Hilkiah’s Great Discovery

By:  Dale Weckbacher

2 Chronicles 34:14

 While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord given through^[a] Moses.

(ESV)

While media focuses our attention on the negative aspects of our society, we also live in an amazing world of technological discovery and advancement.  (1)  The greatest technological advancement, however, may be the invention of the printing press for with its invention knowledge through the printed word became affordable and available to the masses.  (2)  Now, with the printed word going digital, knowledge through the printed word has never been more readily available and affordable to the masses.  (3)

If there is a bad side to the abundant knowledge available through either the printed or digital word, it is we may lessen its value in our lives.  This was not the case, however, with the discovery of The Book of the Law of the Lord given through Moses in the Temple during the time of Hilkiah.  Since books were rare at this time in history, Hilkiah knew that what he had discovered was a rare artifact, explaining why he quickly arranged for Shaphan to deliver it to the King (2 Chronicles 34:15-18).  However, much as the physical book had immense value due to its rarity in the time of King Josiah, the most valuable aspect of this discovery was the priceless knowledge contained within the covers of the book. 

King David understood the value of The Word of God and in Psalm 19:7-14 places, as best words will allow, value upon the words contained in the book of the Law discovered by Hilkiah and why Josiah reacted as he did.  God’s Word is,

1)      Perfect (Psalm 19:7) – The spoken words of God are what created our world (Genesis 1) and as Genesis 1:31 reminds us, the results of the creation by God's Words was very good or perfect.  However, when Satan deceived Adam and Eve into believing the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was good, thus disobeying God, the perfection of God’s creation became corrupted by sin.   The good news of Psalm 19:7, however, is that the power of God’s Word at creation also provides renewal for our lives. 

2)      Trustworthy (Psalm 19:7) – While technological changes can enhance our lives, economic, political, and cultural changes bring uncertainty and skepticism into our lives.  The trustworthiness of The Word of God is something upon which we can anchor our lives.  

3)      Right (Psalm 19:8) – Pilate asked Jesus what truth was in John 18:38. This question came because of Jesus saying that testifying to the truth was why he was born (John 18:37).  After asking this question John 18:38 tells us that Pilate went out to the people, telling them he found no grounds to charge Jesus.  This either means Pilate did not want to hear the answer to his question or that he understood the answer and did not want to be the one ordering the purveyor of truth murdered.  Regardless of why Pilate left before receiving the answer to his question, we can rest in knowing that not only are the Words of God in Scripture trustworthy, they are right and something solid upon which to build our lives. 

4)      Radiant (Psalm 19:8) – The first words at creation were “Let there be light (Genesis 1:3).  However, with the creation of the sun not occurring till day four of creation, the light on the first day was the light of God’s glory which is what will light the world in the coming Kingdom of God on Earth (Revelation 21:23).  Since the sun continued to shine after the fall of Adam and Eve, the light snuffed out by the sin of Adam and Eve was the light of God’s glory which initially lit the earth.  The radiance of the Word of God, however, restores that light for those choosing to make Jesus their savior and now illuminates our path in life with Godly guidance (Psalm 119:105). 

5)      Pure enduring forever (Psalm 19:9) – Psalm 19:9 tells us that the fear of the Lord is everlasting.  What motivated Josiah to act out of fear of the Lord’s wrath was the revelation that Israel had not been obeying the instructions contained within The Book of the Law (2 Chronicles 34:21).  Josiah  understood the perfection, trustworthiness, rightness of the Word of God.  When the radiance of the Word of God shed light upon the sins of the people, Josiah knew the nation must change direction. 

6)      Reliable and altogether righteous (Psalm 19:9) – We need not question the words we read in scripture for they come from a righteous God and are something we can totally rely on.  The challenge we all face is living our lives in obedience to the words we read in scripture. 

Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the longest book of the Bible is a passage of scripture with the purpose of teaching us to find delight in the Word of God.  In our continually changing world governed by a philosophy of truth defined as whatever one believes to be true (4), the need of a solid foundation of scriptural truth is extremely important.  With this in mind, over the next several Wednesday postings we will be conducting an in-depth study of Psalm 119 to solidify the foundation of truth in our lives.  I encourage everyone reading this to bookmark this page and return to it each Wednesday and to also invite friends by sharing the link to this page with others. 

May God bless everyone reading this post.

1. H., Petr. 25 Biggest Scientific Discoveries in the History of Mankind. list25.com. [Online] List 25, June 28, 2017. [Cited: January 7, 2018.] https://list25.com/25-biggest-scientific-discoveries-in-history-of-mankind/.

2. Peterson, Valerie. Learn About Johann Gutenberg. www.thebalance.com. [Online] The Balance, August 28, 2017. [Cited: January 7, 2018.] https://www.thebalance.com/gutenberg-and-the-invention-of-the-printing-press-2800098.

3. Glor, Jeff. How e-Books Are Changing the Printed Word. www.cbsnews.com. [Online] CBS News, January 10, 2010. [Cited: January 7, 2018.] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-e-books-are-changing-the-printed-word/.

4. Dulgnan, Brian. Postmodernism Philosophy. www.britannica.com. [Online] Encyclopedia Britannica, October 31, 2014. [Cited: March 31, 2017.] https://www.britannica.com/topic/postmodernism-philosophy.