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3 And it came to pass, in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam the scribe to the house of the LORD, saying,

4 Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the "door have gathered of the people:

5 And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD: and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the house of the LORD, to repair the breaches of the house,

b Josh. 15. 39. c Deut. 5. 32. d c. 12. 4, &c. e Pa. 84. 10. ⚫ threshold.

v. 2.

NOTES TO CHAPTER XXII.

V. 1-10. Concerning Josiah we are here told, I. That he was very young, when he began to reign, (v. 1,) but eight years old. Solomon says, Wo unto thee, O land, when thy king is a child; but happy art thou, O land, when thy king is such a child. Our English Israel had once a king that was such a child, Edward VI. Josiah, being young, had not received any bad impressions from the example of his father and grandfather, but soon saw their errors, and God gave him grace to take warning by them. See Ez. 18. 14, &c. II. That he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, See the sovereignty of divine grace; the father passed by, and left to perish in his sin; the son a chosen vessel. See the triumphs of that grace; Josiah born of a wicked father, no good education nor good example given him, but many about him, who, no doubt, advised him to tread in his father's steps, and few that gave him any good counsel; and yet the grace of God makes him an eminent saint, cuts him off from the wild olive, and graffs him into the good olive, Rom. 11. 24. Nothing is too hard for that grace to do. He walked in a good way, and turned not aside (as some of his predecessors had done who began well) to the right hand or to the left: there are errors on both hands, but God kept him in the right way, he fell not either into superstition or profaneness.

III. That he took care for the repair of the temple. This he did in the 18th year of his reign, v. 3. Compare 2 Chr. 34. 8. He began much sooner to seek the Lord, (as appears, 2 Chr. 34. 3,) but, it is to be feared, the work of reformation went slowly on, and met with much opposition, so that he could not effect what he desired and designed, till his power was thoroughly confirmed. The consideration of the time we unavoidably lost in our minority, should quicken us, when we come to years, to act with so much the more vigour in the service of God. Having begun late, we had need work hard; he sent Shaphan the secretary of state, to Hilkiah the high priest, to take an account of the money that was collected for this use by the doorkeepers, (v. 4,) for, it seems, they took much the same way of raising the money that Joash took, ch. 12. 9. When people gave by a little at a time, the burden was insensible, and the contribution being voluntary, it was not complained of. This money, so collected, he ordered him to lay out for the repair of the temple, v. 5, 6. And now, it seems, the workmen (as in the days of Joash) acquitted themselves so well, that there was no reckoning made with them, (v. 7,) which is certainly mentioned to the praise of the workmen, that they gained such a reputation for honesty; but whether to the praise of those that employed them I know not; a man should count money, (we say,) after his own father; it had not been amiss to have reckoned with the workmen, that others also might be satisfied of their honesty.

IV. That in the repairing of the temple, the book of the law was happily found and brought to the king, u. 8, 10. Some think it was the autograph, or original manuscript, of the five books of Moses, under his own hand; others think it was only an ancient and authentic copy; most likely it was that which, by the command of Moses, was laid up in the most holy place, Deut. 31. 24, &c.

1. It seems, this book of the law was lost and missing, either it was carelessly mislaid and neglected, thrown by into a corner, (as some throw their bibles,) by those that knew not the value of it, and forgotten there; or, it was maliciously concealed by some of the idolatrous kings, or their agents, who were restrained by the providence of God, or their own consciences, from burning and destroying it, but buried it, in hopes it would never see the light again; or, (as some think,) it was carefully laid up by some of its friends, lest it should fall into the hands of its enemies: whoever were the instruments of its preservation, we ought to acknowledge the hand of God in it; if this was the only authentic copy of the Pentateuch then in being, which had (as I may say) so narrow a turn for its life, and was so near perishing, I wonder the hearts of all good people did not tremble for that sacred treasure, as Eli's for the ark; and I am sure we now have reason to thank God, upon our knees, for VOL. I.-117

6 Unto carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber, and hewn stone, to repair the house. 7 Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully.

8 And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.

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9 And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD.

10 And Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.

11 And it came to pass, when the king had heard

f Deut. 31. 24. 2 Chr. 34. 14, &c. melled. g Neh. 8. 3, 18. Jer. 36. 6, 15. that happy providence by which Hilkiah had found this book at this time, found it when he sought it not, Is. 65. 1. If the holy scriptures had not been of God, they had not been in being at this day; God's care of the bible, is a plain indication of his interest in it.

