A Very Early Bible Society
(No. 3303)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MAY 23, 1912.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 14,
1885.
"And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the
Book of the Law in the house of the LORRD. And Hilkiah delivered the
book to Shaphan… Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying,
Hilkiah the priest has given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the
king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the
Law, that he tore his clothes." 2 Chronicles 34:15,18,19.
~ON BEHALF OF THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY-
HILKIAH had found THE BOOK and it was a more important find than if he
had discovered a mine of diamonds, or perpetual motion, or a new world!
Oh, that Book, that wonderful Book! Was there ever anything like it
under Heaven? Well may it be a power when we come to think of what it
is–the Book of the Law of the living God! How reverently did he lift
it from its hiding place, remove its dust and commence to read its
title and contents! This particular Book of the Law was probably the
first five Books of Moses, commonly called the Pentateuch. Some have
thought that it was only the Book of Deuteronomy, but it is too late in
the day for us to decide with confidence its exact form. We know that
it was "a Book of the Law of the Lord given by Moses" (2 Chron 34:14),
probably an autographed copy by Moses. Of that we cannot be sure, but
whatever hand may have written the letters, what a Book the Law of the
Lord is! The Old Testament is a Divine light which has led multitudes
of saints to the Lord's right hand–and its luster is not dimmed by the
New Testament, but increased thereby. Not one tittle of it has failed,
or shall fail–it lives and abides forever! Taking an enlarged view of
the Law of the Lord today and holding in our hands two Testaments, both
the Old and the New, what a marvelous Book the Bible is! Earth does not
contain an equal wonder!
It is a Book which has God for its Author, for though there are many
authors and the Book is divided into many treatises, yet it is all of
one as to its innermost authorship, since holy men of old spoke as they
were moved by the Holy Spirit. A Divine originality runs through it
all–marks of the Divine Mind abound in every portion and the Holy
Spirit still inspires it all and breathes it into the hearts of
believing readers. Matthew and Mark, and Luke and John are here, but we
scarcely observe them as compared with the higher light, the Light of
God which illuminates every page! The Book is saturated with a heavenly
life!
What God has written is to be received with the utmost reverence. It is
a pity that so many treat this Sacred Volume as they would treat any
ordinary book. They sit on the throne of judgment and sway the scepter
of criticism, as if they would call God, Himself, to their bar! Surely
they have never heard in their heart and conscience the sound of that
question, "Who are you that replesagainst God?" If God is not its
Author, this Book is a gross imposture and the sooner we treat it as
such the better! But if God is its Author, let us bow before it
obediently and accept it as our Infallible Directory.
As it has God for its Author, so it commends itself to us as
inestimably precious because it has God's mind for its matter. In this
Book of the Lord the chief subject is Himself and His ways and His
Grace towards us, His creatures. Here the Lord does not so much explain
His works as His own personal ways, thoughts and designs to our fallen
race. He does not take the pen in hand to explain to us what He has
written in the stone book, or to open up to us what He has printed in
letters of light in yonder constellations, but to reveal His glorious
Grace which He has caused to dwell in all its fullness in Christ Jesus
our Lord! He has left us to find out what we may of visible things–a
happy and healthful exercise for our
minds, but He had something nobler to tell us when He inspired this
Book. Herein He has told us His thoughts of man and of the Man, Christ
Jesus. His thoughts upon our sin and the ruin that comes of it. His
thoughts as to how we may be saved and what shall come out of that
salvation. The windows of this Book look towards Heaven and truly they
are windows of agate–themselves precious and giving us a view of still
more precious things! Its doors open into eternity and its gates lead
into Glory. Every page points to holiness and felicity and attracts us
thereto. Precious Book! I would say of you what David said of Goliath's
sword "There is none like that. Give it to me." You are marrow and
fatness, honey, wines on the lees well-refined–yes, manna of angels
and water from the Rock, Christ Jesus! Of all soul medicines you are
the most potent! Of all mental dainties you are the sweetest! And of
all spiritual food you are the most sustaining!
