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Historical Passovers
Mt Sinai, Joshua, Hezekiah, Josiah, Zerubbabel

Transcribed from video
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Agenda
Passover is about Redemption
The Exodus from Egypt
Yahushua’s Passover vs. Feast of the Jews
6 days before Passover in 30 CE
Historical Passovers

FDOUB about Deliverance and Liberty
430 years – YHWH’s promise to Abram
Fulfilling YHWH’s promise to Abraham

LDOUB about Hope and Salvation
Coming out of the world
Walking in Faith – the Red Sea event

Historical Passovers

Exodus the 2^nd year
Joshua
Hezekiah
Josiah
Zerubbabel
Ezekiel

There are several historical Passovers. The one in Ezekiel is probably not a historical one but one that is mentioned in chapter 45.

Exodus 2^nd year
ca. 1445 BCE – Numbers 9:1-21 – 2^nd year after coming out of Egypt
No uncircumcised stranger – Exodus 12:48

The very first Passover was when Moses led the children out of the land of Egypt. After they were in the wilderness for a year they actually kept a second Passover. This is approximately 1445 BCE and we see the evidence of this in Numbers chapter 9. This is the second year after the Israelites came out of captivity. The Bible used here is the Brenton Septuagint.

Num 9:1 And YHWH spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sina in the second year after they had gone forth from the land of Egypt, in the first month, saying,

Num 9:2 Speak, and let the children of Israel keep the passover in its season.

This is obviously the second year in the wilderness and this is taking place at Mt Sinai. It says it’s in the first month, of course that’s when the Passover would be and historically you will find that they left in the second month, so we are nearing the end of their tenure at Mt. Sinai.

Num 9:3 On the fourteenth day of the first month at even, thou shalt keep it in its season; thou shalt keep it according to its law, and according to its ordinance.

Num 9:4 And Moses ordered the children of Israel to sacrifice the passover,

Num 9:5 on the fourteenth day of the first month in the wilderness of Sina, as YHWH appointed Moses, so the children of Israel did.

The background for this is a lot of law and procedure that YHWH handed down. Those of us that have been looking into the covenants study will understand that at this point in time there are actually have been two different covenants that have been provided. The original covenant was abandoned by the Israelites and Moses broke the stones as he was walking down the mountain. Version 2 of the covenant was initiated by YHWH. This is toward the end of that stay, the books of Numbers and Leviticus were written during this period of time and incidentally, if you look into the book of Numbers you will see in chapter 10 that they actually picked up their camp when YHWH told them to leave. We are getting very close to the end of their stay in Mt Sinai in chapter 9.

Num 9:6 And there came men who were unclean by reason of a dead body, and they were not able to keep the passover on that day; and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day.

Num 9:7 And those men said to Moses, We are unclean by reason of the dead body of a man: shall we therefore fail to offer the gift to YHWH in its season in the midst of the children of Israel?

Num 9:8 And Moses said to them, stand there, and I will hear what charge YHWH will give concerning you.

I like this key statement. Moses said, wait a minute, hold on, I’m going to ask YHWH’s help in this matter. What’s the right answer to this question? I would suggest this is a good verse for us to have in our memory, and that is to ask YHWH when we have a question about something concerning a particular topic. This is amazing that Moses starts out with this because the question of administration and ordinance comes up. Let’s go to YHWH and find out what he’s going to say about it.

Num 9:9 And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying,

So he gets an answer, and by the way, we do too.

Num 9:10 Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Whatever man shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or on a journey far off, among you, or among your posterity; he shall then keep the passover to YHWH,

Num 9:11 in the second month, on the fourteenth day; in the evening they shall offer it, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs shall they eat it.

Notice the response isn’t about – we just didn’t have time to do it on the first month, it’s because of a particular individual need. They were unclean or they were on a journey and they weren’t able to keep it.

Num 9:12 They shall not leave of it until the morrow, and they shall not break a bone of it; they shall sacrifice it according to the ordinance of the passover.

Num 9:13 And whatsoever man shall be clean, and is not far off on a journey, and shall fail to keep the passover, that soul shall be cut off from his people, because he has not offered the gift to YHWH in its season: that man shall bear his iniquity.

So you’d better have a good reason if you are going to do this, I’m not even sure that applicable today, this is part of the Version 2 administration of the covenant, and so to me this would not be applicable today. The Passover is on the 14^th of the first month, although some people do this because of some type of circumstance. That’s probably fine and well.

Num 9:14 And if there should come to you a stranger in your land, and should keep the passover to YHWH, he shall keep it according to the law of the passover and according to its ordinance: there shall be one law for you, both for the stranger, and for the native of the land.

There isn’t different administration for someone else coming in. The ordinance was that you had to be circumcised in order to take the Passover, so that principal today carries forward to baptism of course. That was set up way back here in the original Passover. A stranger shall not keep it unless he is baptized. When he is baptized he’s going to keep it according to the ordinance set forth.

Num 9:15 And in the day in which the tabernacle was pitched the cloud covered the tabernacle, the place of the testimony; and in the evening there was upon the tabernacle as the appearance of fire till the morning.

Num 9:16 So it was continually: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.

Num 9:17 And when the cloud went up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel departed; and in whatever place the cloud rested, there the children of Israel encamped.

Here is the process when it’s time to stay and when it’s time to move.

Num 9:18 The children of Israel shall encamp by the command of YHWH, and by the command of YHWH they shall remove: all the days in which the cloud overshadows the tabernacle, the children of Israel shall encamp.

Num 9:19 And whenever the cloud shall be drawn over the tabernacle for many days, then the children of Israel shall keep the charge of YHWH, and they shall not remove.

Num 9:20 And it shall be, whenever the cloud overshadows the tabernacle a number of days, they shall encamp by the word of YHWH, and shall remove by the command of YHWH.

Num 9:21 And it shall come to pass, whenever the cloud shall remain from the evening till the morning, and in the morning the cloud shall go up, then shall they remove by day or by night.

Here, along with the instructions for the Passover, and also the 2^nd Passover, are the instructions for when it’s time to move camp. Also, we will take a look in this section, the scripture in Exodus chapter 12 about who partakes of the Passover. This is the original instruction while they were in Egypt.

Exo 12:47 All the congregation of the children of Israel shall keep it.

Exo 12:48 And if any proselyte shall come to you to keep the passover to YHWH, thou shalt circumcise every male of him, and then shall he approach to sacrifice it, and he shall be even as the original inhabitant of the land; no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.

Obviously this is talking about the males and extended into today would be anyone that wants to keep the Passover. These are some of the principals that we go by. But the important part of this presentation is here, it is one of the first Passovers after the original Passover and indeed it was kept by the Israelites themselves one year later. I would submit that in the rest of the travels of the 39 years that are left, we don’t see any evidence that there was a keeping of the Passover. I’m not sure if there was or wasn’t, but there isn’t any evidence to say that they did. In fact, by the time they would get to the Promised Land, and we will see when we get to Joshua that they had been wandering off in the wrong direction spiritually. I would guess that it was the second Passover in the second year, and it would have been the last one they kept until we get to this account in Joshua.