2. Whether this was the only authentic copy in being or no, it seems, the things contained in it were new, both to the king himself and to the high priest, for the king, upon the reading of it, rent his clothes. We have reason to think the command for the king's writing a copy of the law, and that for the public reading of the law every seventh year, (Deut. 17. 18.-31. 10, 11,) had neither of them been observed of a long time, and when the instituted means of keeping up religion are neglected, religion itself will soon go to decay. Yet, on the other hand, if the book of the law was lost, it seems difficult to determine what rule Josiah went by in doing that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and how the priests and people kept up the rites of their religion; I am apt to think that the people generally took up with abstracts of the law, like our abridgments of the statutes, which the priests, to save themselves the trouble of writing, and the people of reading, the book at large, had furnished them with; a sort of ritual, directing them in the observances of their religion, but leaving out what they thought fit, and particularly the promises and threatenings, (Lev. 26. and Deut. 28. &c.) for I observe, that those were the portions of the law which Josiah was so much affected with, (v. 13,) for those were new to him; no summaries, extracts, or collections, out of the bible, (though they may have their use,) can be effectual to convey and preserve the knowledge of God and his will, like the bible itself; it was no marvel that the people were so corrupt, when the book of the law was such a scarce thing among them; where that vision is not, the people perish; they that endeavoured to debauch them, no doubt, used all the arts they could to get that book out of their hands; the church of Rome could not keep up the use of images, but by forbidding the use of the scripture.

3. It was a great instance of God's favour, and a token for good to Josiah and his people, that the book of the law was thus seasonably brought to light, to direct and quicken that blessed reformation which Josiah had begun. It is a sign that God has mercy in store for a people, when he magnifies his law among them, and makes that honourable, and furnishes them with means for the increase of scripture knowledge: the translating of the scriptures into vulgar tongues, was the glory, strength, and joy, of the Reformation from Popery. It is observable, that they were about a good work, repairing the temple, when they found the book of the law: they that do their duty, according to their knowledge, shall have their knowledge increased; to him that has, shall be given: the book of the law was an abundant recompense for all their care and cost about the repair of the temple.

4. Hilkiah, the priest, was exceedingly pleased with the discovery; "O," says he to Shaphan, "rejoice with me, for I have found the book of the law, ibonka, εbonka-I have found, I have found, that jewel of inestimable value; here, carry it to the king, it is the richest jewel of his crown, read it before him; he walks in the way of David his father, and if he be like him, he will love the book of the law, and bid that welcome; that will be his delight and his counsellor."

V. 11-20. We hear no more of the repairing of the temple; no doubt, that good work went on well, but the book of the law that was found in it, occupies us now, and well it may: it is not laid up in the king's cabinet as a piece of antiquity, a rarity to be admired, but it is read before the king. Those put the truest honour upon their bibles, that study them, and converse with them, daily, feed on that bread, and walk by that light: men of honour and business must look upon an acquaintance with God's word to be their best business and honour. Now here we have,

I. The impressions which the reading of the law made upon Josiah; he rent his clothes, as one ashamed of the sin of his people, and afraid of the wrath of God; he had long thought the case of his kingdom bad, by reason of the idolatries and ( 929 )

the words of the book of the law, that he rent "his clothes.

12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king's, saying,

13 Go ye, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do "according unto all that which is written concerning us.

14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college;) and they communed with her.

15 And she said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,

16 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read:

17 Because they have forsaken me, and have

.

therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.

18 But to the king of Judah, which sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;

19 Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse," and hast rent "thy clothes, and wept "before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD.

20 Behold, therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.

CHAPTER XXIII.

We have here, I. The happy continuance of the goodness of Josiah's reign, and the progress of the reformation he began; reading the law, v. 1, 2, renewing the covenant, v. 3, cleansing the temple, v. 4, and rooting out idols and idolatry, with all the relics thereof, in all places, as far as his power reached, v. 5-2); keeping a solemn passover, v. 21-23, and clearing the country of witches, v. 24, sud, in all this, acting with extraordinary vigour, v. 25. 11. The unhappy conclusion of it in his untimely death, as a token of the continuance of God's wrath against Jerusalem, v. 26-30. III. The more unhappy consequences of his death, in the bad reigns of his two sons Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim, that came after him, v.

31-37.

ND the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. 25, &c. Neh. 9. 26, 27. Dan. 9. 11-14. 91 Thes. 2. 16. 15. 1 Kings 21. 29. Lev. 26. 31, 32. u Jer. 26. 6. 44. 22. e ver. 11. Neh. 1. 4. Ps. 37. 37. Is. 57. 1, 2. Jer. 22. 10. a 2 Chr. 34. 29, &c.

burnt incense unto other gods, that they might pro-A
voke me to anger with all the works of their hands;
A ver. 19. i 2 Chr. 34. 20, Abdon. or,
Micah. 1 Chr. 10. 14. ¿ Ps. 76. 7.
Nah. 1. 6. Rev. 6. 17. m Deut. 29, 27. n Jer. 1. 22-25. o 2 Chr. 34. 22,
Tikeath. 1 or, Hasrah. ‡ garments. $ or, in the second part. p Deut. 29.
impieties that had been found among them, but he never thought
it so bad as he perceived it to be, by the book of the law now
read to him; the rending of his clothes signified the rending of
his heart for the dishonour done to God, and the ruin he saw
coming upon his people.