As the Book has God for its Author, and God's mind for its matter, so
does it become invaluable to us because it is directed to us. It is not
a letter written from God to the angels, nor is it sent to a race of
beings alien from ourselves. This Book is for men and it is directed
not to our curiosity, nor to any of our lower faculties, but to the
soul of our life, to the vital spirit of our manhood! It is God's Word
to the innermost man–to our immortal part. He speaks here not only to
our ears, but to our souls. He directs His teaching not to that part of
us which shall die, but to that part of us which shall never cease to
be, but shall be immortal as Himself! If ever a man ought to
concentrate all his faculties and pray to be in the best mental order,
it should be when he comes to study the Word of God upon matters which
concern his noblest being. God grant, therefore, that in our hearts we
may feel deep reverence for this marvelous Book which we shall not now
lose as Israel almost lost it–whose copies will never become scarce,
as they were in Josiah's day. The Word of the Lord will always be
precious, but not through scarcity of copies, now that the Bible
Society is scattering them thick as autumn leaves! They will always be
gems for value and yet as pebbles of the brook for multitude!
He that reads this wondrous Book aright may well value it because of
the blessings which it will bring him. It will tell him how to be rid
of all his sin and free himself from the slavery of Satan. It will
teach him how to bear his present burdens and quit all needless cares.
It will be a guide to him through the maze of life, a pillow for the
bed of death! It will give him joy and peace through believing when the
thickest troubles shall gather round about him, and it will make him
ready for the future world when brightest glories shall shine upon him!
Whatever you need for time or for eternity, this Book shall either give
it to you, or point you to Him who has it ready to give to you if you
will bend your knee before Him! It is a golden mine of the Truth of God
and infinitely more–it is a treasury of blessings and delights, and
even then I have not fully described it. It has for you, O sheep of the
Lord, all that your Good Shepherd sees that you have need of! Here are
the green pastures wherein He makes you to feed and to lie down–and
here flow the still waters, whereof if a man drinks, he shall never
thirst, but shall joy and rejoice in God forever! I do not wonder that
Hilkiah and Shaphan had the same value for the smaller Book which we
Believers in Christ have for the larger edition of it–for even a
fragment of it is priceless! I do not wonder that they considered their
treasure to be worthy of being brought before the king. If they had
discovered where hidden coffers had been concealed by Solomon and the
great kings that succeeded him, they would not have procured so
glorious a present for the king of Judah as when they suddenly stumbled
upon this Book of the Law of the Lord!
I. Tonight I shall try to speak of the whole question under three
heads. And the first will be this–here is an instance of that PECULIAR
PRESERVATION which God has extended to the Scriptures which He has
Inspired. It would seem, from this narrative, that copies of the Word
of God had become extremely rare, for no other copy was known to exist.
If anyone had known where there was a copy of the Pentateuch, the
priest would have known, or the pious king's secretary would have been
informed of it. These appear to have been gracious men, learned
men–and men to whom the people came–surely if such a thing was
procurable, they would have possessed a copy of the Law of the Lord.
Perhaps the faithful scattered up and down through Israel and Judah had
copies of the Book, but they had grown so accustomed to conceal them
from their persecutors that they kept the secret to themselves. If
there were other copies, they were not known to those who had the best
means of discovering them.
When Hilkiah discovered this copy of the Word of God, he was greatly
surprised and overjoyed. What a singular Providence it was that the
Book was not quite destroyed! How fortunate that the one copy should
have been left! It is believed by many–and I think that their belief
is correct–that this was a standard copy If it was not the original,
yet it was an authorized transcript which was to be regarded as the
correct text–and it had been laid up in the Ark of the Lord for that
purpose. Perhaps in some dark hour, for fear that it would be
discovered even in the secret shrine of the
tabernacle, a priest had hidden it away. The tradition is that it was
buried beneath a heap of stones when Ahaz was seeking out copies of the
Word to destroy them. By the Divine Providence of God this one standard
copy had been preserved and now came to light! It may have been hidden
carefully and then Providence had provided the caretaker. It may have
been thrown away carelessly–then Providence had made even that
carelessness to be the means of preserving the treasure. In any case,
the Law was still among men and it had now fallen into careful and
reverent hands. The God who gave it had preserved it!
