“I Have Found the Book of the Law”
In the days of King Josiah, workmen were repairing the temple. During the restoration, “Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, ‘I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD’” (2 Ki 22:8). From the reforms Josiah instituted, most biblical scholars believe Hilkiah found the Book of Deuteronomy stuck somewhere inside the temple. Regardless of what specific text was found in Josiah’s reign, I’m beyond flabbergasted that the Israelites had lost a part of the sacred text lost and found when no one was searching for it. If I had lost something that valuable, I’d search high and low to find it.
One must wonder what went through the hearts of those who first lost the Book of the Law. God had commanded his people:
These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates (Deut 6:6-9).
The Book of the Law was intended to be a way of life, an ever-constant element, in the communal and personal lives of God’s people. But, nope, the people didn’t regard God’s word as important enough to make it a part of their very identity. It’s not surprising, therefore, that we read of great idolatry and sin among the Israelites, and it’s certainly not surprising that God sent them away captive from the Promised Land.
We cannot be guilty of the same. Scripture must be an ever-constant element in our communal and personal lives. Only Scripture leads us to God. Only Scripture tells us how to live. Only Scripture provides light in the darkness. Only Scripture stabilizes our souls in an ever-turbulent world. Only Scripture transforms us into the image of the Lord Jesus.
How much time do you spend with the Scriptures? Make sure you spend ample time with the Word of God so that you might never lose that truth deep in your heart. Make a commitment to spend part of every day with the “Book of the Law.” Your life will be richly blessed.
This article was originally written by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., for the weekly newsletter at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.