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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>S E C O N D C H R O N I C L E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXXV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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We are here to attend Josiah,
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I. To the temple, where we see his religious care for the due
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observance of the ordinance of the passover, according to the law,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:1-19">ver. 1-19</A>.
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II. To the field of battle, where we see his rashness in engaging with
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the king of Egypt, and how dearly it cost him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:20-23">ver. 20-23</A>.
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III. To the grave, where we see him bitterly lamented,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:24-27">ver. 24-27</A>.
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And so we must take our leave of Josiah.</P>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Reign of Josiah.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 623.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> in Jerusalem:
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and they killed the passover on the fourteenth <I>day</I> of the first
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month.
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2 And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them
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to the service of the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>,
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3 And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were
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holy unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon
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the son of David king of Israel did build; <I>it shall</I> not <I>be</I> a
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burden upon <I>your</I> shoulders: serve now the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God, and
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his people Israel,
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4 And prepare <I>yourselves</I> by the houses of your fathers, after
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your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel,
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and according to the writing of Solomon his son.
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5 And stand in the holy <I>place</I> according to the divisions of
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the families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and
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<I>after</I> the division of the families of the Levites.
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6 So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare
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your brethren, that <I>they</I> may do according to the word of the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> by the hand of Moses.
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7 And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids,
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all for the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the
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number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these
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<I>were</I> of the king's substance.
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8 And his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the
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priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel,
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rulers of the house of God, gave unto the priests for the
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passover offerings two thousand and six hundred <I>small cattle,</I>
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and three hundred oxen.
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9 Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and
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Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto
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the Levites for passover offerings five thousand <I>small cattle,</I>
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and five hundred oxen.
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10 So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their
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place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king's
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commandment.
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11 And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled <I>the
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blood</I> from their hands, and the Levites flayed <I>them.</I>
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12 And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give
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according to the divisions of the families of the people, to
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offer unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, as <I>it is</I> written in the book of Moses. And
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so <I>did they</I> with the oxen.
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13 And they roasted the passover with fire according to the
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ordinance: but the <I>other</I> holy <I>offerings</I> sod they in pots, and
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in caldrons, and in pans, and divided <I>them</I> speedily among all
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the people.
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14 And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the
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priests: because the priests the sons of Aaron <I>were busied</I> in
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offering of burnt offerings and the fat until night; therefore
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the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons
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of Aaron.
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15 And the singers the sons of Asaph <I>were</I> in their place,
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according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and
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Jeduthun the king's seer; and the porters <I>waited</I> at every gate;
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they might not depart from their service; for their brethren the
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Levites prepared for them.
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16 So all the service of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> was prepared the same day, to
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keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, according to the commandment of king Josiah.
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17 And the children of Israel that were present kept the
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passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven
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days.
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18 And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from
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the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of
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Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and
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the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the
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inhabitants of Jerusalem.
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19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this
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passover kept.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The destruction which Josiah made of idols and idolatry was more
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largely related in the <I>Kings,</I> but just mentioned here in the
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foregoing chapter
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>);
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but his solemnizing the passover, which was touched upon there
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+23:21">2 Kings xxiii. 21</A>),
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is very particularly related here. Many were the feasts of the Lord,
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appointed by the ceremonial law, but the passover was the chief. It
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<I>began them all</I> in the night wherein Israel came out of Egypt; it
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<I>concluded them all</I> in the night wherein Christ was betrayed; and
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in the celebration of it Hezekiah and Josiah, those two great
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reformers, revived religion in their day. The ordinance of the Lord's
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supper resembles the passover more than it does any of the Jewish
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festivals; and the due observance of that ordinance, according to the
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rule, is an instance and means both of the growing purity and beauty of
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churches and of the growing piety and devotion of particular
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Christians. Religion cannot flourish where that passover is either
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wholly neglected or not duly observed; return to that, revive that,
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make a solemn business of that affecting binding ordinance, and then,
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it is to be hoped, there will be a reformation in other instances
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also.</P>
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<P>
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In the account we had of Hezekiah's passover the great zeal of the
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people was observable, and the transport of devout affection that they
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were in; but little of the same spirit appears here. It was more in
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compliance with the king that they all kept the passover
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:17,18"><I>v.</I> 17, 18</A>)
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than from any great inclination they had to it themselves. Some pride
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they took in this form of godliness, but little pleasure in the power
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of it. But, whatever defect there was among the people in the spirit of
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the duty, both the magistrates and the ministers did their part and
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took care that the external part of the service should be performed
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with due solemnity.</P>
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<P>
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I. The king exhorted and directed, quickened and encouraged, the
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priests and Levites to do their office in this solemnity. Perhaps he
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saw them remiss and indifferent, unwilling to go out of their road or
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mend their pace. If ministers are so, it is not amiss for any, but most
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proper for magistrates, to stir them up to their business. Say to
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Archippus, <I>Take heed to thy ministry,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Col+4:17">Col. iv. 17</A>.
