Key Verse Spotlight
2 Chronicles 34:14 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: King James Version
" And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses. "
2 Chronicles 34:14
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
12 And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and other of the Levites, all that could skill of instruments of musick.
13 Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters.
14 And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses.
15 And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.
16 And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it.
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This whole passage was already given in 2 Kings 22:8-20, so there is little to add here. Still, we can draw several helpful lessons from it.
We should thank God that we have many Bibles and can place them in many hands. The book of the law and the gospel is not lost, nor is it scarce. In that sense, God’s word is not “precious” because it is rare. Bibles are treasures, but thanks be to God, they are not hard to find. The spring of living water is not shut up or sealed. Its streams flow freely for everyone’s use. How much we will answer for if the great truths of God’s law, made so common to us, are still treated as strange.
We should also learn, whenever we read or hear God’s word, to let it touch our hearts deeply. It should lead us to a holy fear of the wrath God reveals against all ungodliness and wickedness. Josiah, the king of Judah, had such a tender heart. When he heard the law read, he tore his clothes (2 Chronicles 34:19), and God was pleased with that response (2 Chronicles 34:27). If the Bible’s words were new to us, as they were to Josiah, they would likely affect us more than they often do. But they are no less serious because we know them well. So let the heart be torn, not just the clothes.
We are also directed, when we are convicted of sin and afraid of God’s judgment, to ask the Lord what to do. Josiah did this (2 Chronicles 34:21). We should ask the same question the people asked at Pentecost, “Men and brothers, what should we do?” (Acts 2:37), and the same question the jailer asked, “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). If you will ask, then ask with seriousness (Isaiah 21:12). And thanks be to God, we have the living words of God to bring these questions to.
We are also warned here about the ruin sin brings on nations and kingdoms. Those who leave God bring trouble on themselves (2 Chronicles 34:24, 25), and they start a fire that will not be put out. So it will be with God’s wrath when his sentence has gone out against people who stubbornly keep walking in evil without repentance.
At the same time, we are encouraged to humble ourselves before God and seek him, as Josiah did. Even if we cannot turn away God’s wrath from our land, we will still save our own souls (2 Chronicles 34:27, 28). This also teaches godly people not to fear death, but to welcome it when it takes them away from the trouble that is coming. Notice how death changes when it is made a promise: “You will be gathered to your grave in peace.” It is like being housed safely in an ark, as Noah was, when a flood is about to come.
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From This Chapter
2 Chronicles 34:1
"Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years."
2 Chronicles 34:2
"And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left."
2 Chronicles 34:3
"For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images."
2 Chronicles 34:4
"And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them."
2 Chronicles 34:5
"And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem."
2 Chronicles 34:6
"And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about."
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