2 Kings 22:1

JOSIAH AND THE BOOK OF THE LAW.-- 2 Kings 22:1-13.

GOLDEN TEXT. -- He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. -- 2 Kings 22:2. TIME. --B. C. 622. PLACE. --Jerusalem. HELPFUL READINGS. -- 2 Chronicles 34:1-21; 2 Kings 12:1-16; Deuteronomy 29:22-29; Deuteronomy 31:24-27. LESSON ANALYSIS. --1.. Righteous King; 2. The Lost Book Found; 3.. National Repentance.

INTRODUCTION.

We are now carried back to. period over six hundred years before Christ. The glory and greatness of the kingdom founded by David had long departed. The kingdom of Israel, erected at the revolt of the Ten Tribes, had fallen before the resistless march of the great Assyrian power, and the kingdom of Judah, still ruled by the line of David, had been reduced by idolatry and foreign invasion to. low ebb. Manasseh, the Son of Hezekiah, had deliberately attempted to supplant the worship of God, and had persecuted the true worshipers unto death; the temple was desecrated, and the knowledge of the Law partly lost. The son of Manasseh was slain after. reign of two years, and his son, Josiah, was called to the throne when only eight years old. His education seems to have been directed by pious men, and he grew up with. zeal for the Lord which showed itself in his great reformation of religion.

Among the later kings Josiah stands forth like. shining light. He did what was in his power to arrest the rush of his country to ruin. The inevitable day was stayed until after his death, but the doom could not be averted. The great kingdoms of Egypt and Assyria pressed from each side, while idolatry had turned away the favor of God, and after the death of Josiah, when the nation again relapsed into the idol-worship of their neighbors, the ruin came swiftly.

This lesson gives an account of Josiah's restoration of the Law. It will be observed that he was ably seconded by faithful coadjutors, especially Shaphan the secretary, Hilkiah the high priest, and Huldah the prophetess. The copy of the Law found in the temple when the offerings for its repair were gathered has caused considerable discussion. Dean Milman holds that there were other copies in existence and well known, but that this was the original, autograph copy, deposited by Moses. In Deuteronomy 31:24-25, it is recorded that "Moses commanded the Levites which bare the ark of the covenant, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant, that it may be there for. witness against thee." He holds that this venerable and sacred copy, long overlooked, was now discovered, and read in the presence of the king, and its solemn denunciations produced. profound impression on his pious heart. Others insist that during the persecution of Manasseh and the efforts to supplant the true religion, all known copies were destroyed, and that when this one was providentially discovered it was. restoration of. long lost treasure.

1. When Josiah was eight years old.

The death of his father Amon at the hands of conspirators caused his ascension of the throne at so early an age. His education and the conduct of the government during his tender years were evidently in the hands of such men as Hilkiah, Shallum and Shaphan, men zealous for the law. There is evidence of. reaction from idolatry which began at once. Josiah reigned thirty-one years, died at thirty-nine, slain in battle with Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt, and is one of the noblest characters in Hebrew history. He began well, continued well and ended well.