2 Kings 22

Last Jewish nation is about to fall

Josiah, eight-year-old king
2 Chronicles 34:1-2

1Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He reigned 31 years out of Judah’s capital city of Jerusalem. His mother was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah from Bozkath. 2Josiah lived his life devoted to the LORD, as his ancestor David had done. He never wandered away from God.

The king trusts construction workers
2 Chronicles 34:8-28

3Eighteen years into Josiah’s reign, he sent one of his top officials to the Temple: Shaphan, the son of Azaliah and grandson of Meshullam. The king told him:

4Go to the high priest, Hilkiah, and tell him to gather all the silver that has been donated to the Temple, which the guards are protecting. 5Give the silver to the foremen overseeing the repairs at the Temple. We’ll let them distribute some of the silver to the workers, as salary. 6By “workers,” I’m talking about carpenters, construction workers, masons. Foremen will use the rest of the silver to buy construction supplies for the repair work. This will include timber and stone cut from the quarries. 7The crew doesn’t need to keep a record of how they spent the silver. They are honest folks.

Reading the lost Laws of Moses

8High Priest Hilkiah told Shaphan, chief official in the royal court, “I found the book of laws God gave us. It was in the Temple.” [1] Hilkiah gave it to Shaphan, who started reading it.

9Shaphan reported back to the king and said, “They’ve melted the silver and delivered it to the foremen overseeing the repairs of the Temple. 10While I was at the Temple, High Priest Hilkiah handed me this book.” Shaphan read it aloud to the king. 11When the king heard what was in that book, he ripped his clothes.

A shaken Josiah asks for God’s help

12He called a meeting of these men:

High Priest Hilkiah
Shaphan and his son Ahikam [2]
Achbor who was the son of the prophet Micaiah
Asaiah, one of the king’s top officials.

13The king told these men, “Go find someone who can talk to the LORD about what we’ve discovered in this book. Have them find out what the LORD has to say to me, to the people here, and to all of Judah. The LORD has good reason to be angry with us. Our ancestors lost this book and failed to obey the laws written in there for all of us.” 14All five men—Hilkiah, Shaphan, Ahikam, Achbor, and Asaiah—went to meet with the prophetess Huldah. [3] She married Shallum, a court official in charge of the king’s wardrobe. Her husband was the son of Tikvah and the grandson of Harhas.

Prophet predicts disaster for Judah

15Prophetess Huldah said, “Give this message to the king who sent you:

16I’m the LORD and God of Israel. But I’m going to hit you with everything I warned you about in the book you just found and read. [4] This place is going to become a disaster zone for the land and the people living here. 17I’m doing this to you because you turned your back on me and went off to worship other gods. This makes me angry. And I’m going to vent that anger all over this land and these people. That’s non-negotiable.

18As for the king himself and what will happen to him, give him this message:

The LORD and God of Israel wants you to know this. 19I see your broken heart. You came to me humbly, tears flowing, and with your clothes ripped in sorrow over the devastating news I just gave you. I heard your prayer. 20I want to assure you of this. I will let you live your life in peace, and then you’ll die. You won’t have to see what’s coming. I’m going to spare you of it.”

The king’s officials took Huldah’s message back to the king.

Footnotes

Intro Notes to 2 Kings

122:8

What? They lost their Bible and just now found it? Weren’t the priests supposed to help enforce those laws that God gave to Moses for the Hebrew/Israelite/Jewish people? Apparently, they remembered the sacrificial rituals, but lost track of the laws that gave meaning to those rituals. They knew the motions. They forgot the story.

222:12

Ahikam’s son, Gedaliah, is the man Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar later appointed as governor of the land after conquering Judah. Fellow Jews assassinated him (2 Kings 25:22).

322:14

Everything we know about Huldah is reported in this chapter. Based on the reporting in these verses, many scholars presume she was a central prophet, one of the most trusted and consulted at the time.

422:16

This is possibly a reference to all the tragic things God said would happen to Israel if the people didn’t keep up their part of the covenant agreement they made to obey God in return for a life of peace and prosperity (see Deuteronomy 28:15-68). He warns that they would lose their land and would be scattered among the nations. That’s what happened in 586 BC, when Babylon leveled Jerusalem and deported the Jewish survivors. That was the first time Jerusalem was destroyed. Romans did it again in AD 70, after Jews revolted and declared their independence.