May the mumbling commence!
It’s nice to know when worship seems totally Spirit-lead. You know, all the details click into
place. Things both planned and unplanned
go to the glorification of God. Those are
mountain top experiences that give us fuel for our daily lives as Christians in
a foreign world. That must have been the
way that the people of Josiah’s day felt when they celebrated the Passover. Read from Second Chronicles chapter
thirty-five:
Then Josiah announced that the Passover of the Lord would be celebrated in Jerusalem on the appointed day
in early spring. The Passover lambs were slaughtered at twilight of that
day. Josiah also assigned the priests to
their duties and encouraged them in their work at the Temple of the Lord.
He issued this order to the Levites, who had been set apart to serve the
Lord and were teachers in Israel:
"Since the Ark is now in Solomon's Temple and you do not need to carry it
back and forth on your shoulders, spend your time serving the Lord your God and his people
Israel. Report for duty according to the
family divisions of your ancestors, following
the written instructions of King David of Israel and the instructions of his
son Solomon. Then stand in
your appointed holy places and help the families assigned to you as they bring
their offerings to the Temple. Slaughter
the Passover lambs, purify yourselves, and prepare to help those who come. Follow all the
instructions that the Lord gave
through Moses."
Then Josiah contributed from his personal property thirty
thousand lambs and young goats for the people's Passover offerings, and three
thousand bulls. The king's officials
also made willing contributions to the people, priests, and Levites. Hilkiah,
Zechariah, and Jehiel, the administrators of God's Temple, gave the priests
twenty-six hundred lambs and young goats and three hundred bulls as Passover
offerings. The Levite leaders – Conaniah
and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, and Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad –
gave five thousand lambs and young goats and five hundred bulls to the Levites
for their Passover offerings.
When everything was ready for the Passover celebration,
the priests and the Levites took their places, organized by their divisions,
according to the king's orders. The
Levites then slaughtered the Passover lambs and presented the blood to the
priests, who sprinkled the blood on the altar while the Levites prepared the
animals. They divided the burnt
offerings among the people by their family groups, so they could offer them to
the Lord according
to the instructions recorded in the Book of Moses. They did the
same with the bulls. Then they roasted
the Passover lambs as prescribed; and they boiled the holy offerings in pots,
kettles, and pans, and brought them out quickly so the people could eat
them.
Afterward the Levites prepared a meal for themselves and
for the priests, because the priests had been busy from morning till night
offering the burnt offerings and the fat portions. The Levites took
responsibility for all these preparations.
The musicians, descendants of Asaph, were in their assigned places, following the orders given by David, Asaph, Heman, and
Jeduthun, the king's seer. The gatekeepers guarded the gates and
did not need to leave their posts of duty, for their meals were brought to them
by their fellow Levites.
The entire ceremony for the Lord's Passover was completed that day. All the burnt
offerings were sacrificed on the altar of the Lord,
as King
Josiah had ordered. All the
Israelites present in Jerusalem celebrated Passover and the Festival of
Unleavened Bread for seven days. Never since the time of
the prophet Samuel had there been such a Passover. None of the
kings of Israel had ever kept a Passover as Josiah did, involving all the
priests and Levites, all the people of Jerusalem, and people from all over
Judah and Israel. This
Passover celebration took place in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign.
(Verses 1-19)
What meticulous care!
Josiah was sure to incorporate all the Law and all the orders of David,
Solomon, and the Levitical leaders. When
we choose to stand on the shoulders of our ancestors, we can reach great
heights, indeed. In true worship of God,
we worship in Spirit, holding in rapt attention past and present and future.
Praise God for the people in our lives that pay close
attention to detail.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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