2 Chronicles 35:8

2 Chronicles 35:8 says, And his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave unto the priests for the passover offerings two thousand and six hundred small cattle and three hundred oxen.  The princes, or those in positions of power in Judah gave generously to the celebration of the Passover.  We may not be in a position of power in the church, but whether we are or not, we need to give generously so that God's work can be accomplished and we can let the world know that we are worshiping the one true God.  Verse nine adds, Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto the Levites for passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.  The great men of the Levites, some of the chief Levites, also contributed to the supplying for the Passover.  We should hope that religious leaders today will always be willing to contribute to the work of the church and to special times of worship.  Verse ten continues, So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king's commandment.  The service was carried out by the priests and Levites doing what God had said they should do, even if it also says they did it according to the king's commandment.  They should have been doing what God called them to do whether the king commanded them to do so or not, and so should we as followers of Christ whether the government tells us to or not.  As a local congregation and as the church as whole, we all need to obey the calling of God in our lives.  Verse eleven states, And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed them.  After all the offerings and preparation for the Passover, the Passover animals were killed, and the priests sprinkled the blood from the sacrifice from their hands onto the altar.  The Levites also flayed the Passover animals and gave the meat to the people according to their families.  As important as worship service is, we need to also work under the leadership of the Holy Spirit to meet the needs of people in the church and community.  The sacrifice has already been made for us, so once we accept it, then we just need to be about doing what God has called us to do. Verse twelve adds, And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen.  The Levites also gave what was left of the burnt offerings to the people to eat in accordance with God's will.  If we have an overabundance of material blessings today, we should be willing to use them to help other people.  Verse thirteen continues, And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance: but the other holy offerings sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the people.  They roasted the Passover sacrifice with fire, but they also prepared what was left over for a quick distribution to the people.  Once we know what God wants us to do, we should do it quickly.  Verse fourteen says, And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the priests: because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in offering of burnt offerings and the fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron.  The priests were so busy offering burnt offerings that the Levites had to prepare food for themselves and for the Levites.  We may get very busy doing the work of God, especially ministers, but they we need to take care of our bodies as well, and need to make sure that ministers do as well.  We cannot serve God effectively if we are physically beaten down because we have neglected our own wellbeing.  Verse fifteen adds, And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the porters waited at every gate; they might not depart from their service; for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.  The Levites also prepared food for the singers, who were also too busy to prepare it for themselves.  I don't think we ever get that caught up in doing the work of God in accordance with His word, but it might be good if we did, and others were there to ensure our physical needs were taken care of.  Verse sixteen continues, So all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the Lord, according to the commandment of king Josiah.  Everything was completed in one day to keep the Passover.  We are told that this was in accordance to the commandment of Josiah, but it really was done according to the commandment of God.  We may worship and witness for God because someone has insired us to, but it should still always be done in accordance with the commandments of God.  

2 Chronicles 35:1

2 Chronicles 35:1 says, Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the Lord in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.  Josiah began to keep the Passover once more.  If we have strayed away from God as Christians, we need to repent, return to Him and begin to keep His commandments once more.  Keeping God's commandments does not free us from the penalty of sin, but once we have been saved by putting our faith in Jesus Christ, we must then obey God's commandments by following the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  Though we are freed from the penalty of sin, we are not freed to go on sinning.  Verse two adds, And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the Lord,  Josiah set the priests back to doing what they should have been doing all along and encouraged them as they did.  I don't know how successful they would have been just because they started doing what they should have been doing all along by the order of the king and not because they knew that was what God required of them.  We cannot be successful spiritually by doing what anyone other than God Himself calls us to do.  If we do anything for God just because someone has ordered us to, it is not real worship.  We also need to encourage those who are doing what God called them to do.  Verse three continues, And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the Lord, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders: serve now the Lord your God, and his people Israel,  Josiah told the Levites that taught all of Israel to return the Ark of the Covenant to the temple, and when they did, it would not be a burden on their shoulders.  Of course, they should have been doing this by the leadership of God. We need to do what is right in God's eyes, and if we do, it will lift any burden we have been carrying.  Verse four states, And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.  Josiah told them to follow the teachings of David and Solomon in regard to how they served God.  We need to base our worship and our service on God's word.  Verse five adds, And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and after the division of the families of the Levites.  Josiah was just continuing to tell the Levites that they needed to do what God had said they should, but it shouldn't have taken the king telling them to do so in order for them to do so.  We should be following God because of personal relationship with Jesus Christ, no matter what the government says.  Verse six continues, So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.  Josiah also told them to kill the Passover sacrifice and prepare their brethren so that they might do what God's word said.  As Christians, the Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ, has already sacrificed Himself for us, and all we need to do is put our faith in Him and the live according to His word.  Obeying God's law cannot save us, because we will always fall short of total obedience, but once we are saved, we need to obey God's law because we know that is what brings honor and glory to Him.  Verse seven concludes, And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king's substance.  Josiah then gave them the necessary animals for the sacrifice, so they didn't even have to provide that.  All they had to do was offer the Passover sacrifice in accordance with God's word.  Our Passover sacrifice has already been offered for us when Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sins of all people for all time, and all we have to do is accept this free gift.  When we do, we need to live guided by God's law. 

