CHAPTER XXXI

JOSIAH'S REFORMATION 385

Growth of Josiah's character--Repairs of the Temple--Hilkiah finds the Book of the Law--Intense effect produced on mind of the king--His message to the prophetess Huldah--Great assembly--Renewal of a solemn league and covenant with Jehovah--The _bamoth_-priests degraded--Defiling of Tophet--He carries the reformation into Samaria--Its stringency and severity--The Passover--Suppression of heathen corruptions--Jeremiah's share in the reformation--Its dangers and disappointing results--Jeremiah's warnings against all trust in externals--The prophecy of a new covenant--NOTE TO CHAPTER XXXI.: The Book found in the Temple.