And his princes gave a voluntary heave-offering for the people, for the priests, and for the Levites Hilkijah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave to the priests for the passover-offerings two thousand six hundred [small cattle] and three hundred oxen;
Josiah's Passover is the high point of his reign, and the king's huge gift of animals did not stand alone. This verse adds his officials and three named temple leaders, which raises the question of what moves leaders to give, and who gains when they do.
One commentator lines up the three gifts and compares the totals.
Verses 7-10 show the provision for the Passover, before the killing itself. Josiah's gift for this far outnumbered the gifts of the princes and of the chief of the Levites. The king is a picture of the Lord Jesus. His giving far exceeds the willing hearts of the most devoted servants. Josiah gave 30,000 lambs and kids and 3,000 bulls (v.7). The rulers gave 2,600 small animals (sheep, etc.) and 300 oxen (v. 8). The chief of the Levites gave 5,000 small animals and 500 oxen. This was more than the rulers gave, but only one-sixth of Josiah's gift.
One writer ties the word for a leader to the idea of generosity, and shows how God treats such a gift.
Prince, in Numbers 7:2, means liberality. "My people shall be willing" (Psalm 110). "Willing" and "liberal" are the same word. Again, in 2 Corinthians 8:5, the Gentiles had been made willing: "they gave themselves first to the Lord." The Lord recognised and owned them. Then comes the generosity. Grace produced it in them, and God calls it their own voluntary will.
He quotes Psalm 110:3 from an older translation. The ESV reads, "your people will offer themselves freely" — the same idea of a willing gift.
One writer holds Josiah's generosity to be as admirable as his obedience to the written Word.
Josiah felt it to be his high and holy privilege to conform to the divine standard, despite all the errors and evils which had crept in from age to age. God's truth must stand forever. Faith owns and acts on this precious fact, and reaps accordingly. Nothing can be more lovely than the scene enacted on the occasion we are now looking at. Josiah's strict adherence to the Word of the Lord is not more to be admired than his large-hearted devotedness and liberality.
The gifts went to people who could not supply themselves, and one writer turns that into a prayer for his readers.
During Josiah's Passover week the rich helped the poor to provide all that the great feast needed. The singers led the praises of the people. The gatekeepers guarded the door against all intruders (2 Chronicles 35:7-8, 15). When the hearts of the people are right with God they are generous, praiseful and watchful. May the Holy Spirit make all these things true of us at this time also.
The three men named here are not private donors but men in office. A reference work identifies them by their post in the temple:
Prince of Judah, and one of the rulers of the house of God. 2 Chronicles 35:8.
The giving in this verse is one part of a larger scene. Every group is at its own appointed work, and the nation is about to fall.
What a picture! King, princes, priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, all Israel, Judah, and the people of Jerusalem — all gathered together, all in their true place and at their appointed work, "according to the word of the Lord." All this happened "in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah," when the whole Jewish system was on the very eve of collapse. ... No age, no circumstances, no influence can ever change the truth of God or dim the vision of faith. ... Unbelief will draw a plea from the condition of things around to lower the standard, to relax the grasp, to slacken the pace, to lower the tone. Faith says "No!" The failure is ours: the standard is God's.
- Word first. Josiah bowed to the written Word, and the same heart that kept God's standard also opened his hand.
- King first. The king's gift outweighed every other — six times the gift of the chief Levites. He pictures the Lord Jesus, whose giving outruns the most devoted servant's.
- Willingly. "Willing" and "liberal" are the same word. Grace produces the generosity, and God still calls it the giver's own free choice.
- Downward. The gifts went to the people, the priests and the Levites. The rich supplied the poor, so nobody was shut out of the feast.
- Everyone in place. The result was a whole nation at its appointed work on the eve of ruin: dark days are no reason to lower the standard.
and Conaniah, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave as heave-offering to the Levites for the passover-offerings five thousand [small cattle] and five hundred oxen.
Verse 9 names six leading Levites and lists what they gave for Josiah's Passover: thousands of lambs, young goats and bulls. Why does Scripture bother to record who gave, and how much?
One writer lays the chapter out as a sequence of stages. Verse 9 falls in the stage he calls the Provision. The stages after it show what the animals were for:
The Time (v. 1) — what Scripture had prescribed. The Centre (v. 3) — the ark, a picture of Christ, to whom the people were to gather. The Preparation (v. 4) — every house finding its place according to the instructions of David and Solomon. The Order (v. 5) — priests and Levites standing in their place to kill the Passover according to the word of the Lord by Moses. The Provision (vv. 7-9) — Josiah, the princes and the chief of the Levites willingly giving to the people the offerings needed for the Passover. The Death (v. 11) — the Passover killed, the blood sprinkled, with burnt offerings going along with the sacrifice. The Roasting (v. 13) — speaking of the severe judgment of the Lord Jesus, exposed directly to the flame of God's wrath.
