During the long idolatrous reign of Manasseh he worked to rebuild the pagan shrines his father Hezekiah had destroyed (II Kings 21:1-3), and even sacrificed one of his sons as a burnt offering (21:6). Then his son Amon became king, though he was assassinated by his courtiers after two years (21:19-23). Those officials were in turn killed, and Amon’s son Josiah was declared king. He was 8 years old.

King Josiah dedicated himself to doing what was right in the sight of the Lord (22:2). He employed workmen to repair the temple, which had fallen into disrepair. During their work they found the book of the law in the temple – for how long had it been missing!? – and so King Josiah sent his chief advisors to “go, inquire of the Lord … concerning the words of this book” (22:13).

To receive an authoritative answer, they did not go to the priests; indeed, the chief priest Hilkiah was one of those who went at the king’s command to seek an answer from the Lord. Nor did they go to the prophet Jeremiah, who would probably have been in the early years of his prophetic ministry. Instead, they went to the prophet Huldah. The text gives us a clue about her age in identifying her as the “wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe.” If we were to guess her grandfather-in-law Harhas might have been an active man of 60 or 65 in his responsible position in the palace, we would suppose his firstborn son might have been as old as 45 or 50, and his firstborn grandson might have been as old as 30 or 35: or perhaps ten years younger. That would suggest that Huldah was a relatively young woman, perhaps in her early thirties, or possibly still in her early twenties. Yet when the chief advisors of the king needed to inquire of an authoritative prophet for a definitive interpretation of the word of the Lord, they knew they needed the most capable person available: so they turned to Huldah.

“Thus says the Lord,” Huldah said, and spoke of the coming destruction in plain language. Judgment would indeed come on Judah, yet in the time of Josiah there would be peace (22:16, 19). In response, Josiah did his best to turn the worship of Judah from Baal back to the Lord, destroying pagan shrines (23:4-16), and celebrating the Passover (23:21-23); but the tipping point had been passed, and the exile would come (23:26-27).

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Because your mercy is so great, O Lord, we presume upon it, as if you somehow owe us endless patience, as if some minor apology on our part somewhere down the line should be sufficient for forgiveness. Yet our stubbornness can lead to severe consequences, for us and for future generations. Teach us to turn to you, early and often, with all our hearts!