II. The application he made to God, hereupon; Go, inquire
of the Lord for me, v. 13. Inquire, 1. "What we shall do;
what course we shall take to turn away God's wrath, and pre-
vent the judgments which our sins have deserved." Convictions
of sin and wrath should put us upon this inquiry, What shall
we do to be saved? Wherewithal shall we come before the Lord?
If ye will thus inquire, inquire quickly, before it be too late.
2. "What we may expect, and must provide for." He acknow-
ledges, Our fathers have not hearkened to the words of this book;
if this be the rule of right, certainly our fathers have been much
in the wrong.
Now that the commandment came, sin revived,
and appeared sin; in the glass of the law, he saw the sins of his
people more numerous and more heinous than he had before
seen them, and more exceeding sinful. He infers hence cer-
tainly, "Great is the wrath that is kindled against us; if this be
the word of God, as, no doubt, it is, and he will be true to his
word, as, no doubt, he will be, we are all undone; I never thought
the threatenings of the law so severe, and the curses of the
covenant so terrible, as now I find them to be; it is time to look
about us, if these be in force against us." Note, Those who
are truly apprehensive of the weight of God's wrath, cannot
but be very solicitous to obtain his favour, and inquisitive how
they may make their peace with him; magistrates should in-
quire for their people, and study how to prevent the judgments
of God that they see hanging over them.

TPs. 51. 17. Is. 57.

is the message I have for him from the God of Israel;" but in the dialect of a prophetess speaking from Him before whom all stand upon the same level, Tell the man that sent you to me, v. 15. Even kings, though gods to us, are men to God, and shall so be dealt with, for with him there is no respect of persons.

1. She lets him know what judgments God had in store for Judah and Jerusalem; (v. 16, 17,) My wrath shall be kindled against this place; and what is hell itself, but the fire of God's wrath kindled against sinners? Observe the degree and duration of it; it is so kindled, that it shall not be quenched, the decree is gone forth, it is too late now to think of preventing it, the iniquity of Jerusalem shall not be purged with sacrifice or offering. Hell is unquenchable fire. It has reference, (1.) To their sins; "They have committed them, as it were, with design, and on purpose to provoke me to anger, it is a fire of their own kindling; they would provoke me, and, at length, I am provoked." (2.) To God's threatenings; "The evil I bring, is according to the words of the book which the king of Judah has read, the scripture is fulfilled in it; they that would not be bound by the precept, shall be bound by the penalty." God will be found no less terrible to impenitent sinners, than his word makes him to be.

2. She lets him know what mercy God has in store for him. (1.) Notice is taken of his great tenderness and concern for the glory of God, and the welfare of his kingdom; (v. 19,) Thine heart was tender. Note, God will distinguish those that distinguish themselves. The generality of the people were hardened, and their hearts unhumbled, so were the wicked kings his predecessors; but Josiah's heart was tender, he received the impressions of God's word, trembled at it, and yielded to it; he This inquiry Josiah sent, (1.) By some of his great men, was exceedingly grieved for the dishonour done to God by the who are named, v. 12, and again, v. 14. Thus he put an honour sins of his fathers, and of his people; he was afraid of the upon the oracle, by employing those of the first rank to attend judgments of God, which he saw coming upon Jerusalem, and it. (2.) To Huldah the prophetess, v. 14. The spirit of pro- earnestly deprecated them: this is tenderness of heart, and thus phecy, that inestimable treasure, was sometimes put not only he humbled himself before the Lord, and expressed these pious into earthen vessels, but into the weaker vessels, that the excel-affections by rending his clothes, and weeping before God, prolency of the power might be of God. Miriam had helped to lead bably, in his closet; but he that sees in secret, says it was Israel out of Egypt, Mic. 6. 4. Deborah judged them, and now before him, and he heard it, and put every tear of tenderness Huldah instructed them in the mind of God: and her being a into his bottle. Note, Those that most fear God's wrath, are wife, was no prejudice at all to her being a prophetess, marriage least likely to feel it; it should seem that those words, (Lev. 26. is honourable in all. It was a mercy to Jerusalem, that when 32,) much affected Josiah, I will bring the land into desolation; bibles were scarce, they had prophets, as that, afterward, when for when he heard of the desolation and of the curse, that is, that prophecy ceased, they had more bibles; for God never leaves God would forsake them, and separate them to evil, (for till it himself without witness, because he will leave sinners without came to that they were neither desolate nor accursed,) then he excuse. Jeremiah and Zephaniah prophesied at this time, yet rent his clothes, that went to his heart. (2.) A reprieve is the king's messengers made Huldah their oracle, probably, be- granted till after his death; (v. 20,) I will gather thee to thy cause her husband having a place at court, (for he was keeper fathers. The saints then, no doubt, had a comfortable prospect of the wardrobe,) they had had more and longer acquaintance of happiness on the other side death, else, being gathered to with her, and greater assurances of her commission than of their fathers, would not have been so often made the matter of any other; they had, it is likely, consulted her upon other oc- a promise as we find it was. Josiah could not prevail to prevent casions, and had found that the word of God in her mouth was the judgment itself, but God promised him he should not live to truth. She was near, for she dwelt at Jerusalem, in a place see it, which (especially considering that he died in the midst called Mishneh, the second rank of buildings from the royal of his days, before he was 40 years old) would have been but a palace. The Jews say that she prophesied among the women, small reward for his eminent piety, if there were not another the court ladies, being herself one of them, who, it is probable, world in which he should be abundantly recompensed, Heb. had their apartments in that place. Happy the court that had 11. 16. When the righteous is taken away from the evil to a prophetess within the verge of it, and knew how to value her. come, he enters into peace, Is. 57. 1, 2. This is promised to III. The answer he received from God to his inquiry; Hul- Josiah here, Thou shalt go to thy grave in peace; which refers dah returned it not in the language of a courtier, "Pray give not to the manner of his death, for he was killed in a battle, but my humble service to his majesty, and let him know that this to the time of it; it was a little before the captivity in Babylon,

2 And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, *both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.

3 And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book: and all the people stood to the covenant.

4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven; and he burnt them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el.

5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn

dc. 21. 3, 7. § or, twelve

from small even unto great. b c. 22. 8. c c. 11. 14, 17. t caused to cease. chemarim, Hos. 10. 5. Foretold, Zeph. 1. 4. that great trouble, in comparison with which the rest were as nothing, so that he might be truly said to die in peace that did not live to share in that; he died in the love and favour of God, which secure such a peace as no circumstances of dying, no, not dying in the field of war, could alter the nature of, or break in upon.

NOTES TO CHAPTER XXIII.

V. 1-3. Josiah had received a message from God, that there was no preventing the ruin of Jerusalem, but that he only should deliver his own soul; yet he does not therefore sit down in despair, and resolve to do nothing for his country, because he cannot do all he would; no, he will do his duty, and then leave the event to God; a public reformation is the thing resolved on, if any thing prevent the threatened ruin, it must be that, and here we have the preparations for that reformation.

1. He summoned a general assembly of the states, the elders, the magistrates, or representatives, of Judah and Jerusalem, to meet him in the house of the Lord, with the priests and prophets, the ordinary and extraordinary ministers, that they all joining in it, it might become a national act, and so be the more likely to prevent national judgments; they were all called to attend, (v. 1, 2,) that the business might be done with the more solemnity, that they might all advise and assist in it, and that those who were against it, might be discouraged from making any opposition; parliaments are no diminution at all to the honour and power of good princes, but a great support to it. 2. Instead of making a speech to this convention, he ordered the book of the law to be read to them; nay, it should seem he read it himself, (v. 2,) as one much affected with it, and desirous that they should be so too. Josiah thinks it not below him to be a reader, any more than Solomon did to be a preacher, nay, and David himself to be a doorkeeper, in the house of God. Beside the convention of the great men, he had a congregation of the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to hear the law read it is really the interest of princes to promote the knowledge of the scriptures in their dominions. If the people be but as steadfastly resolved to obey by law, as he is to govern by law, the kingdom will be happy; all people are concerned to know the scripture, and all in authority to spread the knowledge

of it.

3. Instead of proposing laws for the confirming of them in their duty, he proposed an association, by which they should all jointly engage themselves to God, v. 3. The book of the law was the book of the covenant, that if they would be to God a people, he would be to thein a God; they here engage themselves to do their part, not doubting but that then God would do his. (1.) The covenant was, that they should walk after the Lord, in compliance with his will, in his ordinances and providences, should answer all his calls, and attend all his motions; that they should make conscience of all his commandments, moral, ceremonial, and judicial, and should carefully observe them with all their heart and all their soul, with all possible care and caution, sincerity, vigour, courage, and resolution, and so fulfil the conditions of this covenant, in dependence upon the promises of it. (2.) The covenanters were, the king himself in the first place, who stood by his pillar, (ch. 11. 14,) and publicly declared his consent to this covenant, to set them an example, and to assure them not only of his protection, but of his presidency, and all the furtherance his power could give them in their obedience; it is no abridgment of the liberty even of princes themselves to be in bonds to God: all the people likewise stood to the covenant, that is, they signified their consent to it, and promised to abide by it; it is of good use, with all possible solemnity, to oblige ourselves to our duty, and it is especially seasonable after notorious backslidings to sin, and decays in

incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burnt incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the $planets, and to all the host of heaven.

6 And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burnt it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. 7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove "hangings for the grove.

8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burnt incense, from Geba 'to Beer-sheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.

9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.

signs, or, constellations. e 2 Chr. 34. 4. f 1 Kings 14. 24. 15. 12. Ez. 8. 14. 16. 16. houses. h 1 Kings 15. 22. i Ez. 44. 10-14. 1 Sam. 2. 36. that which is good: he that bears an honest mind, does not shrink from positive engagements; fast bind, fast find.

V.4-24. We have here an account of such a reformation as we have not met with in all the history of the kings of Judah, such thorough riddance made of all the abominable things, and such foundations laid of a glorious good work; and here I cannot but wonder at two things; 1. That so many wicked things should be got in, and kept standing so long, as we find here removed. 2. That notwithstanding the removal of these wicked things, and the hopeful prospects here given of a happy settlement, yet, within a few years, Jerusalem was utterly destroyed, and even this did not save it, for the generality of the people, after all, hated to be reformed. The founder melleth in vain, and therefore, reprobate silver shall men call them, Jer. 6. 29, 20.

Let us here observe,

I. What abundance of wickedness there was, and had been, in Judah and Jerusalem; one would not have believed it possible that in Judah, where God was known, in Israel, where his name was great, in Salem, in Zion, where his dwelling-place was, such abominations should be found as here we have an account of. Josiah had now reigned 18 years, and had himself set the people a good example, and kept up religion according to law; and yet, when he came to make inquisition for idolatry, the depth and extent of the dunghill he had to carry away, are almost incredible.

1. Even in the house of the Lord, that sacred temple which Solomon built, and dedicated to the honour, and for the worship of the God of Israel, there were found vessels, all manner of utensils, for the worship of Baal, and of the grove, (or Ashtoreth,) and of all the host of heaven, v. 4. Though Josiah had suppressed the worship of idols, yet the provisions made for that worship were all carefully preserved, even in the temple itself, to be used again, whenever the present restraint should be taken off; nay, even in the grove itself, the image of it, was yet standing in the temple, (v. 6;) some make it the image of Venus, the same with Ashtoreth.

2. Just at the entering in of the house of the Lord was a stable for horses kept (would you think it?) for a religious use; they were holy horses, given to the sun, (v. 11,) as if he needed them who rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race, (Ps. 19. 5;) or rather, they would thus represent to themselves the swiftness of his motion, which they much admired, making their religion to conform to the poetical fictions of the chariot of the sun, the follies of which, even a little philosophy, without any divinity, would have exposed and made them ashamed of. Some say that those horses were to be led forth in pomp, every morning, to meet the rising sun; others, that the worshippers of the sun rode out upon them to adore the rising sun; it should seem that they drew the chariots of the sun, which the people worshipped; strange that ever men who had the written word of God among them, should be thus vain in their imaginations!

3. Hard by the house of the Lord there were houses of the Sodomites, where all manner of lewdness and filthiness, even that which was most unnatural, was practised, and, under pretence of religion, in honour of their impure deities; corporal and spiritual whoredom went together, and the vile affections which they were given up to, were the punishment of their vain imaginations; they that dishonoured their God, were justly left thus to dishonour themselves, Rom. 1. 24, &c. There were women that wove hangings for the grove, (v. 7,) tents which encompassed the image of Venus, where the worshippers committed all manner of lewdness, and this in the house of the Lord; they did ill, that made our Father's house a house of merchandise, they did worse, that made it a den of thieves, but those did worst of all that made it (Horrendum dictu! horrible

10 And he 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.

11 And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burnt the chariots of the sun with fire.

P

Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.

14 And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.

15 Moreover, the altar that was at Beth-el, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and high place he brake down, and burnt the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burut the grove.

12 And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the 16 And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and 13 And the high places that were before Jerusa- burnt them upon the altar, and polluted it, accordlem, which were on the right hand of the mounting to the word 'of the LORD, which the man of God of Corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the

Is. 30. 33. Jer. 7. 31. m Josh. 15. 8. n Lev. 18. 21. Deut. 18. 10. Ez. 23. 37, 39. or, eunuch, or, officer. o Jer. 19. 13. Zeph. 1. 5. p c. 21. 5. tor, ran to relate!) a brothel, in an impudent defiance of the holiness of God and his temple; well might the apostle call them abominable idolatries.

4. There were many idolatrous altars found, (v. 12,) some in the palace, on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz; the roofs of their houses being flat, they made them their high places, and set up altars upon them, (Jer. 19. 13. Zeph. 1. 5,) domestic altars; the kings of Judah did so: and though Josiah never used them, yet to this time they remained there. Manasseh had built altars for his idols in the house of the Lord; when he repented, he removed them, and cast them out of the city, (2 Chr. 33. 15,) but, not destroying them, bis son Amon, it seems, had brought them again into the courts of the temple, there Josiah found them, and thence he brake them down, v. 12. 5. There was Tophet, in the valley of the son of Hinnom, very near Jerusalem, where the image of Molech (that god of unnatural cruelty, as others were of unnatural uncleanness) was kept, to which some sacrificed their children, burning them in the fire, others dedicated them, making them to pass through the fire, (v. 10,) labouring in the very fire, Hab. 2. 13. It is supposed to have been called Tophet, from toph, a drum, because they beat drums at the burning of the children, that their shrieks might not be heard.

6. There were high places before Jerusalem, which Solomon had built, v. 13. The altars and images on those high places, we may suppose, had been taken away by some of the preceding godly kings, or, perhaps, Solomon himself had removed them when he became a penitent, but the buildings, or some parts of them, remained, with other high places, till Josiah's time. They that introduce corruptions into religion, know not how far they will reach, nor how long they will last; antiquity is no certain proof of verity: there were also high places all the kingdom over, from Geba to Beersheba, (v. 8,) and high places of the gates, in the entering in of the gate of the governor. In those high places, Bishop Patrick thinks, they burned incense to those tutelar gods, to whom their idolatrous kings had committed the protection of their city; and, probably, the governor of the city had a private altar for his penates-his household gods.

7. There were idolatrous priests, that officiated at all those idolatrous altars, (v. 5;) Chemarim, black men, or that wore black; see Zeph. 1. 4. They that sacrificed to Osiris, or that wept for Tammuz, (Ez. 8. 14,) or that worshipped the infernal deities, put on black garments as mourners. Those idolatrous priests, the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places; they were, it should seem, priests of the house of Aaron, who thus profaned their dignity, and there were others also who had no right at all to the priesthood, who burned incense to Baal.

8. There were conjurers and wizards, and such as dealt with familiar spirits, v. 21. When they worshipped the devil as their god, no marvel that they consulted him as their oracle. II. What a full destruction good Josiah made of all those relics of idolatry; such is his zeal for the Lord of hosts, and his holy indignation against all that is displeasing to him, that nothing shall stand before him; the law was, that the monuments of the Canaanites' idolatry must be all destroyed, (Deut. 7. 5,) much more of the idolatry of the Israelites, in whom it was much more impious, profane, and perfidious.

1. He orders Hilkiah, and the other priests, to clear the temple, that was their province, v. 4. Away with all the vessels that were made for Baal. They must never be employed in the service of God, no, nor reserved for any common use, they must all be burned, and the ashes of them carried to Bethel; that place had been the common source of idolatry, for there was set up one of the calves, and that lying next to Judah, thence the infection had spread into that kingdom, and therefore now he makes it the laystall of idolatry, the dunghill to which he carries the filth and offscouring of all things, that, if possible, it might be made loathsome to those that had been fond of it.

2. The idolatrous priests were all put down; those of them that were not of the house of Aaron, or had sacrificed to Baal,

proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.

17 Then he said, What title is that that I see? from thence. i.e. the mount of Olives. g 1 Kings 11. 7. r Ex. 23. 24. Num. 33. 52. Deut. 7. 5, 25. Mic. 1. 7. statues. 1 Kings 12. 28, 33. 11 Kings 13. 2. or other false gods, he put to death, according to the law; (v. 20,) he slew them upon their own altars, the most acceptable sacrifice that ever had been offered upon them, a sacrifice to the justice of God: those that were descendants from Aaron, and yet had burned incense in the high places, but to the true God only, he forbade ever to approach the altar of the Lord, they had forfeited that honour; (v. 9,) he brought them out of the cities of Judah, (v. 8,) that they might not do mischief in the country by secretly keeping up their old idolatrous usages; but he allowed them to eat of the unleavened bread, (the bread of the meat-offering, Lev. 2. 4, 5,) among their brethren, with whom they were to reside, that being under their eye, they might be kept from doing hurt, and taught to do well; that bread, that unleavened bread, (heavy and unpleasant as it was,) was better than they deserved, and that would serve to keep them alive; but whether they were permitted to eat of all the sacrifices, as blemished priests were, (Lev. 21. 22,) which is called, in general, the bread of their God, may be justly questioned. 3. All the images were broken to pieces, and burned; the image of the grove, (v. 6,) some goddess or other, was reduced to ashes, and the ashes cast upon the graves of the common people, (v. 6,) the common burying-place of the city. By the law, a ceremonial uncleanness was contracted by the touch of a grave, so that in casting them here, he declared them most impure, and none could touch them without making themselves unclean by it: he cast it into the graves, so the Chaldee, intimating that he would have all idolatry buried out of his sight, as a loathsome thing, and forgotten, as dead men are out of mind; (v. 14,) he filled the places of the groves with the bones of men; as he carried the ashes of the images to the graves, to mingle them with dead men's bones, so he carried dead men's bones to the places where the images had been, and put them in the room of them, that, both ways, idolatry might be rendered loathsome, and the people kept both from the dust of the images, and from the ruins of the places where they had been worshipped; dead men, and dead gods, were much alike, and fittest to go together.

4. All the wicked houses were suppressed; those nests of impiety that harboured idolaters, the houses of the sodomites, v. 7, (down with them, down with them, raze them to the foundations;) the high places were, in like manner, broken down and levelled with the ground, (v. 8,) even that which belonged to the governor of the city, for no man's greatness or power may protect him in idolatry or profaneness; let governors be obliged, in the first place, to reform, and then the governed will be the sooner influenced: he defiled the high places, (v. 8, and again, v. 13:) did all he could to render them abominable, and put the people out of conceit with them, as Jehu did when he made the house of Baal a draught house, 2 Kings 10. 27. Tophet, which, contrary to other places of idolatry, was in a valley, whereas they were on hills or high places, was likewise defiled, (v. 10,) was made the buryingplace of the city; concerning this we have a whole sermon, Jer. 19. 1, 2, &c. where it is said, They shall bury in Tophet; and the whole city is threatened to be made like Tophet.

5. The horses that had been given to the sun, were taken away, and put to common use, and so were delivered from the vanity to which they were made subject; and the chariots of the sun (what pity was it that those horses and chariots should be kept as the chariots and horsemen of Israel!) he burned with fire; and if the sun be a flame, they never resembled him so as they did when they were chariots of fire.

6. The workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, were put away, v. 24. Those of them that were convicted of witchcraft, it is likely, he put to death, and so deterred others from those diabolical practices; in all this, he had a sincere regard to the words of the law which were written in the book lately found, (v. 24;) he made that his rule, and kept that in his eye throughout this reformation.

III. How his zeal extended itself to the cities of Israel that were within his reach. The ten tribes were carried captive; the Assyrian colonies did not fully people the country, so that,

Josiah reforms Judah.

CHAPTER XXIII.

And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre | wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in
of the man of "God which came from Judah, and Jerusalem.
proclaimed these things that thou hast done against
the altar of Beth-el.

18 And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.

19 And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Beth-el.

20 And he 'slew "all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burnt men's bones upon then, and returned to Jerusalem.

21 And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.

22 Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;

23 But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah,

1 Kings 13. 30, 31. to eacope. 22. 20. 1 Kings 18. 40. c. 11. 18. Deut. 16. 2, &c. z 2 Chr. 35. 18, 19,

2 Chr. 34. 6, 7.

to Ex.
tor, sacrificed.
z 2 Chr. 34. 5. y Ex. 12. 3, &c. Num. 9. 2.
a c. 21. 6. Rev. 22. 15.

24 Moreover, the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.

25 And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.

26 Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.

27 And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed "Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.

c c. 18. 5. b Lev. 19. 31. 20. 27. Deut. 18. 11. tor, teraphim, Gen. 31. 19. e Neh. 10. 29. f c. 21. 11, 12. 24. 3, 4. Jer. 15. 4. d 1 Kings 8. 48. Jer. 29. 13. h c. 17. 18, 20. 18. 11. 1 Kings 9.3. Sangera. g c. 21. 13. ordinances of God, but Josiah considered that we must learn to do well, and not only cease to do evil, and that the way to keep out all abominable customs, is to keep up all instituted ordi

it is likely, many cities had put themselves under the protection of the kings of Judah, 2 Chr. 30. 1.-34. 6. These he here visits, to carry on his reformation; as far as our influence goes, our endeavours should go to do good, and bring the wicked-nances, (see Lev. 18. 30;) and therefore be commanded all the ness of the wicked to an end.

