Before explaining my title, I want to give a little background about Passover and the significance of the days and weeks leading up to it.
The primary observances of Passover are to remember and celebrate the Israelites Exodus from Egypt after 400 years of slavery as is written in the Book of Exodus, chapters 1 to 15.
Passover lasts for seven days. The first and last days of the holiday are days on which no work is permitted.
The name “Passover” comes from the Hebrew word Pesach which is based on the root “pass over” and refers to the fact that God “passed over” the houses of the Jews when he was slaying the firstborn of Egypt during the last of the ten plagues, the night before the Israelites were to leave Egypt.
Probably the most significant observance involves the removal of chametz (leavened bread) from homes and property. Chametz includes anything made from the five major grains (wheat, rye, barley, oats and spelt) that has not been completely cooked within 18 minutes after coming into contact with water. The removal of chametz commemorates the fact that the Jews left Egypt in a hurry and did not have time to let their bread rise. It is also a symbolic way of removing the arrogance and pride from our souls.
In fact, Jews are not only prohibited from eating chametz during Passover, but they may not own or derive any sort of benefit from it either, including using it to feed pets. This important stipulation requires Jews to sell all remaining leavened products before Passover begins, including utensils used to cook chametz.
The grain product eaten during Passover in place of chametz is called matzah. Matzah is unleavened bread made from flour and water and cooked very quickly. This is traditionally viewed as the bread that the Jews made for their flight from Egypt.
The process of cleaning the home of all chametz in preparation for Passover is an enormous task. To do it properly, Jews would spend several days and even weeks scrubbing down their their homes, especially the area they prepare and store food. Any thing that chametz has come in contact with has to be cleaned. This includes any crumbs that might be on the floor, on a chair, etc. has to be thoroughly cleaned. On the night before the holiday begins, a formal search of the house is done. It is done with a candle and a feather (most people today use a flashlight and dustpan). After the search, a small paragraph is recited to nullify any additional chametz which could not be found: "All leaven or anything leavened with is in my possession, which I have neither seen nor removed, and about which I am unaware, shall be considered naught and ownerless as the dust of the earth."
The morning before Passover begins any remaining chametz in their possession must be burned. Once destroyed, the paragraph said the night before (about nullifying chametz which was not found) is again recited.
The day before Passover is also a fast day for firstborn males, commemorating that the firstborn Jewish males in Egypt were not killed during the final plague.
When the Israelites gathered lambs on the 10th day of the month of Nisan and set them aside for slaughter on the afternoon preceding Passover, they declared themselves free of the influences of the idolatrous practices of the Egyptians. Although the Israelites in Egypt had maintained a distinctive Jewish character during their enslavement, most adopted the idolatrous practices of the Egyptians. The worship of idols would continue to be a practice of the Israelites for the next thousand years.
So you see, the preparation for Passover was quite labor intensive. Besides all the ceremonial activities that were to come during the 7 days of Passover, there were many rituals that had to be performed prior to this festival of time. Here is where I would like to begin to explain my title of this study. In 2 Chronicles, beginning in chapter 29-32, it is recorded all that was done during the time of King Hezekiah’s reign. It is the Passover that took place during Hezekiah’s reign that I want to refer to as the reason for the title of this study.
Judea had both righteous and evil kings. Often the rule of evil kings was followed by the rule of just kings. At the age of 25, King Hezekiah became ruler of a troubled kingdom, previously ruled by his father Ahaz, who had lured the Judeans into idolatry and showed contempt for the holiest site in Judaism–the Temple. Ahaz took all the wealth of the Temple, brought sacrifices to idols, and prohibited altars throughout the land. Traditionally, sacrifices were prohibited from being brought outside the Temple walls but King Ahaz had not only allowed this but encouraged it. He also became allies of the powerful Assyrians in the north as protection from Judea’s surrounding enemies. He removed the Temple’s altar and constructed an idol similar to an Assyrian deity in its place. During his rule, Ahaz cancelled the Temple service, prevented the study of the Torah, and permitted all kinds of immoral practices. Ahaz was among some of the most noted evil Kings that ever ruled in Jerusalem.
When Hezekiah became king it was his immediate desire to right the wrongs of his father, King Ahaz.. He gathered the Levites and priests and instructed them to purify the Temple. He reminded them of their mission, “My sons, do not forget, for the Lord chose you to stand before Him to minister to Him and to be His ministers and to burn incense (Second Chronicles 29: 11). He also repented and reminded them of the failures of previous kings, “…for our fathers acted treacherously and did evil in the eyes of the Lord, our God, and forsook Him, and they turned their faces away from the Tabernacle of the Lord and turned their backs” (Second Chronicles 29:7).
Many of the Levites and Temple priests did not immediately do what the King requested. They purposefully delayed what he told them to do because they did not trust his motives. They did not initially believe that the son of Ahaz could be so vastly different from his father, but once investigated, they found Hezekiah to be righteous. They returned to Jerusalem and quickly completed all the work Hezekiah had commissioned them to do. When the work was completed, the Temple was consecrated and offerings were once again brought to the Temple. Now what was so impressive about this work that the Levites and Priests had done, was the short amount of time it took them to do it. What King Hezekiah had requested to be done should have taken months, if not a year to complete, but it was all done in 14 DAYS!!! In cht. 29 vs 36 is says “And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had prepared for the people, for the thing came about suddenly”. It was implying that this quickly completed project was brought about supernaturally. God was so pleased with the heart of King Hezekiah that he supernaturally equipped those in charge of this great task to do something incredibly notable!!!
