A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

ook may have been hidden in the temple to escape destruction during the reign of Ahaz. Others
believe the book was found in the ark which had been cast aside into a storage room and had
been “lost” during the apostasy which characterized much of the reigns of Manasseh and his son
Amon. Since the temple had been essentially closed for seventy-five years, the rediscovery of the
Book of the Law in the very place it belonged is entirely possible.
The discovery of the Law would have a profound impact on the nation. The book was
brought to the king and read before him. If this book consisted only of Deuteronomy, the reading
of the Law would have taken about three hours. If the book included the entire Pentateuch, the
reading would have taken about ten hours. As the Word of God was read before the king, Josiah
responded by tearing his clothing, a symbol of inner remorse for sin and repentance. He realized
God would have to judge Judah for her sin. Through his tears he asked his men to “inquire of the
Lord for me, and for those who are left in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book
that is found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us, because our fathers have
not kept the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is written in this book” (v. 21).
Hilkiah contacted the Prophetess Huldah who sent back a message from God for the king.
The conclusion the king had come to was true: God would judge the nation for her sin. But God
would also withhold His judgment until a time after the death of Josiah. When the king learned
of this message from God, it served to renew his own zeal for the Lord. He gathered the nation
together in Jerusalem for a public reading of the Law. After this, “the king stood in his place and
made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His
testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the
covenant that were written in this book” (v. 31). The covenant made by the king was also
adopted by those present that day. So effective was this second phase of the revival that all the
abominations of the land were removed and Judah did not go back to its old ways throughout the
reign of Josiah.
As his great-grandfather had done during a similar revival about a century earlier, Josiah
led his people in the observance of the Passover. This Passover proved to be the most spectacular
since the days of Samuel. About 32,600 lambs and goats and 2,500 cattle were sacrificed and
roasted during this Passover celebration. All was done in accordance with the legal requirements
for the observation of this feast. The celebration of the Passover was followed by the Feast of
Unleavened Bread for seven days.
After this, Pharaoh Necho of Egypt marched against Carchemish. However, he was not
attacking Judah. As the army of Egypt passed by Judea, Josiah went out to meet him in battle.
The young king apparently assumed the Egyptians were going to also attack Judah despite
Necho’s claims to the contrary. Though the Egyptian Pharaoh urged Josiah not to engage in
battle against them, Josiah joined his men in attacking them. In the course of the battle, the last
godly king of Judah was fatally wounded. He instructed his men to get him out of the battle and
back to Jerusalem. They did so, and there he died.
PERSPECTIVE
A godly man can make a bad decision. Perhaps Josiah could have lived another thirty
years and made a permanent influence on his nation for righteousness. The nation mourned
greatly over his death. Josiah had been a good king. He had done much to bring his people back
to their God and temporarily stay the inevitable judgment coming on his nation. By the time he
died, many in Judah realized the end was near.