34:1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem.
Before God brought the Babylon Captivity upon Judah, He raised up one more king to bring one last revival to Judah. During Josiah’s reign, the prophets Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Nahum would all warn Judah of the coming judgment.
Many ask if America will have another revival before the Great Tribulation? Possibly, but no one knows. God is love, He is patient, and He does not want anyone to perish. Judgment is His strange work. God did bring one last revival to Israel, so maybe He will do the same with America.
34:2 He did what the Lord approved and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps; he did not deviate to the right or the left.
People often ask what is right and what is wrong? Man is too stupid, too arrogant, and too totally depraved and evil to answer this question. Only God knows what is right and what is wrong. He has spelled it out in the Word of God and sent gifted pastor-teachers into the world to explain the difference. However, most Christians are more engulfed in the satanic world system than they are in the study of the details of the Word of God.
God was the one who divided the light from the darkness. Man cannot separate light from darkness. If the Holy Spirit called Josiah a good king, then He knows what He is talking about. Josiah walked in David’s footsteps. David was the only human king whom God set up as His standard for all human kings. David was not perfect, but he was about as good of a king as a human could possibly be.
34:3 In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his ancestor David. In his twelfth year he began ridding Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, Asherah poles, idols, and images.
Josiah was only eight years old when his evil father Amon was assassinated. Therefore, Amon did not have much time to influence his son. Josiah had evidently been more influenced by the latter reforms of his grandfather Manasseh than by his own immature and rebellious father. Josiah could have been trained by a priest. However, the priest would not have had access to the Scriptures, because Manasseh had destroyed them all.
At the age of 16, Josiah began to call upon the name of the Lord. By 20 years of age, he was tearing down idols. Since no man seeks God, then God sought Josiah first. Since all of the elders had rejected God, God was raising up this young man to lead this one last revival before the Babylonian Captivity.
34:4 He ordered the altars of the Baals to be torn down, and broke the incense altars that were above them. He smashed the Asherah poles, idols and images, crushed them up and sprinkled the dust over the tombs of those who had sacrificed to them.
King Josiah, the 20-year-old young king, eliminated Satan worship out of Judah.
34:5 He burned the bones of the pagan priests on their altars; he purified Judah and Jerusalem.
Josiah even burned the bones of the satanic priests in Judah. The burnt bones of the dead made these satanic ritual places unclean, meaning that they would not be used for Jewish religious purposes.
34:6 In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins around them, 34:7 he tore down the altars and Asherah poles, demolished the idols, and smashed all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
Josiah’s revivals extended far beyond his own nation of Judah and deep into the territories of the other tribes. These northern cities were all a part of Assyria. Josiah went into Assyrian territory and demolished these satanic idols. Assyria was a dying power at this time, but this still took some courage for a young king to do.
34:8 In the eighteenth year of his reign, he continued his policy of purifying the land and the temple. He sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the city official, and Joah son of Joahaz the secretary to repair the temple of the Lord his God.
During the 55-year reign of Manasseh and the two year reign of Amon, the temple was neglected and need of repair.
34:9 They went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the silver that had been brought to God’s temple. The Levites who guarded the door had collected it from the people of Manasseh and Ephraim and from all who were left in Israel, as well as from all the people of Judah and Benjamin and the residents of Jerusalem.
Manasseh and Ephraim were northern tribes who were living inside of Judah. Many cults and "isms" claim that they are the lost tribes of Israel, but according to this verse, the tribes were not lost. Many of the messianic believers from the northern tribes moved to Judah before the Assyrian Captivity.
34:10 They handed it over to the construction foremen assigned to the Lord’s temple. They in turn paid the temple workers to restore and repair it.
The construction foreman was in charge of the temple repairs.
34:11 They gave money to the craftsmen and builders to buy chiseled stone and wood for the braces and rafters of the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to fall into disrepair.
Many Gentile kings would enslave other nations and force the captives of war to complete building constructions for the king. In Israel, Josiah paid the craftsman for their work.
34:12 The men worked faithfully. Their supervisors were Jahath and Obadiah (Levites descended from Merari), as well as Zechariah and Meshullam (descendants of Kohath). The Levites, all of whom were skilled musicians, 13 supervised the laborers and all the foremen on their various jobs. Some of the Levites were scribes, officials, and guards.
The men were totally dedicated to their work.
34:14 When they took out the silver that had been brought to the Lord’s temple, Hilkiah the priest found the law scroll the Lord had given to Moses.
Manasseh destroyed all of the Scriptures during his reign. This caused some of the godly priests to hide a copy of the entire Bible in the temple. Genesis through 2 Kings must have been found, because Josiah read the prophecies concerning Israel’s judgments in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28.
Liberals like to claim that all of these Scriptures were rewritten by four different authors (JEDP) at this time and made to look old. They claim that the priests faked the discovery of the Law in order to gain influence over King Josiah. There is absolutely no documentary evidence of this happening anywhere in Jewish history. This theory can easily be refuted by simply reading these books with an open mind and studying the authenticity, internal consistency, and archaeological confirmation which is apparent in these books.