Now look along through all the ages and if you are a reverent Believer
in the Word, you will be filled with grateful wonder that the Sacred
Roll has been preserved to us! Through what perils it has passed and
yet, as I believe, there is not a Chapter of it lost–no, nor a verse
of any Chapter! The misreading of the copies are really so
inconsiderable and are so happily corrected by other manuscripts, that
our Bible is a marvel in literature for the comparative ease with which
the correct text is discoverable! It seems to me that God's Divine Care
has extended itself to the whole text, so that, with far less care than
would be needed by any classic author, the very words of the Holy
Spirit may be known! As the wings of cherubim overshadowed the Mercy
Seat, so do the wings of Providence protect the Book of the Lord! As
Michael guarded the body of Moses, so does a Divine Care secure the
Books of Moses! I invite lovers of history and of famous books to look
into the interesting story of the immortality of Scripture. Let us
think of that special preservation with reverent gratitude.
The God of Israel had given rules for the preservation of the
Scriptures, but they had evidently fallen into disuse. It is expressly
laid down in the Book of Deuteronomy that each king was to copy out the
Book of the Law for himself. We have no evidence that anyof them did
so! Most of the ordinances of the Lord to His chosen people were
neglected almost as soon as they were given. Even in the wilderness,
during 40 years, the rite of circumcision, which lay at the base of
everything, was unobserved! The feast of tabernacles was not kept for
many and many a year. And the Passover, the most solemn of all rites,
was not carefully celebrated–indeed, it had never been properly
observed from the days of Samuel to the days of Josiah! It had been
altered and debased from its original form. Alas, Christian ordinances
have suffered from the some tendency to change! This proves the
depraved nature of man, and his unwillingness to walk in the path of
obedience. The plan of preserving the Sacred Book by the kings' copying
it had fallen into disuse and, therefore, the extreme scarcity of
manuscripts around the court–yet even then, the Word did not fail!
Nor was the Scripture alone in danger from the neglect to preserve it,
but furious persecutions had been raised against the Holy Volume. The
haters of it slew the Prophets, broke down the memorials of God's
goodness to His people and polluted the Holy Place of the Most
High–and their rage did not spare His statutes. The Law must be
destroyed, or they would still be rebuked. You know, Brothers and
Sisters, how from century to century that church which has no
foundation in the Word of God has, with desperate determination, hunted
after every copy of the Inspired Volume to destroy it! It is not very
long ago since that unchangeable church called the Scriptures
"dangerous pastures." Who and what must the shepherds be who use such
language concerning the Law of the Lord? But with all their burnings,
they have not destroyed the Book! With all their inquisitions and
torture chambers, faith in Scripture has survived! Still the Book
teaches and preaches with a Divine Unction and Authority. What Popery
could not do, infidelity shall not do! Infidelity, some years ago, was
going to blot out the name of Jesus from under Heaven! Its boastful
champion said that he was but one man, but in a few years he would undo
all that was accomplished by the 12 Apostles! His name is left to
curse–the work of God goes on better than ever it did and the grand
old Book is scattered everywhere, falling fast and thick as snowflakes
in the time of winter! I might almost say that the copies of the Bible
are in number comparable to the sands of the sea! Think of nearly a
million penny Testaments being scattered in a single year in this one
land! These are leaves of the Tree of Life for the healing of the
nations! There is a blessing in every line of the Sacred Record both
for the present age and for years to come. This Word will abide among
men till time shall be no more. God be thanked for it!
The passage before us is a very beautiful instance of how under every
difficulty, when every regulation has been neglected, and the utmost
fury goes forth against the Word, yet the Word lives and abides
forever! The fact is that Providence is the ally of Revelation. From
the Word of the Lord, Creation began–by the Word of the Lord Creation
is sustained and everything seems to know the source from which it
came–and every creature lends itself to the preservation of that grand
Word by which it exists! Depend upon it, Brothers and Sisters, the Book
is not alone–God is always with it! God has put a wall of fire around
the Revelation of His will and with Omnipotence He guards it against
all who would harm it! God is always with those who tremble at His
Word. And when there shall come times of darkness and of sorrow, and
you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, never question what the end
will be, for "the Word of the Lord endures forever." He that sits on
the floods as King forever and ever, will so order all things that His
Word shall have yet greater sway and His Gospel shall conquer the
hearts of men!