2 Chronicles 34:30

2 Chronicles 34:30 says, And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord.  Josiah and all the people from the most powerful to the least powerful, including priests and Levites went to the house of the Lord and read the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found there.  It would seem that the priests and Levites would have been reading it as the religious leaders, but Matthew Henry says that Josiah may have read it to show that it affected him as well.  I do know that when we gather to worship God that we need to be reading and proclaiming the truth of the Bible and that it should affect us all, from the highest to the lowest.  Verse thirty-one adds, And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.  Josiah stood as the king of Judah and made a covenant with God to always follow His teachings found in the Book of the Covenant with all His heart and soul.  This is what we should do when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  We should make that same covenant to follow God's teachings as recorded in the Bible, even though we are not saved by the old covenant of the Law but by the new covenant of grace.  They kept the law looking forward to the new covenant and we keep the law because we are still to be obedient to God's law, even though it does not save us, nor did it save them.  All people for all time are saved by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for all the sins of all the people.   Verse thirty-two continues, And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.  Josiah had all those present to at least say they would do the same, but He could not force them to do so.  We may get people to proclaim that they have put their faith in Jesus Christ, but we cannot force them to, nor can we guarantee that they have.  We can only present the gospel to them, and then it is up to them whether they truly accept God's gift of salvation or not, but it is not up to us to decide if they did or not.  That is God's decision alone.  Verse thirty-three concludes, And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. And all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.  It seems from this verse that the people of Judah were sincere in following God for as long as Josiah lived, but they may have just been going through the motions of serving God without really putting their faith in Him, because if they had, I believe it would have said that they all followed God's Law for the rest of their lives and not just during the reign of Josiah.  We may proclaim ourselves to be a Christian nation in America, but if our actions are not in accordance with God's Law, then we are making a false claim.  Still, all we can do as Christians is to make sure that we are obedient to the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

