II Chronicles Chapter 35
Please read: II Chronicles 35 –
The reign of King Josiah which lasted for 31 years is marked by these words found in the previous chapter, “while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father.” And throughout his life he sought to please the LORD.
This chapter describes in detail how Josiah made special efforts to hold a Passover and the feast of unleavened bread exactly as commanded in the Law of Moses. He wanted everything to be done exactly as it should be. He even donated lambs, goats, and bulls from his own personal herds to be used in the observance of the Passover and the other animals to be slaughtered for peace offerings and to provide food for the feast of unleavened bread. You may recall that King Hezekiah donated livestock as well, but King Josiah gave twice the amount that Hezekiah did.
The king instructed a great deal of preparation for the Passover and the feasts that would follow. King Josiah instructed all things to be done “according to the word of the LORD,” meaning exactly as was instructed in the book of the Law. He also instructed that the Ark of the LORD be put back in its rightful place in the temple.
“The Hebrews tell us, that the priests in those idolatrous times had carried the holy ark out of the temple – that it might not stand there among those heathenish idols – and conveyed it to the house of Shallum, who was uncle to the prophet Jeremiah, and husband to the prophetess Huldah.” [Trapp]
Let's Reflect
1. As instructed in the Book of the Law, what day was the Passover lamb to be slaughtered?
2. The king was not the only one that provided animals for this important event of the Passover. Who else generously gave their animals?
3. According to verse 13 what group of people were the first to eat of the Passover lamb?
4. Present for the Passover were the gatekeepers to be a security detail for the temple and the singers. While these men were serving during the Passover they did not miss out. What did fellow Levites do for them?
5. The Feast of Unleavened bread began directly after the Passover. How long did the feast last?
6. When you think about the great number of animals that were sacrificed you realize that this took a great amount of organization and preparation to make this happen so that all the people got to participate on the same day. It is the precision of the preparation and the attention to detail to perform it exactly as the law instructed, that the Bible gives the credit to King Josiah for. This work was compared to what historical Passover? See verse 18.
7. King Josiah’s death is strangely similar to the death of King Ahab of Israel. Josiah for unknown reasons got in the middle of a fight between Egypt who had made an alliance with the Assyrians to fight off the Babylonians. Perhaps Josiah thought he needed to fight in this battle to keep the battle from moving into the territory of Judah. For whatever reason he had, he was warned not to enter the fight by the king of Egypt, a warning he did not heed. We do not read that King Josiah sought the LORD for his wisdom on the matter, but instead he insisted on moving forward despite God speaking a warning to him from the mouth of an Egyptian. How did King Josiah die?
8. King Josiah’s death is quite similar to the death of King Ahab of Israel. But that is where the similarities end. Ahab was hated by his people. How did the people of Judah respond to their king being killed in battle?
