2 Kings 22:13, commentary and pictures

This command belongs to a reform in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign, brought about by the discovery and study of a portion of Scripture that had long been lost. Prophetic messages about the Babylonian captivity had helped prepare the way for that reform, and the reform averted the threatened judgments for a time. When the book of the law was found, Josiah was alarmed by its contents and by Judah's danger. He grieved because he had not known its warnings of punishment.

The recovered law exposed the sin of the rulers and the people. Josiah treated the newly found book as binding and its warnings as serious. It was to him a source of knowledge and a powerful aid to reform, which he honored by studying its precepts and resolving to follow its instruction.

In response he sent messengers and officials to enquire of the Lord concerning the words of the book, for himself and for the people and for all Judah. He sought counsel and pardon through Huldah. He did so because he recognized that the wrath and anger of the Lord was already kindled against them, since their fathers and ancestors had not hearkened to the words of the book nor done all that was written concerning them. The inquiry was the king's response to the people's guilt and the threatened consequences of disregarding God's written word. It sought the Lord's guidance and direction to learn whether Judah could still be saved from ruin and punishment.

Josiah responded with repentance and reformation, and the congregation made a covenant to keep the Lord's commandments. Calamities should lead God's people to seek their meaning and examine whether they have obeyed God's Word, rather than assume that belonging to God's people protects them while they disregard His law.