The Observance of The Passover (2 Kings 23:21-23).
The making of the new covenant following the reading of the Law was then followed by an observance of the Passover. There are no grounds whatsoever for the suggestion that previously the Passover had been observed in people's houses and that this was now changed so that it became an observance at the Central Sanctuary. As with the other major feasts Passover had always been observed at the Central Sanctuary since the time of Moses (see Exodus 23:14-17; Exodus 34:23; Deuteronomy 16:16). Deuteronomy 16:5 was simply confirming this. The reason therefore why this observance of the Passover was different from all others ‘since the time of the Judges' had nothing to do with where it was held. It was to do with the magnificence of the offerings, and the genuineness of the worshippers, which were seen as paralleling the celebrations in the days of Moses and Joshua (see Numbers 9:5; Joshua 5:1-12). And it is significant that these offerings were not prescribed by Deuteronomy 16:1-8, but by Leviticus 23:4-8 and Numbers 28:16-25, demonstrating that the Book of the Covenant which had been discovered included at least one of these two passages.
The feast of the Passover, which celebrated the deliverance from Egypt, would have been seen as a very appropriate feast for celebrating the new deliverance from Assyria which was now being enjoyed and celebrated as the chains of Assyria were being flung off by the removal of all that was connected with the worship of Assyrian gods. No wonder that it was celebrated with such fervour.
‘And the king commanded all the people, saying, “Keep the passover to YHWH your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant.”
The making of the covenant following the full reading of the Law was now to be brought into effect ritually by the observance of the Feast of the Passover and Unleavened Bread ‘to YHWH your God', the feast which especially celebrated the deliverance from Egypt. It now celebrated their equally important deliverance from Assyria. Passover was thus to be a part of their rededication of themselves to YHWH. And it was to be observed ‘as it is written in this Book of the Covenant'. It was to be a return to the old ways. Passover may well have been neglected in the days of Manasseh and Amon, and even prior to Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 30:5) but now it was to be restored in all its glory.
‘Surely there was not kept such a passover from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah.'
As pointed out above the point here is that it exceeded all previous Passovers since the time of the Judges in its magnificence, and in the purity with which it was observed. It was seen as taking ‘Israel' back to the glory days of Moses and Joshua themselves. And that required following the prescriptions found in Numbers 28:16-25, which had possibly been neglected. This description was, of course, hyperbole, emphasising the magnificence of the way in which it was observed. It was seen as restoring them to the purity of their beginnings. (The literal following of the rather minimal requirements of Deuteronomy 16:1-8 could hardly be spoken of in these terms).
‘But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was this passover kept to YHWH in Jerusalem.'
And this Passover was observed to YHWH in Jerusalem in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, sealing the new re-establishment of the covenant in 2 Kings 23:2-3. Thus the making of the covenant, followed by the observance of the Passover, have here formed an inclusio within which we have had described the whole of Josiah's reforming programme.