Stories of the Prophets Part 23

When he heard the great declaration of G.o.d's unity,

"Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our G.o.d, the Lord is one; and thou shalt love the Lord thy G.o.d with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy might",

he understood how little he had accomplished throughout his reign, in attempted suppression of the worship of many G.o.ds.

When he heard the scribe read aloud that it is G.o.d's will to be worshiped only in that "place which the Lord your G.o.d shall choose out of all your tribes to put His name there," he determined, more than ever before, to pull down every shrine and pagan sanctuary and to center the worship of the Lord in the Temple in Jerusalem alone.

At the end of the book, Shaphan read a series of wonderful blessings that were promised king and people, if they would live in accordance with the commandments contained in the Book of the Law--and Josiah saw visions of peace and prosperity for his kingdom. But the reading of the last lines cast a heavy gloom upon the little party, for the book concluded with the enumeration of a series of evils upon evils that would surely befall king and people should they not live in accordance with these commandments:

"All these curses shall come upon thee and follow thee and overtake thee until thou art destroyed, because thou hast not hearkened unto the Lord thy G.o.d, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded thee."

Upon hearing this very dramatic conclusion, Josiah came down from his throne and bowed himself to the ground. He rent his clothes and wept aloud, as if he were mourning for one who had died and whom he had loved best of all in the world.

Then, restraining himself and collecting all his strength, he turned to Shaphan and Hilkiah and the others, who had been listening to the reading, and said:

"Go ye, inquire of the Lord for me, and for them that are left in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do according unto all that is written in this book."

Leaving the King's presence, Hilkiah and his companions held a short council to determine what to do next. The Book of the Law was so extraordinary that they needed the wisdom of some sage to explain to them how to proceed.

Those of the Prophetic Party understood well enough what this book was. They considered that it was a copy of the law which Moses was ordered to "put by the side of the Ark" and which Solomon probably placed in the corner-stone of the Temple when he built it. They who had been trained by the descendants of the little party of faithful Judeans whom Isaiah had gathered about him, knew that this law had been continually violated since the days of Hezekiah and practically forgotten. Therefore they wanted someone who was an authority, one who would be trusted by all the people, to interpret this book and to declare it to be the genuine Law of Moses.

First, someone suggested that Jeremiah be called in to interpret the book, but Hilkiah objected on the ground that Jeremiah was still a young man and that his opinion probably would not be heeded by all the people. Shaphan then suggested that the book be taken to Huldah, the Prophetess, a wise and aged mother in Israel, then living in Jerusalem.

This suggestion was agreeable to all. With Hilkiah as leader of the delegation, they came to Huldah, bringing the request from the King.

Her face lighted up benignly when she had read the book, but when she thought of the reply she had to send back, her brows knitted and wrinkles of care and pain showed in her face. Returning the scroll to Shaphan, Huldah said:

"Thus saith the Lord, the G.o.d of Israel; Tell ye the man that sent you unto me: Thus saith the Lord, 'Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah. Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other G.o.ds, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their bands; therefore is my wrath poured out upon this place and it shall not be quenched.'

"But unto the King of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall ye say to him: 'Thus saith the Lord, the G.o.d of Israel: As touching the words which thou hast heard, because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before G.o.d, when thou heardest his words against this place and against the inhabitants thereof, and hast humbled thyself before me and hast rent thy clothes and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place and upon the inhabitants thereof.'"

The good prophetess knew that what happens to individuals must happen to whole nations. Here was a people that had been adding evil to evil and transgression to transgression for many generations. Just as a person who keeps on sinning and sinning, without reforming in his heart and in his deeds, arrives at a time when, no matter how anxious he is to turn from his evil ways, it is too late and he must finally pay the penalty for his misspent life, so this nation of Judah, into the very heart of which the cancer of wrongdoing had long been eating, could not, at this late date, escape its final destruction.

But it is different, as the Prophetess Huldah expressed it, with individuals who turn from their evil paths while they are young, or who, like Josiah, attempt to do the right thing in the very midst of evil.

Therefore, she could send back the message to the king, that he, because of the tenderness of his heart, because of his humility before G.o.d, because of his unquestioned effort to act in accordance with G.o.d's commandments, would return unto the G.o.d who sent him here before the evil days were to come upon the land, before the doom that awaited his people would encompa.s.s them.

The king had been anxiously awaiting the return of his messengers, when they arrived at the palace from the house of the Prophetess. They were quickly ushered into the throne room.

It was with great hesitation that Hilkiah finally made up his mind to report the words of the prophetess, exactly as she had spoken them.

When the priest had finished, a deep, deathlike silence hung over the room, as if some catastrophe were impending.

