Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites, all the people both great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. Then he made all who were present in Jerusalem and in Benjamin join in it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. And Josiah took away all the abominations from all the territory that belonged to the people of Israel and made all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. All his days they did not turn away from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.
2 Chronicles 34:29-33
Josiah kept a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem. ……….. So all the service of the Lord was prepared that day, to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King Josiah. And the people of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days. No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as was kept by Josiah, and the priests and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was kept.
2 Chronicles 35:1, 35:16-19
Points to Ponder
1. Josiah gave it all
Josiah didn’t give the LORD a lip service but rather all that he could! He took away abominations from all the territory. He made a covenant before the LORD. He made everyone in Israel serve the LORD. He reinstated Passover! He did it and He did it right away! The time between you hear from God and when actually do what God told you belongs to the devil. Josiah didn’t spare a second for the devil.
2. Revival is doing what you did at first
Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.
Rev 2:5
Josiah did not invent anything new. (I’m so glad he didn’t. Otherwise, the story would have been quite the opposite.) Josiah led the country doing what they did at first – Passover. I was shocked when I read “non of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as kept by Josiah.” Maybe it was referring to the scale but I also think it was referring to their heart. They didn’t keep Passover because it was Passover time. It was because they realized from the book of law what they were supposed to do and they wanted to do it to please the LORD.
Questions for us:
Do you go to meetings just because it’s Sunday?
Do you join communion because it’s part of the church-going activity?
Do you Draw Near to God (DNTG) as a duty?
Hope the answers are No No No…It’s because I want to. It’s because I love to. And I do it with all my heart and all my soul.
Raisins & Apples Bible Devotional & more 