2 Chronicles 34:16
And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it. And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it.
The verse belongs to the account of Josiah's reign, presented as a lesson in faithful service. The reformation took place in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign and was prepared for by prophetic messages regarding the Babylonian captivity. In the temple-repair work, Shaphan's report to the king means the workers carried out everything entrusted to them.
The carrying of the book to the king was part of the wholly unexpected discovery and study of a portion of Scripture that had been strangely misplaced and lost for many years after being found in the house of the Lord. After the book of the law was carried to King Josiah, its words were read before him and before all the men of Israel gathered together. The reading revealed the transgression of trampling on the precepts of Heaven and departing from the statutes of the Lord by rulers and people.
On hearing it, Josiah rent his garments, wept before the Lord, humbled himself, confessed his transgression, commanded inquiry of the Lord for himself and his people, and made a covenant to keep the statutes of the Lord with his whole heart. As in Josiah's time, hearing the law leads to deep repentance and a return to the Lord. Josiah made a thorough work of repentance and reformation, did not rest until the people did all they could to return from backsliding and serve the living God, and God accepted his efforts while the whole congregation entered a solemn covenant to keep the commandments, so the reform movement averted threatened judgments for a season.
The same work belongs to the present, for God has opened the book of the law to backslidden Israel and revealed the transgression of fathers and followers. Wrath will be on every soul who does not repent and reform as light shines on his pathway. All must therefore repent of past evil, seek God with all the heart, believe God means just what He says, make no compromise with evil, greatly humble themselves before God, and count any loss preferable to loss of His favor.