But, oh, how should we love the Book, and how should we stand up for
it, and guard it jealously, since God has guarded it so well! Let every
man of God be like Solomon's valiant men of Israel who watched about
the bed of the king, each man with his sword upon his thigh because of
fear in the night–for there is much fear just now for the Truth of
God. I mean, of course, to us poor puny beings there is danger–there
is no fear in the great heart of the Eternal! There is no fear as to
the accomplishment of His purposes, for He is strong in power and not
one fails. What our fathers preserved with their blood, we will
preserve with our lives. That which bore them to a martyr's death,
singing as they went, we will not consent to throw away! If any man has
another gospel, let him keep it–I am satisfied with mine. If any man
has found another bible, let him read it–I am satisfied with my
mother's old Bible and the Bible of my ancestors. If discoveries are to
be made concerning a new way of the salvation of men, let them make
them who care to do so–the old way has saved me and the old way has
saved multitudes of others–and therein shall I abide, God helping me,
come what may! And so will you, my Brothers and Sisters–and together
we will rejoice that God preserves His Book and continues to give His
Holy Spirit with it! God will uphold His Truth that is in this Book and
the men that hold that Truth shall be upheld. "Forever, O Lord, your
Word is settled in Heaven!" And similar eternal settlements are made
for all whose hope is fixed upon that Word!
II. Having glanced at this, I ask you to think for a little upon
another point–THE COMMENDABLE COMMUNICATION CONCERNING THIS BOOK.
Hilkiah finds it. Hilkiah hands it to the royal secretary, whose name
was Shaphan. Shaphan reads a bit of it and makes quite sure that it is
what it professes to be–and then immediately he goes with it to the
king. The king holds a Bible-reading with him and when the king has
read the Scared Roll, himself, he summons all the people and reads the
Book to them. The point is this–if you have found the Word of God,
make it known to others! Keep not this honey to yourself!
Hilkiah handed to Shaphan the Book without note or comment. It was the
Book with no apocryphal matter rolled up with it. It was the Book of
the Law of God in its purest state. He who found the Book delighted in
it, but he passed it on–and the next passed it on and the next passed
it on–and the next circulated it still further. All the nation soon
heard of what was written in the Book. The handlers of the Volume do
not appear to have tarried long. Hilkiah rejoiced and said to secretary
Shaphan, "I have found the Book of the Law!" And Shaphan did not delay
a month, but went straight away to let the king know. And the king,
after he had tore his clothes, expressed his sorrow for national sin
and enquired at the hand of the Lord's Prophetess, published the Divine
message to the people and read the Law to them. The moral
is–continually make known God's Holy Word! If you have obtained light,
let your brother light his candle at your candle. If you have seen
anything of God, tell your brother what you have seen. Let not God's
Book grow moldy in your own hand, but pass it on and let another read
what you have read to your salvation and to your comfort, that he also
may be saved and comforted! Let your light shine! Scatter the bread of
Heaven! Distribute the balm of Gilead!
How can we do this? Well, I believe that it is the duty of every
Christian man not only to preach the Gospel, and to tell to others of
his own experience of it, but also literally to pass on the Book,
itself. You may possibly make a mistake as to your explanation of it,
but you will make no mistake if you give away the Book, itself, and
pray the Spirit of God, Himself, to explain it to the reader. Money
should be spent by each one of us in scattering Bibles. With Testaments
at a penny, who would not give Testaments away? With Bibles so cheap as
they are, and withal so beautiful to look upon, many of them, who would
not think it a good investment frequently to give to the young, to your
relatives, to your friends, a copy of the Book? Suit the size of the
copy to the person and so give that your present will be valued. What
better marriage gift than a family Bible? What better present for an
aged person than one of the large-print Bibles? Oh, what gladness you
might give to many a humble cottager by the present of such a Book! I
have seen them with their old thumbed Bibles, trying to read them when
they have strained their eyes and I have pitied them. We who are
getting old know the luxury of a fine large print! You who have the
means should take care that there is not an elderly person who, for
lack of large type, is unable to read the Word of God! I hope that few
houses are without a copy of the Word of
God–but while I hope so, I have often had my hopes very rudely dashed
to the ground by discoveries of people who possess no Bible at all!
