Celebrating The Passover

Israel had not consistently kept the Passover, since Solomon’s day, although Hezekiah had re-instituted it almost a hundred years before.  In his eighteenth year as king, Josiah ordered the celebration of the Passover, in II Chronicles 35:1-6.  “Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.  And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the LORD,  And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the LORD, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders: serve now the LORD your God, and his people Israel, And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.  And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and after the division of the families of the Levites.  So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.”

II Kings 23:21 tells us he insisted it be done in accordance with the commands given in the book of the Law they had discovered, rather than just following tradition.  “And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.”

Josiah set an example, donating thousands of animals for sacrifices, and his subordinates followed his example, in II Chronicles 35:7-9.  “And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king's substance.  And his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave unto the priests for the passover offerings two thousand and six hundred small cattle, and three hundred oxen.  Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto the Levites for passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.”

The law had specified that each family or household was to celebrate the Passover.  If a family was too small to eat an entire lamb, they were to invite their neighbors and eat it together.  Josiah had the entire nation of Judah celebrate the Passover together.  The priests and Levites killed the lambs, and sprinkled the blood for them, dividing them up among the families and roasting the meat as directed in the law, but also offering other sacrifices according to II Chronicles 35:10-14.  “So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king's commandment.  And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed them.  And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto the LORD, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen.  And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance: but the other holy offerings sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the people.  And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the priests: because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in offering of burnt offerings and the fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron.”

The celebration was not limited to just celebrating the Passover, but included the temple musicians and the offering of other sacrifices as well.  They continued right on through the next seven days of the Feast of unleavened bread, according to ii Chronicles 35;15-17.  “And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the porters waited at every gate; they might not depart from their service; for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.  So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the LORD, according to the commandment of king Josiah.  And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.”

Hezekiah’s celebration of Passover had been the biggest one since David’s time, and Josiah’s surpassed even that of Hezekiah, according to II Chronicles 35:18-19.  “And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.  In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept.”

Changing People’s Daily Lives

God had promised that Josiah would escape destruction because he sincerely sought to please God, but that Judah would be destroyed for their rejection of God.  Josiah spent the next few years trying to turn Judah completely to the Lord, destroying the high places and drove the false priests out of the cities, although he was unable to completely eradicate the idolatry, as II Kings 23:8-9 tells us.  “And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.  Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.”

In Leviticus, God had specially forbidden sacrificing children to the Ammonite God, Molech,besides the prohibitions agains serving other Gods.  Solomon had built temples to Molech, and other kings had set up altars to other gods.    Josiah went through the land, destroying these temples and altars as II Kings 23:10-14 describes, to prevent the people from worshipping those other gods.  “And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.  And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.  And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.  And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.”

When Israel and Judah split after Solomon’s death, about three hundred fifty years before, Jeroboam had started his own religion, with Bethel as one of the centers of worship.  God had warned that the altar would be destroyed by a king named Josiah, in I Kings 13:1-2.  “And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.  And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.”

Three hundred fifty years later, Josiah fulfilled that promise, in II Kings 23:15-18.  “Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove.  And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.  Then he said, What title is that that I see?

And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel.

 And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.”

While he was at it, Josiah wiped out the false religions throughout both Judah and Israel, as described in II Kings 23:19-24.  “And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.  And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.   Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.”

While it was essential that the teachings and practices in the church be corrected, it would have little impact unless changes are made in the people’s daily lives as well.  Josiah was doing everything he could to prevent or postpone Judah’s destruction. 

Correcting Problems In The Church

For years, Josiah had tried to please God, without knowing what god actually wanted.  Sadly, today many Christians are in the same boat because churches have become so wrapped up in fulfilling the first part of the Great commission of Matthew 28:19-20 that they have neglected the last part, where Jesus said “…teaching them to observe all thing whatsoever I have commanded you.”  This requires a lot of time and effort, and Josiah would spend the next twenty years making the necessary changes.  

He started by reading God’s commands to the people so that they knew what was expected, then got them to commit to following those commands, in II Chronicles 34:29-33.  “Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.  And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD.  And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.