The figures in verses 7 to 9 are not equal. One writer sets them side by side:
Josiah's gift for this far outnumbered the gifts of the princes and of the chief of the Levites. For the king is a picture of the Lord Jesus, whose giving far exceeds the willingness of the most devoted servants. Josiah gave 30,000 lambs and kids and 3,000 bulls (v. 7). The rulers gave 2,600 small animals (sheep, etc.) and 300 oxen (v. 8). The chief of the Levites gave 5,000 small animals and 500 oxen. This was more than the rulers gave, but only one sixth of Josiah's gift.
The gift here goes "to the Levites" — the men whose whole work was serving God's house. One writer shows how their supply rose and fell with the nation's devotion:
Look through the history of Israel. Whenever things were in anything like a healthy condition, the people cared well for the altar of God. As a result, the priests and Levites were well supplied. If Jehovah had His portion, His servants were sure to have theirs. If He was neglected, so were they. They were bound up together. The people were to bring their offerings to God, and He shared them with His servants. The priests and the Levites were not to demand anything of the people. Instead, the people had the privilege of bringing their gifts to the altar of God. And He allowed His servants to feed on the fruit of His people's devotion to Him.
The same chapter that shows Josiah's careful obedience also shows this flow of giving. One writer will not rank one above the other:
Nothing could be lovelier than the scene we are looking at here. Josiah held strictly to the Word of the Lord, and his large-hearted devotion and generosity deserve just as much admiration.
The giving in verses 7 to 9 meant the poor could keep the feast too. One writer sets the gifts beside the singing and the gatekeeping as three marks of one inward condition:
During Josiah's Passover week the rich helped the poor to provide everything the great feast needed. The singers led the praises of the congregation. The gatekeepers guarded the door against all intruders (2 Chron. 35:7-8, 15). When the hearts of the people are right with God they are generous, praiseful and watchful. May the Holy Spirit make all these things true of us at this time also.
- Provision. Verses 7-9 form one stage of the feast: supplying the animals the offerings needed. It sits between the ordering of the priests and Levites and the killing of the Passover.
- Proportion. The chief Levites gave more than the rulers did, yet only a sixth of the king's gift. One writer sees in the king a picture of the Lord Jesus, whose giving outruns the willingness of His most devoted servants.
- Partnership. The gift went to the Levites. Whenever Israel cared for God's altar, His servants had plenty. The two rose and fell together.
- Practice. Josiah kept strictly to the written word, and he also gave with an open hand. One writer admires the second as much as the first.
- Proof. The rich supplied the poor, so every worshipper could keep the feast. Generosity, praise and watchfulness together show hearts that are right with God.
And the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their divisions, according to the king's commandment.
The preparation is over and the great Passover can begin. Each group now stands where it belongs, and the verse traces that order back to the king's command — so the first question is what that command rested on.
One writer traces the whole day back to written instructions. Nothing in the service came from Josiah's own ideas.
Nothing that belongs to this memorial should be done without the Word. It was "according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon" that they were to prepare it (2 Chr. 35:4). It was "according to the word of Jehovah through Moses" (v. 6) that they were to present the sacrifice to the Lord (v. 12). It was "according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer" that each took his place to keep the order God wanted in singing and praising (v. 15). And all of it followed "the commandment of king Josiah" (v. 16). That is, the man God used in this revival had the wisdom to command nothing except what agreed with Scripture.
Because Josiah's orders simply repeated God's orders, obeying him was obeying God. Some would have found this level of care excessive.
It was all to be done according to what was written. Josiah took great care over this. So he became a beautiful example for everyone who longs to please the Lord and wants to turn aside "neither to the right hand nor to the left" from following Him, as this godly king did. Some in the kingdom might think him too tied to the letter of these writings. But he would have God's approval, and that was quite enough. No one can say where a deliberate departure of a hair's breadth may eventually lead.
Every group in the nation stands at its post, and the date matters.
What a picture! King, princes, priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, all Israel, Judah, and the people of Jerusalem — all gathered together, all in their true place and at their appointed work, "according to the word of the Lord." And all this happened "in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah," when the whole Jewish system stood on the very edge of collapse. Surely this must speak to the heart of the thoughtful reader… It tells us that no age, no circumstances, no influence can ever change the truth of God or dim the vision of faith.
The service could be prepared only because someone paid for the animals. One writer weighs the figures in the verses just before, and the king's share dwarfs everyone else's.