2 Chronicles 34:22

2 Chronicles 34:22 says, And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they spake to her to that effect.  Hilkiah and all those he had appointed went to Huldah the prophetess to inquire of her.  Matthew Henry doesn't say anything about her, only that they enquired of the Lord.  We are not told much about Huldah, but she was evidently a real prophetess of God, so we should not be surprised if God works through both men and women today to spread His word.  Verse twenty-three adds, And she answered them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell ye the man that sent you to me,  Huldah did tell them that what she told them she gave by a revelation from God.  Whoever we are as Christians, what we speak as the truth needs to come from God.  Like Huldah, we don't need to give our opinions but God's word.  Verse twenty-four continues, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:  What Huldah said was not good news.  She said God said He was going to bring all the curses written in the book on the people of Judah.  I don't think we should try to scare people into accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, but we do need to tell them the truth about what will happen to them if they don't, and it will be much worse than anything that can happen in this world.  It is an everlasting punishment separated from God.  Verse twenty-five concludes, Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.  Huldah pronounced God's judgment on Judah because of their sin, not as an arbitrary act on His part.  God is not out to get us, but He loved us enough to send His only begotten Son to die in our place.  If God's judgment comes on us, it will be because we chose to reject Jesus Christ and continue in sinning against Him.  Verse twenty-six states, And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the Lord, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard;  Huldah had a different message for Josiah.  Even if the whole world is in rebellion against God, what matters is our relationship to Him.  We cannot be judged for the sins of others, nor can they be judged for ours.  Likewise, no one can be saved because of our relationship with God nor can we be saved by theirs.  All we as Christians can do is witness to others about Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for their sins.  Our salvation is personal and depends on whether we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord or not.  Verse twenty-seven adds, Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord.  Josiah was told that since he repented and humbled himself before God, that God had heard him when he prayed to Him.  We need to humble ourselves before God, starting by accepting His gift of salvation, and if we do, He will always hear our prayers.  Verse twenty-eight continues, Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.  Josiah was told that because he had humbled himself before God that he would not see the judgment coming on the people, but that it would occur after his death.  As Christians, we will never see the final judgment that comes on those who have rejected Jesus Christ, and we can rest assured that it will never happen to us, not because of our own goodness, but because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.  Verse twenty-nine concludes, Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.  After receiving this message from God, Josiah gathered all the elders of Jerusalem and Judah.  After we receive and accept the gospel, we need to share it with everyone we meet, under the power and leadership of the Holy Spirit, whether we are in a position of power in the world or not.  

2 Chronicles 34:14

 2 Chronicles 23:14 says, And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses.  When they were bringing out the money from the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Law that had been given to Moses.  I wonder how they had missed this for so long, but sometimes we as Christians seem to fail to follow God's law.  Also, it does not say the law of Moses, but the law of God given to Moses, which is what it actually was.  We must stand on God's law and not on what someone may say that it states.  Verse fifteen adds, And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.  Hilkiah stated to Shaphan the scribe that he had found the book of the law and gave it to him.  We may have many Bibles today, but we need to discover what it really says instead of just forming our own opinions or listening to those of others.  Verse sixteen continues, And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it.  Shaphan took the book of the Law to the king.  As priests and scribes, it was the responsibility of Hilkiah and Shaphan to present the law to all the people, but the king would have been a good one to start with.  As a part of the priesthood of the believers, it is our responsibility to present the gospel to everyone, but if we can reach those in power, it would be a good place to start.  Verse sixteen states, And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen.  Shaphan started by telling the king that they had delivered the money for the repair of the temple to the workmen.  That was what the king had commissioned them to do.  We need to do what we have been charged with doing in being responsible for how we use our tithes and offerings, but that is not the main thing we need to do.  The main thing we need to do is proclaim the gospel to the lost.  Verse seventeen adds, Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.  After telling the king that they had delivered the money to the workmen, he then added that Hilkiah had found the book of the Law.  To me, this would have been more important news, just as having and following the Bible today is more important than anything else we may do with the resources God has blessed us with.  Verse nineteen continues, And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.  When Josiah heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes, because he knew he needed to follow what it said.  When we discover God's law, starting with the gospel, we need to repent and ask God's forgiveness if we realize there are things we haven't been doing in accordance with His law, even if we have been doing good things before.  Verse twenty says, And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king's, saying,  Verse twenty-one adds, Go, enquire of the Lord for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book.  Josiah then commissioned some of the priests and scribes to present the word of the law to those who were left of the people of Israel and Judah.  He further stated that their fathers had not kept the word of the Law, resulting in them having the wrath of God poured out on them.  Of course, some of the leaders who had gone before had followed the book of the Law and some hadn't, but overall, more hadn't than had.  No matter what may have happened in the past, we must present the gospel to everyone today and we must live by the word of God ourselves.    

