2 Kings 23:1 - Meaning and Application

Josiah had received God’s message that Jerusalem’s ruin could not be stopped, and that he could only save his own soul. Still, he did not sit in despair and do nothing for his nation because he could not do everything he wanted. No, he chose to do his duty and leave the outcome with God. The plan was a public reform, and if anything could delay the threatened judgment, it would be that. Here we are shown how he prepared for it.

First, he called a national meeting of the leaders, the elders, and the magistrates or representatives of Judah and Jerusalem, to gather in the house of the Lord with the priests and prophets, the ordinary and special ministers. By bringing them all together, this would become a national act, and so it might be more likely to keep national judgment away. They were all summoned, so the work could be done with greater seriousness, so they could advise and help, and so any opponents would be discouraged from resisting. Good rulers are not diminished by parliaments or public councils, they are strengthened by them.

Second, instead of giving a speech to this assembly, Josiah ordered the book of the law to be read to them. It seems he even read it himself (2 Kings 23:2), moved by it and eager for others to be moved too. He did not think it beneath him to be a reader, just as Solomon was not beneath preaching, and David was willing to be a doorkeeper in God’s house. Along with the great men, he also gathered the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem to hear the law. It is truly in a ruler’s interest to promote knowledge of the Scriptures in his land. If the people are as firmly resolved to obey the law as he is to govern by it, the kingdom will be happy.

Third, instead of putting forward new laws to steady them in duty, he called for a covenant, an agreement by which they would all bind themselves to God (2 Kings 23:3). The book of the law was the book of the covenant, because it promised that if they would be God’s people, he would be their God. Here they promised to do their part, trusting that God would then do his. The covenant was that they would follow the Lord, yield to his will in his worship and in his providence, answer his calls, and pay attention to his leading. They were to take care to keep all his commands, moral, ceremonial, and civil, with all their heart and all their soul, with every effort, sincerity, strength, courage, and determination, and so meet the covenant’s conditions while relying on its promises.

The first covenanter was the king himself. He stood by his pillar (2 Kings 11:14) and openly declared that he agreed to this covenant, setting an example for the people and assuring them not only of his protection, but of his leadership and every help his power could give to their obedience. Even kings lose nothing of their freedom when they are bound to God. The people also stood to the covenant, meaning they showed their agreement and promised to keep it. It is good for us to bind ourselves to duty with every possible solemnity, especially after serious turning away from sin and decline in what is good. A person with an honest heart does not shrink from clear commitments, because what is firmly bound is firmly held.