The Book of 2 Chronicles

Word Study

"while he was yet young," Hebrew ve-odennu naar (וְעוֹדֶנּוּ נַעַר), still a youth, a lad. Josiah's godliness had an early root. "In the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young", he was about sixteen. Note the order and progression: at sixteen he began to seek God (the heart); at twenty (the twelfth year) he began to purge the idols (the reform); at twenty-six (v8) he repaired the temple. Josiah is the great biblical example of early devotion, a king whose reforms all trace back to a boy's decision.

"seek after," lidrosh (לִדְרוֹשׁ) from darash, to seek, inquire, resort to. While still a youth "he began to seek after (darash) the God of David his father." Before he purged the land, before the book was found, before any crisis, he sought God in his youth. The seeking came first, and the reforming flowed from it. He is the grandson of the wicked Amon and Manasseh; he had no godly father to imitate, yet he "began to seek after the God of David," reaching back past his immediate fathers to the true faith of David. A young person who seeks God can break a family's cycle of sin. And he "declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left" (v2), a steady, whole-life devotion that started young and never wavered.

Explanation

Josiah began to seek God as a teenager, "while he was yet young," about sixteen years old, and this early devotion was the root of everything else. Four years later he began tearing down the idols, and later still he repaired the temple. The seeking of his heart came first, and the reforms grew out of it. Remarkably, Josiah had no godly example in his father Amon or grandfather Manasseh's early life; he reached back to "the God of David" and broke his family's pattern of sin. He shows the power of seeking God in one's youth.

Gospel Focus

"While he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father" is a call to early devotion. "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth" (Ecclesiastes 12:1); "it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth" (Lamentations 3:27). Those who seek God early are spared much of the wreckage that comes from seeking Him late, and they have a whole life to give Him. The Lord Jesus welcomed the young: "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not" (Mark 10:14). And Josiah's story is a word of hope to anyone from a broken or ungodly family: he had no godly father to follow, yet he "began to seek after the God of David," reaching past his own household to the true faith. A godly heritage is a blessing, but its absence is no barrier; God can be sought and found by anyone who will seek Him, "and ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). If you are young, seek Him now; if you come from darkness, reach past it to the God of David, and break the chain.

Word Study

"found," Hebrew matza (מָצָא), to find, come upon. As the temple was being repaired, "Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses." The very fact that it had to be "found" is a somber commentary on the age. And it is telling where the book was found, "in the house of the LORD" (v15), amid the rubble of the neglected temple. The recovery of the word came in the course of doing the practical work of restoration.

"book of the law of the LORD given by Moses," sepher torath-Yahweh be-yad-Mosheh, the Mosaic law itself. The word of God had been so neglected under Manasseh and Amon that the law of Moses had been lost, buried, and forgotten in the house of God itself. A generation had grown up not even possessing, let alone reading, the Scriptures. This is the anatomy of national decline: not merely idolatry added, but the word of God subtracted, mislaid, and unknown. The finding of this book would set off the greatest reformation of Josiah's reign, for nothing renews the people of God like the recovery of His word. When the Bible is lost, whether physically or in the sense of being unread and unheeded, the people perish; when it is found and heard, revival follows.

Explanation

During the temple repairs, the high priest Hilkiah discovered the book of the law of Moses, God's own word, which had been lost and forgotten during the wicked reigns of Manasseh and Amon. That it had to be "found" reveals how deeply the Scriptures had been neglected: an entire generation had grown up without them. The recovery of this book, in the very house of God where it had been buried, would spark the greatest reform of Josiah's reign. Nothing renews God's people like the rediscovery of His word.

Gospel Focus

The finding of the lost book of the law is a picture of what happens whenever God's word is recovered after neglect. A nation had drifted into ruin partly because the Scriptures were lost and unread; its renewal began when they were found and heard. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Psalm 119:105); where that lamp is lost, people stumble in darkness. Every true reformation and revival in history, Josiah's, Ezra's, the Protestant Reformation, the great awakenings, has centered on the recovery of the word of God. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). We hold in our hands what Josiah's generation had lost, the completed Scriptures, "the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15). The tragedy of Josiah's day, a Bible lost in the house of God, is repeated wherever the Scriptures sit unopened and unheeded. The remedy is the same now as then: find the book, read it, hear it, and obey it. Do not let the word of God gather dust; the life of your soul, and of the church, depends on its recovery.

Word Study

"rent his clothes," Hebrew va-yiqra eth-begadav (וַיִּקְרַע אֶת־בְּגָדָיו), tore his garments, the ancient sign of grief, alarm, and repentance. Shaphan read the newly-found book "before the king" (v18), and "when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes." Josiah's response to Scripture is the model of a right heart before God's word. He did not react with indifference, or with defensiveness, or with a scholar's detachment; he was pierced. Hearing the law, and doubtless its curses against a disobedient nation (Deuteronomy 28), he saw at once how far Judah had fallen and how great was the danger, and he tore his garments in grief and holy fear. This is what God prizes: a heart that trembles at His word. The same word that hardened Amon melted Josiah. Note that Josiah was already a reformer; he had purged the idols before the book was found. Yet even this godly king was freshly humbled and grieved when he heard the full word of God, there is always more conviction and more humbling for the tenderest heart. The rending of his clothes was the outward sign of a rent, contrite heart within.

Explanation

When Josiah heard the words of God's law read aloud, especially its warnings of judgment on a disobedient people, he was cut to the heart and tore his clothes in grief and alarm. He realized how far the nation had strayed and how real the danger of God's wrath was. Even though he was already a godly reformer, the word of God freshly humbled and grieved him. His tender, trembling response to Scripture is exactly what God desires and honors.

