2 Chronicles 30 – Party!

The setting: Hezekiah became king at age 25, coming to the throne at a crucial time in Judah’s history.  Assyria had recently conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and threatened Judah in the south.  With the encouragement of the prophet Isaiah, Hezekiah began to undo decades of Judah neglecting the God who is there.  He tore down altars to pagan gods, cleansed the Temple, and restored the Levites to their Temple duties.   Hezekiah set things right.

The party: once all this was done, Hezekiah called the people to celebrate Passover.  Passover was critical, reminding God’s people of their national deliverance from slavery in Egypt and of their continuing personal need for repentance and forgiveness.  But he didn’t just invite his own people, he sent letters to Israel in the north, inviting them to join too.   Most didn’t come, but some did.  And what a party they had.  It says Jerusalem hadn’t seen a worship celebration like that since the days of King Solomon.

What’s odd: even though Hezekiah was all about setting things right, in celebrating Passover he bent the rules, not once, but twice.  Passover was supposed to be celebrated in the first month of the year, but not enough priests could be purified in time, and the people couldn’t get to Jerusalem that quickly so they celebrated a month late.  And some of the folks who came from up north hadn’t taken the proper steps to purify themselves for the occasion; they were apparently out of practice, maybe didn’t even know exactly what to do.  But they were allowed to join the party anyway.

“May the LORD, who is good, pardon everyone who sets their heart on seeking God—even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary” (2 Chronicles 30:18-19).

The point: God looks not so much at the rules and regs as at my heart; and he is good.  We see this most clearly in Jesus who kept inviting all the “wrong people” to join the party anyway.

- paul abbott