(a) How did Josiah react to the contents of the Book of the Law found in the house of the Lord by Hilkiah? (b) State any four of Josiah's reforms.

Answer Details

(a) How Josiah reacted to the contents of the Book of the Law found in the house of the Lord by Hilkiah (2 Kings 22:8-20; 23:1-3).

1. When Hilkiah the high priest found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord and gave it to Shaphan the secretary, Shaphan read it before King Josiah.
2. When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes as a sign of grief and repentance.
3. He commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan and Asaiah to go and inquire of the Lord for him, for the people and for all Judah concerning the words of the book, because he perceived that God's wrath was kindled against them, since their fathers had not obeyed the words of the book.
4. These men went to Huldah the prophetess, who dwelt in Jerusalem, and inquired of her.
5. Huldah delivered God's message: that God would indeed bring disaster upon that place and its inhabitants, according to all the curses of the book, because they had forsaken Him and burned incense to other gods.
6. But because Josiah's heart was tender and he had humbled himself before the Lord and wept, God would gather him to his fathers in peace, and his eyes would not see all the disaster God would bring on the place.
7. The king then gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, went up to the house of the Lord with all the people, small and great, and read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant.
8. The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and keep His commandments, testimonies and statutes with all his heart and soul, and to perform the words of the covenant; and all the people joined in the covenant.

(b) Four of Josiah's reforms (2 Kings 23).

1. He removed from the temple all the vessels made for Baal, Asherah and the host of heaven, and burned them outside Jerusalem, carrying their ashes to Bethel.
2. He deposed the idolatrous priests and put away those who burned incense to Baal, the sun, moon and constellations.
3. He broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense.
4. He defiled Topheth in the Valley of the Sons of Hinnom so that no one might burn his son or daughter as an offering to Molech.
5. He removed the horses and chariots dedicated to the sun, and destroyed the altars made by Ahaz and Manasseh.
6. He defiled and pulled down the altar and high place at Bethel that Jeroboam had made, and burned the bones of the idolatrous priests on it, fulfilling the word of God.
7. He put away the mediums, the wizards, the household gods and idols, and commanded the people to keep the Passover to the Lord as written in the Book of the Covenant, a Passover such as had not been kept since the days of the judges.