As with Hezekiah, a much greater emphasis is put on the celebration of the Passover than is given in 2 Kings. The writer is emphasising the importance of worshipping the Lord properly. It is important to realise how Kings and Chronicles fit together and what they teach us. Israel lived in the real world, things happened, economies grew and shrank, battles were fought and lost. Israel worshipped God, rebelled against God, worshipped idols, cleared out all idol worship. And the two were intimately linked. The state of Israel's relationship with the Lord, the level of her commitment to the Lord, was the determining factor in how her economy, and her relationships with the rest of the world went.
So it is for us. Society tries to make "religion" a purely private matter. It is not. This applies to us as individuals and as a nation. Society is trying to get us to abandon our religious beliefs (especially on sexual morality at present) or at least to keep them to ourselves. We must not let this happen.
In verse 7 we read that Josiah provided for all the lay people the sacrifice for the Passover. There is an obvious parallel with Christ here. Jesus has provided the sacrifice for all of us, He is our Passover lamb.
The officials, ie the state, provided for the people and priests. A state that honours God will be a more powerful state.
Josiah was killed in a battle with Egypt. This was a result of disobedience to the Lord. The word had even come from a pagan ruler. All our actions of obedience or disobedience have consequences.
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