people to keep the passover, which was not only a memorial of 1. He defiled and demolished Jeroboam's altar at Bethel, their deliverance out of Egypt, but a token of their dedication to him that brought them out, and their communion with bim: with the high place and the grove that belonged to it, v. 15, 16. The golden calf, it should seem, was gone, (Thy calf, O Sa- this he found written in the book of the law, here called the book maria, has cast thee off,) but the altar was there, which those of the covenant; for though the divine authority may deal with us in a way of absolute command, divine grace condescends to that were wedded to their old idolatries, made use of still; this federal transactions, and therefore he observed it. We have was, (1.) Defiled, v. 16. Josiah, in his pious zeal, was rannot such a particular account of this passover as of that in sacking the old seats of idolatry, and spied the sepulchres in Hezekiah's time, (2 Chr. 30.) but, in general, that there was the mount, in which, probably, the idolatrous priests were not holden such a passover in any of the foregoing reigns, no not buried, not far from the altar at which they had officiated, and which they were so fond of, that they were desirous to lay their from the days of the judges, (v. 22 ;) which, by the way, inbones by it; these he opened, took out the bones, and burned timates that though the account which the book of Judges gives This passover, it them upon the altar, to show that thus he would have done by of the state of Israel under that dynasty, looks but melancholy, the priests themselves, if they had been alive, as he did by yet there were then some golden days. those whom he found alive, (v. 20,) thus he polluted the altar, seems, was extraordinary for the number and devotion of the desecrated it, and made it odious. It is threatened against communicants, their sacrifices and offerings, and their exact idolaters, Jer. 8. 1, 2, that their bones shall be spread before the observance of the laws of the feast; and it was not now, as in We have reasun; that which is there threatened, and this which is here Hezekiah's passover, when many communicated, that were not executed, (bespeaking their iniquity to be upon their bones, cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary, and the Levites were permitted to do the priests' work. Ez. 32. 27,) are an intimation of a punishment after death, reson to think that during all the remainder of Josiah's reign, reserved for those that live and die impenitent in that or any other sin; the burning of the bones, if that were all, is a small matter;ligion flourished, and the feasts of the Lord were very carefully but if it signify the torment of the soul in a worse flame, (Luke observed; but in this passover, the satisfaction they took in the covenant lately renewed, the reformation in pursuance of it, 16. 24,) it is very dreadful. This, as it was Josiah's act, seems to be the result of a very sudden resolve; he had not done it, and the revival of an ordinance which they had lately found the but that he happened to turn himself, and spy the sepulchres, divine original of in the book of the law, and which had long and yet it was foretold above 350 years before, when this altar been neglected or carelessly kept, put them into transports of God always fore-holy joy; and God was pleased to recompense their zeal in dewas first built by Jeroboam, 1 Kings 13. 2. sees, and has sometimes foretold as certain, that which yet to stroying idolatry with uncommon tokens of his presence and us seems most contingent; the king's heart is in the hand of the favour; all this concurred to make it a distinguished passover. V. 25-30. Upon the reading of these verses, we must say, Lord; king Josiah's was so, and he turned it (or ever he himself was aware, Cant. 6. 12,) to do this; no word of God shall Lord, though thy righteousness be as the great mountains, evifall to the ground. (2.) It was demolished; he brake down the dent, conspicuous, and past dispute, yet thy judgments are a altar and all its appurtenances, v. 15, burned what was combus- great deep, unfathomable, and past finding out, Ps. 36. 6. What tible, and, since an idol is nothing in the world, he went as far shall we say to this? toward the annihilating of it as he could, for he stamped it small to powder, and made it as dust before the wind.

2. He destroyed all the houses of the high places, all those synagogues of Satan that were in the cities of Samaria, v. 19. These the kings of Israel built, and God raised up this king of Judah to pull them down, for the honour of the ancient house of David, from which the ten tribes had revolted; the priests he justly made sacrifices upon their own altars, v. 20.

3. He carefully preserved the sepulchre of that man of God, who came from Judah to foretel this, which now a king who came from Judah, executed; this was that good prophet who proclaimed these things against the altar of Bethel, and yet was himself slain by a lion for disobeying the word of the Lord; but to show that God's displeasure against him went no further than his death, but ended there, God so ordered it, that when all the graves about his were disturbed, his was safe, (v. 17, 18,) and no man moved his bones: he was entered into peace, and therefore shall rest in his bed, Is. 57. 2. The old lying prophet, who desired to be buried as near him as might be, it should seem, knew what he did, for his dust also being mingled with that of the good prophet, was preserved for his sake; see Num. 23. 10.

Lastly, We are here told what a solemn passover Josiah and his people kept, after all this. When they had cleared the country of the old leaven, then they applied themselves to the keeping of the feast; when Jehu had destroyed the worship of Baal, yet he took no heed to walk in the commandments and

I. It is here owned that Josiah was one of the best kings that ever sat upon the throne of David, v. 25. As Hezekiah was a nonsuch for faith and dependence upon God in straits, (ch. 18. 5,) so Josiah was a nonsuch for sincerity and zeal in carrying on a work of reformation. For this, there was none like him. 1. That he turned to the Lord from whom his fathers had revolted. It is true religion to turn to God, as one we have chosen, and love. He did what he could to turn his kingdom also to the Lord. 2. That he did this with his heart and soul; his affections and aims were right in what he did. Those make nothing of their religion, that do not make heart work of it. 3. That he did it with all his heart, and all his soul, and all his might; with vigour, and courage, and resolution; he could not otherwise have broken through the difficulties he had to grapple with. What great things may we bring to pass in the service of God, if we be but lively and hearty in it! 4. That he did this, according to all the law of Moses; in an exact observance of that law, and with an actual regard to it. His zeal did not transport him into any irregularities, but, in all he did, he walked by rule.

II. Notwithstanding this, he was cut off by a violent death, in the midst of his days, and his kingdom was ruined within a few years after. Consequent upon such a reformation as this, one would have expected nothing but the prosperity and glory both of king and kingdom; but, quite contrary, we find both under a cloud.

1. Even the reformed kingdom continues marked for ruin. ( 933 )

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