Before the actual killing of the Passover, verses 7-10 show the provision for it. Josiah's gift for this far outweighed the gifts of the princes and of the chief of the Levites. For the king is a picture of the Lord Jesus. His giving goes far beyond the willingness of the most devoted servants.
The giving was not the king's alone. Another writer shows what it looked like among the people.
During Josiah's Passover week the rich helped the poor to provide everything needed for the great feast. The singers led the praises of the congregation. The gatekeepers guarded the door against all intruders. When the hearts of the people are right with God they are generous, full of praise, and watchful.
A nation near its end kept a Passover that outshone its golden age.
Josiah has a "Thus says the Lord" for everything he does. What a wonderfully lovely picture!… A backslidden people came back to God and His word. They were the ones left to keep such a remembrance of that unforgettable night, when the blood of the "lamb" was under His holy eye for His Israel — a Passover that even Solomon in all his glory never kept.
- Word first. Every detail traced back to a written instruction — David, Solomon, Moses. The king commanded nothing that Scripture had not commanded first.
- Gift next. Someone had to pay for the service, and the king gave more than all the rest. He pictures the Lord Jesus, whose giving outdoes His servants'.
- Place then. Priests, Levites, singers and gatekeepers each stood at their appointed work. That order held even as the kingdom neared its fall.
- Heart shows. Right hearts made the people generous, full of praise, and watchful. The rich supplied the poor, so nobody was left out of the feast.
- Result last. A nation that had wandered came back to God's word. It kept a Passover Solomon never matched. Circumstances never lower God's standard.
And they slaughtered the passover, and the priests sprinkled [the blood] from their hand, and the Levites flayed them.
Josiah's Passover reaches its centre here, with the work at the altar split between priests and Levites. Why do priests handle the blood at a feast first kept in family homes, and why does the record tell us who did which task?
Every step of this celebration followed what was written. One commentator names the difference between this Passover and earlier ones:
What made this Passover different from all that had gone before it was the careful keeping of the Word of Jehovah by both king and people. God had spoken through Moses, David and Solomon about the rules for worship. Josiah was determined to carry all of it out. The failures and shortcomings of earlier days were not allowed to influence things now. Hezekiah kept the Passover in the second month; but Josiah kept it in the first. In Hezekiah's day the purification of the people and the sanctuary was only partial. Josiah made sure it was thorough and complete.
At the first Passover in Egypt, each household killed its own lamb. So priests sprinkling the blood here is unusual:
If, as they naturally would, they kept it as they had in Egypt, every house killed the lamb for itself... At any rate that Passover in Hezekiah's day, and Josiah's Passover, when the priest did sprinkle the blood of the Passover lamb, were special exceptional cases. There were plenty of priests and Levites attending in their places. As far as the New Testament goes, it would seem each prepared it for himself.
The direction the blood travels is the point, not what the worshipper sees:
The blood of the slain lamb on the Passover night was sprinkled outside, not inside. It went on the lintel and doorposts, not for Israel to see, but for God. "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." So in the sacrifices the blood was put on the horns of God's altar, presented to God, never to man.
Flaying means skinning. That job usually belonged to the person who brought the offering. One reference work notes who else could do it, and what it pictures:
From Leviticus 1 it would appear that the offerer also skinned it, cut it in pieces, and washed the inward parts and legs in water. But the expressions can also be read as "Let it be skinned." So the priests or the Levites may have done these acts. (The Levites skinned the sacrifices in 2 Chronicles 29:34, when there were too few priests.) ... It was typical of Christ's perfect offering up of Himself, being tested in His inmost parts by the searching fire of divine judgement.
Burnt offerings were brought that day too, and one commentator keeps them separate:
The burnt offerings were removed from the Passover sacrifice, which was a peace offering that the offerers were to share. But the burnt offerings were evidently gifts given to the people to offer — not to eat, but to offer all in fire to the Lord. This stands for the glory that God receives from the value of the sacrifice of Christ.
Every group here is at its appointed task, and the timing matters:
King, princes, priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, all Israel, Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem — all gathered together. All in their true place and at their appointed work, "according to the word of the Lord." And all this "in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah," when the whole Jewish order was about to collapse... It tells us that no age, no circumstances, no influence can ever change the truth of God or dim the vision of faith.
The Levites set food aside for the priests, who had been caring for the people. The order of eating carries a lesson:
The Levites afterwards prepared portions for themselves and for the priests, all of whom had been unselfishly occupied with caring for the people (v. 14). What a lovely example for the Church of God! Those who are prominent are to remember they are servants to the need of others, not masters who demand first consideration.
