2 Chronicles 35

King Josiah keeps the greatest Passover since the days of Samuel. He restores the priests and Levites to their duties and gives generously from his own flocks. The chapter ends sadly, as Josiah ignores a warning, goes out to fight Pharaoh Neco at Megiddo, and is killed, to the deep grief of the whole nation.

2 Chronicles 35:1

Josiah keeps the Passover in Jerusalem, in the very place God had chosen for it, and at the very time the law set: the fourteenth day of the first month. This feast looked back to Israel’s rescue from Egypt. Josiah wants the nation to remember who redeemed them.

BSA: Passover (“a time of remembrance”): The feast was not just a ceremony but a deliberate remembering of what God had done.

See also: Exodus 12:6; Deuteronomy 16:5-6.

2 Chronicles 35:2

Before the feast, Josiah puts the priests back in their assigned work and strengthens their courage for it. Good worship needs order and also encouragement. A king who loved God cared that his servants were ready and heartened.

BSA: encouraged (“strengthened, exhorted”): Josiah did more than give orders; he put heart into the priests for their work.

2 Chronicles 35:3

The Levites were teachers as well as helpers. Josiah tells them to put the ark in the temple and stop carrying it on their shoulders. Their burden was now a different one: to serve the LORD and His people. Holy things belong in their place, and service is for God and for others.

BSA: holy (“set apart, sanctified”): The Levites belonged to God in a special way, and so did the ark they cared for.

See also: Numbers 4:15.

2 Chronicles 35:4-5

Josiah has the Levites get ready by families and in their groups, following the written plans of David and Solomon. They are to stand in the sanctuary alongside each group of ordinary worshipers. Good worship is orderly, rooted in what earlier generations had received, and shared by all the people.

BSA: stand (“in a strong sense, like a sentinel”): The Levites were to hold their posts steadily, like watchmen on duty.

See also: 1 Chronicles 23:6.

2 Chronicles 35:6

The Levites are to slaughter the lambs, make themselves holy, and prepare everything so that the people can keep the feast just as the LORD commanded through Moses. Their own cleansing came first. Those who help others worship must themselves be right with God.

BSA: consecrate (“set apart as holy, sanctify”): The Levites were to cleanse and dedicate themselves before handling the sacrifices.

2 Chronicles 35:7

Josiah gives from his own property: 30,000 lambs and goats and 3,000 bulls, so that everyone present could share in the feast. A king who has found God’s word does not merely command worship. He pays for it, and gives so that others may take part.

BSA: contributed (“to give or provide generously”): The gift was lavish, a sign of a heart moved by thanks.

2 Chronicles 35:8-9

Josiah’s officials follow his example and give freely to the people, priests and Levites. The temple administrators and the Levite leaders each give large numbers of animals. A generous leader can stir others to give willingly.

BSA: willingly (“with a voluntary spirit, freely”): Their gifts came from the heart, not from pressure.

See also: Exodus 35:21.

2 Chronicles 35:10

Everything is ready. Priests and Levites take their places by groups, as the king had ordered. Nothing is left to chance or confusion. Worship that is prepared with care lets the people focus on God Himself.

BSA: service (“ministry, work of worship”): Worship is called work here; it takes planning and effort.

2 Chronicles 35:11

The work is shared. The lambs are slaughtered, the priests sprinkle the blood, and the Levites skin the animals. The blood is the heart of the act: it was the sign that a life had been given. Each person does his own part, and the whole offering gets done.

BSA: sprinkled (“scattered, poured out”): The priests applied the blood at the altar, the central act of the sacrifice.

See also: Leviticus 17:11.

2 Chronicles 35:12

The burnt offerings are set aside and handed to the family groups so that each could present its own offering to the LORD. This follows what is written in the Book of Moses. Josiah’s reform was not new invention but obedience to the written word.

BSA: burnt offerings (“sacrifices completely consumed by fire, ascending to God”): These offerings were given wholly to God, and the smoke rose up to Him.

See also: Leviticus 1:3-9.

2 Chronicles 35:13

The Passover animals are roasted on the fire as the law required, while the other holy offerings are boiled in pots and bowls. They are served quickly so that all the people can eat. The meal was shared and joyful, and nobody was left out.

BSA: quickly (“with haste, to run or rush”): The Levites hurried to serve the huge crowd while the food was hot.

See also: Exodus 12:8-9.

