Josiah now tells the people it’s time to celebrate the Passover according to how it was written in the Book of the Covenant, 2 Kings 23:21, which implies they hadn’t celebrated the Passover correctly up until this point, 2 Chronicles 35:1 / 2 Chronicles 35:18-19 / Deuteronomy 16:1-8.
Josiah appointed the priests to their duties and encouraged them in the service of the LORD’s temple, 2 Chronicles 35:2. Josiah tells the Levites to put the sacred ark in the temple that Solomon son of David king of Israel built but the ark, ‘is not to be carried about on your shoulders’, 2 Chronicles 35:3. The KJV, says ‘it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders.’
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Josiah means shall not henceforth be your duty. The ark shall remain undisturbed in the holy of holies. You shall return to your old employments, to the service of God and the instruction of the people.’
Josiah tells the Levites to prepare themselves by families in their divisions, according to the instructions written by David, king of Israel and by his son Solomon, 2 Chronicles 35:4.
He tells them to stand in the holy place with a group of Levites for each subdivision of the families of their fellow Israelites, the lay people, 2 Chronicles 35:5.
They are to slaughter the Passover lambs, consecrate themselves and prepare the lambs for their fellow Israelites, doing what the LORD commanded through Moses, 2 Chronicles 35:6.
Notice Josiah himself provided thirty thousand lambs and goats for the Passover sacrifice, as well as three thousand cattle, 2 Chronicles 35:7. His officials also contributed voluntarily to the people and the priests and Levites.
Hilkiah, Zechariah and Jehiel, the officials in charge of God’s temple, gave the priests twenty-six hundred Passover offerings and three hundred cattle, 2 Chronicles 35:8.
Konaniah, along with Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah, Jeiel and Jozabad, the leaders of the Levites, provided five thousand Passover offerings and five hundred head of cattle for the Levites, 2 Chronicles 35:9. This was more than double the previous Passover celebrations during the reign of Hezekiah, 2 Chronicles 30:24.
The service was arranged, and the priests stood in their places with the Levites in their divisions as Josiah had ordered, 2 Chronicles 35:10. The Passover lambs were slaughtered, and the priests splashed against the altar the blood handed to them, while the Levites skinned the animals, 2 Chronicles 35:11.
They set aside the burnt offerings to give them to the subdivisions of the families of the people to offer to God and they did the same with the cattle, 2 Chronicles 35:12.
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, 2 Chronicles 35:13.
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, 2 Chronicles 35:14. So the Levites made preparations for themselves and for the Aaronic priests, 2 Chronicles 35:14.
In other words, the people were served first and then the priests and finally the Levite leaders. He also put singers in their places, 2 Chronicles 35:15; however, God didn’t command any kind of singing during the Passover celebrations.
So at that time the entire service was carried out for the celebration of the Passover and the offering of burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD, as Josiah had ordered, 2 Chronicles 35:16. The Israelites who were present celebrated the Passover at that time and observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days, 2 Chronicles 35:17.
The Passover hadn’t 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, 2 Chronicles 35:18. This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, 2 Chronicles 35:19.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This Passover was utterly unlike the one kept in the reign of Hezekiah, in several important particulars.
1. It was kept at the prescribed time, Numbers 9:1-5 / 2 Chronicles 30:1-3.
2. The ceremonial cleanness of participants was observed.
3. And all the particulars of the Mosaic instructions were strictly observed.
4. Although the singers were mentioned, the instruments of music were not mentioned, and apparently not used.
These important distinctions fully justify the statement in 2 Chronicles 35:18, that, ‘from the days of Samuel the prophet, none of the kings of Israel kept such a Passover as Josiah kept’.’
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following, concerning 2 Chronicles 35:18 / 2 Kings 23:22-23.
‘Its superiority to other Passovers seems to have consisted of the following.
1. In the multitudes that attended it.
2. In the completeness with which all the directions of the Law were observed in the celebration, Nehemiah 8:17.’
Josiah is really making every effort to rid the land of anything sinful and idolatrous, especially those who teach falsehood, 2 Kings 23:24. He takes this as seriously as Elijah did when he opposed Ahab and Jezebel, 1 Kings 18:16-19. He has the false prophets executed, 2 Kings 23:20, which was the punishment for those who practised these things, Leviticus 20:27.
