Josiah, The Boy King Chapter 10 Part 1

Josiah, The Boy King  Chapter 10  Part 1

            King Josiah and his body guards kneed their horses and set off at a gallop over the Judean hills.  On the road below them a great cloud of dust rose around the cart where Shaphan and the others were fighting for possession of the holy books.  Josiah couldn’t see what was happening which made him ride all the faster.  He just couldn’t lose those holy books again.  He had to protect Hilkiah and the others as well.

            The cart and those accompanying it had left Anathoth almost immediately upon learning that Jeremiah the prophet was not at home.  As they had driven back through town the boy who had given them directions earlier had appeared again with many other boys and young men tagging along.  They were all interested in seeing what Shaphan had proudly called “the most valuable books in all the world.”  So Hilkiah and Ahikam had stopped the cart and allowed everyone to gather around and see the scrolls.  Hilkiah even offered to read from one of the scrolls, but the men didn’t really seem too interested in that.  They just wanted to see them, to satisfy themselves that they really were old and very valuable.

            Shaphan and Hilkiah didn’t think much about the incident because they knew that the value in the books lay in their content and not in the scrolls themselves.  But the other men had watched the faces of the boys and had realized that some of them were greedy and would probably even kill to get their hands on something of great value.

            Ahikam and Achbor and Asahiah had their swords near at hand when the attack of the robbers came.  It was only their watchfulness which kept the little party from being slaughtered in the first attack.  As soon as Hilkiah saw what was happening, he threw himself over the scrolls to protect them with his own body.  Ahikam concentrated on keeping the horses and the cart moving, while the others rode in close to protect the cart and its precious cargo from the robbers.  But they all knew there was little hope of holding out for long without help.

            Suddenly Shaphan heard a familiar cry echoing over the hills.  “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon,” came the shout.  “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon.”

            The robbers heard it too, and looked behind themselves just in time to see the king and his band of heavily armed bodyguards coming lickety-split over the top of the ridge.  Suddenly the tables were turned and it was the robbers turn to try and defend themselves against greater odds.  Most of them didn’t even try, but instead spurred their horses and set off to escape in every direction.

            “After them,” shouted the king.  “I want every one of them captured and locked up in prison.  They’ll learn not to tamper with the servants of the Lord God Jehovah.”

            As his bodyguards rode off in hot pursuit of the would-be robbers, King Josiah jumped off his horse beside the cart.

            “Hilkiah!  Shaphan!  Are the holy books all right?  Did they get any of the scrolls?”

            Priest Hilkiah sat up slowly and gazed down at the precious scrolls.  “No, your honor.  They were not able to steal any of them.  All of the holy books are still here.”

            “Praise Jehovah!  When we get those scrolls back to Jerusalem they are going to be put under lock and key, with guards all around them night and day.  We cannot risk losing them again.  After all, we have no other word from the Lord.”

            “Sounds good to me,” said Ahikam, wiping sweat from his face.  “That was one close call.”

            “I appreciate your desire to preserve the scrolls,” Hilkiah solemnly told the king.  “But if this message is truly from God then all of the people need to hear it.  We can’t keep it under lock and key.”

            “I have an idea,” said Shaphan.  “Perhaps some of us could spend several hours a day making copies of the scrolls.  We could be very careful and check on each other so that the copies would be without any mistakes.  Then the copies could be distributed among the people while the scrolls themselves were kept under guard.”

            “Excellent,” shouted the king.  “An excellent idea indeed.  Don’t you think so, Hilkiah?”

“Yes,” agreed the priest.  “I have dreamed all of my life of a day when all my people could have access to the Word of God for themselves.”

            “Tell me,” said Josiah as the cart and horses started again on the trail up to Jerusalem.  “What did the prophet Jeremiah say about the scrolls?  Was he impressed?  Did he agree that they were in truth the Word of God?”

            Hilkiah glanced at the others and then nodded toward Shaphan to reply.

            “We didn’t find him,” said the scribe.  “He’s apparently off on a preaching mission.”

            “Then we still aren’t absolutely sure about the message.  I must know if the curse of God will really fall upon our land.  There must be someone else we could ask.  Can’t you think of some other prophet, Hilkiah?”

            The old priest thought for a long time before replying.  “We’re pretty short on prophets of Jehovah right now, your honor.  The years of Baal worship in our land did not influence many of our young men to seek the call of God upon their lives.  I’m hoping that will change now that the books have been found.  No, I can’t really think of another prophet in all of Jerusalem.”

            “No one at all who can talk to god and tell us what we need to know?”

            “Well,” the priest thought again.  “There is Huldah.”

            “Huldah?”

