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Speaker 1: I'm John Stangey, and today we're in Second Chronicles, chapter
Speaker 1: thirty five, and we'll be reading from the contemporary English version.
Speaker 1: Josiah commanded that Passover be celebrated in Jerusalem to honor
Speaker 1: the Lord. So on the fourteenth day of the first month,
Speaker 1: the Lambs were killed for the Passover celebration. On that day,
Speaker 1: Josiah made sure the priests knew what duties they were
Speaker 1: to do in the temple. He called together the levites
Speaker 1: who served the Lord and who taught the people his laws,
Speaker 1: and he said, no longer will you have to carry
Speaker 1: the sacred chest from place to place. It will stay
Speaker 1: in the temple built by King Solomon, son of David,
Speaker 1: where you will serve the Lord and his people Israel.
Speaker 1: Get ready to do the work that David and Solomon
Speaker 1: assigned to you according to your clans. Divide yourselves into groups.
Speaker 1: Then arrange yourselves throughout the temple, so that each family
Speaker 1: of worshippers will be able to get help from one
Speaker 1: of you. When the people bring you their passover lamb,
Speaker 1: you must kill it and prepare it to be sacrificed
Speaker 1: to the Lord. Make sure the people celebrate according to
Speaker 1: the instructions that the Lord gave Moses, and don't do
Speaker 1: anything to make yourselves unclean and unacceptable. Josiah donated thirty
Speaker 1: thousand sheep and goats and three thousand bulls from his
Speaker 1: own flocks and herds for the people to offer as sacrifices.
Speaker 1: Josiah's officials also voluntarily gave some of their animals to
Speaker 1: the people, the priests and the Levites as sacrifices. Hilkiah, Zechariah,
Speaker 1: and Jaheel, who were the officials in charge of the temple,
Speaker 1: gave the priests twenty six hundred sheep and lambs and
Speaker 1: three hundred bulls to sacrifice during the passover celebration. Knanaya
Speaker 1: Histue brothers Shamaiah and Nethanel, as well as Hashebaiah, Jayeel
Speaker 1: and Jozabad were leaders of the Levites, and they gave
Speaker 1: the other Levites five thousand sheep and goats and five
Speaker 1: hundred bulls to offer as sacrifices. When everything was ready
Speaker 1: to celebrate Passover, the priests and the Levites stood where
Speaker 1: Josiah had told them. Then the Levites killed and skinned
Speaker 1: the passover lambs, and they handed some of the blood
Speaker 1: to the priests, who splattered it on the altar. The
Speaker 1: Levites set aside the parts of the animal that the
Speaker 1: worshippers needed for their sacrifices to please the Lord, just
Speaker 1: as the law of Moses required. They also did the
Speaker 1: same thing with the bulls. They sacrificed the passover animals
Speaker 1: on the altar and boiled the meat for the other
Speaker 1: offerings in pots, kettles, and pans. Then they quickly handed
Speaker 1: the meat to the people so they could eat it.
Speaker 1: All day long, the priests were busy offering sacrifices and
Speaker 1: burning the animal's fat on the altar, and when everyone
Speaker 1: had finished, the Levites prepared passover animals for themselves and
Speaker 1: for the priests. During the celebration, some of the Levites
Speaker 1: prepared passover animals for the musicians and the guards, so
Speaker 1: that the Levite musicians would not have to leave their
Speaker 1: places which had been assigned to them according to the
Speaker 1: instructions of David asaff Hemen and Jeduthan, the King's prophet.
Speaker 1: Even the guards at the temple gates did not have
Speaker 1: to leave their posts, so on that day Passover was
Speaker 1: celebrated to honor the Lord, and sacrifices were offered on
Speaker 1: the altar to him, just as Josiah had commanded. The
Speaker 1: worshippers then celebrated the festival of thin Bread for the
Speaker 1: next seven days. People from Jerusalem and from towns all
Speaker 1: over Judah and Israel were there. Passover had not been
Speaker 1: observed like this since the days of Samuel the Prophet.
Speaker 1: In fact, this was the greatest Passover celebration in Israel's history.
Speaker 1: All these things happened in the eighteenth year of Josiah's
Speaker 1: rule in Judah. Some time later, King Nico of Egypt
Speaker 1: led his army to the city of Carcamish on the
Speaker 1: Euphrates River, and Josiah led his troops north to meet
Speaker 1: the Egyptians in battle. Niko sent the following message to Josiah.
Speaker 1: I'm not attacking you, King of Judah. We're not even
Speaker 1: at war, but God has told me to quickly attack
Speaker 1: my enemy. God is on my side, so if you
Speaker 1: try to stop me, he will punish you. But Josiah
Speaker 1: ignored Niko's warning, even though it came from God. Instead,
Speaker 1: he disguised himself and marched into battle against Niko in
Speaker 1: the valley near Megiddo. During the battle, an Egyptian soldier
Speaker 1: shot Josiah with an arrow. Josiah told his servants, get
Speaker 1: me out of here. I've been hit. They carried Josiah
Speaker 1: out on his chariot, then put him in the other
Speaker 1: chariot he had there and took him back to Jerusalem,
Speaker 1: where he soon died. He was buried beside his ancestors,
Speaker 1: and everyone in Judah and Jerusalem mourned his death. Jeremiah
Speaker 1: the Prophet wrote a funeral song in honor of Josiah,
Speaker 1: and since then anyone in Judah who mourns the death
Speaker 1: of Josiah sings that song. It is included in the
Speaker 1: collection of funeral songs. Everything else Josiah did while he
Speaker 1: was king, including how he faithfully obeyed the Lord, is
Speaker 1: written in the history of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
Speaker 1: Les pray, Lord, we thank you for your word, and
Speaker 1: we thank you for the privilege of being able to
Speaker 1: look at it together today, and we thank you Lord
Speaker 1: for the testimony that we could see coming from Josiah's
Speaker 1: life as he sought to be obedient to you, as
Speaker 1: he sought to be faithful, because he trusted in you.
Speaker 1: He put you first in his life, and he led
Speaker 1: the people of Judah in such a way as to
Speaker 1: honor you. Lord. We see that in this passage as
Speaker 1: they celebrated the passover, and we know Lord, that the
Speaker 1: passover was designed to look forward to the work your son,
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ would accomplish on our behalf as the ultimate
Speaker 1: passover lamb, as his body and his blood was given
Speaker 1: in sacrifice on the cross, so that we could be
Speaker 1: passed over or not condemned because of our sin, but
Speaker 1: rather be recipients of your mercy, grace, and forgiveness on
Speaker 1: the basis of the fact that Jesus shed his blood
Speaker 1: on our behalf. So we're grateful for that reality. We're
Speaker 1: grateful for these reminders from this portion of scripture that
Speaker 1: point our hearts to Jesus Christ. And we're grateful for
Speaker 1: the example that we see in Josiah's life. We pray,
Speaker 1: Lord that you would help us to be faithful to
Speaker 1: you as you empower us to do so through faith
Speaker 1: in your son. Lord. We're grateful for all of these things,
Speaker 1: and we Thank you for your presence with us today.
Speaker 1: We pray this all in Jesus's name. Amen,