- Word first. What set this Passover apart was obedience. Josiah carried out every rule given through Moses, David and Solomon, and treated past failure as no excuse.
- Blood next. The blood travels Godward — onto the altar, presented to God, never to man.
- Hands assigned. Priests took the blood, Levites did the skinning. One writer calls this sprinkling by priests exceptional, since each house killed its own lamb in Egypt.
- Order held. King, priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, people — each in his true place at his appointed work. And this on the eve of the nation's collapse.
- Service last. The Levites and priests ate last, after caring for the people. Prominence means serving others' need, not claiming first place.
And they set apart the burnt-offerings to give them to the classes of the fathers' houses of the children of the people, to present them to Jehovah, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so [did they] with the oxen.
Chronicles walks through Josiah's great Passover step by step, and ties every step to a written instruction. This verse catches the moment when the Levites set the burnt offerings aside and hand them out family by family — so why did such detail matter?
In this chapter no act stands on its own authority. One writer traces the chain of written references phrase by phrase, and verse 12 is one link in it.
Let us return now to Josiah's Passover. The account in our book, though very brief, is marked by an important expression: "As it is written in this book of the covenant" (v. 21). Under Hezekiah the people had also kept it according to "the word of Jehovah" and "the law of Moses" (2 Chron. 30:12, 16). But under Josiah the written Word, wonderfully preserved and rediscovered in the temple, takes on a much greater importance. Nothing that belongs to this memorial should be done without the Word. They were to prepare it "according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon" (2 Chron. 35:4). They were to present the sacrifice to the Lord (v. 12) "according to the word of Jehovah through Moses" (v. 6). They were to roast it with fire "according to the ordinance" (v. 13).
The offerings went out along family lines. The same family order ran through the whole service, as one writer shows from earlier in the chapter.
The Levites were told also to prepare themselves by the houses of their fathers (v. 4). Their fathers were Kohath, Gershon and Merari, whose distinct services are recorded in Numbers 4:2,24,42. So, having prepared themselves, they were to "stand in the holy place according to the divisions of their families" (v. 5). This kept an order according to God when they killed the Passover according to God's word by Moses (v. 6).
This verse separates one kind of offering from another. The people ate the Passover lamb, but not these offerings, and one commentator explains why that matters.
Verse 12 records the killing of the Passover, the priests sprinkling the blood and the Levites skinning the animals. The burnt offerings were however removed from the Passover sacrifice, which was a peace offering of which the offerers were to share. But the burnt offerings were evidently gifts given to the people to offer — not to eat, but to offer all in fire to the Lord, signifying the glory that God receives from the value of the sacrifice of Christ.
The people offered animals they did not own. Josiah supplied them out of his own property, and one writer prizes that generosity as highly as his care for the written Word. He quotes the record in an older translation:
Josiah's strict obedience to the Word of the Lord deserves no more admiration than his large-hearted devotion and generosity. "He 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. And his princes gave willingly to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites…"
Josiah kept this feast when the nation was almost finished. One writer reads God's hand in that timing.
There had never been such a Passover as the one kept by Josiah at the very close of the nation's history. What is the meaning of that?... It is God's answer to the faith of His servant. Josiah took his stand upon faith in God, and God answered the faith. There had not been such a Passover kept during all the days of the kings. Just think of that! There had been all the glories of Solomon's reign, and all the victories of David's reign. Yet the Holy Spirit testifies that there never had been such a Passover as the one kept in Josiah's reign.
Commentators differ on how to weigh such exactness. One writer sets Josiah beside Hezekiah, whose people kept the Passover without cleansing themselves first.
What moved Josiah was due preparation "according to the law of Moses." What occupied and filled Hezekiah, it seems, was the mercy of God beyond law. So when Hezekiah heard that some had taken the Passover without having cleansed themselves, he looks higher than the law, to the sovereign mercy of God, and prays, "the good Lord pardon every one." Josiah cleaves to the law, and acts rightly in cleaving. But it did not bring him the joy and gladness that came to Hezekiah and the people with him.
- Written — Every action in this Passover traces to a text: Moses, David, Solomon. The Word governed every part of the memorial.
- Ordered — The offerings went out by fathers' houses. Service done God's way keeps the order He assigns.
- Divided — The offerers shared the Passover. The burnt offerings went up whole in fire, speaking of the glory God Himself receives from Christ's sacrifice.
- Supplied — The people offered what the king first gave them out of his own property — they gave back what they had received.
- Answered — All this came at the end of the nation's story. God answered that faith with a Passover greater than any in all the days of the kings. Commentators differ on whether Josiah's exactness or Hezekiah's appeal to mercy stands higher.