2 Kings 23:21-27--Josiah Restores the Passover

2 Kings 23:21-27
English Standard Version

Josiah Restores the Passover
21 And the king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the LORD in Jerusalem.

24 Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. 25 Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.

​26 Still the LORD did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. 27 And the LORD said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”

---

After destroying all the idols and high places in the land, the first thing that King Josiah wants to restore is the Passover as this is the holy day that reminds the people how they became a people and a nation because the LORD Himself redeemed from Pharaoh and the Egyptians when they were slaves in the land of Goshen.  It has been a long time since the Passover has been observed as it was commanded--definitely as far back and Rehoboam and Jeroboam the first kings in the Divided Kingdom, but possibly all the way back to King Saul including King David and King Solomon as well.  Finally in the 18th year of the reign of King Josiah, the Passover was kept to the LORD in Jerusalem.

Now Josiah also put away all the mediums and necromancers and the household gods and idols that people worshiped and all the other abominations that were in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem.  He saw his job as king as to obey and enforce the covenant written in the book of Deuteronomy so that the blessings of the book and not the curses of the book would come upon the people.  The text tells us that there was no king like him that came before him (not even David) who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might--a reference to Deuteronomy 6:5 which Jesus quotes as The Greatest Commandment.  The text tells us that there also has been no king like Josiah to come after him. Apart from Jesus Himself, Josiah is the best king to rule over the LORD's people.

However, the dye was cast as far as it came to the judgment that Judah was going to face.  The prophecy had been made and would be fulfilled.  After the days of King Josiah, the people would be taken into Exile for a time as punishment for breaking covenant with the LORD and all the abominable things they did, for they did all the evil things that King Manasseh provoked them to do.

We know the story and know that even though the LORD drove His people out of the Land, He did not abandon His people.  We have some of the books of History and the Prophets to tell us about that (specifically the prophets of Ezekiel and Daniel which were written during this time).  The LORD will use this time of Exile to do great things in the hearts of the the Jews and in the hearts of the kings of major empires--the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and the Medes and Persians.  All of the great empires of the time will be exposed to the  LORD and His Word by the LORD sending His people away into foreign lands.  They would be missionaries while they were in exile ,and just wouldn't know it until much, much later.