“Go and inquire of the LORD for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the LORD ’s anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.” - 2 Kings 22:13 NIV
When did the people of Judah start ignoring the words of the Lord? Was it when they looked around and saw the prosperity of the other nations who followed other gods? Was it when Manasseh, the evil son of Hezekiah became king. Was it when Manasseh built all of the shrines to other gods? Did they become fearful when they saw children being sacrificed to Molech and decided that it would be best to keep their mouth shut? Did they observe all of the people visiting the male prostitutes at the temple and decide that God just didn't care what they did? Or, did they just get lazy? Did it become too difficult to go to the temple on a regular basis? Was it because all of their friends stopped going to make sacrifice and seemed to prosper anyway.
It really doesn't matter why they stopped paying attention to God's requirements. The bottom line was their safety net was removed, their covenant with the God of their fathers was broken. Josiah accurately saw that the consequence of their actions was dreadful. The Lord wasn't just dismissive of their insult, he was angry. As the writer of Hebrews states, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Heb. 10:31 KJV
The citizens and rulers of Judah would pay for their disobedience. Everything they owned would be confiscated. All but the very poorest would be driven into exile. Their adopted gods would not protect them from the Lord's anger.
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