Joshua
ca. 1406BCE – Jos 5:1-15 – entering into the Promised Land at Jericho.
Parched corn – cf. Lev 23:14
Jos 6:4-5 – rams (horn) = H3104 = Yobel

This is some 40 years later and we see this account in Joshua chapter 5. This chapter has a lot of meat in it particularly looking forward to Revelation, and incidentally, when we get to chapter 6 and the events at AI and so forth, it makes Revelation come to light. I would say chapters 5 and 6 are prototypes. There is a lot you see in Revelation because of the seven trumpets and so forth. But that isn’t the purpose this time. In the Fall Feasts we will highlight the Trumpets part of this account, but this time we want to highlight the Passover part.

Thirty nine years later after this first account we see in Exodus.

Jos 5:1 And it came to pass when the kings of the Amorites who were beyond Jordan heard, and the kings of Phoenicia by the sea, that the YHWH Elohim had dried up the river Jordan from before the children of Israel when they passed over, that their hearts failed, and they were terror-stricken, and there was no sense in them because of the children of Israel.

There is a legacy that’s coming along with this band of a couple million, and maybe more people that are coming up the Jordan Valley in the area of the Dead Sea.

Jos 5:2 And about this time YHWH said to Joshua, Make thee stone knives of sharp stone, and sit down and circumcise the children of Israel the second time.

Jos 5:3 And Joshua made sharp knives of stone, and circumcised the children of Israel at the place called the “Hill of Foreskins.”

Jos 5:4 And this is the way in which Joshua purified the children of Israel; as many as were born in the way, and as many as were uncircumcised of them that came out of Egypt,

Jos 5:5 all these Joshua circumcised; for forty and two years Israel wondered in the wilderness of Mabdaris

Jos 5:6 Wherefore most of the fighting men that came out of the land of Egypt, were uncircumcised, who disobeyed the commands of YHWH; (This is the reason I don’t think they were keeping any Passovers, they were disobeying the commands of YHWH since they left.) concerning whom also he determined that they should not see the land, which the Lord sware to give to their fathers, even a land flowing with milk and honey.

Jos 5:7 And in their place he raised up their sons, whom Joshua circumcised, because they were uncircumcised, having been born by the way.

Jos 5:8 And when they had been circumcised they rested continuing there in the camp till they were healed. (Probably because the couldn’t walk well)

Jos 5:9 And YHWH said to Joshua the son of Naue, On this day have I removed the reproach of Egypt from you: and he called the name of that place Galgala.

Jos 5:10 And the children of Israel kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, to the westward of Jericho on the opposite side of the Jordan in the plain.

They are close to Jericho here at this point and the residents of Jericho, the Amorites that lived there were aware that there was a big presence of Israelites at their doorstep. Now the key parts of this are just coming up. It says they ate both unleavened and new corn, they ate both.

Jos 5:11 And they ate of the grain of the earth unleavened and new corn.

Now using King James Version so I can look at a couple of words.

Jos 5:11  And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. 

To examine this verse a little closer we see there are a couple of things about it. They ate of the old corn of the land on the morrow and the old corn would have been harvested last year. You have to keep in mind that the children of Israel, now under Joshua’s command have just come near to the land that they were going to inherit. They haven’t been sowing their crops but they sure can reap that which has been sown. In this case the crops were sown by the Amorites that had been living in Jericho. It was a very rich valley and the other tribes of Gentiles that lived in this area had been farming the land and there was probably plenty for them to harvest. They were dispossessing the current owners and what is left behind was crops. They were eating of the old corn of the land the day after the Passover.

Verse 11 is about the wave sheaf day and the instruction of what to do when the wave sheaf day follows the Passover. How can that be? The only circumstance that the wave sheaf day can follow immediately from the Passover is if the Passover is on the weekly Sabbath. The wave sheaf day is to be the day after the Sabbath according to the instructions given in Leviticus 23. There is a big debate about this by the way, and it happened a few years ago. The debate is, should the wave sheaf day in that circumstance be after the Passover on the First Day of Unleavened Bread, or should it be after the Last Day of Unleavened bread which would be the following week on that particular first day of the week? My belief is that it happens during that season. Passover starts the season and the day after the weekly Sabbath, the first day of the week, is what is being described here.

What they did on this day is have unleavened cakes and parched corn in the selfsame day. The key word is selfsame. This is another example in a somewhat unique set of circumstances when this word is used. We’ve looked at it in the Levitical instructions and the word is “etsem”. This word means bone, but I think it’s highlighting for us a real special set of circumstances when it says “selfsame day”. This selfsame day that’s being described says they ate unleavened cakes which they would do on the First Day of Unleavened Bread, but they also had parched corn. If you go back and look at parched corn, we see in Leviticus 23 verse 14 the instructions about the wave sheaf.

Lev 23:14  And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the “selfsame day” that ye have brought an offering unto your Elohim it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 

If you read this in context, you see that this is about the Wave Sheaf Day, and that you don’t eat parched corn until that day, the parched corn was part of the offering. The Priest held a sheaf of barley in the air and he also made a grain offering and offered it with oil as it says in the previous verses. You can read that on your own. Part of the offering was this parched corn that came from the current year’s crop. The new barley crop is where the parched corn comes from. It had to be to the state that allowed it to be parched before this could happen. There is a barley wave sheaf and then there is this parched corn that was co-mingled with oil and offered as an offering on the Wave Sheaf Day.

With that in mind, when we look back at what’s going on in Joshua, we see that the same day after the Passover they ate both. The only circumstance where they could eat not only unleavened bread but parched corn also, would have been on the Wave Sheaf Day when they made the offering. By association, this is the first day of the week. Also, the manna stopped on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn.

Jos 5:12  And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna anymore; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. 

Who planted the fruit of the land that year? The Israelites didn’t, the Canaanites did, the people that were indigenous to areas that they were taking over. This is telling us that the Israelites had their first Passover near Jericho as they were entering the land, and that it happened that Passover happened on what we would call the weekly Sabbath. The following day, the first day of the week we would call Sunday, was the First Day of Unleavened Bread. In fact, that was the Sabbath that they offered the wave sheaf on. This circumstance came useful three or four years ago when the Passover occurred on the same schedule. Those that were around at that time may have understood or realized that there was a debate on which weekend the wave sheaf was to occur. The end result was that Pentecost would be one week sooner or later depending upon your viewpoint. You start the Pentecost count from the wave sheaf. Hopefully that’s useful.

I meant to talk about this back in verse 9 so I’m going to catch it now.

Jos 5:9  And YHWH said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day. 

When I was reading out of the Septuagint this wasn’t as clear as it is in the King James, but this is what I would call a pun that is embedded into the original Hebrew. This day have I rolled the reproach of Egypt from you wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day . Gilgal is a town that is over in the area of Jericho where they are camped. Notice the Hebrew, “this day have I rolled”, the Hebrew word is H1556 in Strongs is gawlal and it means to roll. Just as it says, to roll, he has rolled the reproach from Egypt and the name of the place you are coming to is Gilgal. What’s that mean? When we look under the covers of what Gilgal means, we see it means wheel.

He’s rolling away the reproach of the place that will be named wheel. I think that is an amazing find that is written into the text. There is quite a number of this sort of things when you get to looking.

I also want to mention the people going into the Promised Land at Jericho. We have had a few side comments during the last few weeks of studies about who entered into the land. I got to thinking about that and I know that I’ve thought that there weren’t very many that entered in but I wanted to look a little deeper into the subject.

