DCLM Daily Manna 2025: DCLM Daily Manna 12 June 2025: Keeping the Passover
Text: 2 Kings 23:21-25 (KJV)
Then the king commanded all the people, saying, “Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 Such a Passover surely had never been held since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was held before the Lord in Jerusalem. 24 Moreover Josiah put away those who consulted mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. 25 Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.
KEY VERSE: (2 Kings 23:22,23) Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem.
In October 1971, the Shah of Iran invited 60 kings, queens, and heads of state to celebrate the 2,500 years of the Persian Empire. The cost of the celebration was about $100 million, but it was not the costliest table ever spread. The communion table is the costliest table ever spread. The elements on it cost very little, but they represent the body and blood of the Son of God.
Many unprecedented landmark achievements characterised King Josiah’s illustrious reign. The long-forgotten Jewish Passover feast was observed remarkably, and no such Passover feast was held in the days of his predecessors. Usually, at the feast, a spotless one-year-old lamb was killed by each family, roasted with fire, and eaten with unleavened bread. The blood was smeared on the doorposts and lintels of their houses. Their safety from death by the angel was guaranteed; so long, they remained in their homes under cover of the blood. In contrast, the Egyptian homes lost all the firstborns of humans and animals during the first Passover (Exodus 12:14). Israelites who failed to partake in the Passover feast were to be cut off from their tribes.
The Passover feast was symbolic and temporary, serving as a memorial for Israel’s exit. For Christians, the Lord’s Supper, instituted by Christ, replaced the Old Testament Passover, and every right-standing believer should partake in it. Christ’s blood is a means of sanctification, protecting saints from wickedness and God’s wrath, and guaranteeing continuous victory over sin and the devil’s accusation.
Josiah also purged Judah and Jerusalem of all workers with familiar spirits, the wizards, the images, the idols, and all the abominations. As believers, we must be uncompromising in defending the truth. We must not allow agents of the devil to partake in the Lord’s service. We are charged not to associate with enemies of the Cross, peddlers of false doctrines, and those who cause offenses and divisions in the church. Josiah left an indelible legacy as a righteous king who departed from the evil ways of his ancestors. What legacy will you leave when you eventually quit the stage?
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: The Lord’s table whets our appetite for the great feast above.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Samuel 17-18
Daily Manna 12 June 2025
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