“And the king commanded all the people saying, Hold the passover to Jehovah your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant. For there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; but in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was this passover holden to Jehovah in Jerusalem” (2 Kings 23:21-2321And 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. 22Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; 23But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the Lord in Jerusalem. (2 Kings 23:21‑23)).
The celebration of the passover is given us here in few words, whereas Chronicles describes it at length (2 Chron. 35:1-191Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the Lord in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. 2And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the Lord, 3And 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, 4And 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. 5And 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. 6So 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. 7And 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. 8And 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. 9Conaniah 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. 10So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king's commandment. 11And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed them. 12And 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. 13And 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. 14And 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. 15And 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. 16So 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. 17And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days. 18And 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. 19In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept. (2 Chronicles 35:1‑19)); but this event has too great an importance in the history of the revival to fail to arrest the reader’s attention for a moment. We have just spoken of the two great principles which characterize revival in the end times: breaking with the idolatry of the world or its religious traditions, and returning to the Holy Scriptures. Following these two facts and as consequence of them we have the celebration of the Passover.
The Passover as an institution had first of all been celebrated in Egypt. The people of Israel had been redeemed from the land of bondage by the blood of the passover lamb. Through it, God’s judgment which overtook Egypt was turned aside from Israel. The people, placed under the sprinkling of the blood, ate the passover. It was a figure of the appropriating of the sacrifice of Christ that faith does for us once for all: this symbol corresponds to what is said of the Christian in John 6:5353Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. (John 6:53).
The memorial of this deliverance comes next. It was repeated each year on the fourteenth day of the first month (Ex. 12:14, 26-27, 4514And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. (Exodus 12:14)
26And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? 27That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. (Exodus 12:26‑27)
45A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof. (Exodus 12:45)). This memorial was celebrated by all the people. In normal circumstances no one in Israel could abstain from it, under penalty of being “cut off from Israel.” As a first condition to partake, it was necessary to be circumcised (Ex. 12:4848And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. (Exodus 12:48)). This sign was the sign of the separation to God by the judgment of sin and the cutting off of the flesh. And so, at the time of entering into the land of Canaan, after the passage of the Jordan, all those who belonged to the generation whose fathers had fallen in the wilderness and who had not been circumcised were circumcised at Gilgal. “The reproach of Egypt” was thus rolled away from them, and they could celebrate the Passover in the plains of Jericho (Josh. 5:6-126For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord: unto whom the Lord sware that he would not show them the land, which the Lord sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey. 7And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way. 8And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole. 9And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day. 10And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. 11And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. 12And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. (Joshua 5:6‑12)).
By the fact that it was given to a redeemed and circumcised people, the memorial became the symbol of the unity of the people of God. The Passover was thus at the same time the remembrance of redemption and the proclamation of the unity of the people.
The Spirit of God shows us that this celebration was a fundamental institution, first of all in traversing the wilderness (Num. 9:1-141And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season. 3In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it. 4And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover. 5And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel. 6And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day: 7And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the Lord in his appointed season among the children of Israel? 8And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you. 9And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 10Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the Lord. 11The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it. 13But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the Lord in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin. 14And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the Lord; according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land. (Numbers 9:1‑14)) and then upon entering Canaan (Josh. 5:1010And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. (Joshua 5:10)). From that time on the Word does not mention it again until the days of Hezekiah, not as though it had not been observed under the judges, under David, Solomon, and the kings, but it was not the special object presented by the Holy Spirit; whereas we see the feasts of the seventh month, especially the feast of tabernacles, occupying a preponderant place under the reign of Solomon.
At the time of Hezekiah’s revival, the Passover was not celebrated on the fourteenth day of the first month, but of the second month (2 Chron. 30:1515Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the Lord. (2 Chronicles 30:15)), the date authorized by the Word for those who were unclean or on a journey at the time of the celebration of the feast (Num. 9:1111The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. (Numbers 9:11)). The priests found themselves in the first situation, having lacked the zeal to sanctify themselves, they were unclean, and Hezekiah acts in consequence of this. Josiah’s Passover was celebrated on the appointed date of the first month (2 Chron. 35:11Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the Lord in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. (2 Chronicles 35:1)). The need of sanctifying oneself for the Lord was much more generally felt than it had been under Hezekiah, for the Word of God was better understood, and the desire to obey Him was more real.
At the time of Erza, the Passover was celebrated by “the children of the captivity” on the day consecrated thereto, “for the priests and the Levites had purified themselves as one man” (Erza 6:19-20).