Who entered the Promised Land? There are several scriptures that you can look up on your own but there was a census taken in Numbers 1:1-4 and 44-50.

Num 1:1  And YHWH spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 

This would be their first day of the second month, so they are getting ready to leave.

Num 1:2  Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls; 

A census is being taken and here is who is included.

Num 1:3  From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies. 

Num 1:4  And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers.

Then to verse 44:

Num 1:44  These are those that were numbered, which Moses and Aaron numbered, and the princes of Israel, being twelve men: each one was for the house of his fathers. 

Num 1:45  So were all those that were numbered of the children of Israel, by the house of their fathers, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel; 

Num 1:46  Even all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. 

Num 1:47  But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them. 

Num 1:48  For the LORD had spoken unto Moses, saying, 

Num 1:49  Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel: 

Num 1:50  But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle. 

Verse 47 is the verse I wanted to zero in, the Levites weren’t included in this because they didn’t go to war. This is a useful distinction. When we look at the Levites, there are some notable names. Aaron had 4 sons, Nadab, Abihu, Ithamar and Eleazar. But Nadab and Abihu were killed because of their incorrect offering at the Tent of the Tabernacle. Ithamar and Eleazar would have been two of the sons that would have gone into the Promised Land; I don’t think there is any question about that. There was a grandson of Aaron who was Phinehas, he was the son of Eleazar and Phinehas is the one who drove the spear through the two that were committing adultery and making the camp unclean. Phinehas was that guy. I would submit that I don’t find that he didn’t make it into the Promised Land. Also, it says in Numbers 14 that no man 20 years and older that was in the army, let’s look at that.

Num 14:28  Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith YHWH, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: 

Num 14:29  Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, 

These were the people that didn’t make it.

Num 14:30  Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. 

We have two examples of guys that did come, I don’t think they are the only two because we clearly see that two of Aarons other sons seemed like they would have come along, and right along with Phinehas. The other part about this is that if you recall in Numbers 3 the firstborn priests were outsourced to the Levites and they were numbered. There were 22,000 Levites exactly, according to the account and 22, 273 firstborn. So if you recall what we have gone through in the Covenants study, there was a difference that got redeemed and reconciled through a Temple tax, basically. There were some 20,000 Levites that weren’t taken into this original census that we found in Numbers chapter 1. I can’t help but wonder how many of them that would have been included in the numbers that went. Maybe there are other scriptures about this that I‘ve overlooked. But I would submit that there were a number of Levites, there were 20,000 of them to start with, at least to that reckoning of the outsourcing of the Temple duties. Some of those would have been included in this number.

Also women aren’t mentioned, so the key scripture that starts us on this path is the men that were the age to go to war. In other words, those that would be in the army were excluded. None of them made it. There may have been some number of people that left Egypt that in fact walked across the Jordan and into the town of Jericho, beyond just the few that we had first thought. In any case, it’s just some food for thought.

Back to the case in hand in Joshua and there is other information that will be useful.

Jos 6:1  Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. 

So the place was locked down, but before we get off of Jericho and Joshua, look at Joshua’s name. Here is a good example of it, and in verse 2:

Jos 6:2  And YHWH said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. 

Joshua’s name is in Hebrew: and is H3091 Some might pronounce it Yahushua. He is the leader of the people going into the Promised Land. When we compare, we say Joshua and so that isn’t a far phonetic difference from his original, Yahoshua. We’ve carried that pretty far forward in our vernacular today. Let’s look at what happened to Yahshua’s name. We go to Matthew chapter 1:21:

Mat 1:21  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Yahushua: for he shall save his people from their sins. 

How did we get that name of Jesus? If you were Yahushua would you want to be called Jesus? Do you want somebody to change your name? Iesous is fundamentally his name was spelled out in Greek and then in Latin and then it came out Iesous. It means nothing. The original word Yahshua means Salvation of YHWH,

The Iesous name, by the time it got to the 15^th century, the French came along. There wasn’t a “J” sound until then. The French translated these original texts into English. As a result the “I” became a “J” because the French didn’t have that sound in their language. We owe it to the French to get the J on there so things got manipulated a little bit more to Jesus. Je souis is how it started out, and that morphed into Jesus. By the way, maybe YHWH gets the last laugh in this because of it being Je souis, in French. It’s interesting to look up Je souis, and it is very close phonetically to Jesus but I’ll let you find that out on your own. In any case, Jesus’s original name was the same as Joshua.

The parallels of Joshua the prophet leading the Israelites into the Promised Land has a deep significance and meaning to that same Joshua or Yahushua leading the Believers into eternity, the eternal promised land. To me, this was been an interesting find some number of years ago, but the source of this has been corrupted through translations. People that don’t want to pronounce Yahshua’s true name but instead use Jesus as is promoted by Christianity are wrong. It simply has by popular demand, stayed in place and it’s been our conditioning for many years. At its source, you can see where it came from. Yahshua is where it originally came from.

Back to the book of Joshua and the subject at hand in Joshua 6, we see something interesting.

Jos 6:4  And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. 

This word Rams Horns is H3104. If you chase Yobale down, you are led to Leviticus 25, from there you will see that it’s the Jubilee. The Jubilee Rams Horn is what is being blown.

Jos 6:5  And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn ^H3104), and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him. 

The reason I’m going through this is, immediately in the next chapter, when we read this in context, we read chapter 5 and then 6. We associate the time of chapter 6 to be immediately following chapter 5. I think perhaps this event in chapter 6 is in fact happening in the fall. It is more closely aligned with the days and the memorial of Trumpets, not with Passover. There isn’t an indication that it has to be associated with that event at Passover. The Israelites could have stayed some 5 or 6 months camped at the gates of Jericho. The gates of Jericho were closed up. This is conjecture on my part, but it’s no less conjecture to say that this is part of the Passover event. I think the fact that trumpets are involved, and when you study and look at the parallels of these seven trumpets to the parallels to the seven trumpets in Revelation, to me this much more closely aligns with the events of Yahushua’s second coming and the seven trumpets that precede it.

With that addition in mind, the Passover, beginning of the time that the Israelites lived in the Promised Land, has some significant legs to check out. And again, this is approximately 1406 BCE. A lot of people have studied into this and I’m not sure about this date, 1406, it’s 40 years less than 1445. A lot of people rely on the 1445 date. I will say though, because the yobel is mentioned, it leads me to think about the Jubilee and the Jubilee is a 50 year boundary. This 50 year boundary doesn’t seem to line up with the other 50 year boundaries that we think we have discovered in the scriptures. The dating of this may be suspect or it may be correct. It’s hard to prove.

Then we come to Hezekiah, and it’s been a stretch in time from 1400 BCE to 700 BCE. It would mean that 700 years go by before we see another Passover mentioned in the scriptures. We do see Feast of Tabernacles, by the way. We see the Feast of Tabernacles highlighted in the time of Solomon of the dedication of the Temple, but there is a 700 year period, and we will see in the scriptures that the Passover doesn’t seem like it was very well administered or kept according to what we see.

