Hilkiah, the high priest, said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” 2 Kings 22:8 GW
King Josiah became king when he was eight years old. He was the son of Amon, who ruled for only two years. He was the son of Manasseh, who ruled for 55 years as an idolatrous and evil king.
The prophet of the Lord condemns Manasseh as the most evil of all the evil kings of Judah and Israel, and even more vile than the nations that occupied the land before Israel. It must have been during the long reign of Manasseh, when the Temple lay in ruins, that the law was lost.
Without the guidance of the law of Moses, the people of God fell into deep idolatry that became the reference point until the Babylonians took Jerusalem captive.
The Lord spoke these words through His prophet, “Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols, 12 therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster[b] that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.” 2 Kings 21:11,12 GW
When the law was found, it was read to Josiah, and he realized that the nation was under God’s judgment. As a leader, Josiah took action. He had the law read to all the people and then made this commitment,
And the king stood by the pillar 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 all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant. 2 Kings 23:3 GW
Even though the Lord had pronounced the doom of Jerusalem, it did not deter Josiah from riding the land of Judah and Israel of idolatry. He even destroyed the calf idols of Israel according to the words of the prophet from hundreds of years earlier.
The importance of God’s word, God’s Law in the Old Testament, was to be the plumb line to give God’s people purpose and guidance for their lives. Joshua was commanded to follow the law of the Lord if he wanted to be successful. The Psalms are filled with verses that speak of the value of the Law. Psalms 119, the longest of the Psalms, extols the importance of God’s laws, His instructions, and protection. It is the vision of God, the restraining force, that keeps God’s people from “running rampant” and perishing.
When God’s people followed the law, they were successful. When it was disobeyed, they sinned and were defeated.
God’s Word today for those who want to follow Christ is a must. It guides our path. It trains, rebukes and corrects. When we disregard and fail to follow God’s Word, we sin. We fail to understand God’s true nature. We become prey to the world around us.
I believe it was D.L. Moody who said of the Bible, “This book will keep me from sin and sin will keep me from this book.” What place does God’s Word have in your life? Do you need to discover it or rediscover it? Do you read it? Do you obey it? It is our all-sufficient rule for faith and doctrine. That means what we believe and how we behave. Don’t allow anything to rob you of your commitment to God’s Word.