Hezekiah celebrates the Passover.
VERSE 1. Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the LORD’s house at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel.
Hezekiah sent. He writes to all the tribes, inviting them to come celebrate the Passover with him in Jerusalem.
to keep the Passover. This was the first Passover during the reign of Hezekiah.
VERSE 2. For the king had taken counsel with his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem to keep the Passover in the second month.
in the second month. The Passover was usually held in the first month (of the religious calendar).
But Hezekiah held it in the second month. That is, April-May. The reasons are given in the next verse:
VERSE 3. For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient number, and the people had not gathered themselves together to Jerusalem.
This verse reveals the two reasons for why Hezekiah held the Passover in the second month instead of the first month:
[Reason 1] priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient number. Hezekiah could not recruit sufficient priestly personnel soon enough.
[Reason 2] the people had not gathered themselves. The people from distant locations were not able to arrive in time.
VERSE 4. The thing was right in the eyes of the king and of all the assembly.
VERSE 5. So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, for they had not kept it in great numbers in the way it is written.
from Beersheba even to Dan. These were the southernmost and northernmost cities in Judah and Israel.
VERSE 6. So the couriers went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, according to the commandment of the king, saying, “You children of Israel, turn again to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may return to the remnant of you that have escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.
throughout all Israel and Judah. The decree went throughout the land, from north to south.
turn again to the LORD. The goal of keeping Passover is that people turn again to the LORD God.
The Passover has an evangelistic goal.
VERSE 7. Don’t be like your fathers and like your brothers, who trespassed against the LORD, the God of their fathers, so that he gave them up to desolation, as you see.
VERSE 8. Now don’t be stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever, and serve the LORD your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you.
his fierce anger. This is a new idea.
The couriers proclaim that the LORD God is fiercely angry with people.
We can’t remember any previous evangelistic campaign where the message is that the LORD God is fiercely angry.
VERSE 9. For if you turn again to the LORD, your brothers and your children will find compassion with those who led them captive, and will come again into this land, because the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you if you return to him.”
the LORD your God is gracious and merciful. In verse 8 above, the couriers said the LORD God is fiercely angry.
Now in this verse, they say the LORD God is gracious and merciful.
VERSE 10. So the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even to Zebulun, but people ridiculed them and mocked them.
people ridiculed them and mocked them. These couriers of the Most High God are mocked and ridiculed.
Yet they continue their mission of proclaiming the invitation throughout the land. They keep inviting people to the banquet, even though nobody responds.
In our day, not everyone will accept the Good News of Jesus Christ with joy. Even a subtle mention of prayer or God’s mercy can be met with anger.
Yet our role is to keep sharing the message.
The Old Testament foresee Gentiles coming to faith in the One God of Israel and bringing gifts to Jerusalem. Here are the key Bible verses about this »
VERSE 11. Nevertheless some men of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.
Nevertheless some men. Even though the messengers are mocked and ridiculed, some people decide to take part in the Passover.
VERSE 12. Also the hand of God came on Judah to give them one heart, to do the commandment of the king and of the princes by the LORD’s word.
VERSE 13. Many people assembled at Jerusalem to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great assembly.
the feast of unleavened bread. This is a seven-day feast that takes place immediately after Passover.
VERSE 14. They arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and they took away all the altars for incense and threw them into the brook Kidron.
threw them into the brook Kidron. The people throw the foreign altars into the Kidron valley.
VERSE 15. Then they killed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought burnt offerings into the LORD’s house.
priests and the Levites were ashamed. They had scoffed at the proclamation of the couriers.
But the people accepted the proclamation. And had profound conversion experiences.
Witnessing all that, the priests and Levites are shamed into doing the right thing.
VERSE 16. They stood in their place after their order, according to the Torah of Moses the man of God. The priests sprinkled the blood which they received of the hand of the Levites.
VERSE 17. For there were many in the assembly who had not sanctified themselves; therefore the Levites were in charge of killing the Passovers for everyone who was not clean, to sanctify them to the LORD.
VERSE 18. For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover other than the way it is written. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good the LORD pardon everyone
had not cleansed themselves. They were ritually disqualified. They were prohibited from eating the Passover. Yet they did so anyway.
May the good the LORD. The NIV translation puts it this way: “May the LORD, who is good“.
VERSE 19. who sets his heart to seek God, the LORD, the God of his fathers, even if they aren’t clean according to the purification of the sanctuary.”
Hezekiah prays that God focus on the sincerity of their hearts than on mere ceremonialism.
VERSE 20. The LORD listened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.
VERSE 21. The children of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness. The Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with loud instruments to the LORD.
VERSE 22. Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who had good understanding in the service of the LORD. So they ate throughout the feast for the seven days, offering sacrifices of peace offerings and making confession to the LORD, the God of their fathers.
Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who had good understanding. Hezekiah ministered to the Levites by pointing out the good aspects of what they had achieved.
In our day, we can minister to young disciples by pointing out the good aspects of what they achieve.
VERSE 23. The whole assembly took counsel to keep another seven days, and they kept another seven days with gladness.
VERSE 24. For Hezekiah king of Judah gave to the assembly for offerings one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep; and a great number of priests sanctified themselves.
VERSE 25. All the assembly of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the assembly who came out of Israel, and the foreigners who came out of Eretz-Israel and who lived in Judah, rejoiced.
VERSE 26. So there was great joy in Jerusalem; for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was nothing like this in Jerusalem.
there was great joy in Jerusalem. Spiritual participation should bring people joy.
However, in our day, many churches focus on guilt and obligation. That is not biblical.
VERSE 27. Then the Levitical priests arose and blessed the people. Their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy habitation, even to heaven.
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.