Scripture Daily

Context No. 3650 of 4322 · 2 Chronicles

Context · Reflection

2 Chronicles 35:16-21: in context

16So all the service of the LORD was prepared the same day, to keep the Passover, and to offer burnt offerings on the LORD’s altar, according to the commandment of King Josiah. 17The children of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days. 18There was no Passover like that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet, nor did any of the kings of Israel keep such a Passover as Josiah kept—with the priests, the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 19This Passover was kept in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah. 20After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates, and Josiah went out against him. 21But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, “What have I to do with you, you king of Judah? I come not against you today, but against the house with which I have war. God has commanded me to make haste. Beware that it is God who is with me, that he not destroy you.”

Josiah's Passover was so great that none like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel; he was a faithful, reforming king who put God first. But the passage takes a tragic turn. When Neco of Egypt marches through on his way to war, Josiah goes out to fight him, though he has no quarrel with him.

Neco warns him: cease opposing God, who is with me, lest he destroy you. Astonishingly, God's warning came through the mouth of a pagan king, and Josiah, the good king, did not heed it, and it cost him his life. There is a sobering lesson here. Even a faithful, godly person can make a fatal misstep by failing to discern God's word when it comes from an unexpected source. Josiah's zeal was real, but here it was misdirected; he presumed, and he did not listen. It is a warning that past faithfulness does not guarantee we will discern God rightly in every decision. We must keep listening for his word, even when it comes in surprising ways.

Do I keep listening for God's guidance in every decision, even when it comes from an unexpected source, rather than presuming that my past faithfulness guarantees I will always discern him rightly?

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