2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 35: Josiah keeps the great Passover

Begin in prayer

Before reading about Josiah's Passover, ask God to remind your family how He saved Israel on the night of the Passover. Ask Him to show you Jesus, the Lamb of God.

The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and there shall no plague be on you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

Exodus 12:13

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Thank You for the Passover that remembered Your saving, and show us Jesus, the Lamb of God. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Josiah keeps a Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem, and he sets the priests in their offices. He tells the Levites to put the ark in Solomon's house, and to prepare the Passover as the LORD said by Moses. Josiah and his princes give lambs, young goats and bulls to the people, the priests and the Levites. The priests sprinkle the blood, the Levites prepare the offerings, and the singers and porters keep their places. All the service of the LORD is prepared that day, and no Passover like it has been kept since Samuel. Later Josiah goes out to fight Neco king of Egypt, will not listen to him, and dies at Megiddo.

As you read 2 Chronicles 35, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

The LORD gave His people the Passover, and Josiah kept it as He commanded.

The Passover was not Josiah's idea, for the LORD had given it through Moses (verse 6). On the night of the first Passover, the LORD passed over the houses marked with blood (Exodus 12 verses 13 and 27). A lamb was killed, its blood was sprinkled, and the family ate it (verses 11 and 13). So Josiah told the Levites to kill the Passover “according to Yahweh’s word by Moses” (verse 6). Priests, Levites, singers and porters each kept their own place that day (verses 10 to 15). The text says no Passover like it had been kept since Samuel the prophet (verse 18). Later Josiah died at Megiddo, and a faithful king could not save his people (verses 20 to 24). Paul says that Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place (1 Corinthians 5 verse 7).

How does 2 Chronicles 35 show us that the LORD gave His people the Passover, and that Josiah kept it as He commanded?

Josiah set the priests and Levites in their places.

Josiah set the priests in their offices and encouraged them in the service of the LORD's house (verse 2). He told the Levites to put the holy ark in Solomon's house, so it would not burden their shoulders (verse 3). He told them to prepare themselves by their divisions, as David and Solomon had written (verse 4). They were to kill the Passover according to the LORD's word by Moses (verse 6).

The people kept the Passover as it was written.

Josiah and his princes gave lambs, young goats and bulls, so that everyone present had a Passover offering (verses 7 to 9). The priests sprinkled the blood, and the Levites prepared the offerings (verse 11). They roasted the Passover with fire according to the ordinance (verse 13). They kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days, and no Passover like it had come since Samuel (verses 17 and 18).

Josiah died at Megiddo, and all Judah mourned.

Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish, and Josiah went out against him (verse 20). Neco sent word that God had commanded him to make haste (verse 21). Josiah would not listen, and he was wounded by archers and died (verses 22 to 24). All Judah and Jerusalem mourned, and Jeremiah lamented for him (verses 24 and 25).

Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Passover sacrificed for sinners.

John pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1 verse 29). Paul says Christ is the Passover lamb who has been sacrificed (1 Corinthians 5 verse 7). The lambs of Josiah's Passover remembered Egypt, and Jesus is the Lamb that God gave for sinners.

Memorise

Josiah kept a Passover to Yahweh in Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 35:1

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, whose blood covers my sin, and have I trusted Jesus, the Lamb of God?

Josiah kept a Passover to the LORD, and the blood was sprinkled as the LORD's word by Moses said. John pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1 verse 29). Paul says Christ is the Passover lamb, sacrificed (1 Corinthians 5 verse 7).

In Egypt, the blood on the door meant that judgment passed over. Jesus is the Lamb slain for His sheep. His blood answers the judgment their sin deserves, and one sacrifice is enough, once for all. God raised Him, and the Lamb lives.

So come to Him. Turn from your sin and put your trust in Jesus. Everyone who trusts Him will be forgiven, and judgment will pass over them.

Parent's note

Tell your children that Josiah kept the Passover as the LORD told Moses, and that Jesus is the Lamb of God. Parents, verses 20 to 24 tell of Josiah's death in battle, so please explain it gently. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for the Lamb who takes away sin, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place.

1 Corinthians 5:7

Father, thank You for the Passover that remembered Your saving. Thank You for Jesus, the Lamb of God, who was slain for sinners and lives. Please bring each of us to repent and trust Him. Amen.