Hezekiah's Passover 09142025

Hezekiah’s Passover

READ BIBLE PASSAGE

READ C Lesson Context: 1 and 2 Chronicles

Verses 1-2

Isreal and Judah have been divided for the last 200 years which eliminates the possibility of unified worship in Jerusalem. Israel is being oppressed at the hands of the Assyrians. Hezekiah sees this as an opportunity to reunite the people in worship. As we discussed last week, Hezekiah has already renovated the temple and is now working on its purification. His final act will be to restore worship practices in the new temple for all Israelites. In order to do this, Hezekiah invites all of Israel and Judah and he mentions the two tribes of Israel by name. Manasseh is mentioned because this is the largest of the 12 tribes in terms of area or geographic size. Ephraim is mentioned because the tribe of Ephraim is often synonymous with the entire kingdom of Israel.

The focus of Israelite worship was the temple which replaced the tabernacle, and had been recently purified and consecrated for service. Some history here. Israel is a divided kingdom. King Jeroboam I (Jair-uh-boe-um) had established pagan worship practices that was designed and intended to keep his people from going to worship at the temple. His practices directly disobeyed God which led to the result of all the northern tribes becoming exiled. Over a dozen kings followed Jeroboam I to rule in the northern territory, so it would seem that Hezekiah’s desire to attract Israelites in the northern territory to keep the passover was very much faith and hope.

Another hurdle that Hezekiah had to overcome was that there was no longer enough time to make the preparations for ceremonial cleansing of the people for the passover to be held by April 14th. The people did not have enough notice to cleanse, not have the priests had time to prepare. It all was simply overlooked. Hezekiah had a deep desire to revive the passover so he sought out the law and was able to move it to May 14th. He could not wait another year as that could be disastrous to his rule. This is the first hint of Hezekiah becoming prideful. He did a right act, but for the wrong reasons. A well attended Passover would be the climax of Jezekiah’s restoration project. It has been over 260 years since the last passover.

Verses 2-3

The Law of Moses dictates that observance of the passover should begin at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month of the Israelite year. However, the Lord allows observance in the second month under certain conditions. Apparently, not observing the Passover for many years prior qualified for the exception. There were two reasons for the delay. First, the priests had to perform self-sanctification rituals to cleanse themselves of iniquity. The second reason was that the people needed travel time for them to arrive in Jerusalem.

Verses 4-6

Now that preparations have been made, invitations were sent out throughout Israel. Invitations were sent to Beersherba which is aabout 45 miles to the south-southwest of Jerusalem to Dan which is more than 150 miles to the north. To travel as far as Dan would require a minimum of 2 weeks if they walked an average of 3 mph. It’s also important to reveal that this is the first appeal recorded since the division of the kingdom inviting the northern region to return to the God of Israel. The Passover would remind all the people to reorient their spiritual focus, and to remind them of their shared spiritual heritage. All differences would be set aside, and everyone was expected to worship together while laying any differences to the side. This type of unification should happen in our church today. Too many times, people will say, “I’m not going to church today because so and so will be there and I don’t want to see them.” As Christians, this should not be. So what is in this message, from Hezekiah, that intends to re-unite the people of Isreal? Some history, the people had turned from the Lord thorough their idolatry. They had rejected the god of their ancestors — the only God there is. As a result of this sin, the Lord would allow foreign invasion. The kings of Assyria took people captive. Inhabitants of Israel who were left behind in the land or had escaped captivity were designated as the remnant.

The message had 6 parts to it (paraphased).

1.Turn again to Israel, turn again to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and He will return to you.

2.Be not like your fathers who turned away against God who then gaave them up to desolation.

3.Be not stiffnecked, (haughty and stubborn, or proud and unwilling to do what other people want) as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto Jehovah, enter His sanctuary which He has sanctified forever.

4. Serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you.

5. If you turn again to Jehovah, He will put it into the hearts of the Assyrians to have compassion on your captive brethren and send them again to this land.

6.The Lord is gracious and will not turn His face away from you, if you return to Him.

What are we to do? Return to our God and worship Him.

Verses 7-8

The invitation summarized boils down to three words: yield, enter, and serve.

What not to do? Be stubborn, or proud, and be unwilling to be obedient.

Verse 30:26-27

While the messengers took the invitations throughout Israel, The king of Israel is now Hoshea, and he did not discourage anyone from attending the passover if they chose to travel. He was afraid that if he tried to prevent them from leaving, that his kingdom would be ruined. You see, even heathen kings fear the Almighty God. The problem that the messengers had was with the people themselves. Many times, they were slighted and were given a deaf ear. The messengers went from city to city only to be mocked, and scorned. They did not know the God of Abraham. They knew the gods of Baal and Ashtaroth. While the king’s invitation was not always received positively, some people “humbled themselves, and came toJerusalem”. All of Judah, some from Israel, and foreigners in Judah celebrated Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread together in Jerusalem. And in this glorious celebration, the people seemed to have realized that they received anew something they were missing.

Prayer

Lord God, we want to be united as Your people. Remind us to turn to You in worship. Show us how we can gather with ohter believers to serve You and offer our praise to You. Help us to be attentive to the unifying work of the Holy spirit in our lives. Fill us iwth Your love so that we can enjoy unity with other believers. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen