The spiritual decline of Israel reached its climax during the reign of Manasseh, the king of Judah who “did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel” (2 Kings 21:2). Manasseh’s idolatry was denounced by God (2 Kings 21:10-15) and he was brought to Babylon with hooks and bound with chains until he “humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers” (2 Chronicles 33:11-12). Manasseh’s repentance sparked a revival in Judah that was instigated by Josiah, who was only eight years old when he began to reign in Jerusalem (2 Kings 22:1). As a result of repairs that were being made to the house of the LORD (2 Kings 22:3-7), it says in 2 Kings 22:8, “And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, ‘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.” “The book given to Josiah may have included the whole Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament). The blessings and curses detailed in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 as well as the promises in Deuteronomy 29 and 30 were instrumental in beginning Josiah’s revival” (note on 2 Chronicles 34:14-19).

The reading of the Book of the Law to the people of Israel was supposed to occur every seven years (Deuteronomy 31:10-11), but it is likely that no one had read the book since the temple was built and dedicated by Solomon hundreds of years earlier. It says in 2 Kings 23:21-22, “And the king commanded all the people, ‘Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.’ For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah.” Just before King David died, he commanded his son, Solomon to keep God’s commandments (1 Kings 2:2-3), but “when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father” (1 Kings 11:4). As time went on, the kings of Israel and Judah were corrupted by the kings of the surrounding nations and idolatry replaced their worship of God as was predicted by Moses (Deuteronomy 31:27-29).

The central theme of Deuteronomy 29 and 30 was repentance and forgiveness. These chapters included the promise that God would restore the Israelites’ fortunes if they turned to the LORD with all of their hearts and obeyed his commandments. Moses said:

“And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. And the Lord your God will put all these curses on your foes and enemies who persecuted you. And you shall again obey the voice of the Lord and keep all his commandments that I command you today. The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 30:1-10)

The Hebrew word shuwb (shoob) appears in this passage seven times. Shuwb means “to turn back…’to return or go back, bring back.’ The basic meaning of the verb is movement back to the point of departure…The process called conversion or turning to God is in reality a re-turning or a turning back again to Him from whom sin has separated us, but whose we are by virtue of creation, preservation and redemption” (H7725). God used the word shuwb when he told Solomon, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn (shuwb) from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

It says of Josiah in 2 Kings 23:25, “Before him there was no king like him, who turned (shuwb) to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.” This verse indicates that Josiah’s turning was an inward turning. Josiah turned toward God with all his heart, all his soul, and with all his might, “according to the Law of Moses.” What this might suggest is that Josiah became obsessed with obeying God’s commandments, but what was actually going on with Josiah had more to do with him falling in love with and being devoted to God than following the rules and regulations that were recorded by Moses on Mount Sinai. When Josiah inquired of the LORD about what he had read in the Book of the Law, Huldah the prophetess told him:

“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah. Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore my wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched. But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place and its inhabitants.’” (2 Chronicles 34:23-28)

Josiah knew that he couldn’t change the outcome of his situation. Rather than trying to get God to relent, Josiah’s revival was intended to make the most of the time that was left before God’s people were taken into captivity. The hope that Josiah likely held onto was that he would be spared from the tragedy that was ahead and had been assured by God that he would experience life after death (2 Chronicles 34:28; Hebrews 12).