The various periods in the life of Josiah are very strongly marked.
"In the _eighth_ year of his reign, he began to seek after the God of
David his father;" "in the _twelfth_ year he began to purge Judah and
Jerusalem;" and "in the _eighteenth_ year of his reign, when he had
purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and
Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the
recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God."
Now in all this we can mark that progress which ever results from a
real purpose of heart to serve the Lord. "The path of the just is as a
shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day." Such
was the path of Josiah; and such, too, may be the path of the reader,
if only he is influenced by the same earnest purpose. It does not
matter what the circumstances may be. We may be surrounded by the most
hostile influences, as Josiah was in his day; but a devoted heart, an
earnest spirit, a fixed purpose, will, through grace, lift us above
all, and enable us to press forward from stage to stage of the path of
true discipleship.
If we study the first twelve chapters of the book of Jeremiah, we
shall be able to form some idea of the condition of things in the days
of Josiah. There we meet with such passages as the following: "I will
utter My judgments against them touching _all their wickedness_, who
have forsaken Me, and have _burned incense unto other gods_, and
_worshiped the works of their own hands_. Thou therefore gird up thy
loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: _be not
dismayed at their faces_, lest I confound thee before them."
"Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the Lord, and with your
children's children will I plead. For pass over the isles of Chittim,
and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if
there be such a thing. Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet
no gods? but My people have changed their glory for that which doth
not profit." So also in the opening of chap. iii., we find the most
terrible imagery used to set forth the base conduct of "backsliding
Israel and treacherous Judah." Harken to the following glowing
language in chap. iv.: "Thy way and thy doings have procured these
things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter,
because it reacheth unto thy heart. My bowels! my bowels! I am pained
at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my
peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet,
the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole
land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a
moment. How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the
trumpet? For My people are foolish, they have not known Me; they are
sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to
do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. I beheld the earth,
and, lo it was without form and void; and the heavens, and they had no
light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the
hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the
birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place
was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the
presence of the Lord, and by His fierce anger."
What vivid language! The whole scene seems, in the vision of the
prophet, reduced to primæval chaos and darkness. In short, nothing
could be more gloomy than the aspect here presented. The whole of
these opening chapters should be carefully studied, if we would form a
correct judgment of the times in which Josiah's lot was cast. They
were evidently times characterized by deep-seated and wide-spread
corruptions, in every shape and form. High and low, rich and poor,
learned and ignorant, prophets, priests, and people--all presented an
appalling picture of hollowness, deceit, and heartless wickedness,
which could only be faithfully portrayed by an inspired pen.
But why dwell upon this? Why multiply quotations in proof of the low
moral condition of Israel and Judah in the days of king Josiah? Mainly
to show that, no matter what may be our surroundings, we can
individually serve the Lord, if only there be the purpose of heart to
do so. Indeed, it is in the very darkest times that the light of true
devotedness shines forth most brightly. It is thrown into relief by
the surrounding gloom. The very circumstances which indolence and
unfaithfulness would use as a plea for yielding to the current will
only furnish a devoted spirit with a plea for making head against it.
If Josiah had looked around him, what would he have seen? Treachery,
deceit, corruption, and violence. Such was the state of public morals.
And what of religion? Errors and evils in every imaginable shape. Some
of these were hoary with age. They had been instituted by _Solomon_
and left standing by _Hezekiah_. Their foundations had been laid amid
the splendors of the reign of Israel's wisest and wealthiest monarch,
and the most pious and devoted of Josiah's predecessors had left them
as they found them.
Who, then, was Josiah, that he should presume to overturn such
venerable institutions? What right had he, a mere youth, raw and
inexperienced, to set himself in opposition to men so far beyond him
in wisdom, intelligence, and mature judgment? Why not leave things as
he found them? Why not allow the current to flow peacefully on through
those channels which had conducted it for ages and generations?
Disruptions are hazardous. There is always great risk in disturbing
old prejudices.
These and a thousand kindred questions might doubtless have exercised
the heart of Josiah; but the answer was simple, direct, clear and
conclusive. It was not the judgment of Josiah against the judgment of
his predecessors, but it was the judgment of God against all. This is
a most weighty principle for every child of God and every servant of
Christ. Without it, we can never make head against the tide of evil
which is flowing around us. It was this principle which sustained
Luther in the terrible conflict which he had to wage with the whole of
Christendom. He too, like Josiah, had to lay the axe to the root of
old prejudices, and shake the very foundation of opinions and
doctrines which had held almost universal sway in the Church for over
a thousand years. How was this to be done? Was it by setting up the
judgment of Martin Luther against the judgment of popes and cardinals,
councils and colleges, bishops and doctors? Assuredly not. This would
never have brought about the Reformation. It was not Luther _versus_
Christendom, but Holy Scripture _versus_ Error.
