The destruction which Josiah made of idols and idolatry was more largely detailed in the Book of Kings, although it was only briefly mentioned in the last chapter. But his celebrating of the Passover in the eighteenth year of his reign, which was only touched upon in 2 Kings 23:21, is very minutely described here. The New Testament ordinance of the Lord’s Supper closely resembles the Passover, and true religion cannot flourish where that Gospel “Passover” – wherein we remember the death of Jesus – is either neglected or not properly observed.

The king exhorted and encouraged the priests and Levites to fulfill the responsibilities of their offices in this celebration of the Passover. He placed them back in the offices that they were appointed to by the law of Moses, and also in the order that they had been put into by David and Solomon. Josiah also ordered the Ark of God to be put into its proper place. Perhaps it had lately been displaced by the wicked kings, to make room for their idols; but Josiah bade the Levites put the Ark in the Temple, and not carry it around from place to place.

King Josiah contributed generously for the expenses of this Passover celebration. The ceremonial services were costly; but Josiah, at his own cost, provided the congregation with Passover lambs and other sacrifices which were to be offered during the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (which immediately followed the Passover). Out of his own personal property, he gave 30,000 lambs for Passover offerings, which the offerors were to feast upon; and 3,000 bulls to be offered during the following seven days.

The priests and Levites performed their offices very readily. The Levites killed and prepared the Passover lambs, the priests sprinkled the blood upon the altar, and then they gave the meat to the people according to the size of their families. As for the other sacrifices, the flesh of them was boiled according to the law of the peace-offerings; and it was divided speedily among the people, so that they might feast upon it, as a token of their joy in the atonement that had been made, and in their reconciliation to God thereby. And lastly, the priests and Levites took care to honor God by partaking in the Passover themselves.

The singers and doorkeepers attended in their respective offices as well. With their sacred songs and music, the singers expressed and excited the joy of the congregation, and made the service very pleasant to them; and the porters at the gates took care that there should be no breaking in of anything to defile or disquiet the assembly, and also that none should sneak away out of the service before it was finished.

The whole solemnity was performed with great exactness, according to the law of God; and upon that account, there was none like it since Samuel’s time – for even in Hezekiah’s Passover, there were several irregularities. It also exceeded preceding Passovers during the period of the kings, in the fact that Josiah provided the whole congregation with the animals for sacrifice, at his own cost and charge. That was more than any king of Judah had ever done before.

Thirteen years elapsed from Josiah’s famous Passover (623 BC) to his death (609 BC). During this time, we may hope that his kingdom prospered and the true worship of Jehovah flourished. And yet the record of those years is passed over in silence. The next news that we hear of Josiah is that he was cut off before he was even 40 years old. He was a very good prince; yet in one instance, he was much to be blamed for his rashness and presumption in going out to war against the king of Egypt, without cause or call from God. Pharaoh Necho was on his way to fight the Babylonians, who had recently (in 612 BC) conquered the Assyrian capital of Nineveh; for he feared that the Babylonians were going to rise to such great power that it would be bad for everyone around them. Necho told Josiah that he had no desire to do him any hurt; and therefore, he reasoned that Josiah had no just cause to take up arms against him. Necho also said that his business against Babylon was at the command of Jehovah.

It was not in wrath to Josiah (whose heart was upright with the Lord), but in wrath to the hypocritical nation of Judah (who were unworthy of such a good king), that he refused to hearken to Necho’s fair reasonings and desist from his plans. He went in person and fought the Egyptian army in the valley of Megiddo. Perhaps he could not believe that the king of Egypt truly had a command from God to fight the Babylonians, yet he should have consulted the Lord before he went out against him. His failure to do so was his great fault; and sadly, it had fatal consequences.

Generally speaking, the people of Judah were very wicked, yet they were much to be commended for lamenting the death of Josiah as they did. The prophet Jeremiah lamented his nation’s loss in the Book of Lamentations; for he was the weeping prophet, and he plainly foresaw the utter ruin of his country following the death of this good king. But it is strange to find that the people of Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him (verse 24). Hereby it appeared that they had some respect to their godly prince; and that although they did not cordially comply with him in all his good intentions, they could not help greatly honoring him. But it is to be feared that the people lamented Josiah when he was dead, but they had not been thankful to God for him while he lived. We are often taught to value mercies by the loss of them, which – when we enjoyed them – we did not prize as we ought to have done.

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