            “Yes, a very godly woman.  She has the care of the wardrobe in the temple for all the priests, but she is a prophetess in her own right.  I do believe that Huldah could give you the information you seek.”

            “Well, where would she be?  At the temple?  We must find her right away.”

            “She lives with her husband Shallum over at the college, the school of the prophets.  Let me suggest this, your honor.  If we would take the scrolls back to the temple and leave them there under guard, the men and I could go to the college and visit with Huldah.  I’m sure she will be glad to come to the temple to see the holy books.  Then when she has a chance to see them we will come to the palace and bring you word of what she says.”

            “Agreed,” said Josiah.  “I’ll see to the placing of the guards and you contact the prophetess Huldah.  I must know if these are in truth the words of Jehovah—God.”

            Although it had already been a long day, Hilkiah and the others appointed by the king set off for the school of the prophets as soon as the scrolls had been safely deposited back in the temple.  They were just as anxious as the king to obtain a confirmation of what they had read in the books of Moses.

            The stone, two-story building occupied by the school of the prophets dated all the way back to the days of Elisha and Elijah.  At that time more than 300 men had been enrolled in the school to study the Word of God and seek a prophetic word from Him.  But in recent years the college, like the temple, had fallen on hard times.  The building was occupied by less than twenty students and they had only come to study since the deaths of Bar-Abel and the other priests of Baal.  It was rumored that at one time the teachers themselves had been worshippers of Baal.  But now Shallum and his wife Huldah were doing most of the teaching, and they were both dedicated worshippers of Jehovah.

            As the men rode into the courtyard in front of the large stone building, several young men came out of the door and took the reins of their horses.  It was almost as if they had been expecting them, as if the young men had been waiting for their arrival.  As the horses were led away, another young man opened the door and ushered them into the large front entrance.

            “Huldah is waiting for you,” he said softly.  “Just go through that door at the end of the hall.”

            “Waiting for us?”  Ahikam whispered to Asahiah as they walked down the hall.  “How did she know we were coming?”

            But Asahiah had no more idea than Ahikam what was going on, so he just shrugged.

            As the five men stepped through the door at the end of the hall, they entered a small but cheery room which was obviously a home rather than a classroom.  A small fire burning in an iron grate was sufficient to warm the entire room.  Seated near the fire with her back to them, an old woman worked on a brightly colored garment with a bone needle.  As they stepped through the door she turned to greet them.  The first thing they noticed was that she was completely blind.

            “Come in Hilkiah,” Huldah said before the men could overcome their surprise and find words of greeting. “You also, Shaphan the scribe, you are welcome.  Ahikam, Asahiah and Achbor, you too are welcome guests at the school of the prophets.”

            The young men looked at each other in amazement.  Could their eyes be deceiving them?  Huldah was most certainly blind and yet she had called each one of them by name.  Not only that, none of them had ever met her before.

            “How…” began Ahikam.

            But Huldah just smiled.  “Hilkiah is not amazed.  Listen and learn.  He understands and you will likewise understand when the time is come.  Please be seated.”

            When each had found a chair Hilkiah began to explain their mission.  “We have come to you from the king.  From King Josiah.  He has a question he wishes to ask of God.”

            Huldah raised a small hand to stop him.  “Jehovah God has already spoken.  He told me you were coming and He has already given me an answer to the question of the king.  He has done this even before you came so that you will know my message is genuinely from the Lord Himself.  Thus saith the Lord...”

            As Huldah spoke those words the men leaned forward in their chairs.  Her voice had not changed.  She was not speaking any louder than she had before.  She was still seated in her chair with sewing in her lap.  But somehow the men sensed that God was indeed speaking through her.

            “Thus saith the Lord.  Tell the men who sent you to me in the matter of the holy books found in the temple.  Thus saith the Lord God of Israel.  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 of the Lord, so shall ye say unto him.  Thus saith the Lord God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard; because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heard his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbled thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord.  Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same.”

            When Huldah had finished speaking, the men looked at each other in amazement.  She had known each of their names even though she had never met any of them except Hilkiah.  She had known they were from the king even before they told her.  She had known about the holy books and even about the curses which were written in them even though she had never read them.  She had even known that the king tore his robe when the books were read.  What greater proof did they need that the scrolls they had discovered were definitely from the Lord.

            Shaphan and the others rose to their feet, seeing that the message from the prophetess was complete.  But Hilkiah had one more question to ask.

            “Huldah, you said that Josiah would be gathered to his fathers in peace, but you said nothing about his son.  Can you tell me if Jehoahaz will worship Jehovah?”

            A sad look came over the face of the prophetess.  “I see dark and solemn days for our nation.  The storm clouds of war hang low upon the horizon.  Whether that will come in the days of Jehoahaz I cannot say.  All I know is what God has told me.  His word will surely come to pass.  But Josiah will be blessed because of his devotion to God.  That is all that I can say.”

            “It is enough,” replied the high priest. “The king will be glad to know that God has heard his prayer.”

           

T

Josiah, The Boy King Chapter 9, Part 2

Josiah, The Boy King  Chapter 9  Part 2

            Early the next morning a cart pulled up in front of the temple and Hilkiah came out carrying one of the scrolls of the holy book.  Very carefully he placed in the back of the cart and then returned for another scroll.  When all of the scrolls were loaded, Ahikam helped the high priest himself into the cart and then took his place in the driver’s seat.  Achbor and Asahiah and Shaphan mounted horses to ride alongside.

            Anathoth was not far away from Jerusalem, just a couple miles to the north.  But the men knew how anxious Josiah was to hear from the prophet Jeremiah, so the sun had not been up for long when the cart and the three horsemen rode through the gate of the village.  Young girls were gathered around the well in the center of the village filling their water pots which would be carried home for the days water supply balanced on top of their heads.  Young boys scurried from door to door with fresh rolls that the baker had cooked in the wee hours of the night.  They were delivering them to the housewives in time for breakfast.

            Shaphan called to one of the boys, “Say, lad.  Can you tell me the way to the house of Jeremiah the prophet?”

            “Of course.  Everyone knows where Jeremiah lives.  Go on through town and out the gate.  He lives in the first house outside the gate, right next to the potters. You can’t miss it.   The potter’s house is the one with all the clay pots in the yard.  What do you have in the back of the cart?”

            “Holy books, son.  The most valuable books in the entire world.  And thanks for the directions.  We really appreciate it.”  Shaphan leaned down from his horse and handed the boy a small coin for his help.  Then they were off again to the house of the prophet.

            Just beyond the far gate, the party from Jerusalem spotted the house of the potter.  There were so many pots of different shapes sitting all over the yard that they almost missed the first house tucked in close against the city wall.  But it was there, just like the boy had said.

            Shaphan climbed down from his horse and knocked on the door.  There was a long pause.  Glancing over his shoulder at the others, he knocked again.  Still no answer.  It was the same the third time, just more silence.

            “Let’s try the potter,” called Ahikam from the front of the cart.  “Maybe the prophet is over there.”

            So Shaphan wound his way through the clay pots to the door of the potter’s house and knocked again.  Almost immediately the door opened and a strong, tall man stepped out into the morning sunshine.

            “Yes?  What can I do for you?  Will it be a water pot today, or a clay lamp?”

            “Neither one, I’m afraid, sir.  I take it you’re the potter?”

            “Right.  Do the best work in all of Judea, people tell me.  Wouldn’t rightly know myself.  Never used anyone else’s pots except my own.  What can I do for you?”

            “Well, actually we’re looking for your neighbor.”

            “Jeremiah?  Strange fellow he is.  But a real good neighbor.”

            “Any idea where we might find him?”

            “You might find him anywhere.  He came over yesterday, bought a couple of my best pots and asked me if I thought they would break easily.  Now, I don’t like to hear people talk like that.  I mean, any pot will break if you drop it hard enough.  But him being my neighbor and all…”

            “Did he say where he was taking them?”      

            The potter looked puzzled.  “Say, what is this anyway?  Are you fellows friends of Jeremiah or what?  I still haven’t forgotten what those Baal worshippers did to the prophet Isaiah.  Maybe I shouldn’t be telling you all of this.”

            Shaphan looked over his shoulder at the cart and then back at the potter.  “Come here.  Let me show you something.”  He led him through the pots to the back of the cart and carefully picked up one of the scrolls.  “Can you read?”

            “Read and write both,” the potter answered proudly.  And then he added, “But only my name.”

            Shaphan smiled.  “Well, these are some holy books that were found in the temple at Jerusalem.  King Josiah has sent us here to show them to the prophet Jeremiah so he can ask Jehovah God if they are really from him and if the message they contain is true.”

            The potter reached out one of his powerful arms and placed his hand gently on the parchment.  A look of amazement came into his eyes.  “Awesome,” he whispered.

            Shaphan carefully placed the scroll back into the waiting arms of the high priest.  “So, can you tell me where to find Jeremiah?”

            “I wish I could.  But all he did was ask me about those pots breaking and then he slung them into a sack he had on his shoulder and headed off into the hills.  He preaches all over Judea and Israel, you know.  Sometimes he’s gone for weeks.”

            Shaphan shook his head.  “We can’t wait that long.  Guess we’ll just have to go back and tell the king we couldn’t find him.  He sure will be disappointed.”