2 Chronicles 35:14

Only after serving others do the Levites prepare food for themselves and for the priests, who were busy offering the fat and burnt offerings until nightfall. The Levites put the priests and the people before themselves. It is a quiet picture of serving first and eating last.

BSA: nightfall (“the end of the day, darkness”): The priests worked until the day was over, so the Levites fed them.

2 Chronicles 35:15

The singers stay at their places as David, Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun had arranged, and the gatekeepers do not have to leave their gates, because other Levites prepare their food. Music and watchfulness continue without a break. Everyone’s work is honored and supported.

BSA: seer (“prophet, one who receives visions from God”): Jeduthun was a man who received messages from God, as well as a musician.

See also: 1 Chronicles 25:1.

2 Chronicles 35:16

On that one day the whole service of the LORD was finished: the Passover kept and the burnt offerings offered, all as the king had commanded. The writer wants us to see how complete and orderly it was, with nothing left undone.

BSA: entire (“all-inclusive, comprehensive”): Not a part of the worship was neglected.

2 Chronicles 35:17

The Israelites who were present kept the Passover and then the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days. The two feasts belonged together: first the rescue, then a week of leaving old yeast behind. Remembering God’s saving act leads on to a cleaner life.

BSA: Unleavened Bread (“sweet bread without yeast”): Bread made without yeast recalled Israel’s hurried departure from Egypt.

See also: Exodus 12:15-17.

2 Chronicles 35:18-19

No Passover like this had been kept since Samuel’s day. It involved priests, Levites, all Judah, the people of the north who were present, and Jerusalem. The writer dates it to Josiah’s eighteenth year. It was a high point of revival: whole-hearted, orderly and shared by all.

BSA: prophet (“someone who speaks for God”): Samuel spoke God’s word to Israel, and the nation’s last great Passover was remembered from his time.

See also: 2 Kings 23:21-23.

2 Chronicles 35:20

Some time after the temple was put in order, Neco of Egypt marched north toward Carchemish on the Euphrates. Josiah went out to meet him. The story turns suddenly. After such faithfulness, a quarrel that was not Josiah’s to fight draws him into war.

BSA: confront (“meet, encounter”): Josiah chose to go out and face Neco, though no one had attacked Judah.

2 Chronicles 35:21

Neco sends messengers saying he has no quarrel with Josiah, that he is fighting another dynasty, and that God told him to hurry. He warns Josiah not to oppose God, or God will destroy him. God sometimes speaks through unexpected voices, and the warning was serious.

BSA: opposing (“cease, forbear”): Neco urged Josiah to stop and hold back from what he was doing.

2 Chronicles 35:22

Josiah refuses to turn back. He disguises himself and goes to fight at Megiddo. The chronicler says plainly that he did not listen to Neco’s words from the mouth of God. Even a good king can fail to listen when God speaks in an unlikely way.

BSA: disguised (“concealed, hid”): Josiah hid his identity, as if he could escape the danger he had been warned about.

See also: 1 Kings 22:30.

2 Chronicles 35:23-24

Archers hit Josiah. He tells his servants to take him away, and they move him to a second chariot and carry him to Jerusalem, where he dies. He is buried in his fathers’ tomb and all Judah mourns. The man who sought God was gone, and the people felt the loss.

BSA: wounded (“weak, sick”): The word shows how weak and helpless the strong king had suddenly become.

2 Chronicles 35:25

Jeremiah wrote a lament for Josiah, and the singers kept singing such laments for years afterward, as an established custom. This shows how much the nation loved him. A life of faithful reform leaves a lasting memory.

BSA: laments (“dirges, songs of sorrow”): These were formal songs of mourning, sung by both men and women.

See also: Zechariah 12:11.

2 Chronicles 35:26-27

The chronicler closes by pointing to Josiah’s other acts and his deeds of loving devotion, done according to the Law of the LORD. The king is remembered for how he kept faith with God’s word. The fuller record lies in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

BSA: loving devotion (“mercy, kindness, loyalty”): The Hebrew word points to faithful, loyal love, which marked the way Josiah lived by God’s law.

Hebrew: חֲסָדָיו (ḥasadav, H2617) — “his loyal loves, his faithful kindnesses.” The Hebrew word ḥesed means steady, covenant-keeping love. It is the same kind of love God shows His people, here seen in the king’s own deeds.

See also: 2 Kings 23:25.