And the king commanded Hilkijah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying,
Josiah has just heard the book of the law read aloud. His first move is not a decree but a question: he sends five men — the high priest, the court scribe, the king's own servant and two others — to find out what God has to say about it.
The command came from a man already broken by what he had heard.
Here we have a tender conscience bowing under the action of the Word of God. This was one special charm in the character of Josiah. He was, in truth, a man of a humble and contrite spirit, who trembled at the Word of God... Josiah never doubted that the words Shaphan had read in his hearing were genuine. We do not read of his asking, "How am I to know that this is the Word of God?" No. He trembled at it; he bowed before it; it struck him down; he tore his clothes. He did not dare to judge the Word of God, but, as was right, he allowed the Word to judge him.
The same choice faces every reader: judge the Bible, or let it judge you.
If man is to judge Scripture, then Scripture is not the Word of God at all; but if Scripture is in very truth the Word of God, then it must judge man... It lays bare the very roots of his nature — it opens up the foundations of his moral being. It holds up before him the only faithful mirror in which he can see himself perfectly reflected. This is the reason why man does not like Scripture — cannot bear it — seeks to set it aside.
Grief alone changes nothing. Josiah turned his into an errand — and not for himself only.
In a spirit of deep self-judgment he tore his clothes. Then he commanded five men, including Hilkiah and Shaphan, to go and inquire of the Lord for him and for the small number left in Israel and Judah. For he recognised that Israel was under the great wrath of God because their fathers had not kept the Word of the Lord (vv. 20-21). He did not try to explain it away. He faced the truth declared in Scripture head-on. He wanted to know just how God was now going to deal with his nation.
Josiah was already a faithful king. Did that record make the errand unnecessary?
The king hears of it. As I have said, his conscience is the remarkable part of this good king. When he hears the words of the Lord, he tears his clothes. Had he not been pious? Had he not been faithful? Yes, but he forgot the things that were behind, and he pressed toward those that were before. He did not think of the good that he had done. He thought of the evil that, sadly, was still around him, and of the good that he had not done and that still lay before him.
Josiah had a high priest and a scribe at hand. He did not ask them for the answer; he sent them out for it.
And now who will interpret this Word for us? How are we to "inquire of the Lord" about what we are to do, knowing that according to this Word we have brought His displeasure on ourselves? The prophet alone, the representative of the Spirit of Christ (1 Peter 1:11), can interpret it for us. Josiah does not turn to Shaphan the scribe for this, or even to Hilkiah the high priest; he seeks direct relationship with the Word.
The errand led to a woman, which was humbling in itself.
To the natural eye it might seem very humiliating for a king of Judah to turn to a woman for counsel. But that woman held the mind of God. This was quite enough for a humble and contrite spirit like Josiah's. He had proved so far that his one great desire was to know and do the will of God. So it did not matter what channel the voice of God came through — he was ready to hear and obey.
Josiah's son heard God's word too, and reached for a knife.
Well might Josiah tear his clothes on reading what lay in store for Israel for forsaking their God and turning to idols. Yet how great the contrast between the attitude of Josiah and that of his son Jehoiakim. When Jehoiakim heard the words written in Jeremiah's scroll, he cut it with his penknife and threw it into the fire (Jer. 36:23).
- Hear — Josiah never asked whether the book was genuine; he let it judge him instead of judging it.
- Bow — Scripture is a mirror that exposes the roots of our nature. That is why people want it set aside.
- Ask — self-judgment did not stop at torn clothes. It became a command to five men: find out how God will now deal with this nation.
- Include — he asked for himself and for the few left. His own past faithfulness did not excuse him from asking.
- Obey — he took God's answer from whatever channel carried it, even a humbling one. His son heard God's word and burned it.
Go, inquire of Jehovah for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book which is found; for great is the wrath of Jehovah that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of Jehovah, to do according to all that is written in this book.
Josiah has just heard the long-lost book of the law read aloud. His first move is not to defend his reforms. He sends five men to ask God what the book means for him and for his people. Three things stand together in this verse: a king who accepts what Scripture says, a nation he names as guilty, and a wrath he does not explain away.
Hearing the book read aloud cut Josiah to the heart. One writer sets his response beside the way some people treat that same Word.
The Word of God pierced him through and through... What a striking contrast! Josiah had a contrite heart, a conscience awake before God, and torn clothes, and he bowed under the mighty working of the Word of God. Our modern sceptics and unbelievers dare, with shocking boldness, to sit in judgement on that very same Word.
The message was worse than the king expected, and his reaction shows what he did with the discomfort.
In a spirit of deep self-judgment he tore his clothes. Then he commanded five men, including Hilkiah and Shaphan, to go and enquire of the Lord for him and for the small number left in Israel and Judah. He recognised that Israel was under the great wrath of God, because their fathers had not kept the Word of the Lord. He did not try to explain it away. He faced the truth stated in Scripture head-on, and he wanted to know how God would now deal with his nation.
He says the wrath is poured out "upon us," though the failure he names belongs to the generation before him. His own good record did not soften the blow.
The king hears of it. As I have said, his conscience is the remarkable thing about this good king. When he hears the words of the Lord, he tears his clothes. Had he not been pious? Had he not been faithful? Yes, but he forgot the things that were behind, and he pressed toward those that were before. He did not think of the good he had done. He thought of the evil that, sadly, was still around him, and of the good he had not done that still lay ahead of him.
The request covers "those who are left in Israel and in Judah" — everyone still standing after the collapse of the northern tribes. Commenting on the parallel account in 2 Kings, one writer draws out why that matters.
Notice he enquired not only for himself, but for the people and for all Judah. He recognised what people often overlook: God's word applies to everyone. He also saw that all God has written is of equal importance in its place, and is to be obeyed just as much... There is no part we can leave out, no command we may disobey, no truth we may treat as unimportant.
Josiah wanted an answer from God Himself. One writer points to where it came from, and where ours comes from now.
The king's messengers knew who had the mind of God. They went to Huldah the prophetess, and she said to them, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel." How good it was that the Lord had His servant who could speak His word to the devout king! In the same way, He had His interpreter ready for the Ethiopian official who wanted to know who the prophet Isaiah was speaking about. Now the word of God is complete, and the Spirit of God is with us and in us. So we can come to Him at any time to know His mind and will for every situation in life.
The answer that came back spared the king without cancelling the sentence on the nation.
Scripture may be neglected, but it cannot be broken. The Lord answers Josiah that he himself, because his tender heart trembled at the word, will go to his fathers in peace and will not see the evil. But the curses read out of the book will surely take hold.
- Found — A long-neglected book is read to the king, and its words at once put him on trial.
- Felt — Josiah's torn clothes show a conscience that bowed instead of arguing. His good record gave him no shelter.
- Confessed — He does not say "they" of his fathers but "us," accepting that the wrath on the nation is a wrath he stands under.
- Enquired — He asks for himself and for everyone left. The word binds the king and the humblest subject alike.
- Answered — God replies through Huldah. Judgment on the nation stands. He spares the king who trembled. The word holds.