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Let us see how this good king managed his clergy upon this occasion.
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1. He reduced them to the office they were appointed to by the law of
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Moses
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>)
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and the order they were put into by David and Solomon,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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<I>He set them in their charge,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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He did not cut them out new work, nor put them into any new method, but
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called them back to their institution. Their courses were settled in
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writing; let them have recourse to that writing, and marshal themselves
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according to the <I>divisions of their families,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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Our rule is settled in the written word; let magistrates take care that
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ministers walk according to that rule and they do their duty.
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2. He ordered the ark to be put in its place. It should seem, it had of
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late been displaced, either by the wicked kings, to make room for their
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idols in the most holy place, or by Hezekiah, to make room for the
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workmen that repaired the temple. However it was, Josiah bids the
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<I>Levites put the ark in the house</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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and not carry it about from place to place, as perhaps of late they had
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done, justifying themselves therein by the practice before the temple
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was built. Now that the priests were discharged from this burden of the
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ark they must be careful in other services about it.
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3. He charged them to <I>serve God and his people Israel,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Ministers must look upon themselves as servants both to Christ and to
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his church for his sake,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+4:5">2 Cor. iv. 5</A>.
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They must take care, and take pains, and lay out themselves to the
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utmost,
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(1.) For the glory and honour of God, and to advance the interests of
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his kingdom among men. Paul, <I>a servant of God,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Tit+1:1">Tit. i. 1</A>.
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(2.) For the welfare and benefit of his people, not as having dominion
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over their faith, but as helpers of their holiness and joy; and there
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will be no difficulty, in the strength of God, in honestly serving
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these two masters.
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4. He charged them to <I>sanctify themselves,</I> and <I>prepare their
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brethren,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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Ministers' work must begin at home, and they must sanctify themselves
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in the first place, purify themselves from sin, sequester themselves
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from the world, and devote themselves to God. But it must not end
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there; they must do what they can to <I>prepare their brethren</I> by
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admonishing, instructing, exhorting, quickening, and comforting, them.
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<I>The preparation of the heart</I> is indeed <I>from the Lord;</I> but
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ministers must be instruments in his hand.
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5. He <I>encouraged them to the service,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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He spoke comfortably to them, as Hezekiah did,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+30:22"><I>ch.</I> xxx. 22</A>.
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He promised them his countenance. Note, Those whom we charge we should
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encourage. Most people love to be commended, and will be wrought upon
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by encouragements more than by threats.</P>
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<P>
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II. The king and the princes, influenced by his example, gave liberally
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for the bearing of the charges of this passover. The ceremonial
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services were expensive, which perhaps was one reason why they had been
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neglected. People had not zeal enough to be at the charge of them; nor
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were they now very fond of them, for that reason, and therefore,
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1. Josiah, at his own proper cost, furnished the congregation with
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paschal lambs, and other sacrifices, to be offered during the seven
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days of the feast. He allowed out of his own estate 30,000 <I>lambs</I>
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for <I>passover offerings,</I> which the offerers were to feast upon,
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and 3000 bullocks
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>)
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to be offered during the following seven days. Note, Those who are
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serious in religion should, when they persuade others to do that which
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is good, make it as cheap and easy to them as may be. And where God
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sows plentifully he expects to reap accordingly. It is to be feared
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that the congregation generally had not come provided; so that, if
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Josiah had not furnished them, the work of God must have stood still.
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2. The chief of the priests, who were men of great estates, contributed
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towards the priests' charges, as Josiah did towards the people's.
