Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to the prophetess Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the Second District.

She said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and provoked me to anger by all the idols their hands have made, my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.’ Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people, that they would become accursed and laid waste, and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the LORD. Therefore I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.’”

So they took her answer back to the king. (2 Kings 22:14-20)

Hey, look what we found! During the reign of Josiah, the last good king, the priests discovered a copy of the “book of the Law” while they were renovating the Temple. The book of the law is most likely the book of Deuteronomy, though it’s possible it might be the entire Pentateuch, Genesis through Deuteronomy. Besides not worshipping God like they were supposed to, and besides not loving one another like they were supposed to, the Israelites had misplaced their copy of God’s word to them, a metaphor of how they had misplaced God from their lives. Startled by what they read, the priests took it to the king and read it to him. He reacted by tearing his robes and exclaiming that God was angry at them. So he told the priests to go and find out what God’s intentions were. Was there any hope? Could they fix the problem—pay a penalty short of foreclosure? So Hilkiah, along with other religious and government officials went to Huldah. We know nothing more about her than what is related here.

Upon receiving her message, which was simply a confirmation that they had accurately understood the contract and that indeed, they were in serious trouble with God, the priests and other officials returned to Josiah and relayed her words. Then Josiah went to the Temple, along with a large percentage of the population of Jerusalem. There, he read the words of the contract to the people and renewed it, encouraging them to abide by the terms of what was in the “book of the law.” He knew that the judgment would not come in his day because of Huldah’s words. But he hoped that if he could get his people to genuinely repent—as he had—and thereby gained God’s forbearance. He hoped that the same would happen to his nation as well.

Unfortunately, the people of Judah did not genuinely repent and the judgment that God had long promised came. Ignorance of the law would not protect them. Without repentance, discipline is inevitable. God wants to change our lives for the best. He’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen.

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