Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Chronicles 29-30.

King Hezekiah was the son of King Ahaz.  Hezekiah’s first major action as king was to re-open the Temple for worship of the Lord.  He called upon the priests and Levites to consecrate themselves and then purify the Temple.  The Levites to whom Hezekiah spoke reached out to the rest of the Levites and called for their aid in purifying the Temple.  They rapidly cleared the Temple, but were unable to complete its repair and purification in time for Passover.  While the passage does not spell this out, I believe they consulted the Torah and discovered what Moses had said to those who were ceremonially unclean when the Israelites celebrated the second Passover.  At that time, Moses said that anyone who was unable to celebrate the Passover at the appointed time because they were ceremonially unclean (and a few other specifically described conditions) should celebrate the Passover a month later.  The people of Judah concluded that this instruction from Moses applied to all of them since the Temple was not properly consecrated at the appointed time.  I believe they interpreted Moses’ instructions correctly, and the evidence of what happened later in Hezekiah’s reign suggests the same.

King Hezekiah sent messengers throughout all of Israel, not just the portion (Judah and Benjamin) over which he ruled, to announce this Passover celebration and to invite people to attend.  For the most part, those living outside of the area ruled by Hezekiah ridiculed the idea of going to Jerusalem in order to celebrate the Passover.  Nevertheless, a large number of people from outside of Judah attended.  The people of Judah appear to have fully embraced the celebration and found unity in it.  We also learn that many of those from outside of Judah who came did not know the Law of Moses well enough to be properly consecrated before eating the Passover meal.  And here is an important lesson for us,  Hezekiah prayed for those who are the Passover without being properly consecrated.  Specifically he prayed that God forgive those who set their hearts on seeking God, even if they were not properly consecrated when they did so.  There are two elements to this lesson.  First, we should welcome all who seek the Lord from their hearts, even if they fail to understand all of what God asks of them.  Second, God will judge those who partake of His sacraments who do not truly seek to do His will, those who attempt to use those sacraments to appear holy without seeking to be holy.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.