2 Chronicles 34:8

2 Chronicles 34:8 says, Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God.  After eighteen years of being the king, Josiah sent people to repair the house of the Lord.  We might wonder why it took him so long, but he had been very young when he first started to rule, and was just now what we would call grown.  He had purged the temple of all the things that were corrupting it, and now he was going to repair the building itself.  Since our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, we need to purge ourselves of all things that are not in accordance with God's word, and we need to take care of ourselves physically so that we can do what God has called us to do to the best of our ability.  Verse nine adds, And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to Jerusalem.  The Levites had been gathering money from all the people of Judah, and those of Israel that were worshipping God, even if the nation as a whole didn't.  It seems that they not only collected money at the door of the temple, but they may have traveled around to these different parts of the nation to gather the money as well.  Then, they brought it back to the high priest.  As Christians, we all need to be involved in supporting the spreading of the gospel today, even if those around us oppose doing so.  Everything we are blessed with should be used for the glorification of our High Priest, Jesus Christ. Verse ten continues, And they put it in the hand of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of the Lord, and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the house of the Lord, to repair and amend the house:  When they had given the money to the high priest, he delivered it to the workmen who were actually going to do the work.  If we as a body of believers collectively gather money today, I believe that we should put it to work for advancing God's kingdom.  Verse eleven states, Even to the artificers and builders gave they it, to buy hewn stone, and timber for couplings, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.  Money was needed to but the things necessary to repair the temple, and the high priest trusted that those who were going to do the repairs would know what they needed and use the money wisely.  Sometimes, we may have to trust that those who are doing work on the church building know what they are doing and give them the resources they need to do so.  This doesn't mean that we don't still maintain an oversight on how the money or resources are used.  Verse twelve adds, And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and other of the Levites, all that could skill of instruments of musick.  As stated, there need to be accountability for how the money was used, and the Levites, particularly Jahath and Obadiah were the overseers of the work.  It also states that the people paid to do the work did it faithfully, and if we hire people to do work in the church today, we need to pray that they will do so faithfully.  Verse thirteen continues, Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters.  The Levites oversaw all the work that was being done.  I don't believe that they questioned everything that was done, but they were simply making sure that the money was used wisely.  We cannot observe firsthand everything that is being done to advance God's kingdom, but we can keep a general oversight of the work, especially if we are in charge of the resources of the church.   

2 Chronicles 34:1

 2 Chronicles 34:1 says, Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.  Josiah like a few other of the kings of Judah was very young when he began to rule, but he was the next in line of the descendants of David.  He ruled for a fairly long time.  It is more important that we be a follower of Christ if we are going to be involved in the work of the church than it is what our age might be.  Verse two adds, And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.  Unlike his actual father, Josiah followed the way of his ancestor David and did what was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in His ways.  We also need to walk in the ways of those faithful Christians who have gone before us, but more importantly we need to walk in the ways of Jesus Christ spiritually.  Verse three continues, For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.  It took him a while to begin to follow God and even longer to begin to remove the false gods and false places of worship from Judah and Jerusalem.  From the age of eight to sixteen, he was probably relying on others to advise him, and then he began to form his own conclusions about God, and then by the age of twenty, he began to act under God's guidance completely, I believe.  When we are a young Christian, we often follow the advice if older Christians, and hopefully they will lead us to live by the commandants of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we mature in our Christian life, but there comes a time when we should be mature enough to act with conviction about what God wants us to do.  Verse four states, And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.  Josiah had all the idols and altars and groves used in the worship of Baal destroyed completely.  It always seems strange how often the people of Israel and Judah reestablished the worship of false gods after they had been destroyed, but they did this from the time of their deliverance.  We need to be careful that we as followers of Christ don't allow some idol, which is anything that comes between God and us, to come into our lives once again.  Verse five adds, And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.  The bones of the false priests were burned on their own altars before they were destroyed, and he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.  We cannot cleanse the whole nation of its idolatry, but we can present the gospel to everyone, and if they accept God's gift of salvation, the nation will be cleansed. Verse six continues, And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about.  Josiah cleaned several cities in Israel as well.  The nation might have been divided physically in their leadership, but they were all a part of God's chosen people.  If we are following the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the way we live should lead all of our fellow Christians to want to do the same.  Verse seven concludes, And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.  After destroying all the idols and the places they were worshipped, Josiah returned to Jerusalem.  This would indicate that he was actively involved in doing this, and we as Christian need to be actively involved in keeping any false teachings out of the church today.