Hezekiah 3^rd year Hoshea north is 730 BCE – Theil (1Kings 18:1)

1 Kings 18:1 says that Hezekiah became king in the 3^rd year of Hoshea. Hoshea was a northern king and Hezekiah was a southern king. Hezekiah reigned in the 725 or so range of time BCE. He was way back there in history and you may notice that Isaiah the prophet lived at the same time. When you read through Kings and Isaiah you will see that Isaiah talked directly to Hezekiah and gave him advice and counsel. This guy Hoshea was the last king in the Northern Kingdom when Tilgath Pileser and Shalmaneser were overthrowing the northern kingdom and Hoshea was the king. That is mentioned as Hezekiah starts his reign in the third year of Hoshea.

It is significant that Hezekiah knows some important facts, and that is that the Assyrian kings are on the horizon. They have decimated the Northern Kingdom by normally taking it down. During Hezekiah’s reign, the Northern Kingdom will have fallen and we will see during this Passover, the evidence of that. There were a few remnant people that were left in the Northern Kingdom that were invited to a Passover assembly in Jerusalem.

Hezekiah also has some other significant accomplishments; one of them being Hezekiah’s tunnel. I will mention a couple of these things. Hezekiah’s water tunnel was put in place to thwart off the siege of Shalmaneser, and later on it would be Sennacherib. When Sennacherib came on the scene, he was a real thorn in the side to Hezekiah. Hezekiah knew that the Northern Tribes of Israel had been overthrown at this point, but he also trusted in YHWH for deliverance as we will see.

Hezekiah’s water tunnel that was constructed was over a quarter mile in length. It was carved through solid rock and was around 1750 feet in length. It went from the Pool of Siloam to the inner city of Jerusalem. The Pool of Siloam was outside of the city and it was much more difficult place to defend. What Hezekiah did was he camouflaged this Pool of Siloam so that when Sennacherib came on the scene, Sennacherib wouldn’t think he had a water supply for his army that was there. Hezekiah diverted that water into the inner city so they could stand a long siege. It had a dual purpose, one was to camouflage it from the enemy and the second was to allow it to be taken into the inner city so they could withstand a siege.

Hezekiah has some long legs of legacy, as he was also the king when Sennacherib’s 185,000 troops were slain one night by the angel of YHWH. That’s all part of this time in history and with that little bit of background, let’s get to the account. Incidentally, this account starts to be during the period of time when dating is much more reliable. When we go back to the Exodus and Joshua’s timeframe there are very few markers. Lots of people have studied and come up with different conclusions, but by the time of Hezekiah, there were other secular records being generated that have been found. There are markers that have been determined so we have some precision when we start to put dates on Hezekiah. The complication to Hezekiah’s dating however is this third year of Hoshea of the North being 730 BCE, that is in conflict when you get down to the bottom line with Sennacherib coming in 701 BCE.

The alignment of the total tenure of Hezekiah doesn’t match up to some of the facts today. There is more work to be done on this. When I say that 716 was a Sabbatical year, it’s unsubstantiated and not clear to me whether it’s 716 when this event happened or perhaps some 15 years earlier in 730 or 731. There is a question about that. In any case, either of those would have been a Sabbatical year because there would have been a Jubilee in the middle if you were counting backwards. It appears that this event of this Passover occurred on what would be a Sabbatical year in 716 as you would project it backwards from a 50 year cycle starting in 27CE. One of the anchors that Yahushua provides us is of a Jubilee year in Luke 4:18. A lot is said there, and there is a lot more details under the covers if you are interested in Sabbatical and Jubilee. Suffice it to say it appears that this event in Hezekiah for Passover is a Sabbatical year.

With that, let’s take a look at the account itself in 2 Chronicles 29:1-10.

2Ch 29:1  Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 

2Ch 29:2  And he did that which was right in the sight of YHWH, according to all that David his father had done. 

I would mention that there is no possible way that this Zechariah is the prophet we know of in the time of the Babylonians and the overthrow of the Southern Kingdom. This is a different Zechariah.

2Ch 29:3  He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of YHWH, and repaired them. 

So he came on the scene and went to work. It’s useful to say that his predecessors did a poor job. The main predecessor in his time was Ahaz. Ahaz didn’t stay in office very long, but was known as an evil king. The practices of the Northern Tribes that had influenced the practices of the Southern Tribes were nothing but pagan, and they had started participating in the grove experiences and child sacrifice. Hezekiah had all that to deal with as he takes on his reign in his first year. He wanted to re-establish the Temple and all the associated Holy Days.

2Ch 29:4  And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street, 

2Ch 29:5  And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of YHWH the Elohim of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. 

2Ch 29:6  For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of YHWH our Elohim, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of YHWH, and turned their backs. 

2Ch 29:7  Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the Elohim of Israel. 

So the Temple was shut down at this time.

2Ch 29:8  Wherefore the wrath of YHWH was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes. 

I’ve said this before, that in my thinking, Hezekiah is pointing out on the horizon to trouble. In his first year that would have been Tilgath Pileser and his army. Shalmaneser would have been the potential threats on the horizon. Plus, farther north, that land was completely decimated and taken into captivity and the Northern Kingdom was being taken out of business city by city.

2Ch 29:9  For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. 

2Ch 29:10  Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with YHWH, Elohim of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us. 

Hezekiah wants to fix this. Going on into verse 30

2Ch 29:30  Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto YHWH with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped. 

This event is in preparation for the Passover. They started having offerings again and they re-established the Temple. Let’s go to chapter 30:1

2Ch 30:1  And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of YHWH at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto YHWH the Elohim of Israel. 

Keep in mind what has happened because this is useful to understand. The Northern Tribes are Israel and they are in serious political trouble because they are about to be taken off the map. Hezekiah wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, the guys in the North.

2Ch 30:2  For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month. 

In the previous chapter I didn’t go through all the details of this, but they weren’t ready for Passover in the first month. They had to cleanse the Temple and get the priests cleansed and they missed their original first month Passover date, so they are going to keep it in the second month according to what Moses told people way back. You keep the Passover in the second month if there was a legitimate reason. Here was a legitimate reason why they were not ready.

2Ch 30:3  For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem. 

I’m not sure if that was acceptable to YHWH. In looking back on it you would say that they should have been ready. But the circumstances that led up to it was that the past administration had closed down this place and they are just trying to put it back in order.

2Ch 30:4  And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation. 

2Ch 30:5  So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover unto YHWH the Elohim of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written. 

They wrote a letter and sent it out to come to the Feast. This is from Beersheba to Dan, and it’s like saying in our vernacular from Los Angeles to New York, and sent it through Denver or Kansas City.

2Ch 30:6  So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto YHWH the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria. 

Notice it says from the kings of Assyria, and the guys I’m talking about, Shalmaneser and Tilgath Pileser are the kings that were on the horizon at this point, wreaking havoc in the Northern Kingdom, but there was a remnant of people left. These kings, by the way, had a displacement policy. They would take captives from the land that they overtook and they would displace them throughout their kingdom. They would bring other displaced people, Gentiles in this case, and plant them together in the Northern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom was getting co-mingled and co-habituated as a result of these particular Assyrian kings’ practices for relocation.

2Ch 30:7  And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against YHWH Elohim of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see. 

2Ch 30:8  Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto YHWH, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve YHWH your Elohim, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you. 