And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.  And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. And all his days they departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.”

II chronicles 34:33 makes it sound like the corrections came about rather easily when the people committed themselves.  II chronicles 23 describes some of the things that had to be done.  The first thing was to eradicate all the idols and religious practices  that had been incorporated into the Temple worship and eliminate the false teachers and priests, as we see in II Kings 23:4-6.  “And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.  And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.  And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.”

Because Christian have not been systematically taught what God commands, Chruches have adopted religious practices and beliefs from various other groups, incorporating them into their beliefs and practices, just as Paul warned in I Timothy 4:1-3.  “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.”  While Christians have the Holy Spirit to guide them, without a solid biblical background, they have no way of determining whether a practice or belief is from the Holy spirit or from some Satanic being.  John 14:26 tells us, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”  He can’t bring to mind things they have never heard. 

One obvious result of not following the Lord properly is a break down of moral standards.  Time after time when Israel and Judah turned away from god, they began to tolerate sexual immorality, and especially homosexuality.  One of the things that are essential for people to please God and avoid his judgment is to eliminate sexual immorality as Paul tells us in I Corinthians 5:11-13.  “But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.  For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?  But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.”  Josiah had to deal with homosexuality, in II Kings 23:7.  “And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.”

Until problems in the church are properly addressed, it will be difficult to bring the people to a truly godly spiritual state.   

Because He Served God, Josiah Would Escape Destruction

Eighteen years after Josiah became king, they began to repair and refurbish the temple.  In the process of cleaning things out, Hilkiah the priest found a copy of the Old Testament Law which had not been seen since Hezekiah’s death.  It was an important find, which they quickly brought to the king’s attention, as II Chronicles 34:14-18 points out.  “And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses.  And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.

And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it.  And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen.  Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.”

For eighteen years, Josiah had been trying to serve God, based on the traditions and memories of the priests and Levites.  He was shocked to learn how little of the Law they had kept.  Sadly, we see the same thing in churches across America today.  Though God’s Word has been there all the time,  few have bothered to read it, and even fewer to actually study and practice it.   When they begin to see what the Bible commands, like Josiah, many are shocked. 

Josiah sent a group of people to find out what they needed to do in order to escape God’s judgement, in II Kings 22:11-13.  “And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.  And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king's, saying, Go ye, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.“

Huldah the prophetess was able to tell them what God said about Judah’s disobedience, in II Chronicles 34:22-28.  “And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they spake to her to that effect.

And she answered them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell ye the man that sent you to me, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah: Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.  And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard; Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.  Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.”

Beause of their continued sin, Judah was going to face all the judgments God had promised as a result of such sin.  However, the sin was not Josiah’s fault, and because of his efforts to turn them back to God, he would be allowed to finish his reign in peace, without having to see the consequences of their sin.   It is much like the promises to the churches at Smyrna and Philadelphia in Revelation 2 and three, when he promised that because of their faithfulness, they would not experience the same conflicts as the other churches around them. 

Josiah Sets Out To Serve The Lord

Amon had reigned just two years when he was murdered at the age of twenty four.  His son, Josiah was only eight when his father died and he became king.  Unlike his father, Josiah sought to please the Lord, as II Kings 22:1-2 tells us.  “Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.   And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.”

Josiah’s grandfather, Manasseh had originally been a wicked king, completely uninterested in serving God, but later in life turned fully to God.  Josiah was only eight when he became king, but he chose to follow the example his grandfather set for him, rather than his father’s.  As he grew, he understood more of it meant to serve God, and when he turned sixteen, he began to actively lead the people in worshipping God, as II Chronicles 34:3-7 tells us.  "For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.  And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.  And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.  And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about.  And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.” 

Israel had been conquered and the Israelites relocated by the Assyrians in Hezekiah”s day, about ninety years before.  The Assyrians had replaced the Jews with other races, who had adopted many of the jewish beliefs and practices.  Josiah was able to go even into some of those areas and eliminate the various idols and altars.   Ten years after he began to turn the people back to worshipping God, Josiah gave orders to repair and rebuild the temple, as described in II Chronicles 34:8-13.  “Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God.

