2 Kings 23:21

2 Kings 23:21 says, And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.  Josiah then told the people to keep the Passover, as it was written in the book of the covenant.  We need to keep God's laws as they are written in the Bible, and we as followers of Christ should not need anyone to tell us to do this, nor should we allow anyone to keep us from doing so.  Matthew Henry says it wasn't enough to just cast out evil, but that it needed to be replaced by doing good.  We may be proud of not doing evil, yet at the same time do nothing good for God. Verse twenty-two adds, Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;  This Passover was greater than any before, but I don't believe that Josiah was just having a great Passover observation so he could brag about it.  If we do some great thing for God, we should not do it just so we can be praised.  Verse twenty-three continues, But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the Lord in Jerusalem.  Josiah had been in power for eighteen years at this time but had never had a great Passover before evidently.  It may have been the discovery of the book of the covenant that led him to the knowledge that this needed to be done.  It doesn't matter how long we may have been worshipping God, until we follow His word as He preserved it for us in the Bible, we have been missing true worship.  Verse twenty-four states, Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.  All forms of idolatry and the worship of other gods was done away with.  This was done so that Josiah might perform the words of God written in the book that Hilkiah found in the Temple.  We must get rid of all the things in our life that are not in accordance with God's written word, the Bible.  Verse twenty-five adds, And like unto him was there no king before him, that 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; neither after him arose there any like him.  Josiah was like no other king before him or after in being obedient to God's word as he worshipped Him with all his heart, his soul, and his might. He was even placed above David and Solomon for his obedience to God.  We may not be the most obedient to God of any Christians ever, but that should still be our goal, and not for our glory, but for God's.  Verse twenty-six continues, Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.  God still didn't turn his wrath away from Judah because of the provocations of Manasseh.  This doesn't sound like the actions of a kind and loving God, but Matthew Henry says that the people probably didn't truly repent and turn to God but pretended to because they feared Josiah or wanted to seem obedient to him.  Appearances are not enough to make things right with God without true repentance and putting our faith in Him, starting with accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.  We can go through all the motions of being a Christian, but without that personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we are still doomed.  I do know that one day God's judgment is coming on the whole world, and I believe it will be a fair judgement.  Verse twenty-seven says, And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.  God said He was going to remove Judah and cast-off Jerusalem and the Temple, or house which was called His, just as He had cast off Israel.  I believe that this was more His removing His protection from them because of their idolatry, but the results were the same either way.  I don't believe that once we are saved by our faith in Jesus Christ that we will ever be cast-off by God, but our actions can lead to our being defeated in this lifetime because God has removed His protection from us.  Verse twenty-eight adds, Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?  As with all the kings of Israel and Judah, we are told that the rest of his actions are recorded in the chronicles of the kings.  Verse twenty-nine continues, In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.  When the king of Egypt went to war with Assyria, Josiah sided with Assyria and went against Egypt and was killed.  Matthew Henry says that Josiah had no mandate from God and should not have gotten involved in a war between two evil nations.  The more damage they did to each other, the better off Judah would be.  We really don't need to side with any evil nation today if they are fighting each other and not fighting us.  Verse thirty concludes, And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's stead.  Josiah's servants brought his body by chariot back to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb and Jehoahaz his son was made king.  Life goes on, even with the death of one of the greatest kings in all of Israel that was more devoted to doing God's will.  When a great Christian leader dies today, life will go on and someone will replace him, and we need to pray that they are just as dedicated to God.