2Ch 30:9  For if ye turn again unto YHWH, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for YHWH your Elohim is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him. 

2Ch 30:10  So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them. 

This wasn’t well received, I suppose it would be something like sending out a notice and put it in the want ads in your local newspaper wherever you live and say we are keeping the Passover starting on such and such a date, anybody is welcome to come. Most people that would read that would laugh at it. That’s what was going on here, they laughed them to scorn.

2Ch 30:11  Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem. 

2Ch 30:12  Also in Judah the hand of YHWH was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of YHWH. 

2Ch 30:13  And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation. 

2Ch 30:14  And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron. (These are the pagan alters being talked about.)

2Ch 30:15  Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of YHWH. (They were ashamed because they weren’t clean themselves yet)

2Ch 30:16  And they stood in their place after their manner, according to the law of Moses the man of YHWH: the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received of the hand of the Levites. 

2Ch 30:17  For there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified: therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passovers for every one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto YHWH. (Not everybody was really ready even for this but they went ahead with it and YHWH honored their effort) 

2Ch 30:18  For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good Elohim pardon every one.

2Ch 30:19  That prepareth his heart to seek YHWH the Elohim of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary. 

2Ch 30:20  And YHWH hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people. (Here is the man in authority, the king that YHWH put in place is being harkened by and accepted by YHWH his request and prayer for forgiveness.)

2Ch 30:21  And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness: and the Levites and the priests praised YHWH day by day, singing with loud instruments unto YHWH. 

2Ch 30:22  And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites that taught the good knowledge of YHWH: and they did eat throughout the feast seven days, offering peace offerings, and making confession to YHWH Elohim of their fathers. 

2Ch 30:23  And the whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven days: and they kept other seven days with gladness. (They were doing so well with this Passover, they decided to keep it seven more days. Occasionally that seems to happen here, we have so much enjoyed this particular Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread we just want to keep on going beyond it even though it’s going to be over.)

2Ch 30:24  For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the congregation a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests sanctified themselves. (This reform was working, people were cleansing themselves. We have to do the same thing today, I’m calling for reform, reform for those who want to accept Yahushua as their personal sacrifice. Cleanse yourself, follow this example and pray to YHWH.)

2Ch 30:25  And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced. 

2Ch 30:26  So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem. (Solomon goes back 300 years. So for a 300 year period in their history there had not been this kind of a Passover. We will see before Solomon, the time was in the judges that there was a time of a good Passover.

2Ch 30:27  Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven. 

YHWH heard. Some of the key points are that the priests weren’t sanctified to keep the first Passover so they in fact went to the second one. There was a remnant of the Northern Kingdom that had escaped the Assyrians. They were probably left in place, as that was an Assyrian policy. They would leave some people and co-mingle other captives with them. All of this of course, is right around the time of the fall of the Northern Kingdom in 722 BCE.

The next Passover is in the time of Josiah and 60 or so years after Hezekiah. Josiah appears to have had co-regency with the previous king named Amon. This is also a Jubilee or a 50^th year which the Old Covenant or Testament lines up on the 23/24 years and 73/74 years.

In the New Covenant the 50 years aren’t kept any more, but if you extrapolate that forward to today, the New Covenant Jubilees line up with 27/28 and 77/78. This appears to be a Jubilee year going back to this date of Josiah’s reform. It’s interesting to put this on here. When we found the Passover and Jubilee dates, we weren’t lining up these Passovers. It was interesting to see that all of them except the first one, the one of Joshua lines up, or seems to line up with the Sabbatical calendar. It’s an interesting side perspective that just happens to be.

Josiah
Reigned 641 – 609 BCE ^{2 year Amon coregency}
624 – 623 BCE Jubilee Year – Josiah’s reforms, his 18^th year

2 Chronicles 34:1, 15-18 – Hilkiah finds Book of the Torah
2 Kings 23:2 – read the law

Deuteronomy 31:10 – 11 end of Sabbatical
2 Chronicles 35:1-19 (Vs 19 – cf. LXX)
2 Kings 23:21 – 23 – Passover reinstituted
Wicked society – 2 Kings 23: 20-24

2 Chronicles 35:3 – Last mention of the ark of the Covenant until Revelation 11:19
2 Chronicles 35:18 – Not since Samuel was such a Passover held (ca. 1100 BCE)
1 Esdras 1:1-23. Josephus Antiquities 10.4.1-5

Josiah was the last of the reformers and he is in the Southern Kingdom. You can see by this point in time the Northern Kingdom is gone. What happened after Hezekiah is interesting to parse out and examine. Hezekiah had a son whose name was Manasseh. Manasseh probably started on the right foot but it didn’t take him long after Hezekiah died to go back to all the ways of idolatry. He was probably the worst of the Southern Kingdom’s kings. He had nearly 50 years of tenure which was the longest. Manasseh took all of the good work that his father did and threw it out the door and then some. Manasseh not only went back to the grove practice and child sacrifice to Moloch but he brought in divination of the astrology signs back into society. His son was Amon and Amon didn’t last too long, maybe just a couple of years and then Josiah, Amon’s son, took over.

The background of this is now that the Babylonians have taken over world dominion and the Assyrians under this group of Tilgath Pileser, through Sennacherib, have been overthrown by the Babylonians under the ruler-ship of Nebuchadnezzar. All of that has happened and the Babylonians now are jockeying for position with the Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom is gone, so now the Southern Kingdom is being attacked and has already been attacked. By this point in time Nebuchadnezzar has started to push at them and at the end of Josiah, Nebuchadnezzar has his first deportation which included Daniel in approximately 607 or so BCE.

That is a little bit of background and now with Josiah, needless to say, Josiah was a reformer by divine accident. It’s probably a conflict of terms. There’s no such thing as luck with YHWH, and there isn’t divine accident with YHWH, but YHWH put it in place so that Josiah would find a Book of the Law that had been totally lost in the culture. This assistant whose name was Hilkiah found this Book of the Law and that led to reforms. Let’s take a look at some of the key parts of this.

2Ch 34:1  Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.

2Ch 34:15  And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of YHWH. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.

Hilkiah was the priest and you might ask how could they have a Temple and not have a Book of the Law, well, Manasseh went through and destroyed all of those kinds of documents as Manasseh wanted his own agenda. The Books of the Law, or Books of the Covenant according to Moses writing, don’t go back to the Version 1 of the covenant; this goes to Versions 2 and 3 at Moab. The Book of the Law that is found by Hilkiah is the Law of Moses. You will see if you examine this carefully that the Book of the Law is what is being talked about, but alternatively it’s sometimes referred to the Book of the Covenant also. We’ve talked about that in the past and the reasons why. I don’t believe this to be the original Book of Covenant at Mt. Sinai with Version 1 of the covenant that we have discussed in great detail. I believe this to be Versions 2 and 3 or the Moab covenant. The Book of the Law of Moses would have been put together at Moab.

2Ch 34:16  And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it.

2Ch 34:17  And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of YHWH, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen.

2Ch 34:18  Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.

2Ch 34:19  And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.

2Ch 34:20  And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king’s, saying,

2Ch 34:21  Go, enquire of YHWH for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of YHWH that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of YHWH, to do after all that is written in this book.

Notice that it says for those that are left in Israel, there weren’t many, but for those that are left.
Josiah knows what’s happening. He knows that the Kingdom of the South is about to fall and that the beating of the drum of war is on the horizon. He knows that the Babylonians are becoming world rulers and conquers at this point in time.

2Ch 34:22  And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they spake to her to that effect. 

So Huldah gets involved in this and you can read the rest of this account on your own.

There is some parallel work that I want to include in this and it’s in 2 Kings 23:2

2Ki 23:2  And the king went up into the house of YHWH, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of YHWH. 

Here in Kings it’s referred to as Book of Covenant which was found in the house of YHWH. Kings and Chronicles likely have two different authors. By tradition, and I want to emphasize tradition, Kings is thought to have been written by Jeremiah. There is argument about that and I’m only stating that it is tradition. Chronicles is thought to have been written by Ezra. There might be more evidence that is the case that Ezra the scribe actually wrote it. In any case there are two different authors being involved here. You see the nomenclature of the Book of the Law is the Book of the Covenant depending on which version you are reading.

So they found this Book of the Covenant and the fact is that they are reading it. The instructions in the law are interesting because in Deuteronomy chapter 31, Moses commanded the people saying:

Deu 31:10  And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles, 

Deu 31:11  When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 

This is taking about the Feast of Tabernacles, I understand that, but notice he says that “at the end of every seven years”. They weren’t keeping track of the seven years, but YHWH was keeping track. It falls in place that they would have been reading the Book of the Law. Maybe they didn’t know they needed to be but Hilkiah found this Book of the Law, and keep in mind what I’m showing you here, this is a Jubilee year, the year after a Sabbatical. This would be at the end of a Sabbatical and going into the Jubilee year that they would be reading this Book of the Law. It’s interesting to contemplate that.

Getting back to the account as the account becomes important relative to the Passover. With all of this in mind so let’s go back to 2 Chronicles chapter 35.

2Ch 35:1  Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto YHWH in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. 

Josiah is putting things back together again. Yes, Hezekiah, some 70 years earlier fixed everything, but Manasseh and Amon came along and wrecked it all. Now Josiah is back and incidentally, by this point YHWH has had his belly full of the Israelites, or this tribe of Judah. He said he is going to take them out, he’s going to let Josiah have a reform but you will see and probably know that the reform didn’t last long.

Josiah was killed by Pharaoh Nacho’s archers from Egypt. Pharaoh Nacho wasn’t against him but Josiah had a thought that he was the enemy and so after Josiah was killed, within a couple of years Nebuchadnezzar came on the scene and had his first deportation from Jerusalem which included Daniel the prophet. With all of that in mind, Josiah’s reform is happening here.

2Ch 35:2  And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of YHWH, 

2Ch 35:3  And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto YHWH, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders: serve now YHWH your Elohim, and his people Israel, 

2Ch 35:4  And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son. 

2Ch 35:5  And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and after the division of the families of the Levites. 

2Ch 35:6  So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of YHWH by the hand of Moses. 

2Ch 35:7  And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king’s substance. 

2Ch 35:8  And his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of YHWH, gave unto the priests for the passover offerings two thousand and six hundred small cattle, and three hundred oxen. 

2Ch 35:9  Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto the Levites for passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen. 

2Ch 35:10  So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king’s commandment. 

2Ch 35:11  And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed them. 

2Ch 35:12  And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto YHWH, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen. 

So they are doing a mass offering and they are also having a huge family Passover meal.

2Ch 35:13  And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance: but the other holy offerings sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the people. 

It’s noteworthy here they cooked the Passover according to the ordinance and that means they cooked it whole. But the other offerings they were able to put in pots and cauldrons and divided them among the people. This was a mass production kind of a Passover. By the way, this might be the leading event that has taken us to the time of Yahushua. I talked about the fact that the Sadducees and the Pharisees had their own Passover which was one day later after the original Passover. I believe that Josiah is still in sync with Moses’ original legislation which was the Passover is on the 14^th but this event was of a magnitude scale. Time went forward and after the Maccabees, some few hundred years later, during the time of Yahushua, people came to Jerusalem and they had to mass produce the Passover sacrifices. This event may have formed the model to start that.

2Ch 35:14  And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the priests: because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in offering of burnt offerings and the fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron. 

2Ch 35:15  And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the porters waited at every gate; they might not depart from their service; for their brethren the Levites prepared for them. 

2Ch 35:16  So all the service of YHWH was prepared the same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of YHWH, according to the commandment of king Josiah. 

It appears that when you read through this that the Passover is not happening in the evening anymore, it appears that it’s happening in the afternoon of the day. I would like to mention that if you want to read a parallel account of this to get a different prospective, read Esdras, which is an apocryphal book. I don’t consider the apocrypha as part of the cannon but it is a useful book. The same similar account can be found in Esdras 1:1.

2Ch 35:17  And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days. 

2Ch 35:18  And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem

This Passover must have been grander than the one Hezekiah kept, but notice that it doesn’t stop at Solomon and David, it goes all the way back to Samuel. This is hundreds of years later after Samuel. 

2Ch 35:19  In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept. 

A good benchmark and the timing of this so now we can read it with a reasonable degree of accuracy. This happened 624/623, a Jubilee year.

The comparison of verse 19 in the Septuagint is something to look at. The Septuagint adds some dialogue. Verse 19 in the Masoretic Text is one short line but there is substantially more information in the Septuagint.

2Ch 35:19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josias this passover was kept, after all these things that Josias did in the house. (35:19A) And king Josias burnt those who had in them a divining spirit, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and the sodomites which were in the land of Juda and in Jerusalem,

You see what’s going on here; this was all left over from Manasseh.

that he might confirm the words of the law that were written in the book which Chelcias the priest found in the house of YHWH. (35:19B) There was no king like him before him, who turned to YHWH with all his heart, and all his soul, and all his strength, according to all the law of Moses, and after him there rose up none like him. (35:19C) Nevertheless YHWH turned not from the anger of his fierce wrath, wherewith YHWH was greatly angry against Juda, for all the provocations wherewith Manasses provoked him:

Manasseh had angered YHWH so much that this was only going to be a temporary reprieve according to this scripture.

(35:19D) and YHWH said, I will even remove Juda also from my presence, as I have removed Israel, and I have rejected the city which I chose, even Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.

2Ch 35:20 And Pharao Nechao king of Egypt went up against the king of the Assyrians to the river Euphrates, and king Josias went to meet him

This was Josiah’s demise, so at the end of Josiah’s reign he was killed by Nacho in the following event. I think it’s amazing to see that this whole one little line that the Masoretic Text version used, and then we see much more in the Septuagint. I don’t think they made this up. They had this in their scripts and codex and the Masoretic Text authors would have been the ones that would have taken this out. It’s not a very attractive reflection on this period of time.

The Passover was instituted, so let’s look at 2 Kings 23.

2Ki 23:21  And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto YHWH your Elohim, as it is written in the book of this covenant. 

2Ki 23:22  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; 

2Ki 23:23  But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to YHWH in Jerusalem. 

Verse 24 adds to this Septuagint scripture so we find that which was in the Septuagint in Chronicles, some of it is here in Kings.

2Ki 23:24  Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of YHWH

Also in this section of time are a couple of useful additional pieces of information 2 Chronicles chapter 35 verse 3.

