II Chronicles 35, Final Revival

Josiah is king in Judah. The priests have recovered the Book of the Law in the temple and the people have renewed their covenant with YHWH.

2 Chronicles 35:1-6, Passover!

Josiah celebrated the Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem, and the Passover lamb was slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the first month. He appointed the priests to their duties and encouraged them in the service of the LORD's temple. He said to the Levites, who instructed all Israel and who had been consecrated to the LORD: 

"Put the sacred ark in the temple that Solomon son of David king of Israel built. It is not to be carried about on your shoulders. Now serve the LORD your God and his people Israel. Prepare yourselves by families in your divisions, according to the directions written by David king of Israel and by his son Solomon.

"Stand in the holy place with a group of Levites for each subdivision of the families of your fellow countrymen, the lay people. Slaughter the Passover lambs, consecrate yourselves and prepare [the lambs] for your fellow countrymen, doing what the LORD commanded through Moses."

 

Josiah has the ark returned to the temple. (Presumably it had been hidden previously?) Josiah and the people celebrate the Passover (in the appropriate month!) The divisions and rituals of David's time are renewed.

2 Chronicles 35:7-9, A multitude of offerings

Josiah provided for all the lay people who were there a total of thirty thousand sheep and goats for the Passover offerings, and also three thousand cattle--all from the king's own possessions. His officials also contributed voluntarily to the people and the priests and Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah and Jehiel, the administrators of God's temple, gave the priests twenty-six hundred Passover offerings and three hundred cattle. Also Conaniah along with Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah, Jeiel and Jozabad, the leaders of the Levites, provided five thousand Passover offerings and five hundred head of cattle for the Levites.
 

Numerous offerings are made for this initial Passover feast.

2 Chronicles 35:11-15, Details of this celebration

The service was arranged and the priests stood in their places with the Levites in their divisions as the king had ordered. The Passover lambs were slaughtered, and the priests sprinkled the blood handed to them, while the Levites skinned the animals. They set aside the burnt offerings to give them to the subdivisions of the families of the people to offer to the LORD, as is written in the Book of Moses. They did the same with the cattle. They roasted the Passover animals over the fire as prescribed, and boiled the holy offerings in pots, caldrons and pans and served them quickly to all the people.

After this, they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were sacrificing the burnt offerings and the fat portions until nightfall. So the Levites made preparations for themselves and for the Aaronic priests. 

The musicians, the descendants of Asaph, were in the places prescribed by David, Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun the king's seer. The gatekeepers at each gate did not need to leave their posts, because their fellow Levites made the preparations for them.

The Passover is observed, following, as close as possible, the instructions in "the Book of Moses" (the Pentateuch?) following divisions set up in David's day.

2 Chronicles 35:16-19, Feast of Unleavened Bread

So at that time the entire service of the LORD was carried out for the celebration of the Passover and the offering of burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD, as King Josiah had ordered. The Israelites who were present celebrated the Passover at that time and observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.

The Passover had not been observed like this in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel; and none of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated such a Passover as did Josiah, with the priests, the Levites and all Judah and Israel who were there with the people of Jerusalem. This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign.

The Passover had been celebrated during Hezekiah's time (2 Chronicles 30) but at that time the first celebration had been on the second month of the year, a month late due to the lack of consecrated priests. Here the Chronicler claims that this was an observation of the Passover that exceeded anything since Samuel. This seems to be a bit of hyperbole, given the sacrifices and services in the temple during Solomon's reign.

2 Chronicles 35:20-21, Neco of Egypt

After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah marched out to meet him in battle. But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, "What quarrel is there between you and me, O king of Judah? It is not you I am attacking at this time, but the house with which I am at war. God has told me to hurry; so stop opposing God, who is with me, or he will destroy you."
 

Josiah inserts himself into an ill-fated quarrel with the king of Egypt. At this time (about 609 BC), the power in the east (Babylon/Assyria) and the power in the west (Egypt) are thrusting at each other, attempting to assert control of the Canaan and the Levant. The king of Egypt, Necho II, wants to get to the Euphrates to fight with Babylon and little Judah gets in the way. 

2 Chronicles 35:22-24, Fatally wounded

Josiah, however, would not turn away from him, but disguised himself to engage him in battle. He would not listen to what Neco had said at God's command but went to fight him on the plain of Megiddo.

Archers shot King Josiah, and he told his officers, "Take me away; I am badly wounded." 

So they took him out of his chariot, put him in the other chariot he had and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. He was buried in the tombs of his fathers, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him.
 

In the ensuing battle, Josiah is fatally wounded.  His soldiers carry him back to Jerusalem (in a second chariot) where he dies.

2 Chronicles 35:25-26, Lament

Jeremiah composed laments for Josiah, and to this day all the men and women singers commemorate Josiah in the laments. These became a tradition in Israel and are written in the Laments.

The other events of Josiah's reign and his acts of devotion, according to what is written in the Law of the LORD--all the events, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

There are songs and laments over Josiah.  These are most likely lost to us now, recorded in a document called "Laments." A very brief lament for Josiah survives in Jeremiah 22:11-17, as the fate of Josiah's son, Shallum/Jehoahaz, is described.

The parallel passage on the life of Josiah in 2 Kings is 2 Kings 22:1-23:30.

The renewal and reformation in Josiah's reign is the last revival before the destruction of the temple. However (as commentator Payne points out) this revival is remembered by the Jewish captives (like Daniel) that are taken to Babylon; it is this revival that provides enough history for the Jews to survive Babylon and eagerly return in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah and build the second temple.