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<I>The princes</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
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that is, the chief of the priests, the princes of the holy tribe,
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<I>rulers of the house of God,</I> bore the priests' charges. And some
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of the rich and great men of the Levites furnished them also with
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cattle, both great and small, for offerings,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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For, as to those that sincerely desire to be found in the way of their
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duty, Providence sometimes raises up friends to bear them out in it,
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beyond what they could have expected.</P>
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<P>
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III. The priests and Levites performed their office very readily,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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They killed the paschal lambs in the court of the temple, the priests
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sprinkled the blood upon the altar, the Levites flayed them, and then
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gave the flesh to the people according to their families
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:11,12"><I>v.</I> 11, 12</A>),
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not fewer than ten, nor more than twenty, to a lamb. They took it to
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their several apartments, roasted it, and ate it <I>according to the
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ordinance,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
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As for the other sacrifices that were eucharistical, the flesh of them
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was boiled according to the law of the peace-offerings and was
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<I>divided speedily among the people,</I> that they might feast upon it
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as a token of their joy in the atonement made and their reconciliation
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to God thereby. And, <I>lastly,</I> The priests and Levites took care
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to honour God by <I>eating of the passover</I> themselves,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
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Let not ministers think that the care they take for the souls of others
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will excuse their neglect of their own, or that being employed so much
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in public worship will supersede the religious exercises of their
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closets and families. The Levites here mace ready for themselves and
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for the priests, because the priests were wholly taken up all day in
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the service of the altar; therefore, that they might not have their
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lamb to dress when they should eat it, the Levites got it ready for
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them against supper time. Let ministers learn hence to help one
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another, and to forward one another's work, as brethren, and
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fellow-servants of the same Master.</P>
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<P>
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IV. The singers and porters attended in their places, and did their
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office,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
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The singers with their sacred songs and music expressed and excited the
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joy of the congregation, and made the service very pleasant to them;
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and the porters at the gates took care that there should be no breaking
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in of any thing to defile or disquiet the assembly, nor going out of
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any from it, that none should steal away till the service was done.
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While they were thus employed their brethren the Levites prepared
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paschal lambs for them.</P>
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<P>
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V. The whole solemnity was performed with great exactness, according to
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the law
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:16,17"><I>v.</I> 16, 17</A>),
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and, upon that account, there was none like it since Samuel's time
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
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for in Hezekiah's passover there were several irregularities. And
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bishop Patrick observes that in this also it exceeded the other
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passovers which the preceding kings had kept, that though Josiah was by
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no means so rich as David, and Solomon, and Jehoshaphat, yet he
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furnished the whole congregation with beasts for sacrifice, both
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paschal and eucharistical, at his own proper cost and charge, which was
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more than any king ever did before him.</P>
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<A NAME="2Ch35_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch35_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch35_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch35_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch35_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch35_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch35_26"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch35_27"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Death of Josiah.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 610.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>20 After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho
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king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates:
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and Josiah went out against him.
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21 But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do
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with thee, thou king of Judah? <I>I come</I> not against thee this
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day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God
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commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from <I>meddling with</I>
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God, who <I>is</I> with me, that he destroy thee not.
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22 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but
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disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened
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not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to
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fight in the valley of Megiddo.
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23 And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to
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his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.
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24 His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put
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him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to
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Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in <I>one of</I> the sepulchres
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of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
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25 And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men
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and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to
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this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they
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<I>are</I> written in the lamentations.
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26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness,
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according to <I>that which was</I> written in the law of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>,
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27 And his deeds, first and last, behold, they <I>are</I> written in
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the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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It was thirteen years from Josiah's famous passover to his death.
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During this time, we may hope, thing went well in his kingdom, that he
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prospered, and religion flourished; yet we are not entertained with the
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pleasing account of those years, but they are passed over in silence,
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|
because the people, for all this, were not turned from the love of
|
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their sins nor God from the fierceness of his anger. The next news
|
|
therefore we hear of Josiah is that he is cut off in the midst of his
|
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days and usefulness, before he is full forty years old. We had this sad
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story,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+23:29,30">2 Kings xxiii. 29, 30</A>.
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Here it is somewhat more largely related. That appears here, more than
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did there, which reflects such blame on Josiah and such praise on the
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people as one would not have expected.</P>
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<P>
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I. Josiah was a very good prince, yet he was much to be blamed for his
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rashness and presumption in going out to war against the king of Egypt
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|
without cause or call. It was bad enough, as it appeared in the
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<I>Kings,</I> that he meddled with strife which belonged not to him.
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|
But here it looks worse; for, it seems, the king of Egypt sent
|
|
ambassadors to him, to warn him against this enterprise,
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.</P>
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<P>
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1. The king of Egypt argued with Josiah,
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(1.) From principles of justice. He professed that he had no desire to
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|
do him any hurt, and therefore it was unfair, against common equity and
|
|
the law of nations, for Josiah to take up arms against him. If even a
|
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<I>righteous man</I> engage in an <I>unrighteous cause,</I> let him not
|
|
expect to prosper. <I>God is no respecter of persons.</I> See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+3:20,25:8">Prov. iii. 30; xxv. 8</A>.
