2 Kings 22:13
"Go and inquire of the LORD for me, for the people, and for all Judah concerning the words in this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book by doing all that is written about us."
“Go and inquire of the LORD for me, for the people, and for all Judah

Josiah responded to the reading of the recovered Book of the Law with humility rather than resistance. As king, he recognized that Judah’s crisis involved the whole covenant community, from its ruler to its people. He sent Hilkiah and other trusted servants to seek the LORD through Huldah the prophetess, acknowledging that human authority must submit to God’s revealed will.

2Ch 34:20-21 and commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan…
Jer 21:2 Please inquire of the LORD on our behalf,……
2Ki 3:11 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the LORD…

concerning the words in this book that has been found.

The scroll had been discovered during repairs to the temple, which had suffered neglect under earlier kings. Its recovery exposed how far Judah had departed from the covenant. Whether the scroll was Deuteronomy or a larger collection of the Law, its contents clearly revealed God’s commands, warnings, and promises to Israel. God’s word, long neglected, became the instrument of national awakening and reform.

2Ch 34:14-19 While they were bringing out the money that had been taken…
Deu 31:24-26 When Moses had finished writing in a book…
2Ki 23:2 And he went up to the house of the LORD with all the people…

For great is the wrath of the LORD that burns against us

Josiah understood that God’s wrath was not impulsive anger but righteous judgment against persistent idolatry, injustice, and covenant rebellion. The curses announced in the Law were not distant threats; Judah had placed itself under them through generations of unfaithfulness. Josiah’s alarm reflected a fear of the LORD that led him to seek mercy and obedience.

2Ki 23:26 Nevertheless, the LORD did not turn away from the fury…
Deu 29:24-28 So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD……

because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book

The nation’s spiritual decline did not begin with Josiah. Manasseh and other kings had led Judah into grievous sin, filling Jerusalem with idolatry and bloodshed. Josiah did not excuse the present generation by blaming the past, but confessed the accumulated guilt of the nation. Such honest recognition of sin was necessary before renewal could begin.

2Ch 36:15-16 Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers,…
Neh 9:29-30 You admonished them to turn back to Your law,…

by doing all that is written about us.”

God required more than reverence for a sacred scroll or sorrow over past failure. Judah was called to obey all that God had commanded, including worshiping Him alone and ordering national life according to His covenant. Josiah’s later reforms showed that genuine repentance seeks practical obedience, though only God’s grace could ultimately provide the faithful heart His law demands.

2Ki 23:3 So the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant…
Deu 31:12-13 Assemble the people—men, women, children…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Josiah
The king of Judah who initiated religious reforms and sought to restore the worship of Yahweh. He is known for his dedication to following God's law.

2. Hilkiah
The high priest who discovered the Book of the Law in the temple, which led to the reforms initiated by Josiah.

3. Jerusalem
The capital city of Judah, where the temple was located and where the Book of the Law was found.

4. The Book of the Law
Likely a portion of Deuteronomy, this book was discovered during temple repairs and prompted a national religious reform.

5. The Wrath of the LORD
Refers to God's anger towards Judah for their disobedience and neglect of His commandments, as revealed in the Book of the Law.
Teaching Points
The Importance of God's Word
Josiah's response to the Book of the Law highlights the critical role of Scripture in guiding personal and national life. We should prioritize reading and understanding the Bible to align our lives with God's will.

Repentance and Reform
Josiah's immediate action upon hearing the words of the Book demonstrates the importance of repentance and reform when confronted with sin. We should be quick to turn back to God and make necessary changes in our lives.

Leadership and Responsibility
As a leader, Josiah took responsibility for the spiritual state of his nation. This teaches us the importance of godly leadership and the impact it can have on others.

Intercession for Others
Josiah's inquiry of the LORD for himself and his people shows the power and necessity of intercessory prayer. We should regularly pray for our communities and nations.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Josiah's response to the discovery of the Book of the Law challenge us in our approach to Scripture today?

2. In what ways can we ensure that we are not neglecting God's Word in our personal and communal lives?

3. How can Josiah's leadership inspire us to take responsibility for the spiritual well-being of those around us?

4. What steps can we take to incorporate repentance and reform into our daily walk with God?

5. How can we effectively intercede for our communities and nations, following Josiah's example?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Deuteronomy 28
This chapter outlines the blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience, which likely informed Josiah's understanding of the consequences of neglecting God's law.

2 Chronicles 34
Provides a parallel account of Josiah's reforms and the discovery of the Book of the Law, offering additional details about the events.

Jeremiah 11
Jeremiah's warnings to Judah about the consequences of breaking the covenant echo the themes found in the Book of the Law.
A Monarch of Rare Virtue, and a God of Retributive JusticeDavid Thomas, D. D.2 Kings 22:1-20
A Monarch of Rare Virtue, and a God of Retributive JusticeD. Thomas 2 Kings 22:1-20
Josiah and the Book of the LawMonday Club Sermons2 Kings 22:1-20
Josiah's ReformationAlex. Whyte, D. D.2 Kings 22:1-20
The Finding of the Law-BookJ. Orr 2 Kings 22:8-20
People
Achbor, Adaiah, Ahikam, Asahiah, Asaiah, Azaliah, David, Harhas, Hilkiah, Huldah, Jedidah, Josiah, Meshullam, Micaiah, Michaiah, Shallum, Shaphan, Tikvah
Places
Bozkath, Jerusalem, Second Quarter
Topics
Accordance, Acted, Anger, Book, Burning, Burns, Directions, Ear, Enquire, Fathers, Fury, Hearkened, Inquire, Judah, Kindled, Listened, Lord's, Obeyed, Recorded, Seek, Wrath, Written
Dictionary of Bible Themes
2 Kings 22:13

     1025   God, anger of
     1060   God, greatness of
     5790   anger, divine

2 Kings 22:8-13

     4963   past, the

2 Kings 22:8-16

     1640   Book of the Law

2 Kings 22:11-13

     6173   guilt, and God

2 Kings 22:11-20

     8160   seeking God

2 Kings 22:13-20

     8129   guidance, examples

Library
The Rediscovered Law and Its Effects
'And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord: and Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the Lord. 10. And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Josiah, a Pattern for the Ignorant.
"Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before Me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place."--2 Kings
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

A Traveler's Note-Book
A tourist who roams for a brief while through some great country like England or Russia may jot down a few of the impressions which come home to him, making no pretense at completeness or symmetry of description. So, one who has journeyed like a hasty traveler over some passages in that vast tract of years which we describe as the classic and Christian civilizations, notes down in the following pages a few of the salient features that have impressed him. He has already prefaced this with a sort
George S. Merriam—The Chief End of Man

Whether Determinate Things are Required for a Sacrament?
Objection 1: It seems that determinate things are not required for a sacrament. For sensible things are required in sacraments for the purpose of signification, as stated above [4343](A[4]). But nothing hinders the same thing being signified by divers sensible things: thus in Holy Scripture God is signified metaphorically, sometimes by a stone (2 Kings 22:2; Zech. 3:9; 1 Cor. 10:4; Apoc. 4:3); sometimes by a lion (Is. 31:4; Apoc. 5:5); sometimes by the sun (Is. 60:19,20; Mal. 4:2), or by something
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

The Instrumentality of the Wicked Employed by God, While He Continues Free from Every Taint.
1. The carnal mind the source of the objections which are raised against the Providence of God. A primary objection, making a distinction between the permission and the will of God, refuted. Angels and men, good and bad, do nought but what has been decreed by God. This proved by examples. 2. All hidden movements directed to their end by the unseen but righteous instigation of God. Examples, with answers to objections. 3. These objections originate in a spirit of pride and blasphemy. Objection, that
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

The Medes and the Second Chaldaean Empire
THE FALL OF NINEVEH AND THE RISE OF THE CHALDAEAN AND MEDIAN EMPIRES--THE XXVIth EGYPTIAN DYNASTY: CYAXARES, ALYATTES, AND NEBUCHADREZZAR. The legendary history of the kings of Media and the first contact of the Medes with the Assyrians: the alleged Iranian migrations of the Avesta--Media-proper, its fauna and flora; Phraortes and the beginning of the Median empire--Persia proper and the Persians; conquest of Persia by the Medes--The last monuments of Assur-bani-pal: the library of Kouyunjik--Phraortes
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 8

The First Blast of the Trumpet
The English Scholar's Library etc. No. 2. The First Blast of the Trumpet &c. 1558. The English Scholar's Library of Old and Modern Works. No. 2. The First Blast of the Trumpet &c. 1558. Edited by EDWARD ARBER, F.S.A., etc., LECTURER IN ENGLISH LITERATURE, ETC., UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON. SOUTHGATE, LONDON, N. 15 August 1878. No. 2. (All rights reserved.) CONTENTS. Bibliography vii-viii Introduction
John Knox—The First Blast of the Trumpet

Why Should we not Believe These to be Angelic Operations through Dispensation of The...
16. Why should we not believe these to be angelic operations through dispensation of the providence of God, Who maketh good use of both good things and evil, according to the unsearchable depth of His judgments? whether thereby the minds of mortals be instructed, or whether deceived; whether consoled, or whether terrified: according as unto each one there is to be either a showing of mercy, or a taking of vengeance, by Him to Whom, not without a meaning, the Church doth sing "of mercy and of judgment."
St. Augustine—On Care to Be Had for the Dead.

The Credibility of Scripture Sufficiently Proved in So Far as Natural Reason Admits.
1. Secondary helps to establish the credibility of Scripture. I. The arrangement of the sacred volume. II. Its dignity. III. Its truth. IV. Its simplicity. V. Its efficacy. 2. The majesty conspicuous in the writings of the Prophets. 3. Special proofs from the Old Testament. I. The antiquity of the Books of Moses. 4. This antiquity contrasted with the dreams of the Egyptians. II. The majesty of the Books of Moses. 5. The miracles and prophecies of Moses. A profane objection refuted. 6. Another profane
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Authorship of the Pentateuch.
The term Pentateuch is composed of the two Greek words, pente, five, and teuchos, which in later Alexandrine usage signified book. It denotes, therefore, the collection of five books; or, the five books of the law considered as a whole. 1. In our inquiries respecting the authorship of the Pentateuch, we begin with the undisputed fact that it existed in its present form in the days of Christ and his apostles, and had so existed from the time of Ezra. When the translators of the Greek version,
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

Synagogues: their Origin, Structure and Outward Arrangements
It was a beautiful saying of Rabbi Jochanan (Jer. Ber. v. 1), that he who prays in his house surrounds and fortifies it, so to speak, with a wall of iron. Nevertheless, it seems immediately contradicted by what follows. For it is explained that this only holds good where a man is alone, but that where there is a community prayer should be offered in the synagogue. We can readily understand how, after the destruction of the Temple, and the cessation of its symbolical worship, the excessive value attached
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

The Greater Prophets.
1. We have already seen (Chap. 15, Nos. 11 and 12) that from Moses to Samuel the appearances of prophets were infrequent; that with Samuel and the prophetical school established by him there began a new era, in which the prophets were recognized as a distinct order of men in the Theocracy; and that the age of written prophecy did not begin till about the reign of Uzziah, some three centuries after Samuel. The Jewish division of the latter prophets--prophets in the more restricted sense of the
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

Of the Power of Making Laws. The Cruelty of the Pope and his Adherents, in this Respect, in Tyrannically Oppressing and Destroying Souls.
1. The power of the Church in enacting laws. This made a source of human traditions. Impiety of these traditions. 2. Many of the Papistical traditions not only difficult, but impossible to be observed. 3. That the question may be more conveniently explained, nature of conscience must be defined. 4. Definition of conscience explained. Examples in illustration of the definition. 5. Paul's doctrine of submission to magistrates for conscience sake, gives no countenance to the Popish doctrine of the obligation
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Of the Effects of those Prerogatives.
From these prerogatives there will arise to the elect in heaven, five notable effects:-- 1. They shall know God with a perfect knowledge (1 Cor. i. 10), so far as creatures can possibly comprehend the Creator. For there we shall see the Word, the Creator; and in the Word, all creatures that by the Word were created; so that we shall not need to learn (of the things which were made) the knowledge of him by whom all things were made. The most excellent creatures in this life, are but as a dark veil
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Meditations for one that is Like to Die.
If thy sickness be like to increase unto death, then meditate on three things:--First, How graciously God dealeth with thee. Secondly, From what evils death will free thee. Thirdly, What good death will bring unto thee. The first sort of Meditations are, to consider God's favourable dealing with thee. 1. Meditate that God uses this chastisement of thy body but as a medicine to cure thy soul, by drawing thee, who art sick in sin, to come by repentance unto Christ, thy physician, to have thy soul healed
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Kings
The book[1] of Kings is strikingly unlike any modern historical narrative. Its comparative brevity, its curious perspective, and-with some brilliant exceptions--its relative monotony, are obvious to the most cursory perusal, and to understand these things is, in large measure, to understand the book. It covers a period of no less than four centuries. Beginning with the death of David and the accession of Solomon (1 Kings i., ii.) it traverses his reign with considerable fulness (1 Kings iii.-xi.),
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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