Reader, ponder this! Yes, ponder it deeply. We feel it is a grand and
all-important lesson for this moment, as it surely was for the days of
Luther and for the days of Josiah. We long to see the supremacy of
Holy Scripture--the paramount authority of the word of God--the
absolute sovereignty of divine revelation reverently owned throughout
the length and breadth of the Church of God. We are convinced that the
enemy is diligently seeking, in all quarters and by all means, to
undermine the authority of the Word, and to weaken its hold upon the
human conscience. And it is because we feel this that we seek to
raise, again and again, a note of solemn warning, as also to set
forth, according to our ability, the vital importance of submitting,
in all things, to the inspired testimony--the voice of God in
Scripture. It is not sufficient to render a merely formal assent to
that popular statement, "The Bible, and the Bible alone, is the
religion of Protestants." We want more than this. We want to be, in
all things, absolutely governed by the authority of Scripture--not by
our fellow-mortal's interpretation of Scripture, but by Scripture
itself. We want to have the conscience in a condition to yield, at all
times, a true response to the teachings of the divine Word.
This is what we have so vividly illustrated in the life and times of
Josiah, and particularly in the transactions of the eighteenth year of
his reign, to which we shall now call the reader's attention. This
year was one of the most memorable, not only in the history of Josiah,
but in the annals of Israel. It was signalized by two great facts,
namely, _the discovery of the book of the law_ and _the celebration of
the feast of the Passover_. Stupendous facts!--facts which have left
their impress upon this most interesting period, and rendered it
pre-eminently fruitful in instruction to the people of God in all
ages.
It is worthy of note that the discovery of the book of the law was
made during the progress of Josiah's reformatory measures. It affords
one of the ten thousand proofs of that great practical principle that
"to him that hath shall more be given;" and again, "If any man _will
do_ His will, he _shall know_ of the doctrine."
"Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land
and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the
governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to
repair the house of the Lord his God. And when they came to Hilkiah
the priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house
of God.... And when they brought out the money that was brought into
the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of
the Lord given by Moses. And Hilkiah the priest answered and said to
Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of
the Lord. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. And Shaphan
carried the book to the king.... And Shaphan read it before the king.
And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law,
that he rent his clothes" (2 Chron. xxxiv. 8-19).
Here we have a tender conscience bowing under the action of the word
of God. This was one special charm in the character of Josiah. He was,
in truth, a man of a humble and contrite spirit, who trembled at the
word of God. Would that we all knew more of this! It is a most
valuable feature of the Christian character. We certainly do need to
feel much more deeply the weight, authority, and seriousness of
Scripture. Josiah had no question whatever in his mind as to the
genuineness and authenticity of the words which Shaphan had read in
his hearing. We do not read of his asking, "How am I to know that this
is the word of God?" No; he trembled at it; he bowed before it; he
was smitten down under it; he rent his garments. He did not presume to
sit in judgment upon the word of God, but, as was meet and right, he
allowed the Word to judge him.
Thus it should ever be. If man is to judge Scripture, then Scripture
is not the word of God at all; but if Scripture is in very truth the
word of God, then it must judge man. And so it is and so it does.
Scripture _is_ the word of God, and it judges man thoroughly. It lays
bare the very roots of his nature--it opens up the foundations of his
moral being. It holds up before him the only faithful mirror in which
he can see himself perfectly reflected. This is the reason why man
does not like Scripture--cannot bear it--seeks to set it
aside--delights to pick holes in it--dares to sit in judgment upon it.
It is not so in reference to other books. Men do not trouble
themselves so much to discover and point out flaws and discrepancies
in Homer or Herodotus, Aristotle or Shakespeare. No; but Scripture
judges them--judges their ways, their lusts. Hence the enmity of the
natural mind to that most precious and marvelous Book, which, as we
have already remarked, carries its own credentials with it to every
divinely prepared heart. There is a power in Scripture which must bear
down all before it. All must bow down under it, sooner or later. "The
word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and
of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not
manifest in His sight; but all things are naked and opened unto the
eyes of Him with whom we have to do" (Heb. iv. 12, 13).
Josiah found it to be even so. The word of God pierced him through and
through. "And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of
the law, that he rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah, and
Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the
scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king's, saying, Go inquire of the
Lord for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah,
concerning the words of the book that is found; for great is the wrath
of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not
kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this
book." What a striking contrast between Josiah, with contrite heart,
exercised conscience, and rent garments, bowing down under the mighty
action of the word of God, and our modern skeptics and infidels, who,
with appalling audacity, dare to sit in judgment upon that very same
Word! Oh that men would be wise in time, and bow their hearts and
consciences in reverent submission to the word of the living God
before that great and terrible day of the Lord in the which they shall
be compelled to bow, amid "weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth."
