Scripture: 2 Chronicles 34:1-4, 8-11, 14-33 (NKJV)
1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one
years in Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and
walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand
or to the left. 3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still
young, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he
began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the
carved images, and the molded images. 4 They broke down the altars of the Baals
in his presence, and the incense altars which were above them he cut down; and
the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images he broke in pieces,
and made dust of them and scattered it on the graves of those who had
sacrificed to them.
8 In the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the
temple, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of the city,
and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his
God. 9 When they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that
was brought into the house of God, which the Levites who kept the doors had
gathered from the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, from all the remnant of Israel,
from all Judah and Benjamin, and which they had brought back to Jerusalem. 10
Then they put it in the hand of the foremen who had the oversight of the house
of the LORD; and they gave it to the workmen who worked in the house of the
LORD, to repair and restore the house. 11 They gave it to the craftsmen and
builders to buy hewn stone and timber for beams, and to floor the houses which
the kings of Judah had destroyed.
14 Now when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the
LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given by Moses.
15 Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book
of the Law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan. 16
So Shaphan carried the book to the king, bringing the king word, saying, “All
that was committed to your servants they are doing. 17 And they have gathered
the money that was found in the house of the LORD, and have delivered it into
the hand of the overseers and the workmen.” 18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the
king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it
before the king. 19 Thus it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law,
that he tore his clothes. 20 Then the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of
Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of
the king, saying, 21 “Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for those who are
left in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found; for
great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us, because our fathers
have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according to all that is written in
this book.”
22 So Hilkiah and those the king had appointed went to Huldah the prophetess,
the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the
wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke to her
to that effect. 23 Then she answered them, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel,
‘Tell the man who sent you to Me, 24 “Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will bring
calamity on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses that are written
in the book which they have read before the king of Judah, 25 because they have
forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to
anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath will be poured out
on this place, and not be quenched.’”‘ 26 But as for the king of Judah, who
sent you to inquire of the LORD, in this manner you shall speak to him, ‘Thus
says the LORD God of Israel: “Concerning the words which you have heard—27
because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you
heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you humbled
yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have
heard you,” says the LORD. 28 “Surely I will gather you to your fathers, and
you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all
the calamity which I will bring on this place and its inhabitants.”‘” So they
brought back word to the king.
29 Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30
The king went up to the house of the LORD, with all the men of Judah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the Levites, and all the people, great
and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the
Covenant which had been found in the house of the LORD. 31 Then the king stood
in his place and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD, and to
keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart
and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in
this
Scripture: 2 Chronicles 35:1-7, 16-25 (NKJV)
1 Now Josiah kept a Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the
Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the first month. 2 And he set the
priests in their duties and encouraged them for the service of the house of the
LORD. 3 Then he said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy to the
LORD: “Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of
Israel, built. It shall no longer be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve the
LORD your God and His people Israel. 4 Prepare yourselves according to your
fathers’ houses, according to your divisions, following the written instruction
of David king of Israel and the written instruction of Solomon his son. 5 And
stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of
your brethren the lay people, and according to the division of the father’s
house of the Levites. 6 So slaughter the Passover offerings, consecrate
yourselves, and prepare them for your brethren, that they may do according to
the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.” 7 Then Josiah gave the lay people
lambs and young goats from the flock, all for Passover offerings for all who
were present, to the number of thirty thousand, as well as three thousand
cattle; these were from the king’s possessions.
16 So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same 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 children of Israel who were present kept
the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days. 18
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 the priests and the Levites, 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, Necho king of Egypt
came up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates; and Josiah went out
against him. 21 But he sent messengers to him, saying, “What have I to do with
you, king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against the house
with which I have war; for God commanded me to make haste. Refrain from
meddling with God, who is with me, lest He destroy you.” 22 Nevertheless Josiah
would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself so that he might fight
with him, and did not heed the words of Necho from the mouth of God. So he came
to fight in the Valley of Megiddo. 23 And the archers shot King Josiah; and the
king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am severely wounded.” 24 His
servants therefore took him out of that chariot and put him in the second
chariot that he had, and they brought him to Jerusalem. So he died, and was
buried in one of the tombs of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned
for Josiah. 25 Jeremiah also lamented for Josiah. And to this day all the
singing men and the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations. They
made it a custom in Israel; and indeed they are written in the Laments.
Devotion
What the Lord requires, the Lord provides. In Exodus 12:3 the Lord commands
that every man shall take a lamb from his own flock to be His family’s Passover
Lamb. In the days of Josiah, when the Passover had become a thing of distant
history, Josiah reestablished the Passover amongst God’s people and did so at
His own expense (verse 7). What the Lord required, a lamb in this instance, the
Lord provided through Josiah. This is a picture of how our Lord deals with us.
We cannot afford the sacrifice for our sins. The ransom for the life of man is
too great for any sinner to accomplish. In sheer grace and mercy, the Lord
provides a Passover Lamb for us, our Lord Jesus Christ, to atone for our sins
and rescue us from the bondage of Satan and sin.
Having made atonement for our sins, the Lord then requires faith as that which
apprehends the blessings Christ earned on the Cross as our Passover Lamb. Once
again, we cannot create faith in our heart or conjure up trust in Christ’s
merit and atonement. But praise be to God, that which He requires He freely
bestows on us! He works faith in our hearts through the means of grace, giving
us Christ’s merits and giving the means to possess those merits for our
salvation.
We pray: Dear Father, thank You for the merits of Jesus, which You bestow upon
us through faith. Keep us always in this faith that we may possess the merits
of Jesus as our own, through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
The Lutheran Herald is a publication of the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of
North America. These daily devotions are authored by the bishop, pastors, and
deacons of the diocese. Daily posts are provided by The Reverend Jeffrey A.
Ahonen.
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