Josiah, The Boy King Chapter 9, Part 1

Josiah, The Boy King  Chapter 9  Part 1

            Josiah could not remember another time in his life when he had felt so torn with indecision.  In the private chamber right next to the throne room was a letter from his beloved, Hamutal.  But in the temple up the street was a book from the Lord Himself, a holy book that had been lost for over one hundred years.

            Shaphan, who of course knew nothing about the scroll from Libnah, was still shouting and pulling at the king’s arm.  “Come on, Josiah.  We’ve found it.  We found the holy book in the house of the Lord.”

            King Josiah cast one more longing look in the direction the guard had disappeared with the scroll and then joined Shaphan in a mad rush from the palace in the direction of the temple.

            As they raced up the front stairs and through the big double doors, they could see that Hilkiah and many of the other priests were gathered along with Benjamin around a table.  Before them lay some of the oldest scrolls Josiah had ever seen.  They were still covered with a heavy layer of dust and looked so fragile that the men were almost afraid to touch them.  They looked as if they might all crumble into dust if they were opened.

            “Are they really the lost books of Moses?” Josiah asked, still finding it hard to believe they had really found them.

            “They certainly are,” Hilkiah nodded solemnly. “There can be no doubt about that.”

            “Then what are we waiting for.  Let’s hear the word of the Lord.”

            Since they rest of them had been waiting for the arrival of the king, that was exactly what they wanted to hear.  Hilkiah picked up one of the scrolls very carefully, untied the once brightly colored, but now faded sash which held it together, and with a sigh of deep respect began to unroll it upon the table.  Those gathered in the room waiting in awe for the old priest to begin reading, but no sounds came.  Instead, tears welled up in his eyes making it impossible for him to even see, much less read.  Stepping to one side he motioned for Shaphan the scribe to take his place.

            As Shaphan walked up to the table he felt as if he were walking into the throne room of the most powerful king in the universe.   What a privilege to be the messenger chosen to proclaim the words of the great King of Kings.  He scanned the letters spread out in front of him and then began to read.

            29:1 These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. 29:2 And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land; 29:3 The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles: 29:4 Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day. 29:5 And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot. 29:9 Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do. 29:10 Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel, 29:11 Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water: 29:12 That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the LORD thy God, and into his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day: 29:13 That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 29:14 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath; 29:15 But with him that standeth here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day 29:22 So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, 29:24 Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger? 29:25 Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt: 29:26 For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them: 29:27 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book: 29:28 And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day. 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

            The room had been absolutely quiet all the time Shaphan had been reading.  As soon as the words had begun, Josiah had forgotten all about the letter from Hamutal.  The others had forgotten everything else that was on their minds as well—this was the word of the Lord.

            The longer Shaphan read, the more concerned Josiah became.  He had known it was wrong for the people to be worshipping Baal.  But he had not idea how much God’s anger was directed against those who forsook Him.  Why, his nation deserved to go into captivity in another land just as much as the kingdom of Israel which had already been taken captive.

            When Shaphan stopped reading Josiah rose slowly to his feet.  Grabbing the beautiful purple robe in both hands he ripped it from the top to the bottom.  “How can the curse of God not fall upon our land?”  He cried.  “We have sinned in that we have rejected the Lord our God and served the gods of other nations.  The root that beareth gall and wormwood has been upon our land.  We have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of our fathers, which He made when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.  God is going to root us out in our anger and who will stand before Him?”

            All of the others rose to their feet along with the king and tore their robes as well.  The Word of God had worked in their hearts.

            The king and his friends read the holy book until long into the night.  Josiah just couldn’t get enough of the words from the Lord.  It was the most exciting six hours he had spent in his entire life.

            But one thing continued to bother him.

            “What if it’s not really true?”  Josiah asked Hilkiah after they had read the book for a long time.  “I wanted to have this book so badly, and lots of people knew that.  What if someone wrote this just to trick me?”

            “It says it is from the Lord,” the priest answered.  “And it agrees with everything I remember being taught as a boy.”

            “That’s good,” said the king.  “I trust you Hilkiah.  But this is so important to me.  I think we need to check with a prophet.”

            “That’s a great idea,” said Benjamin.  “I know just the man.  He’s only been prophesying for a few years, but everyone who hears him says that he is truly a man of God.”
            “Of course,” said Hilkiah.  “What didn’t I think of that.  You must mean Jeremiah.  He will want to know about the book, and He will recognize if it is truly from God.”

            “All right,” commanded the king.  “First thing tomorrow morning, I want you Hilkiah along with Shaphan, to take the book to Jeremiah the prophet.  “Let him read it and then enquire of the Lord for me.  Ask him if what the book says is really true because it it is, we are in great trouble with the Lord.  Take Ahikam and Achbor and Asahiah as well.  I don’t want to take any chance of losing that book again.