September 14th, 2025: Hezekiah's Passover | 2 Chronicles 30:1-9, 26-27

And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.

(Exodus 12: 12-14).

Good King Hezekiah!  His reign followed after the reign of bad King Ahaz, in the nation of Judah, which had all but forgotten their covenant with the one true God. Just prior to this lesson, in chapters 28 and 29 of Second Chronicles, we see that King Ahaz had sunk so low that he had sacrificed his own children to false gods. In an attempt to keep up with surrounding nations, he had borrowed pagan ideas for idol worship that he had incorporated into the Temple. He began redecorating the inside of the Temple with idols and eventually simply shut the doors, leaving Solomon’s glorious Temple empty and in disrepair. 

For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel. And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem. And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers. (2Chronicles 28:23-25).

Some may just have given up and moved on, but not King Hezekiah. He chose to take the nation back to the God of his fathers. 

He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them. And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street, And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs. Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel. Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes. For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us. (2 Chronicles 29: 3-10).

Hezekiah faced an uphill battle, yet his actions led to a great revival. His grandson King Josiah would one day follow his example and turn the nation back to the Lord one last time. How easily we quit and give up when things get tough. Some will quit going to church over a joke made at our expense or a decision they didn’t like. Is it really worth quitting your faith- who is our faith in? Does it matter if the job God has called you to do is difficult? Are you working for a title, for the respect of others, or for personal gain? The influence you have, regardless of your role, will come from your obedience and commitment to the gospel of Christ. 

 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the Lord God of Israel.

King Hezekiah wrote letters to his people and to those left in the northern kingdom who still followed the Lord. Why?  Because it had been a little over 200 years since the kingdom had split into the northern nation of Israel and the southern nation of Judah. The northern 10 tribes had been worshipping false idols since the separation, and many there had just recently been taken captive by the Assyrians as a judgment from God. It would have been easy to just leave them alone - they had gone so far. They were too wicked, not worth the effort. We can substitute whatever justification we could make for inaction here because we often use similar wrong thinking. The family of God was falling apart, but Hezekiah desired restoration through the power of God.

 For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month. For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem. And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation. So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover unto the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written.

Just as a reminder, the Feast of Passover is one of the top 3 feasts in Israel. In Exodus 12, we can read the specific instructions God gave for keeping an annual Passover feast. A perfect lamb, slain, and the blood applied to the doorposts of the house kept them safe from the last plague on Egypt - death. This memorial celebrated the miracle of freedom from bondage to the Egyptians that only God could perform. Moses led them to Mt Sinai for where they made a covenant with God. 

Jesus is our perfect lamb. Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: (1 Peter 1:18-19). Faith in Jesus is the key to our freedom from the bondage of Sin.  Christ is the advocate in our relationship with a holy and just God.  It is important in this passage to see that Hezekiah invited them ALL.  The same invitation that goes out today.

So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria. And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see. Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you. For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.

Hezekiah reached out to all of the leadership. However, there was a problem. Much work needed to be done before the Passover could be kept. Both the temple and the people needed to be cleaned up and restored. Vessels and tools needed to be re-created. Hezekiah didn’t just do things his way. He wanted to do things the right way and had the priests seek the word of God and follow it exactly. There were specific rules for a Passover feast, and God was clear on His instructions. It is estimated that it had been over 400 years since the last Passover in the northern kingdom. Many surely were hearing about this feast for the first time. Thankfully, God had made provision for times of uncleanness, and the second month of the year was the appointed time for putting things in order.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the Lord. The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. (Numbers 9:9-11).

The following verses are left out of our lesson, but are included here:

 So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked  Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem. Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the Lord. And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation. And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron. Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the Lord. And they stood in their place after their manner, according to the law of Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received of the hand of the Levites. For there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified: therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passovers for every one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the Lord. For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good Lord pardon every one That prepareth his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary. And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people. (2 Chronicles 30: 10-20).

Despite all that had happened to the northern kingdom, some still mocked. But some agreed. A plan was set. The work began. And some came from the northern remnant to join Hezekiah in the passover feast. 

There was a long history of distance between these two nations. A long time of hard feelings, wars, skirmishes, hurts, failures, and harshness. Sound familiar?  Hezekiah pleaded with  EVERYONE, not just Israel, that they would not be like their fathers: contrary, self-righteous, stubborn, bull-headed!  He asked them to yield and become useful to God. To serve.  Because if they would turn away from their differences and anger, and turn to the one true God, they would find that He is gracious. He would bless abundantly. His mercy endures forever. God wants you, no matter who you are, what your job is or how long you have been away to turn toward him- hear and return.

 So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem. Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven.

There is joy in yielding and submitting yourself to God. The scripture records that the joy of this Passover celebration was comparable to the feeling at the dedication of the temple by Solomon. When things are done correctly, in order, and as directed by God, there is a great blessing. God listens and He responds. Hezekiah’s faithfulness and his desire to renew a covenant with God resulted in joy and celebration.  A true repentance, or a turning around,  happened when he stopped following the path of his earthly father and submitted himself to his Heavenly One. It was a clear contrast to how the nations were living around them in chaos and disobedience. God remains the same, even today.  

Thank you for studying with us! God bless!