Context: Approximately 100 years have passed in the chapters between yesterday's reading and today's. We last saw a very young king, Joash, who took the throne at age 7 after being saved from slaughter by his nurse. Joash did good in the eyes of God, as does Josiah in today's text, who became king at age 8. When Josiah was 26, he found the Book of the Law and realized the kingdom had fallen far from obedience.
Today's Devotion: 2 Kings 22:14-20
14 Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to the prophetess Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the Second District.
15 She said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 'This is what the LORD says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and provoked me to anger by all the idols their hands have made, my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.' 18 Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: 19 Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people, that they would become accursed and laid waste, and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the LORD. 20 Therefore I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.' "
So they took her answer back to the king. (NIV)
taken from www.biblegateway.com
It amazes me that a verse like 22:14 made it through all the years of Biblical transcription. It is another reminder that God is in the details of our lives. In one short verse we learn the names of all the people who sought prophetic help, that the prophetess was a woman, and the names of her husband and father-in-law. We even learn where she lived! The Baker Commentary on the Bible finds it interesting that the priest went to Huldah instead of Jeremiah or Zehaniah, both of whom were active prophets in the region at that time.
If you were Josiah, how would you handle a prophecy such as this? I'm sure he was relieved that he would see a peaceful life, but the knowledge that your children, the future kings, would see disaster is tough to handle. If you read the rest of 2 Kings you will find that there was never another king who turned to the Lord in the way Josiah did, "with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength." He did everything in his power to bring the land back to obedience and to convince God to revise His plan.
Yet his son, Jehoahaz, reigned for only three months before he was taken away in chains. In that short time he did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Just a few years later, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took the Israelites captive.
Was Josiah's example lost on his children? How could things turn around so quickly? Josiah is admirable because, despite a terrible prophecy, he did the best he could to please God. Many would give up knowing that disaster was imminent, maybe even reveling in the knowledge that they wouldn't see it. What would you do?
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