As Passover was approaching, Hezekiah called on the nation to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the holiday. He sent letters to the tribes who were Judea’s adversaries, in the Northern Kingdom, inviting them to Jerusalem. There were only two tribes of Israel residing in and around Jerusalem and Hezekiah desired that at least this once, they be reunited to celebrate Passover together! Although his attempts to have Judah’s northern sects reunite with those in Jerusalem had not been a complete success, some from the north did agree to come to Jerusalem. When Passover came, the nation assembled in Jerusalem, which numbered in the thousands! Prior to the offering of the Passover sacrifice, all idols were removed from among them. Jerusalem was once again free of idolatry. “And they arose and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense they removed and cast them into the Kidron Valley” (Second Chronicles 30:14).
The removal of idols was crucial to the success of Passover. You see, when the Israelites fled Egypt, God was not only removing them from the harshness of labor they had endured, but also from all the idol worship that they had acquired due to living so long among the Egyptians. This is what made the removal of “chametz” so signifiant. Chametz had leaven in it. We know that leaven in the Bible was referred to as a form of corruption many times, but not in all instances. But in this case it was viewed as such and was to be abstained from for a period of time leading up to Passover and during Passover as well. The removal of chametz and idols were both symbolic of removing anything that would corrupt or divert a person from the one true living God.
I think we are all aware of many instances in the O.T. where rituals were not carried out and those involved paid for that with their lives. Take for instance the story of the man helping carry the Ark of the Covenant and slipped and accidentally touch it. He died on the spot!! This is why what I’m about to share is so incredibly significant. In Chp 30 verses 18-20. “ Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone who sets their heart on seeking God—the Lord, the God of their ancestors—even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.” And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.
Do you recognize how significant this is??? This ONCE….God excused their obedience to the rituals HE had set forth. You see, the time preparing for this Passover should have allowed for those traveling from the North to observe the Passover rituals. But all of it was completed in only 14 days. King Hezekiah was so anxious to rid Judea of all idols and their worship and to return to Jehovah, the One true living God, that he insisted they begin the Passover feast and holiday. If you read the three chapters I’ve referred to you will see that God was very pleased with Hezekiah, much so, that God in this instance, not concerned with ritual but relationship!!! It says “there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David King of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem”. As a matter of fact, it was such an awesome and joyous occasion, that all that participated agreed to continue the Passover feasting/festival for another 7 days!! Unheard of!!!
Now why is this significant to us? How many times have we've known we weren’t living up to God’s standards or walking in all the light He has shined in our hearts and felt that we could not approach Him? If you haven’t, I have. I no longer allow thoughts like that to influence my behavior when it comes to my relationship with God, but it did for much of my younger years walking with Him. But I am still guilty at times, of making other things more important than my relationship with God. Anything that takes our focus from God is an idol. What excites me about his story is that it is in the O.T. under the Old covenant. If you’ve read about this covenant or any of my teachings about it, you will find it was very difficult to meet the demands of this covenant compared to the New Covenant we have through the Lord Jesus Christ! If God, under the Old Covenant, would overlook such a blunder concerning the preparation for Passover, how much more would he do so for His children, when they come to him. King Hezekiah had turned his whole heart toward God. He also turned the hearts of all the people under his reign. His father, Ahaz had been such an abomination to God, and for all that Hezekiah was remorseful and repentant and wanted to demonstrate that as quickly as possible. Just think about how incredible it would be if you had a son or daughter that had completely turned their back on you and the family and suddenly, quickly they return, sorrowful and repentant, asking to be apart of the family again. God was so impressed with King Hezekiah that He was not concerned that all the people had participated in a vital ritual preparing them for Passover.
I don’t know about you, but this story is such an encouragement to me. We are living in some uncertain times, a time where people are fearful, angry, needy, feel alone and desperate. This won’t be the last time some of us experience these same circumstances. I heard an individual say to a young person not too long ago, “life is just a series of problems that we solve…just one after another and when you solve a certain amount…you die”. How sad is that view point? But to some degree she is right. Life is a series of problems. But I disagree with the end of that statement. God intends for us to live a life that is full and satisfying, in spite of the problems we face. I’m so encouraged today to know that God doesn’t want “ritual” from me…he wants a relationship WITH me! I want to be a Hezekiah and turn wholly to God, embrace him fully and worship him joyfully! You’ll find later in this story that Hezekiah became proud and got sick. But he quickly repented of that and God healed him. King Hezekiah died being buried among the “elite” of Kings in his time. Yes, he got in the flesh as recorded in chp. 32…(don’t we all), but he remembered the goodness of God and turned back to him and God rewarded him with great riches. It was said of Hezekiah, “And Hezekiah prospered in all his works”…”all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death”.
I pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal to each of us, the “idols” we’ve unknowingly erected. That He would shine light in our life and reveal the places that we have made more important than our relationship with God. Know this for sure, God wants nothing more than to know you, love you and give you the desires of your heart. He is able to do all of that when we turn our hearts COMPLETELY to Him. He is pleased when we acknowledge Him as our sole source in life. Make time to connect with Him daily! He will bless you just as He did Hezekiah!!!
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