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REFORMS OF KING JOSIAH II

Text: 2 Kings 23; 2 Chronicles 35
12 April 2011

(I) REFORMS OF KING JOSIAH II

THE SEVEN FEASTS OF THE LORD (Leviticus 23)

1. The Sabbath (Leviticus 23:3)

Significance: Weekly worship

2. The Passover and Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:4-8)

Significance: Passover (Last Plague on Egypt)

3. The Feast of Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:9-14)

Significance: Dedication of the firstfruits of the barley harvest

4. The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) (Leviticus 23:15-22)

Significance: Dedication of the wheat harvest

5. The Feast of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-25)

Significance: Commencement of the seventh (Sabbatical) month

6. The Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26-32)

Significance: The only day for fasting

7. The Feast of Tabernacles (Levitius 23:33-44)

Significance: Remembering the years in the wilderness living in tents/booths

(II) KEEPING OF THE PASSOVER

2 Kings 23:21-23; 2 Chronicles 35:1-19

1. Personal Exhortation from King Josiah to the people

“Keep the Passover to the LORD your God as it is written in the Book of the Covenant” 2 Kings 23:21

2. Personal Exhortation from King Josiah to the priests and Levites (2 Chronicles 34:1-6)

3. Personal Gift from King Josiah of lambs, goats and cattle to celebrate the Passover (2 Chronicles 34:7)

4. Support from leaders of the land (2 Chronicles 34:8)

5. Chief Levites also came forward to give significantly (2 Chronicles 34:9)

(III) GREAT CELEBRATION

1. Royalty (2 Chronicles 34:7)

King Josiah led in this celebration

2. Leaders (2 Chronicles 34:8)

3. Levites (2 Chronicles 34:9)

a) Singers (2 Chronicles 34:15)

b) Gate-keepers (2 Chronicles 34:15)

4. Lay people were not excluded (2 Chronicles 34:7, 13, 1)

Children of Israel

(IV) COMMENTARY ON THE KEEPING OF THE PASSOVER

“There had been no Passover kept in Israel like that since the days of Samuel the prophet; and none of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as Josiah kept, with all the priests and the Levites, all Judah and Israel were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah the Passover was kept.” 2 Chronicles 34:18-19