2Ch 35:3  And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto YHWH, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders: serve now YHWH your Elohim, and his people Israel, 

To the best of my knowledge this is the last mention of the Ark of the Covenant until we get to Revelation chapter 11. So the Ark disappeared and there is lots of theories on where the Ark went. Nobody has discovered it but in Revelation it tells us.

Rev 11:19  And the temple of YHWH was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. 

This is the only bridge that I see that tells where the Ark went. It may be still buried in the ground someplace and this may be in vision, I don’t know, but where did it go? Here is the answer, it is with YHWH. Man couldn’t keep track of it so YHWH took it under his control. 2 Chronicles 35:18 talks about the grandeur of the event.

2Ch 35:18  And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 

You notice there were still inhabitants of Israel so the Northern Tribes still have representation there because there was still a small remnant of them left. I mentioned Esdras account, and if you are interested you can look that up on your own but I do want to look in Josephus because he has something to say about this particular Passover as well. We will go to Antiquities 10:4. We’ll jump into this, it’s how Manasseh reigned and then how Josiah came on line and Josephus Antiquities history.

But the multitude punished those that slew Amon, and buried him with his father, and gave the kingdom to his son Josiah, who was eight years old. His mother was of the city of Boscath, and her name was Jedidah. He was of a most excellent disposition, and naturally virtuous, and followed the actions of King David, as a pattern and a rule to him in the whole conduct of his life. And when he was twelve years old, he gave demonstrations of his religious and righteous behavior; for he brought the people to a sober way of living, and exhorted them to leave off the opinion they had of their idols,

I love the way Josephus puts this, are we leaving the opinion of our idols today? Or do we still hold to the opinion that some of our idols are okay. We have little trinkets in our pocket, or in our purse. Do we still have those today? Do we still hold them in high opinion? This is interesting how he says this.

because they were not gods, but to worship their own God. And by repeating on the actions of his progenitors, he prudently corrected what they did wrong, like a very elderly man, and like one abundantly able to understand what was fit to be done; and what he found they had well done, he observed all the country over, and imitated the same.

This is Josephus’ description of the character of Josiah.

And thus he acted in following the wisdom and sagacity of his own nature, and in compliance with the advice and instruction of the elders; for by following the laws it was that he succeeded so well in the order of his government, and in piety with regard to the Divine worship. And this happened because the transgressions of the former kings were seen no more, but quite vanished away; for the king went about the city, and the whole country, and cut down the groves which were devoted to strange gods, and overthrew their altars; and if there were any gifts dedicated to them by his forefathers, he made them ignominious, and plucked them down; and by this means he brought the people back from their opinion about them to the worship of YHWH.

Going on to verse 2:

2. But when he was now in the eighteenth year of his reign, he sent to Eliakim the high priest, and gave order, that out of what money was overplus, he should cast cups, and dishes, and vials, for ministration [in the temple]; and besides, that they should bring all the gold or silver which was among the treasures, and expend that also in making cups and the like vessels. But as the high priest was bringing out the gold, he lighted upon the holy books of Moses that were laid up in the temple; and when he had brought them out, he gave them to Shaphan the scribe, who, when he had read them, came to the king, and informed him that all was finished which he had ordered to be done.

He also mentions Huldah the prophetess:

He also read over the books to him, who, when he had heard them read, rent his garment, and called for Eliakim the high priest, and for [Shaphan] the scribe, and for certain [other] of his most particular friends, and sent them to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum, (which Shallum was a man of dignity, and of an eminent family,) and bid them go to her, and say that [he desired] she would appease YHWH, and endeavor to render him propitious to them, for that there was cause to fear, lest, upon the transgression of the laws of Moses by their forefathers, they should be in peril of going into captivity, and of being cast out of their own country; lest they should be in want of all things, and so end their days miserably. When the prophetess had heard this from the messengers that were sent to her by the king, she bid them go back to the king, and say that “YHWH had already given sentence against them, to destroy the people, and cast them out of their country, and deprive them of all the happiness they enjoyed; which sentence none could set aside by any prayers of theirs, since it was passed on account of their transgressions of the laws, and of their not having repented in so long a time, while the prophets had exhorted them to amend, and had foretold the punishment that would ensue on their impious practices; which threatening YHWH would certainly execute upon them, that they might be persuaded that he is YHWH, and had not deceived them in any respect as to what he had denounced by his prophets; that yet, because Josiah was a righteous man, he would at present delay those calamities, but that after his death he would send on the multitude what miseries he had determined for them.

Josephus mentions the calamities, and those would be the ones that YHWH said he was going to bring. Josephus really gives us some extra points on how this was handled at this reformation with Josiah. It gives a lot of nice credentials to Josiah and his demeanor and how he operated his kingdom. You can find this in Josephus Book 10 chapter 4, and there are five different subsections in this if you want to read it on your own.

Zerubbabel
517 – 516 BCE Sabbatical Year
Zerubbabel reinstitutes Passover

Ezra 3:8-11 – Temple re-established
Ezra 6: 15 – 22 Second Temple rebuilt/finished

6^th year of Darius – reign 522 – 486 BCE
70 year desolation of Jerusalem – Daniel 9:2

70 years since Jerusalem/Temple destroyed
by Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BCE

Zerubbabel is after the exile; the Southern Kingdom was taken out by the Babylonians and taken into captivity. Now Cyrus the king comes along in 539 BCE and signs a declaration that those in captivity in the land that we would know as Babylon, are free to go back to their homeland. Zerubbabel is in the time period here in early 500 BCE. Keep in mind some of the historical markers that occurred.

Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon for some fifty years or so before Cyrus the Persian came on the scene. Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom was Babylon although Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t in charge by this time. Belshazzar came along followed by Cyrus who was a major change to the world’s political order. Yes, Babylon was a big deal but then Cyrus came along and actually expanded the Babylonian empire as Nebuchadnezzar would have known it. The Persian Empire started under Cyrus and this time is called the Achaemenid dynasty. Cyrus was the first Persian king over this Achaemenid Empire. Cyrus had interesting political changes that he was imposing on the governmental structure. Certainly there was a bureaucratic administration under Nebuchadnezzar, but Cyrus took this to the next level. The empire expanded all the way to the Balkans in this day farther west and almost into Europe. It went farther east to the Indus River in the area of India, and Cyrus’ empire substantially was increased in size. It was probably larger than the territory of the United States, probably 4 million square miles or something on that order. It was a huge empire.

The Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus, put in governors called Satraps. When you read through Nehemiah and Ezra you will see that Satraps are talked about and these are the leaders of the territories. They might be like governors of a state and the Satraps reported to a higher archaeal structure to king of kings and ultimately to Cyrus. Of interest, Cyrus was prophesied by Isaiah some 150 years previous by name that he was going to come on the scene. When Cyrus did come on the scene, I believe it to be Daniel who was the one that presented to Cyrus the letter that said that you Cyrus have been the one that’s been promised and he showed him the scripture in Isaiah. I think that brought favor for Daniel certainly, but it might have been part of the reason that the Israelites and the Northern and Southern tribes that were in captivity were given the opportunity to go back under the Cyrus decree in 539 BCE.