Therefore, in the measure that we advance in the history of the ruin of the people of God, the greater the importance to the faithful the Passover and the state of soul appropriate to it acquire; and, quite remarkably, the sign of the unity of the people becomes all the more important as the people are dispersed all the more by the ruin.
Is it needful to add that these truths answer to the present day? The Lord’s Supper, which on that night in which Jesus was betrayed replaced the Jewish Passover as a memorial, is served and the Lord’s Table is set up for His redeemed people and for them alone. The Lord’s death is proclaimed there until He returns. At the same time this table is a rallying center for the people of God, and it is the proclamation of the unity of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 10:1717For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. (1 Corinthians 10:17)), even at a time when everything apparently contradicts this truth, or even when, as at the time Hezekiah, those who proclaim it are laughed at and mocked (2 Chron. 30:1010So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them. (2 Chronicles 30:10)).
The history of the Passover does not end here, and in fact shall never be ended. A willing people will yet celebrate it upon earth during Christ’s millennial reign (Ezek. 45:2121In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. (Ezekiel 45:21)). It will be celebrated at the same time in the heavenly kingdom where the glorified saints will be gathered around the Lamb that was slain (Rev. 5).
Thus since redemption is accomplished, the memorial of that which has acquired it for the people of God lasts, come what may, and will last throughout eternity. The remembrance of the death of Christ is always necessary for it is the sole foundation for every blessing.
Let us return now to Josiah’s Passover. The account in our book, though very brief, is characterized by an important expression: “As it is written in this book of the covenant”(2 Kings 23:2121And 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. (2 Kings 23:21)). No doubt, as we see in Chronicles, the people under Hezekiah had also come to celebrate it according to “the word of Jehovah” and “the law of Moses, the man of God” (2 Chron. 30:12,1612Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the Lord. (2 Chronicles 30:12)
16And they stood in their place after their manner, according to the law of Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received of the hand of the Levites. (2 Chronicles 30:16)), but under Josiah the written Word, marvelously preserved and rediscovered in the temple, takes on a yet much greater importance. Nothing that pertains to this memorial should be done without the Word. It was “according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon” that they were to prepare it (2 Chron. 35:44And 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. (2 Chronicles 35:4)); “according to the word of Jehovah through Moses” (2 Chron. 35:66So 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. (2 Chronicles 35:6)) that one ought to present the sacrifice to the Lord (2 Chron. 35:1212And 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. (2 Chronicles 35:12)); “according to the ordinance” that one should roast it with fire (2 Chron. 35:1313And 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. (2 Chronicles 35:13)); “according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer” that each occupied his place to observe the due order according to God in singing and praising (2 Chron. 35:1515And 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. (2 Chronicles 35:15)). And all was done “according to the commandment of king Josiah” (2 Chron. 35:1616So 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. (2 Chronicles 35:16)), that is to say, the instrument of this revival had the intelligence neither to communicate nor order the people to do anything but that which was in accord with the Scripture.
Let us take these things to heart. Josiah, warned by the Lord, knew perfectly well that in doing this he would not stop the course of judgment; he also knew that he would be gathered to his fathers before the evil would come and that his eyes should not see it (2 Kings 22:2020Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again. (2 Kings 22:20)), but he had but one thought. Feeling with deepest humiliation the dishonor inflicted upon the Lord and His worship, he was pressed to honor Him in the midst of the ruin of Israel, in the very place where He had been so dishonored. By all his conduct he was protesting against the infamy which had been committed in Judah under the cloak of religion. He humbled himself under this apostasy, as being responsible for it just as others were, but without being in the least distracted all his activity was directed toward the service of the Lord and toward the cleansing for Him of a peculiar people, however abased or dispersed they might be.
Josiah’s era was not marked, as Hezekiah’s, by special attacks of the enemy, by trials coming from without or from within. It was a relatively peaceful time when indifference certainly played a greater part than hatred; but whereas the world rested and let things be, Josiah used this lull to show forth greatest activity for his Master.
Our times, we have already said, resemble those times, and the faithful have the same position and the same duties. May we use these end times with their relative calm to render testimony to these three things: separation from the religious and irreligious world which surrounds us, attachment to the Scriptures, and gathering God’s children around the Lord’s Table until He comes.
Our chapter adds that “all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, Josiah took away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkijah the priest had found in the house of Jehovah” (2 Kings 23:2424Moreover 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. (2 Kings 23:24)). Thus, to the end of his career Josiah put into practice the principles he had drawn from the Scriptures. There was no king like him, neither before nor after him, and that was not due to his personal merit nor to his righteousness, but to the fact that the Word of God, mixed with faith in his heart, had become an integral part of himself.