Joy Comes When Truth Is Rediscovered
Read 2 Kings 22:8-13
As a boy I attended church often with my family, but it wasn’t what we’d call a “Bible-teaching church.” The minister would read a passage from the Bible with some solemnity but then he would basically preach whatever was on his mind. I don’t recall ever hearing that the Bible is practical and relevant for everyday life. I never heard that it was “living and active, sharper than a double-edged sword,” as it says in Hebrews 4:12.
Even into my early adult years, if you had asked me, I would have told you I thought the Bible was a manual for preachers, maybe someone with a seminary degree; not for ordinary people. It didn’t help that the only edition of the Scriptures I knew of at the time was the King James Version, with lots of outdated language that made it difficult to understand.
Then when I was about 30 years old, I took a job in suburban Houston, Texas and my family and I started attending a church where the Bible was taught and revered. Every Sunday the pastor would demonstrate what I call the “unity of the Scriptures,” showing how different parts of the Bible could be used to “exposit” or explain what other passages meant.
It was there that I was introduced to a modern translation of the Bible for the first time. Gone were the “thee’s” and “thou’s” and “begats.” The Lord, I discovered, spoke modern language. I was thrilled and overjoyed! This was the beginning of my life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ, as I not only read and studied the Scriptures but also began committing many verses to memory. As King David wrote in Psalm 119:11, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” That’s what I wanted to do as well.
The passage for this week, 2 Kings 22:8-13, tells a story, brief but beautiful, about someone else who also had a sincere encounter with the Word of God for the first time. For many years the kings of Judah had acted and governed as if there was no God, doing “detestable things.” The Scriptures they had in those days had been stashed away and forgotten for a long time.
Then came Josiah, the antithesis of his father Amon and grandfather Manasseh who had ruled wickedly, worshipping false gods and adopting the pagan practices of other peoples. Josiah was a different kind of cat, we might say. Earlier in the chapter we’re told, “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in the ways of his father [King] David, not turning aside to the right or to the left” (2 Kings 22:2).
We don’t exactly know why Josiah didn’t adopt the evil practices of his father and grandfather except that Amon was only 24 when he was assassinated and Josiah was only eight years old. Maybe boy King J hadn’t been around his father long enough to learn his sinful behavior.
When Josiah was 26, in the 18th year of his reign, a special moment occurred. A high priest named Hilkiah found “the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord,” the sacred Scriptures (2 Kings 22:8). He gave them to the king’s secretary, Shaphan, who read them aloud to Josiah.
His response was one of joy and grief at the same time: “When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes.” He told his aides, “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah…. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book…” (2 Kings 22:11-13).
Josiah’s enthusiasm wasn’t temporary. He didn’t just listen to the Scriptures, then shrug his shoulders and say, “That’s nice. Now let’s get on with business.” Instead, with a humble heart he led a revival among the people of Judah, reaffirming the covenant God had made with them many years before.
He destroyed all the articles of worship to false gods, got rid of the pagan priests, and restored the sacred festivals and requirements God had established in the Book of the Law. We’re told, “Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did – with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength…” (2 Kings 23:25).
Years ago, a good friend was discipling a young couple who had just come to faith in Christ. They had never read the Bible before – didn’t even own a copy. So, my friend had them read 2 Timothy 3:16, which says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”
When the woman read those words, she exclaimed with joy and amazing insight, “Wow! God wrote a book!”
The Bible, the Lord’s love letter to His children, should be a continuing source of joy for us as well as we seek to plumb its depth and experience its power. We’re not expected to “tear our robes” when we read it, but we should appreciate what an amazing and timeless gift from God it is.