The King's Covenant: Reformation from the Top Down Text: 2 Chronicles 34:29-33
Introduction: When the Word is Found
We live in an age that has lost its memory. It is an age of institutional amnesia. Our culture, and sadly much of the church, has misplaced the book. Like Judah before this moment, we have been carrying on with our religious activities, maintaining the facade of the temple, while the very blueprint, the very charter of our existence, lies gathering dust in a forgotten corner. We have been trying to run the kingdom without the King's law. The result is precisely what we see all around us: a land filled with high places, abominations, and a people who have forgotten the terms of their own existence.
The story of Josiah is the story of what happens when the Word of God is rediscovered. It is not a story of quiet, personal piety that keeps to itself. It is the story of a public, national, top-down reformation that turns a kingdom upside down, or rather, right side up. When God's law is found, it is not meant to be placed in a museum. It is meant to be read, to be heard, and to be obeyed. It is meant to reorder everything.
Our evangelical sensibilities are often squeamish about what we find here. We like our revivals to be grassroots, bottom-up affairs. We are suspicious of authority, particularly civil authority, meddling in the things of God. But the Bible is not so squeamish. Here we have a king, a civil magistrate, who hears the Word of God and understands his duty before God. His duty is not just to reform his own heart, but to reform his entire kingdom. This is not tyranny; this is covenant leadership. This is a king remembering that he is a king under God, and that his first responsibility is to see that the nation he governs is faithful to the God who established it.
What Josiah does here is provide us with a timeless pattern for true reformation. It begins with the Word, it is led by the authorities God has established, it involves the whole people, and it results in a public, corporate, and binding covenant renewal. This is not just a quaint story from the Old Testament. This is a blueprint.
The Text
Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up to the house of Yahweh and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests and the Levites and all the people, from the greatest to the least; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of Yahweh. Then the king stood in his place and cut a covenant before Yahweh, to walk after Yahweh, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to do the words of the covenant that were written in this book. Moreover, he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand with him. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. And Josiah took away all the abominations from all the lands belonging to the sons of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel to serve Yahweh their God. Throughout his lifetime they did not turn away from following Yahweh, the God of their fathers.
(2 Chronicles 34:29-33 LSB)
The Public Word (v. 29-30)
The reformation begins with a public gathering and a public reading.
"Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up to the house of Yahweh and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests and the Levites and all the people, from the greatest to the least; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of Yahweh." (2 Chronicles 34:29-30)
Notice the sequence. The king hears the word and is personally convicted, tearing his robes. But his response is not merely private. He understands that the book is not just a manual for personal devotion; it is a public constitution for the nation. So, he acts in his official capacity as king. He sends and gathers the leadership, the elders. True reformation respects God-ordained structures of authority.
And then he gathers everyone. This is a corporate event. It includes "all the people, from the greatest to the least." No one is exempt. The covenant of God is not a private arrangement for the spiritual elite. It is for the whole community. The greatest man in the kingdom and the lowliest servant stand on level ground before the Word of God. This is the great equalizer. Social status, wealth, and influence mean nothing when the book is opened. All are accountable.
And what is the central act of this great assembly? The king himself "read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant." The foundation of all true revival is the plain, public, authoritative reading of the Scriptures. Before there can be any action, there must be revelation. Before there can be obedience, there must be instruction. The people cannot obey a law they have not heard. For generations, they had been living by tradition, by habit, by what seemed right in their own eyes. Now, the objective, unchangeable standard is brought out into the light. This is God's dictionary, these are His terms, this is reality. There is no debate, no negotiation, no committee to determine if the book is "relevant." The king reads it, and its authority is self-evident.
The King's Vow (v. 31)
After the public reading comes the public commitment, led by the head of state.
"Then the king stood in his place and cut a covenant before Yahweh, to walk after Yahweh, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to do the words of the covenant that were written in this book." (2. Chronicles 34:31 LSB)
The king stands "in his place," likely by the pillar where kings were traditionally crowned and made their vows. He is acting officially. And he "cut a covenant." This is solemn, binding, and serious language. A covenant is not a mere promise; it is a sworn oath with sanctions. He is binding himself, before God and the people, to a specific course of action.
And what does he bind himself to? Three things. First, "to walk after Yahweh." This is about allegiance. It is a declaration of loyalty. Yahweh alone will be their God. All other loyalties are subordinate. Second, "to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes." This is about obedience. Allegiance is demonstrated through submission to God's law. It's not enough to feel warmly about God; one must do what He says. Third, he vows to do this "with all his heart and with all his soul." This is about totality. This is not partial obedience or convenient obedience. It is a commitment of the entire person, the inner affections and the outward life, to the rule of God.
This is the model for all Christian leadership, whether in the home, the church, or the state. The leader must be the first to place himself publicly under the authority of God's Word. He cannot demand of others what he is unwilling to do himself. Josiah leads by example, making himself the first subject of the law he is about to enforce.
The People's Assent (v. 32)
The king's vow is then extended to the entire nation.
"Moreover, he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand with him. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers." (2 Chronicles 34:32 LSB)
Here is the principle of federal headship in action. The king, as the representative of the people, makes a vow, and then he brings the people into that same vow. "He made all who were present...to stand with him." This is not coercive in a tyrannical sense. To "stand" in this context is to assent, to enter into the agreement. He is leading them to do what is right. A godly magistrate does not simply permit righteousness; he encourages it. He uses his authority to steer the ship of state toward the harbor of God's blessing.
Our modern, individualistic mindset chafes at this. We think of faith as a purely personal matter between a man and his Maker. But the Bible thinks covenantally, corporately. A nation, like a family, has a collective identity and a collective responsibility. When the head of the household leads in family worship, he is making his household "stand." When a king leads his nation in covenant renewal, he is doing the same on a national scale. The people of Jerusalem and Benjamin follow their king's lead and enter the covenant. They are re-aligning their city and their tribe with the "God of their fathers," acknowledging their historical identity and responsibility.
The Public Purge (v. 33)
Covenant renewal is not just about words and ceremonies. It must be followed by decisive action.
"And Josiah took away all the abominations from all the lands belonging to the sons of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel to serve Yahweh their God. Throughout his lifetime they did not turn away from following Yahweh, the God of their fathers." (2 Chronicles 34:33 LSB)
The first fruit of a renewed covenant is the destruction of idols. "Josiah took away all the abominations." This is not a polite suggestion. This is a purge. He tears down the high places, smashes the idols, and removes the infrastructure of pagan worship. True worship requires the removal of false worship. You cannot serve God and Baal. You cannot have the Lord's Table and the table of demons in the same temple. Reformation is always polemical. It must say "no" to idolatry in order to say "yes" to God. This is a truth our syncretistic and pluralistic age despises, but it is a biblical non-negotiable.
And notice the scope. He does this in "all the lands belonging to the sons of Israel," even extending his reforms into the territory of the former northern kingdom. He understands that God's law applies everywhere God's people are. His zeal is not limited by political boundaries; it is defined by covenantal obligation.
He then "made all who were present in Israel to serve Yahweh their God." Again, he uses his royal authority to establish true worship as the law of the land. This is the duty of the "nursing father" of the church that Isaiah speaks of (Isaiah 49:23). The civil magistrate is God's deacon, appointed to punish evil and to praise good (Romans 13:4). And what is more evil than idolatry? What is better than the true worship of God? Josiah is simply doing his job.
The result is a generation of faithfulness: "Throughout his lifetime they did not turn away." This is the fruit of top-down reformation. A godly leader, armed with the Word of God and the courage to act on it, can bring about widespread, public obedience. This obedience may not have been a saving conversion in every single heart, but it was a national turning that brought about covenantal blessings and staved off judgment for a time.
Conclusion: Finding the Book Today
We are in the same position as Judah before this moment. The book has been found. The Scriptures are open before us. We have the full and final revelation of God in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The question is not whether we have the book, but what we will do with it.
Like Josiah, we must first let it convict us personally. We must see where we have deviated from the standard. We must allow the Word to tear our robes and humble our hearts. But it cannot stop there. Every father in his home is a Josiah. Every pastor in his pulpit is a Josiah. Every elder in his session is a Josiah. And yes, every civil magistrate on his throne is a Josiah. Each has a God-given sphere of authority, and in that sphere, he is responsible to lead those under his care to "stand" in the covenant.
This means we must read the book publicly. We must pledge ourselves to it publicly. And we must purge the abominations publicly. In our own hearts, we must tear down the high places of pride, greed, and lust. In our homes, we must cast out the idols of entertainment and autonomy. In our churches, we must remove the abominations of man-centered worship and compromised doctrine. And in our land, we must call our leaders to govern according to the law of the King of kings, to punish what He calls evil and to protect what He calls good.
The reformation under Josiah was real, but it was temporary. It was ultimately dependent on the heart of one man. But it points us to a greater King and a greater covenant. Jesus Christ, our King, has perfectly kept the covenant on our behalf. He has read the law, embodied the law, and fulfilled the law. He has cut a new covenant, not with the blood of animals, but with His own blood. And by His Spirit, He writes His law not on stone tablets, but on our hearts.
Therefore, when we gather as the people of God, we are doing what Israel did here. We hear the Word read, we affirm our allegiance in the creed, we confess our sins, we receive His pardon, and we come to His table to renew our covenant vows. We are made to stand. And then we are sent out, commissioned to take away the abominations in our own lives and to call the world to submit to the true King, the greater Josiah, Jesus Christ our Lord.