Next we read that Josiah kept a Passover unto the Lord in Jerusalem on the fourteenth day of the first month. This was taking higher ground than even Hezekiah, who had taken advantage of the provision of grace in case of defilement and had kept the Passover on the second month. Also Josiah told the Levites to put the holy ark back into the house which Solomon had built. Apparently it had been removed from the house of the Lord, and it seems that the Levites were carrying it on their shoulders. The king desired that it should be taken back so that they could be occupied with their service for the Lord, which David and Solomon had arranged for them long before. He told them to kill the Passover, according to the word of the Lord through Moses, and with real devotion and largeness of heart he gave to the people lambs and kids for the offerings, out of his own substance. Also the singers, the sons of Asaph, were there in their place to sing praises unto the Lord. Furthermore, in connection with the Passover, they kept the feast of unleaned bread seven days. It is lovely to see here Josiah leading his people into the enjoyment of their high and holy privileges that God had given them. The Spirit of God tells us that there was no passover like that kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover. What made it so remarkable was that this wonderful celebration took place just before the judgment of God fell upon the guilty nation, for it was only a few short years later that they were all carried away to Babylon. Surely this was God’s grace to Israel, and shows that no matter how dark the day, faith can rise to enjoy the privileges and blessings that God has given us in Christ. “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:77Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: (1 Corinthians 5:7)), and in the midst of a scene fast ripening for judgment, we can sit around His table in peace and feast upon that love that went into death for us, while we wait the moment of His coming to take us away to be with Himself forever.
Several years after this, Josiah seemed to lose his simplicity of faith. Necho king of Egypt had come up to fight against Carchemish, an Assyrian city on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out against him, just why we do not know. Necho warned him against entering into the war, lest he be destroyed. We read that Josiah “hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God,” but disguised himself and went into the battle where he was mortally wounded. They brought him back to Jerusalem where he died, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him. Jeremiah is mentioned as one that lamented for him. Still we can see God’s hand in these circumstances for He used this occasion of Josiah’s failure to take him away from the evil to come.
Josiah had started out for the Lord very beautifully. He loved and valued the Word of God and was richly blessed for it. But apparently he became satisfied with the way he had walked as though the victory was won, and neglected to seek guidance from the Lord in his later years. It is native to our hearts to take credit for the way we have gone on, and losing the sense of dependence, we can make shipwreck of our lives and bring dishonor upon the Lord. We need to cry to Him that it might not be so with us.
ML 01/25/1959