“Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord” (Ps 119:1, NLT).
It’s remarkable how far Josiah, governed by conscience and reverence for God, was able to bring spiritual change to the land. Obviously you don’t need a Bible verse to be convinced that witchcraft, idolatry, and offering children to Moloch are wrong. But much was to be learned from the scroll that Hilkiah had discovered. As soon as Josiah received word that God’s wrath was coming, but would be held back until he died, what did he do? Hezekiah said that as long as there was “peace and truth” in his day, he was content (2 Ki 20:19). But Josiah wanted God’s people to be delivered from the wrath, too. So first he “gathered all the elders…and all the people, great and small” (2 Chron 34:29-30). He shared with them “all the words of the Book of the Covenant” that had brought him true repentance. “Then the king…made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul” (v 31). The king had it right; what about the people? “He made all who were present…take a stand” (v 32). But one of life’s challenges is passing our convictions on to others. True, he made the people “diligently serve the Lord,” but a proviso is added: “All his days they did not depart from following the Lord” (v 33). If only it said “All their days.” Nonetheless, the next chapter describes the joy of keeping the Passover. Josiah encouraged the priests. The Levites taught the people. The leaders gave willingly. The priests sprinkled the blood. The singers and gatekeepers were in place. The people feasted on the lamb. “There had been no Passover kept in Israel like that since the days of Samuel” (35:18)! What joy and peace there is in believing and obeying God’s Word!