Passover Held
As
Hezekiah makes reforms, he also makes plans to celebrate the Passover. As the chronicler explains, the Passover had
not been celebrated as often as it should have been. Given Ahaz’s reign prior to his own, there is
little doubt that it hadn’t been celebrated in a long while.
However,
notice something in Hezekiah’s invitation to the people. Hezekiah sends the invitation from Beersheba
to Dan. Beersheba to Dan is a way of
referring to the southernmost city in Judah and the northernmost city in
Israel. In other words, Hezekiah invited
the whole of the Hebrew people to attend Passover.
Don’t
miss the significance of this point. By
this time Israel and Judah had fought often against each other. They had plundered each other. But now Hezekiah invites all the Jews – even those
in Israel – to come and celebrate the Passover.
Hezekiah is interested more in religious purity of the people than he is
interested in political machinations.
I love
this image of Hezekiah that we found here in scripture. Obviously Hezekiah is a king of reform – we spoke
about that yesterday. But in this
invitation we can see what Hezekiah is really after. Yes, Hezekiah desires to impact his own
people. However, Hezekiah is interested
in reforming all Hebrew people, not just the people of Judah. That’s an awesome perspective.
Furthermore,
don’t lose sight of the initiating circumstance of this invitation. Ahaz had drawn the attention of the
Assyrians. Tiglath-pileser III has come
into the region and dominated it. He has
plundered the land. He has taken slaves
into captivity. Both Israel and Judah
has been ravaged. Hezekiah sees this as
a time to come back before God and repent and step forward in the right
direction.
You see,
Hezekiah has a vision. He knows where
stiff-necked people end up. He knows
where rebellious people end up. He knows
that the only real way out is to be humble before God. Thus he calls the people back to the
temple. His vision is that in their
repentance, the Lord will find a way to bring the people back and allow them to
rebuild. Hezekiah’s vision is a country
that once more depends upon God.
Unfortunately,
most of the people in Israel laughed at Hezekiah’s invitation. They weren’t interested. The invitation was genuine, but the reception
wasn’t.
The
people of Judah, on the other hand, accepted.
They came and did as Hezekiah and his princes desired. The people of Judah were willing to follow
their king. The hand of God was upon them.
Hezekiah
calls the people together and purifies them.
Notice what the Bible tells us on this account. There were so many people who showed up at
this point that there was not an ability to purify them all with sacrifices
because the people themselves were ceremonially unclean. At this point something quite interesting
happens. Hezekiah prays over them.
You see,
it is at this point that Hezekiah demonstrates a simple policy. God’s grace is greater than His demand for
the Law. God’s ability to forgive is
more powerful than His desire to condemn.
Hezekiah prays that God will honor their desire to make their
relationship with the Lord right. Even
if they could not do it perfectly, Hezekiah prays that God would see their
repentance instead of their imperfection.
The Passover celebration continued uninterrupted as God healed the
people.
The
Passover celebration is a success. It is
success, though, not because of the skill of the officiants. Yes, the Levites handle themselves well and
they are praised for it. But what really
makes the event a success is the humbleness and the willingness of the
people. The people wanted to come. They desired to restore their relationship
with God. They were not perfect, but
they were willing to ask God to forgive.
They wanted to reform their ways and came to God for help. That is what makes Hezekiah’s celebration of
the Passover a success.
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