And the king went up to the house of the LORD, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD.
Josiah had just learned that judgment was coming on Jerusalem, and that he himself would not live to see it. He did not keep the news to himself: he called the whole nation to the temple and read them the book that had humbled him.
A King Who Would Not Keep the Light to Himself
Josiah knew he was safe. Still, his mind was on the people around him.
C. H. MackintoshJosiah was a man thoroughly in earnest. He felt the power of truth in his own soul. He could not rest until he had gathered the people around him, so that the light which had shone on him might shine on them too. He did not, he could not, rest in this: he would go to his grave in peace, and his own eyes would not see the evil that was coming on Jerusalem. No, he thought of others. He felt for the people around him. His own escape rested on his true repentance and humbling under the mighty hand of God. So he would use that same Word, which had worked with such power in his own heart, to lead others to the same repentance and humbling.
Everyone Gathered, Small and Great
The verse lists elders, townspeople, priests, prophets and the ordinary crowd. No one was left out.
Leslie M. GrantBeing king in Judah and therefore the representative of all the people, Josiah realised his responsibility of involving them all in hearing the Word of God. Beginning with the elders, he called the people to the house of the Lord. So elders, priests, prophets and the common people were gathered. There Josiah himself read all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which would include the five books of Moses.
One detail is easy to skip. The word "prophets" is plural, which raises a question about whom God chose to speak through.
W. W. FeredayJosiah convened a great national gathering in Jerusalem. Elders, priests, Levites, prophets, and a crowd of people small and great responded. The plural word prophets should be noted. Clearly other men besides Jeremiah were active in the land for God, yet He chose to speak through Huldah! We are quite unable to interpret every detail of the ways of God, but we want to be subject to His perfect wisdom.
What "the Book of the Covenant" Contained
Commentators differ on how much the book held. One writer traces it to Deuteronomy in particular.
H. L. RossierThis book of the covenant included the covenant of Sinai. It also included the one made in the plain of Moab — that is to say, all the words of Deuteronomy. It applied exactly to the people's condition as it now was. God had described that condition beforehand in this book. Deuteronomy spoke above all of obedience. God had redeemed this people from Egypt, and their blessing or cursing now depended on obedience to the Word.
That is why the reading cut so deep. The book was not general religious teaching. It described the exact condition of the people standing there.
"All the Words" — a Long Reading
Josiah read all the words, not a selection. That had a practical result.
W. W. FeredayAll the words of the law suggests a considerable amount of reading. The meeting was therefore a long one. What a contrast to the short sermons that are barely tolerated today! This is all the more sad, because we now have the complete Word of God. It reveals all His wonderful purposes of grace and glory, and they find their centre in Christ. Why are we satisfied with so little of the spiritual wealth that is within our reach?
Two Marks of a Genuine Revival
The verse sets two things side by side: the house of the Lord, and the book found there. One writer treats them together as the mark of a true revival.
H. L. RossierWhat marks the spiritual revival under Josiah, as we have seen, is the importance of two things. One is God's house on earth, the place where the Lord causes His name to dwell. The other is the book of the covenant. Let us not hesitate to repeat it: in the times in which we live these two things always mark a true revival.
Did the reading change the nation? One writer draws a line between the king's sincerity and the crowd's:
C KnappOn the young king's part this was all real, no doubt, but one has only to read the earlier part of Jeremiah's prophecy to see how insincere it was with the mass of the people.
Summary
- Found. The lost book turned up in the temple. It described the people's condition so exactly that obedience or disobedience decided their blessing or ruin.
- Felt. Josiah could not keep this Word to himself. His own escape from judgment only sharpened his concern for everyone else.
- Shared. The reading reached elders, priests, prophets and ordinary people alike. The king made sure the nation he represented heard it.
- Whole. He read all the words, not a convenient extract, which made for a long meeting and a searching one.
- Tested. Where God's house and God's book hold first place, revival is real. In Josiah it was real; in the crowd, one writer says, it was not.