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180
Royalty and Ruin
Not until he had crossed the length and breadth of this region of
ruined homes, and “had broken down the altars and the wooden
images, had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all
the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel,” did he return to
Jerusalem.
Verse 7
.
Thus Josiah had tried as king to exalt God’s holy law. And now,
while Shaphan the scribe was reading to him out of the book of the
law, the king recognized that this volume was a powerful ally in the
work of reform he so much desired to see. He resolved to do all in
his power to acquaint his people with its teachings and to lead them,
if possible, to reverence and love the law of heaven.
The King Consults the Lord’s Prophetess
But was it possible to bring about the needed reform? Israel
had almost reached the limit of God’s patience. Overwhelmed with
sorrow and dismay, Josiah bowed before God in agony of spirit,
seeking pardon for the sins of an unrepentant nation.
At that time the prophetess Huldah was living in Jerusalem near
the temple. The king determined to inquire of the Lord through her
whether there was anything he could do to save erring Judah, now
[143]
on the verge of ruin.
He held the prophetess in high respect, so he chose the leaders
of the kingdom as his messengers to her: “Go, inquire of the Lord
for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of
this book that has been found.”
2 Kings 22:13
.
Through Huldah the Lord sent Josiah word that he could not
prevent Jerusalem’s ruin. The people could not escape their punish-
ment. Their senses had been deadened by wrongdoing for so long
that, if judgment did not come, they would soon return to the same
sinful course. “Tell the man that sent you to me,” the prophetess
declared,“Thus says the Lord,‘Behold, I will bring calamity on this
place and on its inhabitants—all the words of the book which the
king of Judah has read. ... My wrath shall be aroused against this
place and shall not be quenched.’”
Verses 15-17
.
But because the king had humbled his heart before God, he also
received this message: “‘Because your heart was tender, and you
humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke