Reading For Thursday 2 Kings 23:21-30

The Passover feast became a focal point of Josiah’s reform. Josiah continued to put away idols and false worship. Josiah faithfully followed the Lord as no king had in quite some time. He set the priests in their offices and encouraged them in the service to the house of God. The Levites were directed to put the ark in the temple. It would no longer be a burden upon their shoulders. This may indicate that the ark had been removed from the temple and hidden by the Levites during the days of wicked Manasseh or perhaps it had just been removed during the time of temple renovation. The Levites were to organize themselves by the ancient divisions that dated back to David and Solomon. They were also to position themselves in the holy place for the slaughter of the Passover animals. Everything was to be done as prescribed by the word of God to Moses. The king and royal officials contributed thousands of lambs to the people. The priests and Levites worked together in preparing the Passover animals. After taking care of the Passover needs of the people, the Levites prepared the appropriate sacrifices for themselves and the priests. The singers and gatekeepers did not have to leave their posts because the Levites took care of the preparation for them. This was the way that Josiah orchestrated the observance of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened bread which followed. The people had not attended, participated, or celebrated a Passover like this since the days of Samuel. The festival was attended by the citizens of Judah and by many Israelites from among the ten tribes who still remained intermixed with the Assyrian colonists in the area of Samaria. The sad part of this is that it did not abate the Lord's anger and wrath toward their disobedience. His city and his house would be cast off because sin is costly.

Things To Consider:

• Why would keeping the Passover be significant in light of the fact they had rediscovered God's word to Moses?  
• Why is Josiah still putting away idols? Is repentance an ongoing posture in the life of a believer? Why?  
• Why do you think God would not turn from his wrath?  
• What does this show us about God's character?  
• What can we learn about the gospel from this story?