Bird's-eye view
This passage records one of the most pivotal moments in the history of the Old Covenant people, a true turning point. In the midst of a national reformation already underway, spearheaded by the godly king Josiah, the very foundation of that covenant is rediscovered. The "Book of the Law," lost and neglected in the house of God itself, is found during temple renovations. This is not merely the discovery of an old scroll; it is the recovery of God's own voice, His covenant stipulations, His promises, and His threats. The effect is immediate and explosive. When the words of the law are read to King Josiah, his response is not academic curiosity but profound, personal, and national conviction of sin. He tears his robes, a visceral reaction to the realization of how far his people have fallen and the magnitude of the divine wrath they have incurred. This discovery and the subsequent reaction are the engine of true revival. It demonstrates that genuine reformation is never based on good intentions or human programs, but is always a response to the authoritative, sufficient, and convicting Word of God.
Josiah’s response sets the pattern for all true repentance. He does not make excuses or blame his circumstances. He immediately recognizes the corporate and generational nature of their sin, acknowledging that "our fathers have not kept the word of Yahweh." He understands that the covenant curses written in the book are not idle threats but are actively being "poured out" against them. His immediate action is to "inquire of Yahweh," seeking a word from the Lord about the words of the Lord. This is the heart of a man who takes God at His word. The rediscovery of the book was the rediscovery of the standard, and with it came the terrifying but necessary realization of their profound guilt before a holy God.
Outline
- 1. The Recovery of the Divine Standard (2 Chron 34:14-21)
- a. An Unexpected Discovery (2 Chron 34:14-15)
- b. The Word Delivered to the King (2 Chron 34:16-18)
- c. The Word's Effect on the King (2 Chron 34:19)
- d. The King's Godly Response (2 Chron 34:20-21)
- i. The Command to Inquire (2 Chron 34:21a)
- ii. The Confession of Guilt (2 Chron 34:21b)
Context In 2 Chronicles
The book of 2 Chronicles traces the history of the kingdom of Judah from Solomon onward, with a particular focus on the temple, the priesthood, and the theme of covenant faithfulness. The narrative repeatedly demonstrates a clear pattern: when the king and the people are obedient to Yahweh and His law, they prosper. When they turn to idolatry and disobedience, judgment follows. The reigns of Josiah's immediate predecessors, Manasseh and Amon, were a spiritual wasteland. Manasseh was arguably the most wicked king in Judah's history, thoroughly polluting the land and the temple with pagan idolatry. Although he repented late in life, the damage was done. His son Amon continued in his father’s wickedness. So Josiah ascends to the throne in a nation that has been systematically catechized in apostasy for over half a century. The law of God was not just ignored; it was lost. The nation had forgotten its own constitution. It is against this backdrop of deep spiritual darkness that Josiah's reforms, beginning in the eighth year of his reign, shine so brightly. The discovery of the Book of the Law in his eighteenth year (2 Kings 22:3) is not the start of the reformation, but it is the event that gives it a solid foundation and a divine mandate, accelerating it and deepening it immeasurably.
Key Issues
- The Sufficiency and Authority of Scripture
- The Nature of True Revival
- Corporate and Generational Sin
- The Character of Godly Leadership
- The Relationship Between God's Word and God's Wrath
- The Doctrine of Sola Scriptura in the Old Testament
The Lost and Found Constitution
Imagine if the United States of America lost its Constitution. Not just misplaced a copy, but the whole nation forgot its contents, its principles, its structure of government. Imagine that for two generations, leaders governed by whim, tradition, and imported ideologies. Then, during a renovation of the National Archives, a dusty copy was found. The president sits down and has it read to him. He hears, for the first time, about the separation of powers, the bill of rights, the rule of law. His immediate reaction would be horror at how far the nation had drifted from its founding principles. This is a faint echo of what happens here with Josiah.
The Book of the Law was Israel's covenant charter. It was their constitution, their marriage certificate with Yahweh. It defined who they were as a people and laid out the terms of their relationship with their God. For it to be lost in the temple, of all places, is a staggering indictment of the spiritual state of the nation. It's like a man losing his wedding ring in his own bedroom and not noticing for fifty years. The priests, the Levites, the kings, they had all been going through religious motions without the one thing that gave those motions meaning: the revealed Word of God. Its discovery was not just fortunate; it was a sovereign act of grace by God to give His people one last chance to repent before the final judgment fell.
Verse by Verse Commentary
14 When they were taking out the money which had been brought into the house of Yahweh, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of Yahweh given by the hand of Moses.
The setting is mundane. They are doing accounting, handling the funds for the temple repair project that Josiah had initiated. It is in the midst of this practical, faithful work that the great spiritual discovery is made. God often rewards faithfulness in small things with revelation in great things. Hilkiah, the high priest, finds "the book of the law." Most scholars believe this was, at minimum, the book of Deuteronomy, which contains the core of the covenant stipulations and the blessings and curses. The text emphasizes its origin: it was given "by the hand of Moses." This is not a human document; it is divine revelation, the very standard by which the nation was to be judged.
15 So Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the book of the law in the house of Yahweh.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan.
Hilkiah's statement is simple and direct. He knows what he has found. He doesn't say "an old scroll" but "the book of the law." He recognizes its authority immediately. He gives it to Shaphan, the scribe, a high-ranking royal official. The priesthood finds the Word, and the civil magistrate receives it. This is a picture of a rightly ordered society, where both church and state are submitted to the authority of God's revealed law.
16-17 Then Shaphan brought the book to the king and furthermore responded to the king with a word, saying, “Everything that was given to the hand of your servants they are doing. They have also poured out the money that was found in the house of Yahweh, and have given it into the hand of the supervisors and those who did the work.”
Shaphan first gives his progress report on the renovations. He is a competent and faithful servant, reporting that the king's orders are being carried out and the finances are being handled properly. This diligence in earthly matters is the backdrop for the reception of the heavenly word. A man who is faithful in little will be entrusted with much. Shaphan is a good bureaucrat before he becomes the bearer of God's Word to the king.
18 Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king saying, “Hilkiah the priest gave me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.
After the business report, Shaphan presents the book. He doesn't hype it up; he simply states the fact: "Hilkiah the priest gave me a book." Then he begins to read. The power is not in the presentation, but in the Word itself. The Word of God does the work. Shaphan simply reads, and the Holy Spirit applies the words to the conscience of the king. This is the central act of the Reformation, both here and in the sixteenth century: the simple reading and preaching of the Word of God in the hearing of the people.
19 Now it happened that when the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes.
The king's reaction is instantaneous and violent. Tearing one's clothes was an outward sign of extreme grief, horror, and repentance. This is not a calculated political gesture. This is the genuine cry of a convicted heart. He hears the law's demands for perfect obedience, and he hears the terrifying curses pronounced on disobedience (Deut 28), and he knows, with dreadful certainty, that he and his people are guilty. The Word of God has found him. This is what the law does: it slays us. It removes all our self-righteous pretensions and leaves us exposed and condemned before a holy God. This is the necessary prelude to grace.
20 Then the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying,
Josiah immediately surrounds himself with his top advisors. He does not hide his grief or try to handle this crisis alone. He brings his leadership team into the circle of repentance. This is a public matter, a national crisis, and it requires a corporate response. A godly leader leads his people in repentance.
21 “Go, inquire of Yahweh for me and those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book which has been found, for great is the wrath of Yahweh which is poured out against us, because our fathers have not kept the word of Yahweh, to do according to all that is written in this book.”
This verse is the theological heart of the passage. Josiah's command reveals three crucial truths. First, he seeks a word from God. He doesn't just want his advisors' opinions; he wants to know what God has to say. He sends them to inquire of a prophetess, Huldah (2 Chron 34:22). Second, he understands the corporate nature of the guilt. The inquiry is for him and for all "those who are left in Israel and in Judah." He knows this is a covenant community, and they stand or fall together. Third, he correctly diagnoses the problem and its consequence. The problem is that "our fathers have not kept the word of Yahweh." He acknowledges generational sin. The consequence is that "great is the wrath of Yahweh which is poured out against us." He sees their present troubles not as bad luck, but as the active, judicial wrath of God for covenant-breaking. His theology is spot-on, because it is derived directly from the book he has just heard. He believes what God says about sin and judgment.
Application
This story is a permanent lesson for the church on the absolute centrality of the Word of God. The Bible is not just a helpful resource for the Christian life; it is the foundation, the standard, the very voice of God. And like in Josiah's day, it is tragically possible for the church to "lose" the Bible even while it sits on our shelves. We lose it when we neglect it, when we replace its authority with our traditions or experiences, when we soften its hard edges, and when we stop letting it confront and convict us. A lost Bible leads to a corrupt church and a culture under the wrath of God.
True revival, therefore, is always a "back to the Bible" movement. It begins when God's people recover the Word and, like Josiah, allow themselves to be shattered by it. We must hear the law's demands and confess that we have not kept them. We must hear its warnings and acknowledge that we deserve God's wrath. We must tear the robes of our self-righteousness. It is only when the law has done this killing work that the gospel can bring us life. For the book that Josiah found, the book of the law, ultimately points to the one who fulfilled the law perfectly on our behalf.
Josiah tore his robes because of his and his fathers' failure to keep the law. But on the cross, the soldiers divided Christ's garments, and His tunic was torn from top to bottom. He who knew no sin became sin for us, bearing the full, undiluted wrath of God that was poured out for our covenant-breaking. Because He endured the curse of the law, we can now read the law not as a sentence of death, but as a guide to grateful living. The question for us is the same one that faced Josiah. When we hear the words of this book, what will we do? Will we yawn, or will we tear our robes?