2 Kings 23:1-14: a reflection

1The king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. 2The king went up to the LORD’s house, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him—with the priests, the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the LORD’s house. 3The king stood by the pillar 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 all his soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this book; and all the people agreed to the covenant. 4The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of the LORD’s temple all the vessels that were made for Baal, for the Asherah, and for all the army of the sky; and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5He got rid of the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the planets, and to all the army of the sky. 6He brought out the Asherah from the LORD’s house, outside of Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and beat it to dust, and cast its dust on the graves of the common people. 7He broke down the houses of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the LORD’s house, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah. 8He brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man’s left hand at the gate of the city. 9Nevertheless the priests of the high places didn’t come up to the LORD’s altar in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 10He defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. 11He took away the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance of the LORD’s house, by the room of Nathan Melech the officer who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12The king broke down the altars that were on the roof of the upper room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the LORD’s house, and beat them down from there, and cast their dust into the brook Kidron. 13The king defiled the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mountain of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon. 14He broke in pieces the pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and filled their places with men’s bones.

When the lost Book of the Law is rediscovered and read to King Josiah, he does not merely feel convicted; he acts, wholeheartedly and thoroughly. He gathers all the people, reads them the words of the covenant, and stands and makes a covenant before the LORD to walk after him and keep his commandments with all his heart and all his soul. Then he sets about a sweeping cleansing, removing the idols, altars, and corrupt practices that had accumulated over generations. Hearing God's word moved Josiah to a total, decisive response.

Notice the wholeheartedness of Josiah's response. He did not receive God's word and then do a little, tidying up here and there while leaving the main compromises in place. He committed himself with all his heart and soul, and he dealt thoroughly with the idolatry, tearing it out root and branch. The word of God, truly heard, provoked not a half-hearted adjustment but a complete and decisive turning.

That is a challenge in how we respond to God's word. It is possible to hear God's word, even to be moved by it, and yet respond only partially, making small adjustments while leaving the real compromises untouched. Josiah shows a fuller response: to receive God's word with the whole heart and to act on it thoroughly, not sparing the sins it exposes. When God's word confronts you, do not settle for a half-hearted, partial response. Let it move you, as it moved Josiah, to a wholehearted commitment and a thorough dealing with what it exposes. God's word deserves more than a tidy-up; give it your whole heart.

Lord, when Josiah heard your rediscovered word, he did not merely feel convicted but committed himself with all his heart and soul, and dealt thoroughly with the idolatry his fathers had let accumulate. When your word confronts me, keep me from a half-hearted, partial response, making small adjustments while leaving the real compromises untouched. Give me Josiah's wholeheartedness: to receive your word with my whole heart and to act on it thoroughly, not sparing the sins it exposes. Let your word move me to more than a tidy-up. Help me respond to it with all my heart and soul, and to deal decisively with whatever it brings to light.