2 Kings 22:18–20

The reading of "the book" prompted a deep twofold reaction. Josiah tore his clothes and he inquired of the Lord. The word of God brings about repentance and dependence. The message comes in two parts. The first part begins with "tell the man" and states that the judgement will come and nothing can turn it aside any more. The second part speaks to "the king of Judah" and reassures Josiah that God had accepted his humiliation and would not bring the judgement in Josiah's day.

And now who will interpret this Word for us? How are we to "inquire of the LORD" about what we should do? This Word shows that we have brought His displeasure on ourselves. Only the prophet, 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 contact with the Word itself... But the Spirit of Christ speaks through Huldah, this servant of Jehovah, to confirm "all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read" (v. 16), and at the same time to reassure Josiah about his own future.

God greatly valued the devotion of individual souls, above all in days of abounding evil. Should not both writer and reader aim to have a heart always tender and humble before God? Josiah's personal devotion was of immeasurable value to the nation. God had promised him that the judgements would not fall while he lived.

God had regard to the king's deep humiliation... To humble himself was, in fact, the only thing needed. This marked Josiah, and it always marks the faithful remnant in the middle of evil... Today you can recognize the hearts of the faithful by the humiliation they feel at the state of things. Josiah's heart was very sensitive to this; he tore his clothes and wept.

Josiah learned that nothing could revoke the sentence pronounced against Jerusalem and Judah. God did promise him personal exemption. It was then that he humbled himself still further before the Lord, and set about promoting a reformation with no parallel until then in the nation's history. The judgments could not be averted, and they were not. But God fully owned Josiah's repentance. The reformation God used him to bring about was a bright testimony for God on the very eve of the nation's overthrow. Oh for something of his spirit!

It teaches us the immense value, in God's estimation, of deep personal exercise of soul and a broken heart. Josiah might have thought the case hopeless. He might have said that nothing could turn back the great tide of wrath and judgement about to roll over the city of Jerusalem and the land of Israel. He might have said that any movement of his must prove useless, that God's purpose was settled, the decree had gone out, and that he had only to stand by and let things take their course. But Josiah did not reason like that. He bowed before God's testimony. He humbled himself, tore his clothes, and wept. God took notice of this. Josiah's tears of repentance were precious to Jehovah. The dreadful judgement had to run its course, yet the penitent escaped. And not only did he escape himself, he became the honoured instrument in the Lord's hand of delivering others too.

The heart of man is naturally hard in relation to God. Note the Apostle's words in Eph. 4:18: "They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart." In His parable of the Sower, the Lord Jesus spoke of the good seed of the Word falling on the hard path (Matt. 13:4). What ground could be harder, or less likely to bear fruit? Josiah's heart was different: it could be moved. That was surely a gracious work of the Holy Spirit of God. Jer. 23:29 compares God's Word to a hammer: "Is not My word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?" The Philippian jailer needed that hammer when Paul and Silas first dealt with him. King Josiah did not. His heart was already tender.

Josiah had no doubt at all that the words Shaphan read aloud to him were genuine and true. We do not read of him 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 sit in judgement on the Word of God. As was right and proper, he let the Word judge him.

If man is to judge Scripture, then Scripture is not the Word of God at all. But if Scripture really is the Word of God, then it must judge man. And so it is, and so it does… It holds up the only true mirror, and in it a man sees himself exactly as he is. This is why man does not like Scripture. He cannot bear it. He tries to set it aside… Men do not trouble themselves so much to discover and point out flaws and discrepancies in Homer or Herodotus, Aristotle or Shakespeare.

He did not rush out first to attack the errors of other people. No. He first tore his own clothes, as a man fully humbled and self-judged. Then he called his people together, so that they too might hear the same powerful testimony and take the same ground of self-judgment and brokenness. This, he felt, was the only true road to blessing.

Josiah might have thought the case hopeless. Nothing could stop the great tide of wrath and judgement about to roll over Jerusalem and the land of Israel. Any move of his must prove useless. God's purpose was settled, the sentence had gone out, and he had only to stand by and let things take their course. But Josiah did not reason like this… God took notice. Josiah's tears of repentance were precious to the LORD. The dreadful judgement still had to run its course, yet the man who repented escaped. And he did not only escape himself. He became the honoured instrument in the Lord's hand for delivering others too.

God valued the godliness of individual people, above all in days when evil was everywhere. Should not both writer and reader aim to keep a heart that is always tender and humble before God? Josiah's own godliness was worth more to the nation than anyone could measure. God had promised him that the judgements would not fall while he lived… Oh, why did he not walk with care, knowing that so much depended on his life?

Josiah might have thought the case hopeless. He could have said that nothing would turn back the great tide of wrath and judgment about to roll over the city of Jerusalem and the land of Israel. He could have said that any move of his must prove useless, that God's purpose was settled and the decree gone out, and that he had only to stand by and let things take their course. But Josiah did not reason this way. No; he bowed before God's testimony. He humbled himself, tore his clothes, and wept. God took knowledge of this. Josiah's penitential tears were precious to the Lord, and though the dreadful judgment had to take its course, the penitent escaped.

The piety of Josiah had delayed the divine judgment, but the sin of his sons brought it on swiftly.

People may neglect Scripture, but no one can break it. The Lord answers Josiah that he himself, because his heart was tender and he trembled at the word, will be gathered to his fathers in peace and will not see the evil. But the curses read out of the book will certainly take hold.

Because the Lord had taken full account of his repentance, He assured Josiah that death would take him away before Judah's solemn calamity... How often God takes away a godly person before some great trouble that would be most painful for him to witness!

If the godly are taken away it is a solemn sign that judgment is about to fall... So it has always been in the history of the world. As one has said: "When Lots are taken out of Sodom, it signals a shower of wrath. Methuselah was taken away a year before the flood. When Noahs are taken into their arks, we may conclude that a deluge is coming. God gathers His harvest before the world's storm. He calls labourers home before the dark night comes on."

As to further detail of God's government, look at the case of Josiah. He fell by the hand of Pharaoh Neco, although the Lord had said, "You shall be gathered to your grave in peace." But God took him away from the evil to come. The circumstances were painful, for it seems he should have listened to Pharaoh. Josiah was chastened personally, but he did not see, as Daniel did, all that came upon Jerusalem: what a sparing from sorrow that was!

Mercy took him away from the evil to come; but there was judgment in the way it happened, while the judgment that fell on the guilty city was unmixed.

Josiah, warned by the Lord, knew perfectly well that his work would not stop the course of judgment. He also knew that he would be gathered to his fathers before the evil came, and that his eyes would not see it. But he had only one thought... he was pressed to honour Him in the ruin of Israel, in the very place where He had been so dishonoured.

He had God's promise that the judgments would not be poured out while he lived. He was twenty-six when Huldah spoke... Oh, why did he not walk carefully, knowing that so much depended on his life? Why did he, at thirty-nine, plunge into a quarrel that did not concern him, and risk — yes, sacrifice — his precious life?