2 Kings 22: 1 – 20
A rare find
22 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 3 Now it came to pass, in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the scribe, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the house of the LORD, saying: 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money which has been brought into the house of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people. 5 And let them deliver it into the hand of those doing the work, who are the overseers in the house of the LORD; let them give it to those who are in the house of the LORD doing the work, to repair the damages of the house— 6 to carpenters and builders and masons—and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house. 7 However there need be no accounting made with them of the money delivered into their hand, because they deal faithfully.” 8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to 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. 9 So Shaphan the scribe went to the king, bringing the king word, saying, “Your servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of those who do the work, who oversee the house of the LORD.” 10 Then Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king. 11 Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the LORD for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.” 14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke with her. 15 Then she said to them, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me, 16 “Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants—all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read— 17 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. Therefore My wrath shall be aroused against this place and shall not be quenched.’ 18 But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, in this manner you shall speak to him, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel: “Concerning the words which you have heard— 19 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the LORD. 20 “Surely, therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place.” So, they brought back word to the king.
I like to watch the History Channel. I enjoy the stories of the lives of different individuals who made a great impact. A few weeks back I came across a story about Billy the Kid. He was one person who made the list of unique outlaws in the old wild west. Up to just a few years back there was only one picture of him then a few new ones showed up in recent years and have generated a lot of interest.
Back in 2011, a North Carolina defense attorney named Frank Abrams bought a 19th century tintype photograph for $10 at a flea market. He assumed that the photo, which shows five cowboys mugging it for the camera, was little more than a nifty relic from the Wild West. But as experts now believe that one of the men in the image is famed outlaw Billy the Kid, who appears to be posing with the lawman who ultimately killed him.
Abrams began to suspect that he had unknowingly acquired a historical treasure after he saw a 2015 television program about the discovery of a photo of Billy playing croquet. A Google search led Abrams to images of Pat Garrett, the sheriff of Lincoln County, New Mexico, who is said to have shot Billy in a darkened room. “Oh my gosh,” Abrams recalled saying in an interview with the Times. “That is Pat Garrett in my picture.” And he wondered if a thin man in the back of the photo might be, Billy the Kid.
As the story goes, Garrett and Billy were friends before the former became a lawman—they often gambled together at a local saloon. But when Garrett was appointed sheriff, he was obliged to hunt down the outlaw, who had been on the run after killing a previous sheriff during the bitter Lincoln County War. Garrett arrested Billy, who was sentenced to hang. But before he was sent to the gallows, Billy escaped from prison, killing two deputies in the process.
The dramatic chase came to an end when Garrett was checking in on a friend of the Kid’s in Fort Sumner and, unexpectedly, the outlaw himself showed up. The house was dark, and the two men could not see one another properly. But Garrett recognized Billy’s voice and killed him with two swift shots, the first of which struck him in the heart.
Believing that his tintype photo might show the foes in happier times, Abrams spent months consulting with forensic analysts and professors, who confirmed that the photo likely depicts Billy the Kid and Garrett. A handwriting expert in Texas also matched a signature on the image to ten known samples of Garrett’s handwriting.
Experts say that the photo was likely taken at some point between 1875 and 1880. It is not clear how the image ended up at a North Carolina flea market, but Abrams tells the Times that he believes the photo once belonged to Marshall Ashmun Upson, a journalist who helped Garrett write a posthumous biography of Billy the Kid.
The other recently discovered photo of Billy, the one that shows him playing croquet, has been valued at $5 million. Abrams’ tintype could fetch an even bigger sum, but the attorney has said that he has no plans to sell it.
“I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world, to find this is a privilege,”
Today we are going to find another rare jewel. It was ‘The Book of The Law’ and it was found buried away in The Temple. Like the reaction of the man who found the picture of Billy the Kid, the young king of Judah acted even more amazed at the discovery of this rare word of God Yahweh.
Josiah came to the throne as a young child when the powers of Assyria were beginning to wane. Babylon and Media were on the ascendant, Egypt’s power was reviving, and the Assyrians were being kept busy elsewhere. And while he could do little to begin with, it was a situation of which Josiah would take full advantage. Set on the throne at a young age by ‘the people of the land’, and advised by the godly Hilkiah (the high priest), and at some stage by the prophets Zephaniah (Zephaniah 1.1) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25.3), he grew up concerned to restore the true worship of God, and remove all foreign influence from the land.