When you look at the historical record in Nehemiah and Ezra, less than 50,000 from the tribe of Judah were the ones that went back. The evidence looks like it is the tribe of Judah, and might have been a few of the Northern Tribes but these were Jews that went back and only a small number. There were less than 50,000 that went back to Jerusalem to re-build the Temple and city at this time.

With that bit of background, Zerubbabel is one of the early leaders in Jerusalem after the return. They probably started returning a couple of years after Cyrus’ decree in 539, but it wouldn’t be the kind of thing that they would get on a plane and be there the next day. They had to plan for it and it was probably a thirty or sixty day journey to make it from where they were in captivity. Of course they were in captivity in many parts of the world. Also this period of time down through Cyrus then Darius, Xerxes and Artaxerxes have a lot of historical highlights in it. A couple of things to mention are that you see Darius as a successor of Cyrus. When you look into the scriptures you are going to see that there are really two Darius’s. One is Darius the Mede, and he lived just before Cyrus. Cyrus overtook the Medes and I think that included Darius the Mede. Darius, starting with the first who was a Persian king lived after Cyrus. There is controversy about this and who is who. It isn’t 100 percent clear but my leaning is that there were two different Darius’s.

While it’s on my mind I want to look at Isaiah chapter 45. I want to show you something that I just recently found. Here is the prophecy in Isaiah about Cyrus.

Isa 45:1  Thus saith YHWH to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; 

Here is Isaiah talking about a guy that didn’t exist, calling him by name, and it was the same Cyrus that we’re talking about now in the time of Zerubbabel. Notice here “his anointed”. This word anointed is Meshach Cyrus. It was surprising to me and I’ve known that the word Meshach is anointed and when you look at its usage, you see that the anointed refer to the priests in the time of the Levitical system. Different people are called anointed but for the most part, they are Levitical in nature. Here is one that is the anointed, the Meshach and his name is Cyrus. The reason I’m bringing this up is because when you read through Daniel and perhaps look at some of the prophecies, the word anointed is used there. I’ve wondered if we’ve misunderstand who that Meshach is that Daniel is talking about. Here is an interesting connection to a Messiah. Cyrus is a Gentile, he’s not an Israelite and he’s called directly that by YHWH here in this scriptures.

Let’s go to Ezra and look at this account: The Temple is re-established.

Ezr 3:8  Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of YHWH at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of YHWH. 

Ezr 3:9  Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of YHWH: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites. 

Ezr 3:10  And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of YHWH, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise YHWH, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. (These are David’s musicians offspring)

Ezr 3:11  And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto YHWH; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised YHWH, because the foundation of the house of YHWH was laid. 

Ezr 3:12  But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: 

I think you find when you research this area of history; there were a number of the people that were there. What this says is that some of them were there for the witness of the first Temple which would have been Solomon’s Temple. They were taken in captivity and then they are now back and witnessing the re-building of the second Temple. Of course they are weeping for joy but some of the accounts I have read in previous research of this, they said the second Temple wasn’t much compared to the grandeur of the first one as it existed at this time. But still they were glad to be there. Keep in mind that historically, Cyrus turned these people loose and some went back. Their first order of business was to re-build the Temple and get it operational. The problem also was the city of Jerusalem had been ransacked and the walls razed so they had to be re-built. They didn’t have protection around them while the rebuilt the Temple. These people were struggling for the next forty to fifty years until Nehemiah came on the scene. He built the walls of the city, and once they were in place it provided protection so they could properly do the rest of the work.

All of this was complicated by the locals throwing roadblocks at every opportunity against the people that had moved back. The locals didn’t want them back and they tried everything possible to stop the building of the Temple and the re-building of the city. One thing to mention is the priest Yeshua.

I think what you will see is this is after the captivity. If you do your research on this, you will find that after the captivity and in Chronicles, you find this word Yeshua. It’s pronounced Yahshua. I’m guessing that this is a corruption of the original Yahushua and after the captivity; this name has been changed to Yeshua. What we have down through today is this controversy is Yahushua’s name Yahoshua, Yahshua and here is how it came to be Yeshua. It’s talked about here and this started here in Jerusalem after the captivity in Babylon.

Ezra chapter 6 15-22 shows us this particular Passover.

Ezr 6:15  And this house (the Temple) was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.  (After Cyrus the king. Cyrus lived until 523 or so Darius took over and reigned from 522 down to 486 BCE and so Darius was next in line so it follows historically in the scriptures that Cyrus was followed by Darius but you have the problem of Darius the Mede mentioned in Daniel.)

Ezr 6:16  And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of YHWH with joy, 

Ezr 6:17  And offered at the dedication of this house of YHWH an hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve he goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 

Ezr 6:18  And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service of YHWH, which is at Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses. 

Ezr 6:19  And the children of the captivity kept the passover upon the fourteenth day of the first month. 

Ezr 6:20  For the priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them were pure, and killed the passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves. 

Ezr 6:21  And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek YHWH, Elohim of Israel, did eat, 

Ezr 6:22  And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for YHWH had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of YHWH, the Elohim of Israel. 

This is really pretty amazing history when you put some of these foundational pieces underneath it. I will mention that this event during this Passover that it fulfilled the 70 years of desolation that’s mentioned in Daniel chapter 9 verse 2. Notice in verse one it mentions Darius the son of Ahasuerus so this is a different Darius of the Medes from what we were talking about in the previous verse.

Dan 9:1  In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; 

Dan 9:2  In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. 

The seventy years talked about in Jerusalem started in 587 BCE when the walls were taken down by Nebuchadnezzar. If you subtract 70 years from 587 you come up with 517. Here it is, it happens to be a Sabbatical year. Some pretty interesting linkages here going into Daniel and is a reasonable analysis of what this prophecy is about. Daniel is saying in his prayer in chapter 9 that he’s in captivity. He knows that Jeremiah spoke of 70 years of desolation and is asking YHWH when it’s going to end. The rest of this chapter has to do with that and has some interesting prophecy of weeks associated with it. The desolation has ended with this event and this particular Passover.

Ezekiel – prepare vs offer – Luke 22:8, 19
574 -73 BCE Jubilee year – Ezekiel vision

New Temple after Babylonian exile

Ezekiel 45:21-23 – Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread reinstituted for all

Ezekiel 45:17, Hebrews 8:8-13 – Yahushua replaces sacrifices – cf. LXX, HRB

Until next time:

Do Your own Homework

For we have not followed cunningly devised ^{G4679=sofidzo=to render wise with deliberate deception, continue plausible error=sophist} fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Master Yahushua, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. (2Pet 1:16 KJV)

Sophism (Merriam Webster) – an argument apparently correct in form but actually invalid; especially such an argument used to deceive.

All scripture is given by inspiration of YHWH, and is profitable ^{G5624= helpful, advantageous} for doctrine ^{G1319=instruction, learning} for reproof ^{G1650=admonish, conviction} for correction ^{G1882=straightening up again}, for instruction ^{G3809=education, disciplinary correction} in righteousness ^{G1343=equity of character or act, justification}. (2Ti 3:16 KJV)

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy ^{G5385=Jewish sophistry} and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Messiah.
(Col 2:8 KJV)

And this I (Paul) pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment, that ye may approve ^{G1381=test, discern, examine} things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Messiah. (Php 1:8-10 KJV)

Transcribed from video
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