September 16th Read 2 Chr 35:1–7, 16–25 2Ch 35:1 Josiah kept a Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem. And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month…2Ch 35:16-23 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. (17) And the people of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days. (18) 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. (19) In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah this Passover was kept. (20) After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to meet him. (21) But he sent envoys to him, saying, "What have we to do with each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war. And God has commanded me to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me, lest he destroy you." (22) Nevertheless, Josiah did not turn away from him, but disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to fight in the plain of Megiddo. (23) And the archers shot King Josiah. And the king said to his servants, "Take me away, for I am badly wounded." Here is the last good king of Judah. His name means Yahweh is my foundation or in modern Christian terms, Jesus is my rock and foundation. He lived up to his name as well as any other faithful Israelite. Like Hezekiah a few kings before him, Josiah cleans house and keeps the Passover of the Lord. He fixes the Lord’s house and restores the proper worship of Yahweh (LORD). It was a good time for Judah as they had a faithful king. It is unfortunate thought that Josiah must have had a fighting streak in him. We all have our faults and failings. Certainly he was right to go out against Neco originally. Neco was going through his land and he did not announce himself or ask permission. When Neco told him he was on the Lord’s mission, Josiah should have consulted the high priest or the prophets to see if this were so. Perhaps he did but he didn’t care. I say this because he disguised himself to go make war with the Egyptians. Why would you do that if some amount of subterfuge were not at play? He either just wanted to fight or perhaps he felt he needed to prove himself a warrior. Either way his pride was his death. We should like Josiah and Hezekiah keep our worship of the Lord Jesus Christ pure. We should gather to hear His Word and receive his gifts in baptism, absolution, the Lord’s Supper, the proclamation of the Gospel and bible study along with edifying our brothers and sisters in Christ. We should take care to follow the commands and institutions of Christ and worship in a way that is pleasing to Him. Besides that we should take care that we do not let pride overrun our faith in Christ. True worship of Christ is the humble reception of all that He wants to give us along with thanks and praise for those things with service to our fellows. We do not want to end up like Josiah. Lord Jesus Christ, ever give us humble spirits and contrite hearts to receive your gifts and your Word with faith and give us Your Holy Spirit that we may live out this faith in our lives in thanksgiving to you and service to our neighbor. Amen.
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 13:48:15 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015