…Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given by Moses... .And Shaphan read it before the king. Thus it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes.
2 Chronicles 34:14, 18-19

During spiritually dark days in Judah, the prophet Jeremiah announced the judgment of God on the nation. When young King Josiah ordered a housecleaning in the temple, a book was found. It was God’s Law. It is ironic that the Word of the Lord was lost in the house of the Lord!

The book was read aloud to King Josiah. His reaction was deep heart-felt conviction (always a prerequisite for true conversion and revival). As Josiah was cut to the heart by the Word of God, the cleaning of the temple turned into a national revival.

Don’t miss the means God used to awaken the king and then the nation: The Word of God. The same thing happened in the 1500s as Martin Luther was transformed by studying the Bible. The result was the Protestant Reformation (the greatest revival in the history of the Church). We need what Josiah and Martin Luther experienced: the transforming power of God that comes only by the Word of God!

As a footnote: Although great revival marked Josiah’s reign, God’s judgment on Judah was already determined because of the horrific sins of the nation, led by Josiah’s grandfather, King Manasseh. Shortly after Josiah died, Judah again went astray and God subsequently delivered Judah to the Babylonians. Does that mean that Josiah’s revival was meaningless? Not for the many who were saved as a result—even though a generation later the nation backslid again. So, while no revival lasts forever, even if God determines to judge our nation, let us turn to Him and perhaps He will spare this generation.