The fact that reform did take so long initially must be attributed first to the continuing influence of Assyria, whose representatives would for some years still hold undisputed sway in Judah’s affairs, then to the king’s youthfulness, and then to the strength of the opposition parties who clearly encouraged the worship of local deities. All these would mean that Josiah had to walk carefully.
Jerusalem and its environs would be the first to be cleared of the most patent signs of idolatry, then the wider areas of Judah, while the movement beyond the borders of Judah would have taken place much later as the reformation gained strength and the people became more responsive and receptive, and as the authority of Assyria over the whole area became minimal.
As the Temple must have been in constant use without the book having been found previously, this discovery must have taken place in a very unusual place, and the probability must therefore be that it was discovered within the actual structure which was being examined prior to being repaired. This suggests that it had been placed there at the time of the building of the Temple, and thus on the instructions of Solomon, for it was quite a normal procedure for sacred writings or covenants to be placed within the foundations or walls of Temples when they were first erected.
This being so the discovery of such an ancient record by Josiah would have caused great excitement and would have been seen as a divine seal on his reforms. But it was not its discovery that resulted in the commencement of the reforms. Rather it was discovered because the reforms had already begun. What it did, however, do was to give a huge support to the reforms, and help to direct them and confirm that they were pleasing to YHWH, especially as one of the central messages of the book was discovered to be that the wrath of YHWH was over His people because of their failure to walk in His ways.
22 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.
The early assassination of Amon resulted in Josiah coming to the throne at a very early age, with the result that he was only eight years old when he began to reign, and he then reigned for thirty-one years, dying in battle at the age of thirty-nine. The name of the queen mother, whose status in Judah was seen as very important, was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah. Jedidah means ‘beloved’.
2 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
The verdict on his reign was exceptional, for not only did he do what was right in the eyes of YHWH without reservation (he even removed the high places), but he also did not turn aside ‘to right or left’. In other words, he was unwavering in his faithfulness to YHWH.
3 Now it came to pass, in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the scribe, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the house of the LORD, saying:
This would have been in about 622 BC, some years after the death of Ashur-bani-pal, and three years after Babylonia had finally freed themselves from the Assyrian yoke. Thus, it came at a time of decidedly waning Assyrian power (in fact within ten years the Assyrian empire would be on the verge of extinction). The eighteenth year is mentioned, not because it was the date of the commencement of the reforms, but as the date when serious repair work began on the restoration of the Temple itself after years of preparation, work which resulted in the law book being discovered within the Temple structure, a discovery which would have caused huge excitement as the emergence of something coming from the distant past. It would give a new impetus to what was already going on.
4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money which has been brought into the house of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people. 5 And let them deliver it into the hand of those doing the work, who are the overseers in the house of the LORD; let them give it to those who are in the house of the LORD doing the work, to repair the damages of the house—
The instructions were necessarily passed on to the leading priest at the Temple. The title ‘high priest’ here was being given his formal official title in an important communication.
Hilkiah was being called on to weigh and ‘sum up’ the ‘silver’ (possibly by turning it into ingots. There were no official coins in those days) which had been gathered for the purpose of the repair work and had been brought into the house of YHWH. The ‘keepers of the threshold’ were high Temple officials (in terms of New Testament days ‘chief priests’) who were responsible to ensure the sanctity of the Temple by excluding from it any unauthorized persons. Their post would make them ideal for the collecting of gifts to the Temple and watching over them. Hilkiah, having assessed the value of the gifts, was then to call on the keepers of the threshold to deliver the silver into the hands of the workmen who had oversight of the house of YHWH, in our terms the priestly architects and structural engineers. They in their turn were to arrange for the work to be done by organized priestly workmen set apart for the work and were to pay over the silver accordingly. This work would be performed by suitably trained priests. The aim was to ‘repair the breaches in the house’, in other words to carry out needed building repairs to the decaying and neglected building.
6 to carpenters and builders and masons—and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house.
The silver was to be both paid to the specialist workmen, and to the merchants who would provide the timber and hewn stone for the repair of the house. The need for hewn stone (hewn away from the Temple area in accordance with measurements taken) emphasizes the poor state at that time of the Temple structure.
7 However there need be no accounting made with them of the money delivered into their hand, because they deal faithfully.”