I also fear that millions who possess copies of the Word of God, never
think of reading them! I have been at night, not far from here, in the
houses of persons thought to be respectable–and there has been death
very near and I have said, "Bring me the Bible, that I may read a
passage of Scripture." And they have hunted high and low and none has
been found! This was not for lack of means to buy, but for lack of care
to have! It is for us, at any rate, to endeavor liberally to scatter
copies of the Word of God.
You are doing this when you help the man who spends his life in the
work of translation. How can there be Bibles to give away in foreign
languages until the Book has been translated into them? The scholar
must live while he has the work of translation to do. Subscriptions
given to the Bible Society are a handing over of the Scriptures to
tribes that sit in darkness–who by this means shall see a great light.
If you cannot give away Bibles, I believe you do a good work when you
sell them, or give money to help to produce them cheaply. If you cannot
afford a whole Bible, something is done when a portion is given away,
or a Gospel is left in a cottage. You can never tell what may come of a
single portion of the Word of Gold–yes, of a leaf of it! Instead of
regretting, as I have heard some do, that Bibles are sometimes sold for
waste paper, and goods are done up in them, I am glad that it should be
so! I admire the enterprise of Andrew Fuller, and some others long ago,
who printed hymns upon papers which were to be used in the sale of
cottons and other small wares. They gave those papers to tradesmen that
they might do their goods up in them. So long as the Truth of God does
but travel, it does not matter how. If you can place the Bible where
men may read it, who knows what may result? I knew a friend who, in
purchasing his tobacco, found it done up in a passage of the Word of
God–and by the perusal of that portion became a converted man! Let us
not be afraid of what will become of the Book, for it is quite able to
take care of itself–only let us imitate Hilkiah and Shaphan and
Josiah, and make it known wherever we have the opportunity! Have you
bread to eat while the multitudes are dying of hunger in the streets,
and will you eat your morsel alone? Then shame on you! Is the plague
mowing down its thousands, and have you medicine that can stop the
disease, and do you conceal the recipe and hide the remedy in your own
chest? Then shame on you! Do you see millions going down to Hell and
have you the good news of how they may escape that place of misery and
enter into Glory? And will you not tell it, or will you not hand it on
in the form of the Book? Then shame upon you! How is he a Christian who
has no sympathy with the Bible Society? How is he a Christian who, in
some shape or other, does not spread this matchless Word?
III. And now, lastly, I want to call your attention to the best thing
of the whole and that is, notice THE IMPORTANT INFLUENCE OF THIS BOOK
WHEN IT WAS READ.
We find that as soon as the king heard the words of the Law, he tore
his clothes. First of all, he read it. The Book has no value if it is
not read. Nowadays, we do not so much need Bibles as Bible-readers. Are
any of you in that condition– that you would not be without a Bible in
your house–and yet you never read it? Do you treat this Book as a
fetish? Do you reverence words which you do not care to read? Is there
some kind of witchcraft about paper and binding in a certain form? Do
you think it a very pious thing to put a big Bible under your arm and
march to a place of worship with it, and yet never read it? Oh, fall
not into such folly! It is the reader and the one who understands the
Word who gets the blessing from it! This Book is like a nut–you must
crack the nut by reading and meditation–and so get the kernel, or it
will not feed your soul!
