Josiah-Look What I Found

By Mary Vee
Ii Kings 22, II Chronicles 34

From the Journals of High Priest Hilkiah

Photo Courtesy

King Josiah has reigned for eighteen years. For such a young king he has done a good job.

As high priest in the temple, I have many duties. This morning, I started my day working in the temple as usual. I didn't have much to do. The kings before Josiah had turned away from God.

Early in the day, though, the king sent some men here to the temple with a message. One said, "King Josiah wants you to take the money given by the people of Manasseh, Ephraim, and the entire remnant of Israel and Judah, Benjamin, and Jerusalem and give it to the men who are supervising the repairs on the temple. The supervisors are to pay the workers, the carpenters, builders, and masons.

"The king also wants the money used to buy wood and prepared stone to repair the temple. He says the supervisors are to be trusted to pay the men what is right.

I stopped my work, immediately, and thanked God. Yes! At last we can return to worshiping the God who has given us life. I was also excited because the temple had needed repairs for a long time, but like I said, previous kings wouldn't give us permission to fix it.

I went into the chamber where the coins had been hidden behind a locked door. As I gathered the money for the project, I noticed a parchment. I pulled it out of the pile. "What is this?" I set the money down and unrolled the scroll. 

My heart nearly stopped when I saw the words. "This is the Book of the Law of the Lord that was given through Moses! It's been missing for years." I turned and called for the men sent by King Josiah. "Shephan. I have found the Book of the Law. It was right here!"

He followed my voice and stared at the scroll in my hand. "Look!" I handed the precious parchment to Shephan. 

He read it and said, "Do you realize what this is?"

"I know! After all these years. Isn't this exciting!"

Shephan rolled the parchment and held it close to his chest to protect it. "I'm going to take this to the king right away. Won't he be surprised."

I can hardly breathe. First we finally received permission to repair the temple and now the missing scroll has been found. Thank you, God for sending us a King who cares about Your temple. Thank You. Praise Your name.

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1. Who is the high priest in this story?
2. What message did King Josiah send to the high priest?
3. Where did the high priest go?
4. What did he accidentally find?
5. Do you think he really found this by accident?
6. Who did the high priest give the object to?
7. What did this man plan to do?