Gospel Focus

Josiah "rent his clothes" when he heard God's word, showing the response God most values: a heart that trembles at Scripture. "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word" (Isaiah 66:2). God's word is meant to pierce us: "the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword... and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). The question is how we respond when it cuts. Some, like Amon, harden; some, like the men who heard Stephen, were "cut to the heart" and gnashed their teeth (Acts 7:54); but Josiah's tender heart broke in humble grief. When the word convicts you, do not resent it or explain it away; let it do its work, "rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God" (Joel 2:13). And take comfort: the same tender-heartedness that grieved over sin is the soil in which grace grows, for "a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (Psalm 51:17). A heart that still trembles at God's word is a heart God is at work in.

Word Study

"thine heart was tender," Hebrew rakh levavkha (רַךְ לְבָבְךָ), thy heart was soft. Josiah sent to inquire of the LORD through the prophetess Huldah, and her answer, though it confirmed coming judgment on Judah (v24-25), held a personal word of grace for the king. God says the reason: "Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God... and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also." God names four things He honored: a tender heart, humbling oneself, rending the clothes, and weeping, all the marks of genuine contrition. And His response is "I have even heard thee." A tender heart is a soft heart, one that the word of God can still cut and move; Josiah's had not been hardened by the age he grew up in.

"humble thyself," va-tikkana (וַתִּכָּנַע) from kana, to bow low. The great theme of Chronicles sounds again, the same word kana, "humble," that saved Manasseh and distinguished the godly from the hardened all through the book. God is drawn to a soft, humbled, weeping heart. Notice too that Josiah humbled himself even though he personally had not committed the nation's sins; he grieved over his people's guilt as if it were his own. And God met that humility with the tender promise that Josiah would be "gathered to thy grave in peace" (v28), spared from seeing the coming ruin. God always hears the humble.

Explanation

Through the prophetess Huldah, God told Josiah that although judgment on Judah was certain because of its long rebellion, He had heard the king's own prayer. The reason was Josiah's response to God's word: his tender heart, his self-humbling, his grief and tears. God specifically honored these marks of a contrite heart. Josiah would be spared the sight of the coming disaster and die in peace. God's dealings with Josiah show that He always responds with grace to a humble, tender heart, even in a day of judgment.

Gospel Focus

"Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God... I have even heard thee" reveals the God who is unfailingly drawn to the humble and contrite. This is the steady refrain of Scripture: "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble" (James 4:6); "the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (Psalm 51:17). Even when God's larger purposes of judgment were fixed, He still heard the individual who humbled himself, a reminder that no season is too dark for personal grace to the lowly. And notice what moved God: not Josiah's achievements or reforms, impressive as they were, but the tenderness of his heart and his weeping over sin. This is what the Lord Jesus blessed: "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted... Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3-4). If you would have God hear you, come with a tender, humbled, contrite heart; He has never turned such away. The proud He resists, but the weeping, self-humbling soul He hears every time.

Word Study

"made a covenant," Hebrew va-yikhroth berith (וַיִּכְרֹת בְּרִית), literally "cut a covenant." Josiah does not merely feel; he acts and commits. "The king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments." Having heard the book, he binds himself publicly to obey it. The Hebrew idiom is to "cut" a covenant, the language of a binding, formal engagement rather than a passing resolve.

"with all his heart, and with all his soul," be-khol-levavo u-ve-khol-naphsho, echoing the Shema. Josiah bound himself to keep God's commandments "with all his heart, and with all his soul," wholeheartedly. The phrase deliberately echoes the great commandment, "thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul" (Deuteronomy 6:5), the very words of the book just read. Josiah's covenant is nothing less than a personal and national recommitment to the Shema. And he leads the people into it: "he caused all that were present... to stand to it" (v32). This is the right response to the recovered word of God: not merely emotion but covenant, a settled, whole-souled commitment to obey. Josiah's reformation shows the full arc, seeking God (v3), hearing the word (v19), humbling himself (v27), and now covenanting to obey with the whole heart. The word heard becomes the word obeyed.

Explanation

Having heard God's word and humbled himself, Josiah took the decisive step of public commitment. Standing before the LORD, he made a covenant to follow God and obey His commandments "with all his heart, and with all his soul," the very language of the great commandment. Then he led the whole nation to join him in that covenant. This is the proper response to hearing God's word: not just feeling moved, but making a wholehearted, settled commitment to obey it. The word that is heard must become the word that is obeyed.

Gospel Focus

Josiah "made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD... with all his heart, and with all his soul", the proper end of hearing God's word is wholehearted commitment to obey it. It is not enough to find the book, or even to weep over it; the word heard must become the word done. "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves" (James 1:22). Josiah's covenant, "with all his heart, and with all his soul," is the language of undivided devotion the Lord Jesus named as the first commandment (Mark 12:30). Yet Scripture also shows the limits of such covenants: for all Josiah's sincerity, the people's hearts were not permanently changed, and Judah returned to sin after his death, revealing the need for a better covenant. God promised one: "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts... for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jeremiah 31:33-34), the new covenant established in the blood of Christ. Josiah could bind the people outwardly; only Christ can write the law on the heart. So we respond to God's word as Josiah did, with wholehearted covenant commitment, but we do it in the power of the new covenant, trusting the Spirit to write God's law within us, not merely resolving in our own strength.