2 Kings 22:15-20
"15 And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. 18 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 19 because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. 20 Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king."
Huldah the prophetess's reply to Josiah's enquiry reiterated the previous pronouncements of the Lord as to the judgment that was about to come on the nation because of Manasseh's sins (21:11, 12), but an assurance was given him that, because of his whole-hearted penitence and determination to obey the Lord, the judgment would not come in his time. This is very significant. It means that the over-all purpose of God had become fixed and unalterable, even though there might be temporary delays in its execution through the repentance and renewal of the people. If there is a correspondence between the decline and fall of Judah in olden days and the moral and spiritual deterioration of western civilisation - and are we not being forced to see this as we read the prophets and our newspapers day by day? - then it may be that it is in the context of imminent domination and oppression by the communist bloc that our thinking and praying about revival should be done. It is not too late for revival to come - although there is little, little sign in the land that we are anywhere near it - but it may well be too late for revival to turn back the frightful possibilities that now face us for our sins. That is the real point of this passage for us. Spiritual awakening in the western world could make a difference to the international situation, just as in Wesley's time it saved England from revolution, but the question is, would God allow it to, even if He gave it? May we not have gone too far in our sins and disobedience for even revival to stay the nemesis of judgment?