34:15 Hilkiah informed Shaphan the scribe, “I found the law scroll in the Lord’s temple.” Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan.
The Mosaic Law was going to be studied possibly for the first time in Josiah’s generation.
34:16 Shaphan brought the scroll to the king and reported, “Your servants are doing everything assigned to them.
The scroll was brought to the king. The priest gave the king a report on the temple maintenance.
34:17 They melted down the silver in the Lord’s temple and handed it over to the supervisors of the construction foremen.”
The silver was being melted for the temple utensils.
34:18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” Shaphan read it out loud before the king.
Thee lost scrolls were read before the King.
34:19 When the king heard the words of the law scroll, he tore his clothes.
The Mosaic Law predicted that Judah would be removed from the land if they did not keep the law. Judah tore his clothes as a sign of shock and repentance, because he knew that Judah was about to be judged by God.
34:20 The king ordered Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, 21 “Go, seek an oracle from the Lord for me and those who remain in Israel and Judah. Find out about the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the Lord’s fury has been ignited against us, because our ancestors have not obeyed the word of the Lord by doing all that this scroll instructs!”
The only way that a nation can experience revival is to turn back to the Word of God. Nothing else will bring about revival.
Why doesn’t America seek revival? The reason is very simple. The church is not teaching the Word of God. Churches have tried many new gimmicks and different kinds of methods, but nothing happens. Revival does not come through new gimmicks and new methods. Revival comes only when people return to the Word of God and find out what God has to say.
34:22 So Hilkiah and the others sent by the king went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, the supervisor of the wardrobe. (She lived in Jerusalem in the Mishneh district.) They stated their business,
Notice that God talked to apostate Israel through a female prophetess. All of the men had turned away from the Word of God, so God had to use a woman prophet. God did this in the past with Miriam and Deborah.
Men are called to teach the Word of God, but if men refuse to do so, then God will use women. When women are found in political and spiritual leadership positions, then this is a sign that the men are spiritually weak and God is judging that nation.
Where are the strong men today? Will an apostate nation listen to a strong man? Will they listen to a strong woman if the men are too weak to speak?
34:23 and she said to them: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Say this to the man who sent you to me:
This new revelation was coming directly from God via the female prophet.
34:24 “This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring disaster on this place and its residents, the details of which are recorded in the scroll which they read before the king of Judah.
God will vomit Israel out of the land just as he vomited the Canaanites out of the land.
34:25 This will happen because they have abandoned me and offered sacrifices to other gods, angering me with all the idols they have made. My anger will ignite against this place and will not be extinguished!’ ”
Israel had more light than other nations. She abandoned God, so He allowed a nation more evil than Israel to conquer her.
34:26 Say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to seek an oracle from the Lord: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says concerning the words you have heard:
Jehovah had a message for King Josiah.
34:27 ‘You displayed a sensitive spirit and humbled yourself before God when you heard his words concerning this place and its residents. You humbled yourself before me, tore your clothes and wept before me, and I have heard you,’ says the Lord.
The Word of God turned Josiah to Jehovah. Therefore, Jehovah heard Josiah’s prayer.
34:28 ‘Therefore I will allow you to die and be buried in peace. You will not have to witness all the disaster I will bring on this place and its residents.’ ” ’ ” Then they reported back to the king.
Babylon will not be able to take Judah into captivity until King Josiah dies.
34:29 The king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem.
King Josiah called an assembly of the leadership of Judah.
34:30 The king went up to the Lord’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the Levites. All the people were there, from the oldest to the youngest. He read aloud all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the Lord’s temple.
King Josiah led the national leaders of Judah in a personal Bible study.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the electorate would choose these types of governmental leaders? Instead, the electorate chooses men who want to censor the Bible and make all religions equal. The problem in America is not the politicians, it is the electorate who are voting corrupt men into power. A corrupt man is one who is devoid of bible doctrine.
34:31 The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant before the Lord, agreeing to follow the Lord and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being, by carrying out the terms of this covenant recorded on this scroll.
King Josiah renewed the conditional Mosaic Covenant. Keeping the Law would cause God to bless Israel. Not keeping the Law would cause God to curse Israel.
34:32 He made all who were in Jerusalem and Benjamin agree to it. The residents of Jerusalem acted in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.
The leaders and citizens of Jerusalem were made to agree with the Mosaic Law. In other words, King Josiah would execute punishment against those who did not keep the Law. These Jews who were breaking the Law were placing the nation in peril of being cursed.
34:33 Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the areas belonging to the Israelites and encouraged all who were in Israel to worship the Lord their God. Throughout the rest of his reign they did not turn aside from following the Lord God of their ancestors.
Joshua removed the satanic idols and encouraged everyone to worship Jehovah. During the reign of Josiah, the Mosaic Law was followed and enforced. This meant that capital punishment was administered against all who refused to keep the Mosaic Law. Judah prospered during the time of Josiah.