And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to Jerusalem.  And they put it in the hand of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of the LORD, and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the house of the LORD, to repair and amend the house: Even to the artificers and builders gave they it, to buy hewn stone, and timber for couplings, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.

And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and other of the Levites, all that could skill of instruments of music.  Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters.”

A bad leader can destroy years of hard work in a very short time.  It took Josiah eighteen years to rebuild what his father had destroyed in just two years.   The choice of our leaders is of critical importance for the church, and should be carefully considered.  The qualifications paul lists in I Timothy 3 and Titus 1 are designed to determine whether a man is spiritually and morally capable of leading the church properly.  If the man cannot meet those requirements himself, how can he teach others to do so?

Amon Turns Away From God

Manasseh had started out to turn Judah completely away from the Lord, worshipping the gods of all the people around them and using the temple for idolatry.  When God sent prophets to warn him and then caused the things they warned about, he changed and began to serve the Lord, eliminating all the idols and false worship he could.  He had reigned fifty five years, but had been unable to completely eradicate the worship in the high places once he started it.

His son Amon had been born after Manasseh turned to the Lord, and never saw the struggles when they were going against him.  Like Manasseh, he started his reign by returning to the worship of all the idols Manasseh had originally worshippe, as II Kings 21:19-22 describes.  “Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did.  And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them:  And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD.”

When Manasseh saw the consequences of his sin, he had changed his course and followed the Lord.  Amon did all the same things against God, ignoring the warnings and example of turning to God, as II Chronicles 33:22-23 tells us.  “But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them; And humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.”

After two years of doing things his own way, his personal servants had had enough and murdered him, according to II Kings 21:23.  “And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house.” It was not a widespread conspiracy, and the people promptly executed the conspirators, as II Kings 21:24 tells us, making his Josiah king.  “And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.”

While the people did not approve of his murder, they did not consider Amon as one of the great kings of Judah.  Like his father, Amon was buried in the garden of Uzzah, rather then in the sepulchers of the great kings of the past, as II Kings 21:25-26 tells us.  Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?  And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.” 

When people deliberately turn away from him, God is not obligated to give them numerous chances to return.  Amon had Manasseh’s example, and when he ignored it, God only gave him a short time to repent and make changes.

Manasseh Turns To God

God warned Manasseh and Judah what would happen but like a lot of people, they didn’t listen, as II Chronicles 33:10-11 tells us.  “And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.   Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.”  Like many children, he was assuming God was just threatening them but would not actually do what he said. 

When he realized God meant what he said, began to pay attention to him, turning to God just as his father had doen, as II Chronicles 33:12-16 tells us.  “And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, And prayed unto him: and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God.  Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah.  And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.  And he repaired the altar of the LORD, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.”

Manasseh was like many people who have grown up in good homes, never realizing the good things were the result of their parent’s attitudes and standards.   When he realized that, he made the necessary changes and began experiencing the blessings for himself.  Hezekiah had been able to get the people to completely turn away from worshipping in the high plces.  They went back to it when Manasseh became king, and he was never able to stop it completely, as II Chronicles 33:17 tells us.  “Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the LORD their God only.”  Once you have encouraged something that is wrong, it is very hard to correct it completely.  Though the people worshippe only God, they would never follow him completely, readily turning away when Manasseh’s son led them away. 

God forgave Manasseh when he repented and turned to God, but the consequences of his sin would carry on for many years, affecting Judah’s future.  As often happens, people remembered his life before he turned to God more than the things he did afterward, as II Chronicles 33:18-19 describe.  “Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel.  His prayer also, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sins, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers.”  Manasseh reigned fifty five years, yet these are the main things that are remembered about him. 

While he was a fairly good king during most of his reign, he did not have a great impact on the nation, and was buried in a private garden rather than with the other great kings, accorcing to II Kings 21:18.   “And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.”