They were paramount in leading Israel away from God and leading them deep into idolatry. Notice that Josiah was doing all of those reforms according to the commandments of God in the Books of Moses, 2 Kings 23:25.
Despite this great restoration effort by Josiah, it appears that the damage was already done; everything which Manasseh did couldn’t be undone by Josiah. God was still angry with His people, 2 Kings 23:26 / 2 Chronicles 34:33, and promised that Judah would also be taken into captivity, 2 Kings 23:27.
This may seem like a drastic reaction by God, especially in light of everything Josiah has done and is doing. However, God knows that the only way His people will be totally restored from their sinful behaviour is to be taken into captivity. History tells us that when God’s people returned from captivity, they learned their lesson and never committed idolatry again.
Here we read of a conflict which took place near the end of Josiah’s reign, which involved him being killed, 2 Kings 23:29 / 2 Chronicles 35:24 / 2 Kings 22:20. Pharaoh Necho of Egypt wanted to come to the rescue of the Assyrians at Carchemish, 2 Chronicles 35:20 / 2 Kings 23:29.
Necho sends messengers to Josiah, asking what quarrel is there, king of Judah, between you and me? It is not you I am attacking at this time, but the house with which I am at war. God has told me to hurry, so stop opposing God, who is with me, or he will destroy you, 2 Chronicles 35:21.
Josiah stubbornly refused to hear this warning, which was actually from God. For some reason, possibly pride, he went into battle with Necho when he didn’t need to.
Josiah wouldn’t turn away from him, but disguised himself to engage him in battle, and so, Josiah engaged him in battle at Megiddo, 2 Chronicles 35:22 / 2 Kings 23:29. It was during this period that we find a world power struggle taking place between the Assyrians and the Babylonians.
That king of Assyria was Nabopolassar the father of Nebuchadnezzar, and this pharaoh was Pharaoh-Necho II. The history of this event is very complex. That king of Assyria was Nabopolassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar, and this pharaoh was Pharaoh-Necho II.
Coffman, in his commentary, gives the following useful insight.
‘The Assyrian empire was in a state of collapse. Nineveh had fallen in 612 B.C., and Pharaoh Necho was ambitious to succeed Assyria as the world ruler. It is not exactly clear why Josiah felt it necessary to challenge the king of Egypt, but he did, losing his life as a result. Yes, God had promised through Huldah that Josiah would die in peace, but it is sinful to allege the fact of his being killed in battle as ‘a contradiction’.
1. The ‘in peace’ of God’s promise may have referred to the fact that Jerusalem would not be under attack at the time of his death.
2. All of God’s promises are conditional, Jeremiah 18:7-10, and it is simply astounding how many learned men apparently remain ignorant of this simple truth. In light of it, Josiah’s engagement of the king of Egypt in battle might have been contrary to God’s will, nullifying the promise altogether.’
Archers shot King Josiah, and he told his officers to take him away because he was badly wounded, 2 Chronicles 35:23. Josiah’s servants brought his body in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and he died, Chronicles 35:24. They buried him in his own tomb, 2 Kings 23:30. He was buried in the tombs of his ancestors, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him, 2 Chronicles 35:24.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The fate of Josiah was unprecedented. No king of Judah had, up to this time, fallen in battle. None had left his land at the mercy of a foreign conqueror. Hence, the extraordinary character of the mourning, Zechariah 12:11-14.’
Notice that Jeremiah lamented for Josiah, 2 Chronicles 35:25. He probably was wondering why the righteous died in the way Josiah did. He was so popular that even the entire nation lamented over his death, 2 Chronicles 35:25.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The exact place of the battle seems to have been Hadad-Rimmon, in the valley of Megiddo, for there Zechariah tells us, Zechariah 12:11, was the great mourning for Josiah.’
The other events of Josiah’s reign and his acts of devotion in accordance with what is written in the Law of the LORD, all the events, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah, 2 Chronicles 35:26-27.