2 Chronicles 34

Today’s Passage: 2 Chronicles 34

Josiah comes to the throne a child of eight, in a Judah grown thick with idols after the long, dark reigns before him, and yet while he is still young his heart turns of its own accord toward the God of his father David. He begins to seek the LORD, then to cleanse the land, tearing down the high places and Asherah poles and altars of Baal until the whole country is swept of its false gods. And in the eighteenth year of his reign, while workmen are repairing the neglected temple, the priest Hilkiah finds something long lost: the Book of the Law of the LORD given by Moses. When it is read aloud to the king, Josiah tears his robes in grief, for now he hears in plain words how far the nation has strayed and what judgment its sin has earned. He sends to the prophetess Huldah, who confirms that the coming calamity cannot be turned aside, but promises the king himself will be spared the sight of it, because his heart was tender and he humbled himself and wept before the LORD. Then Josiah gathers all the people, reads them the Book of the Covenant, and leads the whole nation in pledging themselves again to follow the LORD with all their heart and soul.

As you read, hold this: A tender, humble heart that trembles at God’s word and turns it into wholehearted obedience is precious to God, and it draws others back to Him.

2 Chronicles 34:1–7 (BSB)

¹ Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years.

² And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

³ In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his father David, and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images.

⁴ Then in his presence the altars of the Baals were torn down, and he cut to pieces the incense altars that were above them. He shattered the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images, crushed them to dust, and scattered them over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.

⁵ Then he burned the bones of the priests on their altars. So he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

⁶ Josiah did the same in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins around them.

⁷ He tore down the altars and Asherah poles, crushed the idols to powder, and cut to pieces all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Notice the order of it, for the order is the heart of the matter. Josiah does not begin with reform; he begins with seeking. While he was still young, before he had power enough to tear down a single altar, he set his heart to know the God of his father David, and only afterward did the cleansing come. First the seeking, then the sweeping away. This is always the shape of true change: the outward work of putting away what is false flows out of an inward turning toward the One who is true. And when the seeking is genuine, the sweeping is thorough. Josiah does not tolerate a few high places for old times’ sake or leave the popular shrines standing to keep the peace. He crushes the idols to dust and scatters them, cleansing not only Jerusalem but the northern territories as well, because a heart that has truly sought God will not make quiet room for its rivals.

2 Chronicles 34:8–13 (BSB)

⁸ Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, in order to cleanse the land and the temple, Josiah sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God.

⁹ So they went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites who guarded the doors had collected from the people of Manasseh and Ephraim, from all the remnant of Israel, from all Judah and Benjamin, and from the people of Jerusalem.

¹⁰ They put it into the hands of those supervising the work in the house of the LORD, who in turn gave it to the workmen restoring and repairing the house of the LORD.

¹¹ They also gave money to the carpenters and builders to buy dressed stone, as well as timbers for couplings and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to deteriorate.

¹² And the men did the work faithfully. The Levites overseeing them were Jahath and Obadiah, descendants of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, descendants of Kohath. Other Levites, all skilled with musical instruments,

¹³ were over the laborers and supervised all who did the work, task by task. Some of the Levites were secretaries, officers, and gatekeepers.

Having cleared the land of what dishonored God, Josiah turns to restore what honors Him. The temple had been let go, its beams rotting and its stones crumbling, allowed by the kings of Judah to deteriorate through years of indifference; now it is put back in order, funded by the freely given offerings of the people and rebuilt by workmen who, the Chronicler is careful to say, did the work faithfully. It is a quiet detail, but a telling one. Revival is not only tearing down; it is also the patient, faithful labor of building up, the ordinary work of carpenters and stonemasons and Levites doing each task well as unto the LORD. A tender heart in the king had spread outward until a whole company of hands was busy restoring the house of God.

2 Chronicles 34:14–18 (BSB)

¹⁴ While they were bringing out the money that had been taken into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given by Moses.

¹⁵ And Hilkiah said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD!” And he gave it to Shaphan.

¹⁶ Then Shaphan brought the book to the king and reported, “Your servants are doing all that has been placed in their hands.

¹⁷ They have paid out the money that was found in the house of the LORD and have put it into the hands of the supervisors and workers.”

¹⁸ Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.

In the midst of the ordinary work, the great discovery. As the money is being carried out and the repairs go forward, Hilkiah lifts from the neglected house of God the most precious thing in it, the Book of the Law of the LORD given by Moses, and something long buried comes back into the light. There is a lesson even here: it was in the doing of what he already knew to do, the faithful clearing and restoring of God’s house, that Josiah was given more. Shaphan reports first on the business of the repairs, almost in passing, and then, as if it were one more item, mentions that Hilkiah has given him a book. But this book is not one more item. Shaphan reads it aloud in the presence of the king, and everything is about to change, for the word of God has a way of arresting a listening heart.

