REFLECTION: The Missing Book

A significant find in the Temple…..

And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.”…. (2 Kings 22:8)    

At first sight this is an amazing statement. Surely “the book of the law” belonged “in the house of the Lord”? Nobody ought to report that they had found it there! The implication, clearly, is that somehow the book of the law had been lost.

THE HISTORY OF IT…

Manasseh’s wicked reign of 55 years had ended. Josiah, at the age of eight, had become king. When he was 16, Josiah “began to seek after the God of David his father”, and four years later began to purge the land of idolatry (2 Chron.34:3). Six years after this, when he was 26, Josiah appointed certain men (including Shaphan, the scribe) to repair the house of the Lord inJerusalem, using funds collected for that purpose. It was while this work was in progress that “the book of the law” was discovered by Hilkiah. Presumably, in earlier years when idolatry was prevalent, the book of the law was considered unnecessary and was placed somewhere out of the way. Other copies of the law must have been in circulation at the time, for Josiah was familiar with the tenor of it. This particular book, however, when discovered and read, had such a great impact upon Hilkiah, Shaphan, and, ultimately, Josiah the king who “rent his clothes” (v.11) when he heard its contents.

How could the temple possibly function without the law of God? In earlier years there had been indifference – especially in Manasseh’s reign – to the things of God. Josiah had initiated a return to God’s ways, but the temple was functioning at this time with God’s Word stored away in a cupboard!

A NEED TO REDISCOVER

Today we need to rediscover the Word of God. Many churches in our day have “lost” the Bible. It may still be in the pew, or a copy may be available at the door, but it plays no real part in the life of the church.

Without sidestepping the issue, we need to face this challenge ourselves. Although we may be of evangelical persuasion, do we really give the Word of God its rightful place? Too much preaching today is devoid of the Bible. When the Bible is preached in its authority, people will not laugh but be shaken – as Josiah was. There may be a time to laugh (Eccl.3:4), but never at the expense of God’s truth. Surely it is high time for God’s people to rediscover His Word and renew their faith in its convicting power. Nothing else can bring life to dead souls.