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(2.) From principles of religion: "<I>God is with me;</I> nay, <I>He
|
|
commanded me to make haste,</I> and therefore, if thou retard my
|
|
motions, thou meddlest with God." It cannot be that the king of Egypt
|
|
only pretended this (as Sennacherib did in a like case,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+18:25">2 Kings xviii. 25</A>),
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hoping thereby to make Josiah desist, because he knew he had a
|
|
veneration for the word of God; for it is said here
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>)
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|
|
that the words of Necho were from the mouth of God. We must therefore
|
|
suppose that either by a dream, or by a strong impulse upon his spirit
|
|
which he had reason to think was from God, or by Jeremiah or some other
|
|
prophet, he had ordered him to make war upon the king of Assyria.
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|
(3.) From principles of policy: "<I>That he destroy thee not;</I> it is
|
|
at thy peril if thou engage against one that has not only a better army
|
|
and a better cause, but God on his side."</P>
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<P>
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|
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|
2. It was not in wrath to Josiah, whose heart was upright with the Lord
|
|
his God, but in wrath to a hypocritical nation, who were unworthy of so
|
|
good a king, that he was so far infatuated as not to hearken to these
|
|
fair reasonings and desist from his enterprise. He <I>would not turn
|
|
his face from him,</I> but went in person and fought the Egyptian army
|
|
in the <I>valley of Megiddo,</I>
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
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|
If perhaps he could not believe that the king of Egypt had a command
|
|
from God to do what he did, yet, upon his pleading such a command, he
|
|
ought to have consulted the oracles of God before he went out against
|
|
him. His not doing that was his great fault, and of fatal consequence.
|
|
In this matter he walked not in the ways of David his father; for, had
|
|
it been his case, he would have enquired of the Lord, <I>Shall I go up?
|
|
Wilt thou deliver them into my hands?</I> How can we think to prosper
|
|
in our ways if we do not acknowledge God in them?</P>
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|
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|
<P>
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|
|
|
II. The people were a very wicked people, yet they were much to be
|
|
commended for lamenting the death of Josiah as they did. That Jeremiah
|
|
lamented him I do not wonder; he was the weeping prophet, and plainly
|
|
foresaw the utter ruin of his country following upon the death of this
|
|
good king. But it is strange to find that all Judah and Jerusalem, that
|
|
stupid senseless people, <I>mourned for him</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+35:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>),
|
|
|
|
contrived how to have their mourning excited by singing men and singing
|
|
women, how to have it spread through the kingdom (they made an
|
|
ordinance in Israel that the mournful ditties penned on this sad
|
|
occasion should be learned and sung by all sorts of people), and also
|
|
how to have the remembrance of it perpetuated: these elegies were
|
|
inserted in the collections of state poems; they are written in the
|
|
Lamentations. Hereby it appeared,
|
|
|
|
1. That they had some respect to their good prince, and that, though
|
|
they did not cordially comply with him in all his good designs, they
|
|
could not but greatly honour him. Pious useful men will be manifested
|
|
in the consciences even of those that will not be influenced by their
|
|
example; and many that will not submit to the rules of serious
|
|
godliness themselves yet cannot but give it their good word and esteem
|
|
it in others. Perhaps those lamented Josiah when he was dead that were
|
|
not thankful to God for him while he lived. The Israelites murmured at
|
|
Moses and Aaron while they were with them and spoke sometimes of
|
|
stoning them, and yet, when they died, they mourned for them many days.
|
|
We are often taught to value mercies by the loss of them which, when we
|
|
enjoyed them, we did not prize as we ought.
|
|
|
|
2. That they had some sense of their own danger now that he was gone.
|
|
Jeremiah told them, it is likely, of the evil they might now expect to
|
|
come upon them, from which he was taken away; and so far they credited
|
|
what he said that they lamented the death of him that was their
|
|
defence. Note, Many will more easily be persuaded to lament the
|
|
miseries that are coming upon them than to take the proper way by
|
|
universal reformation to prevent them, will shed tears for their
|
|
troubles, but will not be prevailed upon to part with their sins. But
|
|
godly sorrow worketh repentance and that repentance will be to
|
|
salvation.</P>
|
|
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