God's word shall stand forever, and it is utterly vain for man to set
himself up in opposition to it, or seek by his reasonings and
skeptical speculations to find out errors and contradictions in it.
"Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven." "Heaven and earth
shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away." "The word of the
Lord endureth forever." Of what possible use is it, therefore, for man
to resist the word of God? He can gain nothing; but oh! what may he
lose? If man could prove the Bible false, what should he gain? but if
it be true after all, what does he lose? A serious inquiry! May it
have its weight with any reader whose mind is at all under the
influence of rationalistic or infidel notions.
We shall now proceed with our history.
"And Hilkiah and they that the king had appointed went to Huldah the
prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah,
keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem, in the college;)
and they spake to her to that effect." At the opening of this paper we
referred to the fact of a child of eight years old being on the throne
of David as indicative of the condition of things amongst the people
of God. Here, too, we are arrested by the fact that the prophetic
office was filled by a woman. It surely tells a tale. Things were low;
but the grace of God was unfailing and abundant, and Josiah was so
thoroughly broken down that he was prepared to receive the
communication of the mind of God through whatever channel it might
reach him. This was morally lovely. It might, to nature's view, seem
very humiliating for a king of Judah to have recourse to a woman for
counsel; but then that woman was the depositary of the mind of God,
and this was quite enough for a humble and a contrite spirit like
Josiah's. He had thus far proved that his one grand desire was to know
and do the will of God, and hence it mattered not by what vehicle the
voice of God was conveyed to his ear, he was prepared to hear and
obey.
Christian reader, let us consider this. We may rest assured that
herein lies the true secret of divine guidance. "The meek will He
guide in judgment, and the meek will He teach His way" (Ps. xxv. 9).
Were there more of this blessed spirit of meekness among us, there
would be less confusion, less controversy, less striving about words
to no profit. If we were all meek, we should all be divinely guided
and divinely taught, and thus we should see eye to eye; we should be
of one mind, and speak the same thing, and avoid much sad and humbling
division and heart-burning.
See what a full answer the meek and contrite Josiah received from
Huldah the prophetess--an answer both as to his people and as to
himself. "And she answered them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
Tell ye the man that sent you to me, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I
will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof,
even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read
before the king of Judah. Because _they have forsaken Me_, and have
burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger
with all the works of their hands; therefore My wrath shall be poured
out upon this place, and shall not be quenched."
All this was but the solemn reiteration and establishment of what had
already fallen upon the open and attentive ear of the king of Judah;
but then it came with fresh force, emphasis, and interest, as a direct
personal communication to himself. It came enforced and enhanced by
that earnest sentence, "Tell ye _the man_ that sent you to me."
But there was more than this. There was a gracious message directly
concerning Josiah himself. "And as for the king of Judah, who sent you
to inquire of the Lord, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the Lord
God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard: BECAUSE THY
HEART WAS TENDER, and thou didst _humble thyself before God_ when thou
heardest His words against this place, and against the inhabitants
thereof, and _humbledst thyself before Me_, and didst rend thy clothes
and _weep before Me_; I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord.
Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered
to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that
I will bring upon this place and upon the inhabitants of the same. So
they brought the king word again" (2 Chron. xxxiv. 23-28).
All this is full of instruction and encouragement for us in this dark
and evil day. It teaches us the immense value, in the divine
estimation, of deep personal exercise of soul and contrition of
heart. Josiah might have deemed the case hopeless--that nothing could
avert the mighty tide of wrath and judgment which was about to roll
over the city of Jerusalem and the land of Israel--that any movement
of his must prove utterly unavailing--that the divine purpose was
settled--the decree gone forth, and that, in short, he had only to
stand by and let things take their course. But Josiah did not reason
thus. No; he bowed before the divine testimony. He humbled himself,
rent his clothes, and wept. God took knowledge of this. Josiah's
penitential tears were precious to Jehovah, and though the appalling
judgment had to take its course, yet the penitent escaped. And not
only did he himself escape, but he became the honored instrument in
the Lord's hand of delivering others also. He did not abandon himself
to the influence of a pernicious fatalism, but in brokenness of spirit
and earnestness of heart he cast himself upon God, confessing his own
sins and the sins of his people. And then, when assured of his own
personal deliverance, he set himself to seek the deliverance of his
brethren also. This is a fine moral lesson for the heart. May we learn
it thoroughly.