’s law. What ruthless havoc had Manasseh wrought, that all the copies of the Law had become destroyed! It reminds us of the wholesale burning of the Bible in Tyndale ‘s day! The housebreaker is always careful to extinguish the light that might reveal his presence and lead to his identification. Let us not hesitate to preach the whole counsel of God, and not hide the inevitable doom of the ungodly. It is by the Word that the Holy Spirit convicts of sin.
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