Celebration of the Passover
In the
same year of his reign as Josiah restored the Passover, Josiah also brought the
Passover back into the religious calendar.
Hezekiah had celebrated the Passover in his day, but there is no mention
of the Passover in the intervening years.
We can hear from the text at hand that this celebration of the Passover
was huge, perhaps three to four times as large as the one celebrated in
Hezekiah’s day.
We can
also see that Josiah released some of the priests and Levites from their
proscribed duties. Since the Ark wasn’t
being carried through the desert anymore, there was no need for some of the
priests and Levites to carry the ark on its poles. The Ark could remain in the temple and the
Passover could happen around it.
In all of
this text, perhaps the biggest point that I think that is made is how the
people worked together. There were
assigned duties and assigned tasks. Each
priest and Levite trusted in the other to do their task. The musicians were able to focus on the music
because the priests were focusing on the sacrifices and the Levites were
focusing on the butchering and the gatekeepers were making sure everything was
happening orderly.
In ministry,
it is usually important to work as a team.
Ministry usually works best when we see ourselves as a part of God’s
machine, not a single implement upon which everything rests. When we see ourselves as a part of God’s
overall plan it is easier for us to not only focus on the task God desires for
us but to also do it humbly, too.
Josiah’s Blunder
At the
end of Josiah’s reign, he made a fatal blunder.
Assyria’s power was waning.
Babylon was growing strong in the region and the Babylonians had thrown
off Assyrian rule for the most part. The
Egyptians were concerned that if the Babylonians were victorious against the
Assyrians that the Babylonians would grow too strong and become a threat. Therefore, Pharaoh Neco passed through Judah on
his way to help the Assyrians at Carchemesh.
Josiah,
however, favored the Babylonians.
Therefore, Josiah went out to meet the Egyptians and hopefully delay the
Egyptian military. He went out on his
own desire. He went out disguised.
Pharaoh
Neco was not fooled. Actually, in this
instance, Pharaoh Neco was on a mission from God. God had brought the Egyptians up out of Egypt
to play a role in the power struggles between Babylon and Assyria. As such, Pharaoh Neco even told Josiah about
his summons. Pharaoh Neco gave Josiah
reason to stop and return.
Unfortunately
for Josiah, in this one instance he let his pride get ahead of him. He goes out into battle anyway. In this brash moment he positions himself in
such a place as to be antagonistic towards God.
Unfortunately for Josiah, he pays the price for it. Josiah is shot by archers on the battlefield.
Josiah
does manage to get off of the battlefield and survives long enough to return to
Jerusalem. But he dies once he gets back
to his capital city. So shocked are the
people to have lost their godly king that they whole country mourns. In fact, the laments mentioned here in this
passage could very well be the book of Lamentations written by Jeremiah.
Here we
can see truth in life. It is good to be
aligned with God. But we have the free
will to align ourselves in another direction.
When we do, there will be consequences.
Sometimes the consequences are manageable. Sometimes the consequences of our actions
take our life. But there are always
consequences to our actions. It is best
to align ourselves with God so that when consequences come we can rely upon God
to help us bear the consequences of life.
In the
end, though, Josiah was a great king.
His little blunder in the end does not take away from all the
faithfulness that he had earlier in life.
He is buried with the righteous fathers who had come before him.
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