Friday – 2nd Chronicles 35 - Why the Hurry?

J

osiah celebrated the Passover with great intensity.  As you surely know already, the Passover feast hearkened back to the days when the Jews were delivered out of Egypt during the days of Moses.  At that time, there was an extreme urgency in the hearts of God's people.  In fact, that urgency was exactly what God wanted. Exodus 12:11 tells us that the original Passover meal was to be eaten quickly.  After all, the salvation of the nation was as imminent as the danger was.  Deuteronomy 16:3 tells us that when the nation of Israel did start out of Egypt, they didn't lollygag.  Their departure was a hurried one.  And no wonder: it was a matter of life and death.

Now, in the days of Josiah, some of the same sense of exigency was renewed.  2^nd Chronicles 35:13 says that the Passover meat was "divided... speedily among all the people."  It had been approximately 900 years since the first Passover.  And, as the events recorded at the end of this chapter (concerning Necho king of Egypt) demonstrate, the Jews were still under the threat of Egyptian harassment.  Just like in the days of Moses, the only hope for Israel was faith in God and obedience to Him (2^nd Chronicles 35:21 & 22).