We have already looked at the first half of the portion of 2 Chronicles 35 dealing with this Passover celebration. The king and his top officials, who were all wealthy men, generously supplied thousands of Passover lambs and also goats and cattle for the people who were pouring into Jerusalem for the holiday. Because of this generosity, no hardship was placed on anyone who was too poor to afford a Passover lamb at this time or who was too poor to provide food for their families while they were on the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. We don't know how much notice the people were given that a Passover celebration was going to take place and Josiah doesn't want anyone left out who wants to attend. By the time the next Passover rolls around, the people will have had a year to prepare for it.
This next portion of Scripture involves some details about the sacrifices, and although it pains the heart of animal lovers like me and like many of you, the Lord allowed animals to be the "stand ins" for mankind during the ages before the perfect and holy sacrifice---the Lord Jesus Christ---gave Himself on our behalf. If the Lord had not provided some sort of stand in, He would have had to destroy mankind instead. I love animals dearly and I am very concerned about their welfare but when reading the Bible we have to keep in mind that the Lord considers humans to be the pinnacle of His creation. He placed humans at the top of the creation pyramid, for lack of a better analogy at the moment, and everything else He created was created to help and sustain humans. Man is the only creature the Lord created that fell from grace, and since the animal kingdom didn't rebel against the Lord, the blood of animal sacrifices on our behalf was considered by Him to be acceptable temporarily for our atonement and for averting judgment from us. But those sacrifices had to be made year after year until the permanent sacrifice came and I am grateful to be living in the age of grace where I can look to what the Lord Jesus Christ did for me on the cross. Whenever we read of the animal sacrifices in the Bible, it helps me to deal with the thought of it by thinking about how thankful we can be that we no longer have to do that anymore.
"The service was arranged and the priests stood in their places with the Levites in their divisions as the king had ordered. The Passover lambs were slaughtered, and the priests splashed against the altar the blood handed to them, while the Levites skinned the animals. They set aside the burnt offerings to give them to the subdivisions of the families of the people to offer to the Lord, as it is written in the Book of Moses. They did the same with the cattle. They roasted the Passover animals over the fire as prescribed, and boiled the holy offerings in pots, caldrons and pans and served them quickly to all the people. After this, they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were sacrificing the burnt offerings and the fat portions until nightfall. So the Levites made preparations for themselves and for the Aaronic priests." (2 chronicles 35:10-14)
I'll repeat something I've said before during our study of the Old Testament regarding animal sacrifices: I don't think it was the Lord's intention for anyone to ever feel comfortable about these sacrifices. The bringer of the sacrifice was to place his hand on the head of the animal to signify the symbolic transference of his sins to the animal. Placing his hand on the animal signified that the animal was standing in for him. I believe this also acknowledged that if not for the Lord's allowance of these stand ins, the person himself would have to answer for his own sins---would have no means of being cleansed of his sins. The person offered the animal in the full awareness that the death of the animal was the person's fault. In this same way, we are each responsible for the death of Christ, for if none of us had ever sinned, He would not have had to give His life to redeem us. We have each taken part in His death, but because He loved us so much that He was willing to do anything it took to save us, we will also take part in His life! We will spend eternity with Him and He will share with us the glorious riches of His inheritance from the Father.
No one is excluded from the Passover service in Chapter 35, just as no one is excluded who wants to know the Lord. King Josiah makes certain there is plenty for everyone who attends. The visitors to Jerusalem are provided for, the inhabitants of Jerusalem are provided for, those who have traveled from the northern kingdom of Israel are provided for, and everyone who works to make the Passover a success is provided for. "The musicians, the descendants of Asaph, were in the places prescribed by David, Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun the king's seer. The gatekeepers at each gate did not need to leave their posts, because their fellow Levites made the preparations for them." (2 Chronicles 35:15) Many people are busy working during this celebration but great care is taken to make certain they get to participate even while they are being diligent with their duties.
"So at that time the entire service of the Lord was carried out for the celebration of the Passover and the offering of burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, as King Josiah had ordered. The Israelites who were present celebrated the Passover at that time and observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days. The Passover had not been observed like this in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel; and none of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated such a Passover as did Josiah, with the priests, the Levites and all Judah and Israel who were there with the people of Jerusalem. This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign." (2 Chronicles 35:16-19) The author of 2 Kings does not go into much detail about this Passover except to say, "Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed. But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem." (2 Kings 23:22-23)
The author of 2 Kings goes on to say these good things about King Josiah: "Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the Lord. Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did---with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses." (2 Kings 23:24-25) In the New Testament we will find the Lord Jesus Christ saying that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all one's heart and soul and strength and mind. Josiah kept this commandment. He was not a perfect man (no human being has ever been perfect except for Jesus) but his heart was right with the Lord. He spent the first eight years of his life living under the authority of an exceedingly wicked and idolatrous father but he made the choice to give his heart and life fully to the one true God. Because of this, the author of 2 Kings can say such beautiful words about him. Because of Josiah's love for the Lord, these beautiful words about him are forever recorded on the pages of the Holy Bible.
Josiah is twenty-six years old as we close this portion of our study of his reign. The authors of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles won't say much about the years between this first Passover and his death. He will reign over Judah for thirty-one years, but because he was so young when he ascended to the throne, this means he will die at the still-youthful age of only thirty-nine. In tomorrow's session we will study his death on the battlefield.
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