Josiah turned away from the little group, rested his arm heavily upon the throne and leaned his head upon it. Hilkiah, Shaphan and the others saw and felt the emotion that surged through the young king and caused his whole frame to tremble. A soft, gentle sound escaped him, as if he were weeping.

Suddenly, however, Josiah's att.i.tude changed. He ran the back of his hand over his eyes, straightened up and faced his friends. He was calm, composed, determined. He had concluded that he, himself, was the least to be considered in this matter. He needed advice from more older and more experienced men. Consequently, before the counselors present left him, Josiah ordered Shaphan to call an a.s.sembly of the elders of the entire people to meet in Jerusalem before the coming Pa.s.sover.

CHAPTER VI.

_A New Covenant._

Josiah was determined not to give up so easily. He would not admit to himself that his country and his people were beyond hope. He figured that perhaps the prophetess had exaggerated purposely in order to recall the people to their duty to their G.o.d and to the country, more quickly and more conscientiously.

He was not at all happy over the fact that he himself would escape the threatened destruction of his people. What he wanted was to discover some possible way, and to make every attempt, to save all his people.

At the council of the Elders, as a first step, he suggested that the coming Pa.s.sover be celebrated faithfully in accordance with the commandments in the rediscovered law book.

Messengers were therefore sent throughout Judah, and even up into Israel, to announce a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the celebration of the Pa.s.sover, by order of the king and the Elders.

Great and happy throngs came to the Capital for the festival. It was a mult.i.tude of people far different in mien and behavior from that same mult.i.tude that had rushed to the protection of the fortified city when the Scythian invaders had threatened the country a few years before.

Now, when the Pa.s.sover eve, that is the fourteenth day of the first month, was at hand, it was found that the great majority of the people did not bring with them the prescribed sacrifices, either because they did not know of the custom or because they were too poor.

Such a condition, however, did not dismay Josiah and his officers. He, himself, out of his own treasury, distributed the means for making the sacrifices to over thirty-three thousand people. Hilkiah and the heads of the Temple service, out of their own means, did the same for the Priests and the Levites. So that everyone present in Jerusalem that day observed the Pa.s.sover properly and happily.

On the following morning, that is, on the first day of the festival, an a.s.sembly of all the people present, both great and small, was called in the Temple courts.

The King and his advisers sat on a platform especially erected for the purpose. When order was secured, the King arose and stood in his place and "read of the words of the Book of the Covenant that was found in the House of G.o.d, before all the people."

The impression made upon the a.s.sembly was wonderful. As Josiah proceeded with his reading the murmurs and low exclamations of surprise changed into a deep and impressive silence that was not broken even when the King had finished and had laid aside the Book of the Law.

Reverently and with bowed head, Josiah raised a prayer unto G.o.d:

"Look down from Thy holy habitation, from heaven, O Lord, and bless Thy people Israel."

And with one voice the whole a.s.sembly answered, softly:

"Amen, Oh Lord, Amen."

Then Josiah addressed the people. He pleaded with all the fervor and sincerity of his soul for them to re-establish, on that day, the ancient covenant between them and their G.o.d. This they did with a great shout of acclamation. Josiah continued:

"This day the Lord thy G.o.d commandeth thee to do these statutes and ordinances; thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thy heart, and with all thy soul. Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy G.o.d, and that thou wouldest walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his ordinances, and hearken unto his voice; and the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be a people for his own possession, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; and to make thee high above all nations that he hath made in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that thou mayest be a holy people unto the Lord thy G.o.d, as he hath spoken."

When the King had finished and sat down, a great murmur welled up from the a.s.sembled people, until it grew into one great shout from the mult.i.tude:

"We have heard and shall do accordingly."

Thus the people of Judah and Israel once more took upon themselves the duty and burden to be a holy people unto the Lord their G.o.d, as they had done at Sinai in the days of Moses.

There was one man in the a.s.sembly, however, who not entirely carried away by the enthusiasm of the moment. It was Jeremiah. He knew well enough how a people, excited by a new and novel situation, would make promises which perhaps later they would be disinclined to keep. The mere acceptance of the covenant did not already mean the carrying out of its statutes in their daily life.

Therefore, Jeremiah arose in the midst of the a.s.sembly, and, before the people were dispersed, struck one note of warning:

"Cursed be the man that heareth not the words of this covenant, which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying, 'Obey my voice, and do them according to all which I command you; so shall ye be my people, and I will be your G.o.d; that I may establish the oath which I sware unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.'"

In conclusion, Jeremiah bowed his head and expressed the hope of the realization of the new covenant with the words: