Reflections on 2 Chronicles 35

 2 Chronicles 35(Contemporary English Version)

1. Josiah commanded that Passover be celebrated in Jerusalem to honor the LORD. So, on the fourteenth day of the first month, the lambs were killed for the Passover celebration.
2. On that day, Josiah made sure the priests knew what duties they were to do in the temple.
3. He called together the Levites who served the LORD and who taught the people his laws, and he said: No longer will you have to carry the sacred chest from place to place. It will stay in the temple built by King Solomon son of David, where you will serve the LORD and his people Israel.
4. Get ready to do the work that David and Solomon assigned to you, according to your clans.
5. Divide yourselves into groups, then arrange yourselves throughout the temple so that each family of worshipers will be able to get help from one of you.
6. When the people bring you their Passover lamb, you must kill it and prepare it to be sacrificed to the LORD. Make sure the people celebrate according to the instructions that the LORD gave Moses, and don't do anything to make yourselves unclean and unacceptable.
7. Josiah donated thirty thousand sheep and goats, and three thousand bulls from his own flocks and herds for the people to offer as sacrifices.
8. Josiah's officials also voluntarily gave some of their animals to the people, the priests, and the Levites as sacrifices. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, who were the officials in charge of the temple, gave the priests twenty-six hundred sheep and lambs and three hundred bulls to sacrifice during the Passover celebration.
9. Conaniah, his two brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, as well as Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad were leaders of the Levites, and they gave the other Levites five thousand sheep and goats, and five hundred bulls to offer as sacrifices.
10. When everything was ready to celebrate Passover, the priests and the Levites stood where Josiah had told them.
11. Then the Levites killed and skinned the Passover lambs, and they handed some of the blood to the priests, who splattered it on the altar.
12. The Levites set aside the parts of the animal that the worshipers needed for their sacrifices to please the LORD, just as the Law of Moses required. They also did the same thing with the bulls.
13. They sacrificed the Passover animals on the altar and boiled the meat for the other offerings in pots, kettles, and pans. Then they quickly handed the meat to the people so they could eat it.
14. All day long, the priests were busy offering sacrifices and burning the animals' fat on the altar. And when everyone had finished, the Levites prepared Passover animals for themselves and for the priests.
15. During the celebration some of the Levites prepared Passover animals for the musicians and the guards, so that the Levite musicians would not have to leave their places, which had been assigned to them according to the instructions of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's prophet. Even the guards at the temple gates did not have to leave their posts.
16. So on that day, Passover was celebrated to honor the LORD, and sacrifices were offered on the altar to him, just as Josiah had commanded.
17. The worshipers then celebrated the Festival of Thin Bread for the next seven days.
18. People from Jerusalem and from towns all over Judah and Israel were there. Passover had not been observed like this since the days of Samuel the prophet. In fact, this was the greatest Passover celebration in Israel's history!
19. All these things happened in the eighteenth year of Josiah's rule in Judah.
20. Some time later, King Neco of Egypt led his army to the city of Carchemish on the Euphrates River. And Josiah led his troops north to meet the Egyptians in battle.
21. Neco sent the following message to Josiah: I'm not attacking you, king of Judah! We're not even at war. But God has told me to quickly attack my enemy. God is on my side, so if you try to stop me, he will punish you.
22. But Josiah ignored Neco's warning, even though it came from God! Instead, he disguised himself and marched into battle against Neco in the valley near Megiddo.
23. During the battle an Egyptian soldier shot Josiah with an arrow. Josiah told his servants, "Get me out of here! I've been hit."
24. They carried Josiah out of his chariot, then put him in the other chariot he had there and took him back to Jerusalem, where he soon died. He was buried beside his ancestors, and everyone in Judah and Jerusalem mourned his death.
25. Jeremiah the prophet wrote a funeral song in honor of Josiah. And since then, anyone in Judah who mourns the death of Josiah sings that song. It is included in the collection of funeral songs.
26. Everything else Josiah did while he was king, including how he faithfully obeyed the LORD,
27. is written in The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

---

With the discovery of the book of the law, described in the previous chapter and Josiah's determination to be faithful in observing the Lord's instructions to him, it is natural that he would make plans to celebrate Passover. This Passover Josiah observed was no doubt the first observance since the days of Hezekiah over 50 years prior to this. The chronicler states in verse 18 that, "No Passover had been observed like it in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet."

This Passover took place in the 18th year of Josiah's reign. Previous to this he had led extensive spiritual reform in Judah, ridding the nation of all pagan worship sites and objects and had restored the temple. When the temple was repaired the long-lost book of the law was discovered and Josiah led the nation in making a covenant with the Lord to observe all that was in the book. So the nation was well-prepared spiritually for a great Passover observance. The king led the way in providing animals for the sacrifices and others followed in kind.

Great care was given to carrying out all procedures according to regulations outlined in the law. This required that certain individuals slaughtered the animals, that the Levites skinned them, and the priests sprinkled the blood. Only lambs were to be used for the Passover, roasting it with fire, while animals used for the sacrifices were boiled. The singers and gatekeepers followed the law in all their duties. Not only did all Judah observe this Passover, but also many Israelites who were in Judah at the time.

Verses 21-27 describe a rather strange event that led to Josiah's death. Since Josiah was such a godly king, the prophetess Huldah had foretold that although the Lord planned to bring disaster on Judah in keeping with the curses in the book of the law due to the sins of Judah, Josiah would be spared this disaster. It would come after he was gathered to the grave in peace. But the strange event that led to Josiah's death was evidently also preparing the way for the destruction of Judah that Huldah foretold.

Neco, king of Egypt, was apparently sent by God to assist the Assyrians against the Babylonians who had set out to destroy the Assyrians. Bringing Egypt into the fray set the stage for both the Assyrians and the Egyptians to be defeated by the Babylonians. For reasons not expained, however, Josiah favored the Babylonians and set out to intercept Egypt and prevent Neco from joining the Assyrians. Neco sent messengers to Josiah to dissaude him from becoming involved, saying, "What is the issue between you and me, king of Judah? I have not come against you today but to the dynasty I am fighting. God told me to hurry. Stop opposing God who is with me; don't make Him destroy you!" Josiah did not heed this warning, though. As godly a king as Josiah was, he failed to seek God's guidance in this situation and paid with his life demonstrating how we never reach a point at which we are no longer susceptible to sin.

All Judah mourned Josiah's death, including the prophet Jeremiah who wrote a dirge over Josiah that was sung for years afterward and established as a statute for Israel.