Scripture Daily

Context No. 1651 of 4322 · 2 Chronicles

Context · Reflection

2 Chronicles 34:29-33: in context

29Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30The king went up to the LORD’s house with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests, the Levites, and all the people, both great and small—and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the LORD’s house. 31The king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, his testimonies, and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. 32He caused all who were found in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand. The inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. 33Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that belonged to the children of Israel, and made all who were found in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. All his days they didn’t depart from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.

After the book of the law is found in the temple, King Josiah gathers all the people, great and small, to the house of the LORD, and reads aloud in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant. Then, standing in his place, he makes a covenant before the LORD to follow him and keep his commandments with all his heart and soul, and to perform the words written in the book. He has all the people join him in the covenant, and he removes the abominations from the land.

What is striking is how Josiah responds to God's word once it is found and read. He does not merely feel moved, or file the discovery away; he acts, and acts wholeheartedly. He stands and makes a covenant to follow the LORD with all his heart and all his soul, binding himself to do what the book says; and then he leads his people to do the same, and clears out the idolatry from the land. The word convicted him, and he let it reshape his whole life and reign. There is a model here for how to respond to God's word. It is possible to hear the word, even to be moved by it, and then to do nothing, to leave it as a feeling that changes little; Josiah did the opposite. He took what he heard and committed himself to obey it, wholeheartedly, and put that commitment into action. And notice that he led first by his own example: he made the covenant himself, standing in his place, before he called the people to join; he did not command a reform he was not himself living. That is leadership worth imitating, the leader who commits himself first and leads others by his own obedience rather than by mere instruction. Josiah heard the word, gave himself wholly to it, and led his people by going first. The question the passage presses is what we do with the word when it convicts us, whether we let it remain a passing feeling or, like Josiah, commit ourselves wholeheartedly to obey it and let it reshape how we live.

When God's word convicts me, do I let it remain a passing feeling that changes little, or do I respond as Josiah did, committing myself wholeheartedly to obey it and letting it reshape how I live, and, where I lead others, do I go first by my own obedience rather than merely instructing them?

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