2 Chronicles 34:19–21 (BSB)

¹⁹ When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes

²⁰ and commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the servant of the king:

²¹ “Go and inquire of the LORD for me and for those remaining in Israel and Judah concerning the words in the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that has been poured out on us because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD by doing all that is written in this book.”

Here is the moment on which everything turns. Josiah has already done more good than most kings ever attempt; he has purged the idols and restored the temple and sought the LORD from his youth. Yet when he actually hears God’s own words read aloud, he does not congratulate himself on how far he has come. He tears his clothes. The distance between what God commanded and what his fathers had done cuts him to the heart, and he grieves it as though the guilt were his own to carry. This is what a tender heart does before Scripture: it does not stand over the word to judge it, but lets the word stand over it, exposing the sin and stirring genuine sorrow. And that sorrow moves him at once to action, sending his most trusted men to inquire of the LORD, for he knows the wrath of God is no small thing and he wants to know the truth, however hard.

2 Chronicles 34:22–28 (BSB)

²² So Hilkiah and those the king had designated went and spoke to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, the keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the Second District.

²³ And Huldah said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Tell the man who sent you

²⁴ that this is what the LORD says: I am about to bring calamity on this place and on its people, according to all the curses written in the book that has been read in the presence of the king of Judah,

²⁵ 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. My wrath will be poured out upon this place and will not be quenched.’

²⁶ But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, tell him that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘As for the words that you heard,

²⁷ because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its people, and because you have humbled yourself before Me and have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have heard you,’ declares the LORD.

²⁸ ‘Now I will indeed gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the calamity that I will bring on this place and on its people.’” So they brought her answer back to the king.

The word that comes back through Huldah is honest on both sides. The judgment is real and it is coming; the nation has forsaken the LORD too long, and the curses written in the book will fall, for God will not be mocked. Yet in the same breath comes a mercy aimed straight at the king. Because your heart was tender (רַךְ) rak, pronounced RAHK. Strong's H7390, tender, soft, delicate, yielding. The word describes something soft, delicate, easily moved, the opposite of hard. It is used of a young and tender child, of gentle words, of a heart not yet grown callous. This is precisely what God commends in Josiah: not a hard heart that hears the word of judgment and shrugs, but a heart that feels the weight of it and is moved. All around him were hearts grown stony from long idolatry, unmoved by anything God said, but the king’s heart was still soft enough to grieve and still low enough to bow. God does not despise such tenderness as weakness; He prizes it. The heart He seeks is not the proud heart that stands unbending before His word, but the yielding one that trembles at it and turns, and to a heart like that He draws near. and you humbled yourself, God says, because you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I have heard you. Weigh what God singles out for praise. Not Josiah’s reforms, sweeping as they were, and not the temple he restored, but the softness of his heart and the lowliness of his spirit before the word. This is what God treasures. He looks past the achievement to the heart behind it, and a heart that trembles at His word and bows itself low is a heart He will always answer. Josiah cannot undo his fathers’ sin or turn back the judgment on the nation, but his own tender grief has not gone unseen; God grants that he will be gathered to his grave in peace.

2 Chronicles 34:29–33 (BSB)

²⁹ Then the king summoned all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

³⁰ And he went up to the house of the LORD with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the Levites—all the people great and small—and in their hearing he read all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD.

³¹ So the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments, decrees, and statutes with all his heart and all his soul, and to carry out the words of the covenant that were written in this book.

³² Then he had everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin take a stand in agreement to it. So all the people of Jerusalem carried out the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

³³ And Josiah removed all the abominations from all the lands belonging to the Israelites, and he required everyone in Israel to serve the LORD their God. Throughout his reign they did not turn aside from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.

Watch now how one tender heart draws a whole nation back to God. Josiah could have kept the mercy to himself, taking comfort that his own grave would be peaceful and leaving the people to their fate. Instead he gathers everyone, great and small, and reads them the very words that had broken him, that they too might hear and be moved. Then he does not merely command from a distance; he stands by the pillar and makes the covenant himself, first and out loud, pledging to follow the LORD with all his heart and all his soul, and the people take their stand with him. This is how a soft heart turns the word it has received into wholehearted obedience, and how such obedience becomes contagious. The king’s private grief before God becomes a public renewal for the nation, and throughout his days the people did not turn aside from following the LORD. A single heart that trembled at God’s word had led a whole people back to Him.