Now, the first result of this Book upon the king was that he tore his
clothes. How many here present, if they would but read the Word and if
the Holy Spirit would bless it to them, would have to tear their
hearts, if not their garments? You, my Friend, if you are not
born-again, if you are not a Believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, are in
such a condition that if you knew your danger, the joints of your loins
would be loosened and for fearful astonishment you would be ready to
fall to the ground! You are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds
of iniquity, but do not know it! You lie under the wrath of God! The
curse of the Law is upon you and you do not know it–and all for lack
of reading and believing what this Book would tell you–would tell you
most assuredly and Infallibly! I fear there is never a congregation
without a considerable number who have need to read this Book, if for
nothing else, in order that they might know their real state. There is
a prayer which I often pray and I venture to commend it to many here. I
pray, "Lord, let me always know the worst of my case." I cannot bear
the idea of being self-deceived, of fancying that I am rich and
increased in goods and have need of nothing when, in God's sight, I am
naked, poor and miserable! Read your Bibles, that you may be honest
with yourselves–that you may not deceive by thinking that you are
something when you are nothing! That is the first effect of the Word.
"Oh," you say, "it would make me miserable even to read it." Very
likely it would, but by such misery you would come to sure and
healthful happiness. By such a disturbance you would come to a lasting
and acceptable peace.
After the king had tore his garments, he then began to enquire after
the God who had sent this Book. Now, notice this. If any of you have
never done this, pray that you may read the Book–yes, read the more
terrible parts of it as well as the more cheering portions–in such a
way that, having read it, you may seek this God who thus speaks to you
in loving faithfulness. Endeavor to learn of Him how you may be saved.
Labor to know Him personally, for it is written, "Acquaint now yourself
with God and be at peace." It is of no use to be acquainted with the
Scriptures if you are not acquainted with God! You may read the
Scriptures till you perish unless you see God in the glass of
Scripture, for it is to Him that you must come! A personal Christ must
have personal dealings with a personal sinner, or else there will be no
personal salvation. And the value of the Book lies mainly in this–that
it does not let you stop at itself, but it points as with a finger of
light to the Cross, and with a still small voice it whispers, "There
your hope lies. Look there!" The Lord Jesus takes up the cry of the
Book and utters that gracious command, "Look unto Me, and be you saved,
all the ends of the earth." O that you would look and live! Scatter the
Bible, Christian people, in order that it may be like a sharp two-edged
sword to kill self-righteousness and that it may also be a finger of
love to point sinners to the Cross of Christ!
After this happened and Josiah began to understand the Book, he entered
upon a reformation. I will not say how many things in England need
reformation, but certainly we need it in a great many
forms–ecclesiastical, doctrinal, social, moral and political. The
Bible is the greatest of reformers. You thought, perhaps, I should have
applied that term to Luther, or Calvin, or Zwingli–but this is the
reformer that reformed Luther! This is the teacher that instructed
Calvin! This is the Prophet that fired the heart of Zwingli! While this
Book is extant, error will always be in danger of overthrow. An open
Bible, and men may quibble and criticize, and invent new doctrines if
they please–but this is the Rock on which they will split. As God
lives, His Truth must live! And all that is of man's imagining and
scheming, and that comes not out of this Book shall be broken to
pieces! The grass withers, but the Word abides. "Whoever shall fall
upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomever it shall fall, it will
grind him to powder." If you seek to have the social fabric purged of
the leprosy which now eats into its very walls, scatter this Book! If
you want to uplift the fallen and to purify the defiled, scatter this
Book that men may be cleansed by it! If you want to see the Church of
God made one and her various dividing errors put away, scatter this
Book! If you desire to see a blessed unity in the Truth, scatter this
Book! If you would dispense a perfect blessing, scatter the Bible, for
all good lies here! We need no novel teachings to restore the Glory of
the Church–we only need to come back to the purity of Scripture! That
great Reformation which broke down all the idols in Judah and Israel
came of the discovery of this Book! And there remains for us at this
day no better means of reform and revival! God send to England this
choice mercy, that it may become a Bible-reading nation, a Bible-loving
nation, a Bible-obeying nation–and that shall be the best thing that
can happen to our native land. God grant it!
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: 2 CHRONICLES34:14-33.
Verse 14, 15. 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 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. This was a very remarkable find.
Of all the discoveries that they might have made, they could have
discovered nothing that would work so much good to all the people as
this "Book of the Law of the Lord given by Moses."
16-19. And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king
word back again, saying, All that was committed to your servant, they
do it And they have gathered together the money that was found in the
house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hand of the
overseers, and to the hand of the workmen. Then Shaphan the scribe told
the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has given me a book And Shaphan
read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard
the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes. Such was his horror
upon discovering how they
had all sinned and how many terrible judgments were to be inflicted
upon them because of all that long time of sin, that he tore his
clothes.
20, 21. 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, enquire 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. Oh, that all who read God's Book now would do as
young Josiah did! If there is any difficulty in a book, the short way
to get to understand it is to enquire of the author. And, surely, never
is there greater wisdom than having read any of the deep mysteries or
solemn threats in this Volume and feeling ourselves staggered by them,
we enquire of the Lord concerning them! I believe that there is many a
puzzling passage in the Bible on purpose that we may be driven to
enquire of the Lord about it. If the Book were all so easy of
understanding that at the first reading of it, we could comprehend all
its meaning, we might, perhaps, stay away from God–but He has
purposely given us many dark sentences and made the sense to be
somewhat obscure in order that we may wait upon His enlightening Spirit
and so obtain instruction, for the Spirit of God is more useful to us
even than the Word itself is! Great as the blessing of the Book is, the
blessing of the living Spirit is still greater and anything is good
that drives us to Him. That which had influenced the mind of Josiah was
the terror of the Book.
21-28. For great is the wrath ofthe LORD that ispoured out upon us,
because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do after al
that is written in this book. 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 spoke to her to that effect And she
answered them, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, Tell you the man that
sent you to me, Thus says 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. And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire
ofthe LORD, so shall you say unto him, Thus says the LORD God of Israel
concerning the words which you have heard, because your heart was
tender, and you did humble yourself before God, when you heard His
words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and
humbled yourself before Me, and did tear your clothes, and weep before
Me, I have even heard you, also, says the LORD, Behold, I will gather
you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace,
neither shall your eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this
place, and upon the inhabitants ofthe same. So they brought the king
word again. When God selects an instrument for His own service, how
well He tunes it for the use to which it is to be put! Here is a woman,
a married woman, and she is selected to be the Lord's Prophetess to the
king–but never has any man spoken more bravely than she did. Her
opening words show a holy courage which is lifted above all fear of
men–"Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Tell you the man that sent you
to me," for before God kings are only men and though Huldah was only a
subject of Josiah, see with what real dignity God's ordination had
invested her. Josiah was not to succeed in the reformation of Israel.
He was true and sincere, but the people were steeped in hypocrisy,
formality and idolatry–and they did not go with the king in all his
root and branch reforms. They still clung in their hearts to their
idols and, therefore, they must be destroyed and the nation must be
carried away captive. It was, however, a very singular promise that God
gave to Josiah–"I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be
gathered to your grave in peace." Yet he was mortally wounded in
battle, so how could that promise be fulfilled? You know how it could
be! However we may die–if sword or plague or fire consume the saints
among the rest of mankind–their very deaths and graves are blessed!
There was no fighting about Josiah's grave–he was buried in peace.
Pharaoh-Necho had killed him, but he did not destroy the land–and
Josiah was allowed to be buried amid the great lamentations of a people
who only began fully to appreciate him when he was taken away from
them!
29, 30. Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of
Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house ofthe LORD,
and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the
priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he
read in their ears all the words ofthe Book ofthe Covenant that was
found in the house of the LORD. That was a grand Bible-reading, with a
king for reader and all his princes and all his people gathered to
listen to the Word of God! What could he have said better, had he been
the greatest of orators? To read out of this blessed Book must surely
be to the edification of the hearers.
31-33. And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the
LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep His commandments, and His
testimonies, and His statutes, with all his heart, and with all his
soul, to perform the words of the Covenant which are written in this
Book. And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to
stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the
Covenant of God, the God of their fathers. And Josiah took away all the
abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of
Israel and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve
the LORD their God. And all his days they departed not from following
the LORD, the God of their father