2 Chronicles 35:5

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3 Then he said to the Levites ^awho taught all Israel, who were holy to the Lord: ^b“Put the holy ark ^cin the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. ^dIt shall no longer be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel.

4 Prepare yourselves ^aaccording to your fathers’ houses, according to your divisions, following the ^bwritten instruction of David king of Israel and the ^cwritten instruction of Solomon his son.

5 And ^astand in the holy place according to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of your brethren the lay people, and according to the division of the father’s house of the Levites.

6 So slaughter the Passover offerings, ^aconsecrate yourselves, and prepare them for your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.”

7 Then Josiah ^agave the lay people lambs and young goats from the flock, all for Passover offerings for all who were present, to the number of thirty thousand, as well as three thousand cattle; these were from the king’s ^bpossessions.

Commentaries:

No entry exists in Forerunner Commentary for 2 Chronicles 35:5.

II Chronicles 35:1-5

Josiah here is enforcing the policies as to the responsibilities of the priests according to the order established under David and Solomon. That is primarily what he is talking about here. We see Josiah personally supervising this Passover. Again, this is after the time of Manasseh. Josiah did it because the people were so pagan that if he let them do it on their own, they would have very quickly reverted back to what they had always practiced.

Here again is a situation similar to the days of Hezekiah. This was a national emergency, and the king simply assumed control. In his zeal he does it in a way he feels will be acceptable to God under the circumstances. He felt that if these people sacrificed the lambs at their own houses, they would have done it to Baal, and not to God.

Excerpted from Passover (Part 8) by John W. Ritenbaugh

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