2 Chronicles 30:1-27

2 Chronicles: God desires loyal people

The *Kingdom called Judah

2 Chronicles Chapter s 10 to 36

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 30

Hezekiah’s *Passover *feast – 2 Chronicles 30:1-27

v1 King Hezekiah sent messages to all the people in *Israel and Judah. Also, he wrote letters to the *tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. He invited all these people to come to the *LORD’s *temple in Jerusalem. He invited them to the *Passover *feast for the *LORD, the God of *Israel. v2 The king, his officials and the people in Jerusalem decided to have the *Passover *feast in the second month. v3 They could not have the *feast at the normal time. That was because not enough priests had made themselves holy to serve the *LORD. Also, the people had not come to Jerusalem. v4 This plan seemed right to the king and to all the people. v5 So, they decided to send the message to all *Israel from Beersheba to Dan. They called all the people to come to Jerusalem. There they would have the *Passover *feast for the *LORD God of *Israel. The law said that the people should have this *feast. But not many of them had done so.

v6 The king sent men to all *Israel and Judah. They took letters from the king and from his officials. The letters said, ‘*Turn back to the *LORD, people in *Israel. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and *Israel. Then the *LORD may return to the few of you who remain. You are all that escaped from the power of the kings of Assyria. v7 Do not be like your *ancestors or your relatives. They were not loyal to the *LORD the God of their *ancestors. As you can see, he *turned from them. And they suffered an awful punishment. v8 Do not refuse to listen as your *ancestors did. But give yourselves to the *LORD to obey him. Come to the *temple that he has made holy for all time. Serve the *LORD your God so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. v9 Come back to the *LORD. Then the people who took your relatives and children into *exile will be kind to them. The *exiles will come back to this country. The *LORD your God is kind and generous. He will not *turn away from you if you *turn back to him.’

v10 The men took this letter to every town in Ephraim and Manasseh. They went all the way to Zebulun. But the people laughed at them and they joked about them. v11 But some people from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun were humble and they came to Jerusalem. v12 Also, God worked among the people in Judah. He united them to obey the orders of the king and the officials. Those orders were the word of the *LORD.

v13 In the second month, a large crowd came together in Jerusalem for the *feast of bread without *yeast. v14 The people removed the *altars and *incense *altars to gods in Jerusalem. And they threw them into the Kidron Valley.

v15 They killed the young sheep for the *Passover on the 14th day of the second month. The priests and the *Levites were ashamed. So, they made themselves holy and they brought *sacrifices by fire into the *LORD’s *temple. v16 Then they stood in their normal places in the *temple as the law of Moses, the man of God, taught. The *Levites gave the blood of the *sacrifices to the priests, who put it on the *altar. v17 Many people in the crowd had not made themselves holy. So, the *Levites killed the young sheep for the *Passover on their behalf. The *Levites made each young sheep holy for the *LORD. v18 Many people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not made themselves holy. The law said that they could not eat at the *feast. However, they did eat at the *feast. Hezekiah prayed, ‘I pray that the good *LORD will forgive you. v19 God, please forgive all who want to serve you. They were not holy, as the law demands. *LORD God of their *ancestors, please forgive them.’ v20 The *LORD heard Hezekiah, and he cured the people.

v21 The *Israelites in Jerusalem enjoyed the *feast of bread without *yeast for 7 days. And they were very glad. Each day, the *Levites and priests praised the *LORD in song. And they made loud music as they played the *LORD’s instruments.

v22 Hezekiah encouraged all the *Levites who understood how to serve the *LORD. They ate the *feast for 7 days and they gave *sacrifices for peace. And they praised the *LORD, the God of their *ancestors.

v23 Then all the people agreed to stay for another 7 days. So, they had the *feast with joy for 7 more days. v24 Hezekiah, king of Judah gave 1000 *bulls and 7000 sheep to the people. And the officials gave 1000 *bulls and 10 000 sheep to the people. A large number of priests made themselves holy. v25 All the people from Judah, the priests and the *Levites were happy. All the people from *Israel and the foreigners who came from *Israel were happy. Also, the foreigners who lived in Judah were happy. v26 There was much joy in Jerusalem. There had not been such a *feast since the days of Solomon. He was the son of David and he was king of *Israel. v27 The priests and the *Levites stood up and they blessed the people. And God heard them because their prayer reached heaven, his holy home.

Verses 1-5 The *Passover *feast should be on the 14th day of Nisan (March or April). There had not been such a *feast for several years. But Hezekiah had decided to do as the law said. He wanted to start again and to have the *feasts of the *LORD. There were not enough priests ready for the *feast at the proper time. And the people had not come for the *feast. So, the king and his officials decided to have the *feast one month late.

The king sent letters through the region of the 12 *tribes of *Israel. The letters even went to Beersheba in the south and to Dan in the north. The letters called all the *Israelites to come to Jerusalem for the *feast.

The *tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh include all the *tribes that had formed the *kingdom called *Israel. By this time, the people from Assyria had defeated *Israel. The people from Assyria took many *Israelites from their country (2 Kings 17:5-7). And they sent people from other nations to live in the country.

Before Hezekiah had become king of Judah in 715 *BC, the people from Assyria had defeated *Israel. Between 724 *BC and 722 *BC, Shalmaneser V of Assyria ruled over *Israel. In 722 *BC to 720 *BC, the next king of Assyria (Sargon II) sent most of the *Israelites into *exile. Also, he sent foreigners from Babylon and other places to live in *Israel.

Verses 6-9 The king sent men to all Judah and *Israel. They took letters to all *Israel. This included those *Israelites who remained in *Israel.

In the letters, Hezekiah appealed to the *Israelites to *turn again to the *LORD. Those whom he wrote to had not gone into *exile. The reason for the *exile was that the people had not been loyal to the *LORD their God. Those who had not gone into *exile had the chance to *repent. If they came back to the *LORD, the *exiles would come home again. So, Hezekiah invited them to come to the *temple in Jerusalem for the *Passover *feast.

Verses 10-12 Most of the *Israelites laughed and they insulted Hezekiah’s men. But some from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun did come to Jerusalem. The people in Judah obeyed the king and they came.

Verses 13-14 There was a large crowd in Jerusalem for the *feast of bread without *yeast. This *feast started after the *Passover *feast, on the 15th day of the month. It lasted for 7 days (Exodus 12:19-20). The purpose of this *feast was to remind them how God had brought them out of Egypt (Exodus 12:1-32).

The people removed all the *altars that were for the *worship of false gods in Jerusalem. They threw all these things into Kidron Valley.

Verses 15-20 The people brought their young sheep for the *Passover. They killed the young sheep on the 14th day.

Many of the priests and *Levites had not made themselves ready for the *feast. Maybe they had joined with those who *worshipped other gods. But now they were ashamed. So, they prepared themselves and they gave *sacrifices by fire to the *LORD. Then they were ready to assist in the *temple. The *Levites gave the blood of *sacrifices to the priests. The priests put the blood on the *altar as Moses had taught them (Leviticus 1:11).

Many of the people had not made themselves ready for the *Passover. Those people may have touched a dead body. They may have had sex just before the *feast. They may not have washed in the proper way. So, the *Levites killed the sheep on their behalf. Usually the head of each family would kill the sheep for his family. These people, who were not ready for the *feast, did eat of the *feast. That was against God’s law. They might have become ill. But Hezekiah prayed for them. He asked the *LORD to forgive them. The *LORD did forgive them and he cured them.

Verses 21-22 All these people enjoyed the *feast of bread without *yeast for 7 days. There was much loud music to the *LORD. The *Levites praised the *LORD in song and with their instruments. And Hezekiah encouraged them.

They gave *sacrifices for peace on each of the 7 days. A part of each *sacrifice was for the *LORD. A part of each *sacrifice was for the priests. And the rest of each *sacrifice was for the people to eat.

Verses 23-27 The people had so enjoyed the *feast that they extended it by another 7 days. Hezekiah and his officials provided a lot of *bulls and sheep for *sacrifices and for food. Many more priests made themselves holy to be able to give all the *sacrifices. All the people from Judah and *Israel had a great time. Even the foreigners among them were happy.

When Solomon *dedicated the *temple, the people had extended that *feast by 7 days (7:9). There had been no *feast like it until now. That was because there was so much joy. And the people *worshipped God.

The priests, who were *Levites, blessed the people. They prayed to the *LORD and the *LORD heard their prayers.

kingdom ~ the place or territory where a king rules; or, the people that a king rules over.
Passover ~ one of the special feasts when the Jews remember how God brought them out of Egypt.
feast ~ a large meal; but in this book a feast is often a special time when the people came together to worship God.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
feast ~ a large meal; but in this book a feast is often a special time when the people came together to worship God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
tribe ~ the *Israelites were divided into the 12 families of the sons of Jacob. These families are the 12 tribes of *Israel.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It means that God has always been.
lord ~ someone with authority such as the king.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or of other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
turn ~ to decide to support someone. Or, to decide to oppose someone. If a person ‘turns away from God’, that person decides not to be loyal to God. If a person ‘turns to God’, that person decides to be loyal to God.
ancestors ~ people in history that your family has come from.
turn ~ to decide to support someone. Or, to decide to oppose someone. If a person ‘turns away from God’, that person decides not to be loyal to God. If a person ‘turns to God’, that person decides to be loyal to God.
exile ~ people who have to live in a foreign country are in exile. Such a person is an exile. The exile means the time when the Jews were in exile.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
yeast ~ something that people put into bread; it causes the bread to rise as it bakes.
altar ~ the special table that someone made out of stone or wood or metal; on it they burnt animals or they offered other gifts to God or to false gods.
incense ~ something that gives a sweet smell when it burns. The priests burned it when they praised God in the temple.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or of other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
Levite ~ a person who belongs to the tribe of Levi.
tribe ~ the *Israelites were divided into the 12 families of the sons of Jacob. These families are the 12 tribes of *Israel.
sacrifice ~ something that people give to God. If it was an animal, the priests would burn all or part of it on an altar. That was to say thank you to God, or to ask him to forgive. God made Jesus to be a sacrifice because of our sins. To sacrifice is to give a sacrifice.
altar ~ the special table that someone made out of stone or wood or metal; on it they burnt animals or they offered other gifts to God or to false gods.
sin ~ sin is the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. Those who sin are sinners.
bull ~ the male animal that mates with a cow.
kingdom ~ the place or territory where a king rules; or, the people that a king rules over.
BC ~ years before Christ was born.
repent ~ to change the mind; to turn away from sin and to turn to God.
sin ~ sin is the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. Those who sin are sinners.
turn ~ to decide to support someone. Or, to decide to oppose someone. If a person ‘turns away from God’, that person decides not to be loyal to God. If a person ‘turns to God’, that person decides to be loyal to God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
dedicate ~ to give to God in a special way.