6/26/2011
7:27:32 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time
Focus: Josiah—humbled
by God’s Word Part-5
(Celebrating
the Passover)
Bible Reading
& Meditation Reference:
2Kings
23:1-23; 2Chron. 35:1-19
Message of the verses: “21
Then the king commanded all the people saying, "Celebrate the
Passover to the LORD your God as it is written in this book of the
covenant." 22 Surely such a Passover
had not been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in
all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was observed
to the LORD in Jerusalem. 24
Moreover, Josiah removed the mediums and the spiritists and the teraphim
and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and
in Jerusalem, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in
the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.”
“1
¶ Then Josiah celebrated the Passover to
the LORD in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the Passover animals on the
fourteenth day of the first month. 2 He
set the priests in their offices and encouraged them in the service of the
house of the LORD. 3 He also said to the
Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the LORD, "Put the holy
ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built; it will be a burden on your
shoulders no longer. Now serve the LORD your God and His people Israel.
4 "Prepare yourselves by your
fathers’ households in your divisions, according to the writing of David king
of Israel and according to the writing of his son Solomon. 5 "Moreover, stand in the holy place
according to the sections of the fathers’ households of your brethren the lay
people, and according to the Levites, by division of a father’s household.
6 "Now slaughter the Passover
animals, sanctify yourselves and prepare for your brethren to do according to
the word of the LORD by Moses." 7
Josiah contributed to the lay people, to all who were present, flocks of
lambs and young goats, all for the Passover offerings, numbering 30,000 plus
3,000 bulls; these were from the king’s possessions. 8 His officers also contributed a freewill
offering to the people, the priests and the Levites. Hilkiah and Zechariah and
Jehiel, the officials of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover
offerings 2,600 from the flocks and 300 bulls. 9 Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethanel, his
brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the officers of the Levites,
contributed to the Levites for the Passover offerings 5,000 from the flocks and
500 bulls. 10 So the service was
prepared, and the priests stood at their stations and the Levites by their
divisions according to the king’s command. 11
They slaughtered the Passover animals, and while the priests sprinkled
the blood received from their hand, the Levites skinned them. 12 Then they removed the burnt offerings that
they might give them to the sections of the fathers’ households of the lay
people to present to the LORD, as it is written in the book of Moses. They did
this also with the bulls. 13 So they
roasted the Passover animals on the fire according to the ordinance, and they
boiled the holy things in pots, in kettles, in pans, and carried them speedily
to all the lay people. 14 Afterwards
they prepared for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons
of Aaron, were offering the burnt offerings and the fat until night; therefore
the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.
15 The singers, the sons of Asaph, were
also at their stations according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and
Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the gatekeepers at each gate did not have to
depart from their service, because the Levites their brethren prepared for
them. 16 So all the service of the LORD
was prepared on that day to celebrate the Passover, and to offer burnt
offerings on the altar of the LORD according to the command of King Josiah.
17 Thus the sons of Israel who were
present celebrated the Passover at that time, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread
seven days. 18 There had not been
celebrated a Passover like it in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet;
nor had any of the kings of Israel celebrated such a Passover as Josiah did
with the priests, the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present, and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem. 19 In the
eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign this Passover was celebrated.”
It
is said of the celebration of the Passover that it was the best since the days
of Samuel the prophet, and it must be remembered that there was no temple in
those days. This was greater than the
one that Hezekiah had celebrated, for this one was done on the first day of the
first month while the celebration in the time of Hezekiah was done on the first
day of the 2nd month. All of
the priests and Levites were ready to do their part in this celebration and
there were twice as many animals sacrificed during this Passover.
The
Passover celebration is a celebration of when the Lord led the people of Israel
out of the land of Egypt after He destroyed Egypt in order to allow His people
to leave. The Passover shows the grace
and the power of the Lord which are two of His attributes. In about 640 years there would be another
Passover celebrated and this time it would be the Lamb of God who would be
sacrificed and this time all of the attributes of God would be on display at
the Cross where Jesus died to take my place as punishment for my sins along
with the sins of all of God’s chosen people.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: There is a difference of opinion as to what
it was mean by the statement about not having the Ark of the Covenant as a
burden to those who were to carry it. It
may have meant that it had been hidden when Manasseh was king in order to
protect it, or it may have simply meant that the Ark of the Covenant did not
have to be carried like it was in the days of Moses when the children of Israel
traveled through the wilderness. At any
rate I see it as meaning that the Lord took my burden on Himself in His own
body on the cross so that there is no burden for me to carry in order to have
my sins taken away because Jesus paid it all, and all to Him I owe.
My Steps of
Faith for Today:
1.
Psalm 51:12
2.
Romans 12:1-2
3.
Proverbs 3:5-6
4.
Philippians 4:11-13
5.
Ephesians 6:10-18
6.
Psalm 139:23-24
6/26/2011
8:06:21 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment