Dusting Off the Old Bible

2 Kings 22

Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the LORD.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king. When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: “Go and inquire of the LORD for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the LORD’s anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.” (22:8, 10-13)

-----

The reign of Josiah was like a drink of cool water in the middle of a barren desert. His grandfather was Manasseh, the most evil king of Judah, and his father, Amon, was a wicked man who was assassinated by palace officials when Josiah was only eight. But Josiah? He did not follow his dad nor his granddad. No, he followed his great-grandfather Hezekiah and the God Hezekiah obeyed.

When Josiah was 26 he ordered the temple to be repaired. The good kings did this -- they took care of the house of God out of respect for God and desire for their kingdom to be united under Him. In the midst of this restoration project, Hilkiah, the high priest, finds the book of the Law. It had been more than missing -- it had been ignored. The Torah had been trashed by the king and, as a result, by the people of Judah. Hilkiah dusts off the book (likely a big scroll or series of scrolls) and his attendant reads it. Josiah is read some of the words and he immediately is "cut to the quick." The nation had not been following the Law!

So he does what godly men and women should do when confronted with the truth: he immediately fell in humility before the Lord. He wanted to know if there was anything he could do to right the wrong. The Lord said, "No." Judah would suffer for its apostasy. But Josiah would live to his fullness of years and die in peace.

The Lord is always gracious to those who follow Him -- to those who are called by His name. He held no condemnation for the faithful ones of the Old Testament and He holds no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus today (see Romans 8:1). Our God is just, just as He was with Judah, but He is also a God of Grace. He loves you and me. If you have trouble believing that, dust off the old Bible and read with me: "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10)."

Be God's.