Lives of Scripture

Asaiah, called "the king's servant," was one of five officials King Josiah personally commanded to seek the LORD's guidance after Hilkiah the priest discovered the long-lost Book of the Law during temple repairs (2 Kings 22:8-12). Alongside Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, Asaiah was sent with an urgent charge: "Go, inquire of the LORD for me and the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the LORD that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book" (22:13). The five went together to Huldah the prophetess, who lived in Jerusalem's Second Quarter, and "they talked with her" -- Scripture's simple note that this was a real conversation, not merely a message relayed (22:14). Huldah's reply confirmed the coming judgment Josiah feared, but also promised that because Josiah's heart was tender and he had humbled himself before the LORD, he personally would be spared from seeing the disaster in his lifetime (22:15-20; 2 Chronicles 34:23-28). That word, delivered through the delegation Asaiah belonged to, launched Josiah into one of Judah's most sweeping religious reforms -- destroying idolatrous altars and high places, and restoring the Passover on a scale unmatched since the days of the judges (2 Kings 23:1-25).