            “Well, when he shows up, I’ll tell him you were here.  He’ll want to know about the holy books, that’s for sure.  He’ll probably go to Jerusalem just to see them.  Are you keeping them in the temple?”

            “Yes,” said Shaphan.  “In the temple.  And thank you for your help.”
           

            King Josiah had found it extremely difficult to sleep that night after hearing the holy book of Moses read to him.  It was at the same time both exciting and fearsome to think that he had actually heard a message given by Jehovah God Himself.  He lay awake thinking about it, dozed for a time, and then woke up again.

            It was during one of those sleepless times that he remembered the scrolls delivered by the messenger the day before.  He had stayed at the temple so long the day before that they had completely slipped his mind.  He hadn’t read one of them, not even the one from Libnah.

            Slipping out of bed he picked up the candle which always burned beside his bed for security reasons and walked over to the table where the guard had deposited the scrolls the evening before.  He knew exactly which one the messenger from Libnah had brought.  His hands trembled as he unrolled it and recognized the precise handwriting of his beloved Hamutal.

            “Hamutal,” the message began, “queen of all Judea.

            To Josiah, king and ruler in Jerusalem—greetings.

            The time has come for you to meet your son.  Jehoahaz is almost seven years old.   As your eldest son he will be the next king and must therefore be trained in the palace.  I have done what I can, but now I send him to you.  At the end of the week, a fortnight hence he will arrive at the palace.  I expect you to give him a royal welcome.  Farewell.”

            Josiah read and reread the scroll hoping for some more personal message that he had overlooked.  But that was it.  There was nothing more from Hamutal except the news that she was sending their son Jehoahaz to live in the palace.  Just two weeks and his son would arrive.  The son he had never known.  And now he was a young lad, almost as old as Josiah himself had been when he became king.

            Without reading the other messages, Josiah went back to bed, but he still couldn’t sleep.  He kept thinking about Hamutal and Jehoahaz.  What would the boy be like?  His own mother had taught him the truth about Jehovah God when he was still a little boy.  What had Hamutal taught Jehoahaz?  Could she possible still be a worshipper of Baal as Hilkiah claimed?  And what about the holy books?   What would Jeremiah say about them?  Had God really put a curse upon their nation?

            When Josiah finally did fall asleep it was a restless time full of dreams mixed with quick startlings that half awakened him but didn’t interrupt his dreams.  He saw Bar-Abel rising up from the top of a rock and trying to grab the holy books away from him.  Josiah went for his sword, but it wasn’t there.  So he tried to run away with the books, but his feet wouldn’t move.  Bar-Abel just kept getting bigger and bigger and Josiah knew he would never get away, so he started to eat the scroll.  It tasted terrible but he just kept on eating and eating, all of the time screaming at Bar-Abel.  “No, you can’t take it away from me.  You can’t have it.  No!  No!  No!  No! No!”

            When Josiah finally did wake up he was covered with sweat, but the night was gone and the sun was shining in the window. In fact, the sun was so high it had to be almost noon.  He had slept through most of the morning.  Pulling on a tunic he walked quickly to the door.

            “Guard.  Saddle up my horse.  Call the king’s bodyguards.  We are going for a ride.  To Anathoth.”

            Josiah couldn’t really believe that anything would happen to an old priest and four young men between Jerusalem and Anathoth.  But his dream about Bar-Abel had been so vivid.  He knew he would feel better if he just rode out to Anathoth and came back to Jerusalem with them.  Besides, that way he could talk to Jeremiah himself.  He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of that the night before.

            It was already way past noon when the horses were ready and they were finally on their way out of the capital.  The sun was not and little heat waves danced over the Judean sands.  There were many carts on the road near Jerusalem, but most of them were heading toward town and the further away from the walls the king and his men rode, the quieter the road became.

            “This is almost as deserted a road as the one leading down to Jericho where we have been having all that trouble with robbers,” the king called over his shoulder to one of the guards.

            “There are many places for them to hide, that’s for certain.  Look down there below us at that big rock that sits right by the road.  I can almost imagine a band of robbers jumping out from there to stop some lonely traveler.”

            Almost as he spoke, from behind the very rock where he was pointing, a dozen men jumped out and stopped a cart moving slowly across the valley floor.  As the king and his guards watched in amazement, the robbers drew swords and attacked the men on horses who accompanied the cart.  Several of them jumped on to the cart itself and tried to grab the reins.

            “Hey, that’s Hilkiah and Shaphan they’re fighting,” Josiah shouted.  “Come on men, let’s bet them before they escape with the holy books. Come on! Don’t let them get away!”