The difference God’s Word can make
2 Kings 22:1-20
Immigrants in a new country tend to make efforts to preserve their culture and pass on their language and customs to the next generation. Children of such immigrants, however, often want to leave behind their cultural past and so resist such efforts including speaking their parents’ language. They may understand what is being said but their own ability to express themselves in their mother tongue diminishes over time to a pidgin version with limited vocabulary that can no longer communicate complex ideas or nuances in the language. The children of this generation will be even further removed from the original culture and language. They may pick up a few words and phrases but their ability to function in the language will become ever more limited. This process of acculturation to a host country may be used as an illustration of how Christians are increasingly losing their ability to operate within a Christian worldview and categories as they adjust and blend into a dominant non-Christian culture.[1]
The rediscovery of God’s Word
It is a process recognisable in the Old Testament as God’s people increasingly adopted the habits and worldview of the local Canaanites. Mixing the worship of gods with that of the LORD at shrines dotted throughout the land rather than in Jerusalem as well as pagan cultural perceptions would have become commonplace, normalised through long practice. Good kings, like Hezekiah and Josiah, still recognised the basic issues and worked towards godly worship but there were gaps in their understanding. Josiah rightly starts with the repair of the Jerusalem temple (2 Kings 22:3-7) and, as he gives himself to renewal, God provides additional resources when the book of the law is found (2 Kings 22:8). This was most likely a form of Deuteronomy (note ‘this book of the law’ in Deut 31:24-26) and the discovery highlights how much even the priests neglected to know and teach God’s will and Word.
Repentance and reprieve
We are not told what Shaphan thought after reading the book but he takes it to the king (2 Kings 22:8-9) whose reaction is to tear his clothes (a signal of grief and remorse; 2 Kings 22:11), clearly appalled at the coming judgment (2 Kings 22:13). The fact that he inquires of God (v.13) suggests his responsiveness. He wants to know how the general principle about blessings and curses and God’s judgment on disobedience (e.g. Deut 28:1-68; 29:22-28) is to be worked out in his own time. Is there a reprieve possible? Will God relent? The prophetess affirms that judgment is inevitable (2 Kings 22:15-17), likely because Judah’s sin has gone too far and too deep and the people are set in their ways of disobedience. As we shall see, Josiah’s reform will be quickly forgotten after his death and the last kings of Judah will each be described as ‘he did evil in the sight of the LORD’ (2 Kings 23:31-32, 36-37; 24:8-9, 18-19). Yet, there is a personal reprieve for Josiah who was repentant so that the disaster of exile will be postponed until after his time (2 Kings 22:19-20).
God’s grace even in judgment
Josiah’s story highlights several principles for us. First, God is at work as we make steps towards Him. When we seek to rebuild a life that worships the Lord, He may guide us to resources that can help us grow in understanding whether it is leading us to a good church, an insightful Bible study group or helpful books that illuminate Scripture. Secondly, it is primarily God’s Word (through the work of His Holy Spirit) that convicts us of sin and makes us aware of aspects of our lives that are wrong. The challenge in such circumstances is to submit to the Lord as Josiah had done. Finally, we cannot presume on God’s grace, even though so often He gives us a reprieve. There are situations where the consequences of sin stay with us in the long term. For some, this involves ill health as a result of a body abused in dissipation, for others, it is broken relationships that can take a long time to mend if they can be mended at all. Nevertheless, we can be assured that the Lord sees our tears of remorse and hears our prayer of repentance (2 Kings 22:19). He will not abandon us but will walk with us even through the hardship that is of our own doing.
[1] I am using here the idea put forward by Brent A. Strawn, who argues that Christians’ Old Testament (and, more broadly, biblical) understanding in the West is increasingly declining in a process similar to language loss among subsequent generations of immigrants. The Old Testament Is Dying: A Diagnosis and Recommended Treatment (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2017).
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