The honesty of those involved was such that it was felt unnecessary to call for an account of how the silver was spent. To have taken up any other position would seemingly have been insulting to the priest-workmen. Such an attitude was only possible in times of ‘revival’ when there was a new spirit of dedication around.
8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to 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.
Hilkiah clearly saw the find as of such importance that it had to be reported to the king, and in consequence sent a messenger to Shaphan the court chamberlain informing him of the find. This indicates how unusual the find was seen to be. It must have been something very special to have initiated such a response, otherwise it would simply have been placed with the other scrolls in the Temple. The fact that he described it as ‘The Book Of The Law’ indicated that he saw it as primarily containing the Law of Moses. As he had not read it (and was possibly finding it difficult to do so because of its ancient script) this description could only have arisen because he had grounds for knowing what it must be. That would hardly be true of some document left in the Temple which had been introduced there from outside which they had simply come across among the many treasures stored in the Temple. If, however, if it was found within the foundation structure of the Temple he would know immediately what it was, the ancient covenant between YHWH and His worshippers, coming from the time of Solomon. So we have more that 340 years that this scroll was in hiding. Right now, at the time of this study the United States of America is 242 years old. Think about something buried in the time of the Declaration of Independence still not being found for another 100 years from now.
It is true that we are not specifically told where the Book of the Law was discovered, but the impression given is that it was discovered as a result of the building work commencing, and probably therefore as a result of the initial survey work which would be required before that commenced. Some have suggested that it was the copy of the Book of the Law which Moses had required be placed next to the Ark of the covenant of YHWH (Deuteronomy 31.24-26), but it is difficult to see why that should have remained undiscovered for so long, especially as the Most Holy Place was entered at least once a year. The most obvious explanation is that it was discovered within the foundation walls while preparing for structural repairs.
9 So Shaphan the scribe went to the king, bringing the king word, saying, “Your servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of those who do the work, who oversee the house of the LORD.”
Shaphan then reported to the king concerning the progress on the Temple repairs, informing him that the priestly overseers of the work had been duly provided with the necessary funds.
10 Then Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.
Then Shaphan explained that Hilkiah ‘the Priest’ had ‘delivered a book’ to him. No doubt a fuller explanation concerning the find was given. Shaphan then read it before the king.
11 Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes.
What was read out to the king moved him deeply, with the result that he symbolically tore his clothes to express his deep emotion, for it spoke of the wrath of YHWH against His people because they had not walked in fulfilment of His requirements.
12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying,
The king recognized that the people had not been observing the requirements laid down in the book, but it was the warnings of what would follow such disobedience that moved him. Thus, he sent an important official deputation, combining both religious and political authorities, to a recognized prophetess, in order to enquire as to whether the wrath of YHWH was about to be poured out on them.
Ahikam the son of Shaphan would later help Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26.24). His son was Gedaliah who became governor of Judah (25.22; Jeremiah 39.14). Achbor means ‘mouse’ (compare Shaphan = rock badger, Huldah = mole. So, we see the kings say go tell the mouse to take the badger over to see the mole prophetess.’
13 “Go, inquire of the LORD for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”
He called on them to ‘enquire of YHWH’ on his behalf concerning the fact that the people (indeed ‘all of Judah’) had been disobedient to what was written in the book. His aim was to discover whether YHWH intended to visit His people with the great wrath described in the book.
The enquiry was made to Huldah, the prophetess. We should note that there is no hint that Huldah read the book, or even saw it. Instead she seemingly demonstrated that she was already aware of the contents of the book and did not need to read it.
14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke with her.
It is clear that the deputation saw Huldah the prophetess as a suitable person through whom to ‘enquire of YHWH’. This was partly because she was both a prophetess and the wife of a high official (if it was the king’s wardrobe), or of s Temple servant (if it was the keeper of the Temple robes. Either way he was the official ‘keeper of the wardrobe’, and thus well known to the men in question. This might explain why they did not seek out Zephaniah or Jeremiah, who, while highly influential, were probably not prophets directly connected with the Temple. Alternately they may well not have been in Jerusalem at the time. The king genuinely wanted to know what YHWH had to say. Huldah was clearly an exceptional woman, and presumably was recognized as having an exceptional prophetic gift. It must probably be accepted therefore that that was her accepted function.
15 Then she said to them, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me, 16 “Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants—all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read—
Her indirect reference to the book as ‘the book which the king of Judah has read’ can most naturally be an indication that she herself had not read it. This would serve to confirm that it was not seen as a new source of Law, and that she did not need to read it to know what was in it. Its significance lay rather in the age of the record, where it was found, and what it signified. She commenced by pointing out that she spoke in the name of YHWH, and as His mouthpiece. ‘You tell the man who sent you’ (which in context was clearly not antagonistic) indicated that she was speaking with deliberate independence as a servant of YHWH and not as a servant of the king.
And the message was that evil was to come on Judah and Jerusalem. The thought is of general judgment coming on Judah and Jerusalem in whatever way God chose.
17 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. Therefore, My wrath shall be aroused against this place and shall not be quenched.’
The reason given why this would be so was because they had forsaken YHWH and had burned incense to other gods, provoking YHWH to anger with all the work of their hands. That was why His wrath was kindled against ‘this place’
18 But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, in this manner you shall speak to him, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel: “Concerning the words which you have heard— 19 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the LORD.
Once again, the prophetess avoided a personal reference to Josiah (compare ‘the man who sent you’ in verse 15), calling him rather ‘the king of Judah’, thus keeping him prophetically at arm’s length. But she confirmed that he had done well to ‘enquire of YHWH’. Her message to him was that YHWH had seen his tenderheartedness and humility in the light of what he had heard and had noted the fact that he had torn his clothing and wept before Him.
The message that he had heard and which had so moved him was that YHWH had spoken ‘against this place’ and against its inhabitants and had promised that they would become a desolation and a curse. The descriptions were powerful and emphasized the severity of what was coming. Having accepted it, and having been moved by it, Josiah had now come to YHWH to seek His mind concerning it. Here it is the people who were to become a curse and it is paralleled with ‘desolation’ giving it a more generalized meaning.
20 “Surely, therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place.” So, they brought back word to the king.
In view of Josiah’s death because of battle wounds it might appear at first sight that YHWH did not fulfil His promise that Josiah would be gathered to his grave in peace. And it may be that in fact we have a reminder here that God’s promises are made on the condition of our obedience. On the other hand, it is more probable that we are to see it as an indication of the conditions that would be prevailing in Judah up to the time of his death. Thus, we may see this as indicating that YHWH’s point was that whilst Josiah was trusting in Him with all his heart He would ensure that all went well for him and Judah whilst he still lived. It could not, on the other hand, be a promise that he would himself be kept safe whatever he did, even if he was foolish, for that would have been unreasonable. What it was, was a promise that he would be kept safe whilst he was trusting in YHWH and walking in obedience to him. Consequently, when, instead of trusting YHWH and consulting Him about what he should do, he blatantly went out on his own initiative to fight against an Egyptian army that was not threatening Judah, he brought his death on himself. It was not a failure on behalf of YHWH to fulfil His word.
However, the prophecy was still fulfilled in its main intent, for the fact that Josiah was to be ‘gathered to his grave in peace’ was, as we have seen, not necessarily in context mainly an emphasis on the manner of his own death. In view of its parallelism with ‘nor will your eyes see all the evil which I will bring on this place’ we may well see it as having in mind that while he lived his land would be at peace, and would not suffer desolation, and that whenever he did die that peace would still be prevailing. And that promise was basically kept, for at the time of his death Judah was under no specific threat, and there was no immediate threat to its peace. The truth is that the Egyptians whom Josiah picked a fight with were not in fact focused on attacking Judah but were racing to assist the Assyrians in their last stand against the Babylonians and their allies, and according to Chronicles 35.20-21 claimed to have no grievance against Judah. Thus, according to the Chronicler Pharaoh Necho made clear to Josiah that no danger was threatened against Judah. Josiah, however, refused to listen to him (2 Chronicles 35.20-21). Thus, here in Kings we need to recognize that what happened to Josiah was not of YHWH’s doing. It was rather the result of his own folly and occurred because, for political reasons (possibly as the result of an agreement with Babylon), he had set out to attack the Egyptian army without consulting YHWH. The consequence was that he was having chosen his own way of death in a way that was contrary to YHWH’s will. On the other hand, the fact that he would not see the evil that would come on Judah was true, for that occurred only after his death.
