2 Chronicles 30:6 - 27 (CSB)
6 So the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the hand of the king and his officials, and according to the king’s command, saying, “Israelites, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel so that he may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped the grasp of the kings of Assyria. 7 Don’t be like your ancestors and your brothers who were unfaithful to the Lord, the God of their ancestors so that he made them an object of horror as you yourselves see. 8 Don’t become obstinate now like your ancestors did. Give your allegiance to the Lord, and come to his sanctuary that he has consecrated forever. Serve the Lord your God so that he may turn his burning anger away from you, 9 for when you return to the Lord, your brothers and your sons will receive mercy in the presence of their captors and will return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful; he will not turn his face away from you if you return to him.” 10 The couriers traveled from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but the inhabitants laughed at them and mocked them. 11 But some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. 12 Also, the power of God was at work in Judah to unite them to carry out the command of the king and his officials by the word of the Lord. 13 A very large assembly of people was gathered in Jerusalem to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month. 14 They proceeded to take away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and they took away the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley. 15 They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and Levites were ashamed, and they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the Lord’s temple. 16 They stood at their prescribed posts, according to the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests splattered the blood received from the Levites, 17 for there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves, and so the Levites were in charge of slaughtering the Passover lambs for every unclean person to consecrate the lambs to the Lord. 18 A large number of the people—many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun—were ritually unclean, yet they had eaten the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah had interceded for them, saying, “May the good Lord provide atonement on behalf of 19 whoever sets his whole heart on seeking God, the Lord, the God of his ancestors, even though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.” 20 So the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people. 21 The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem observed the Festival of Unleavened Bread seven days with great joy, and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day after day with loud instruments. 22 Then Hezekiah encouraged all the Levites who performed skillfully before the Lord. They ate at the appointed festival for seven days, sacrificing fellowship offerings and giving thanks to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. 23 The whole congregation decided to observe seven more days, so they observed seven days with joy, 24 for King Hezekiah of Judah contributed one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the congregation. Also, the officials contributed one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep for the congregation, and many priests consecrated themselves. 25 Then the whole assembly of Judah with the priests and Levites, the whole assembly that came from Israel, the resident aliens who came from the land of Israel, and those who were living in Judah, rejoiced. 26 There was great rejoicing in Jerusalem, for nothing like this was known since the days of Solomon son of David, the king of Israel. 27 Then the priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, and their prayer came into his holy dwelling place in heaven.
CONTEXT: The Passover had not been observed for quite some time, and the king and the assembly decided they needed to correct this. They realized the importance of gathering and remembering God’s rescue of His people out of slavery in Egypt. They called for the people to return, to remember, and to seek God in this gathering.
HEAR:
The people were unified as they returned to God and prepared to celebrate the Passover. They came humbly and earnestly, confessing their sins. They did not fix themselves up, but came as they were.
Meditate on what it looks like to prepare our hearts for worship, to return to the Lord.
Sit and consider our God, who through His son, delivered us from sin for eternity. Let that move us to worship Him with great gladness, praising Him day by day, with all our might (v 21).
Ask the Spirit to reveal what altars have you built, what idols have formed in your heart (v 14). Bring these before God in repentance.
RESPOND:
God promises to draw near to us when we draw near to Him, to pour out His spirit on us. Let us remember how He has done so in the past, that we would desire for Him to do so again, and we would see change in our city as a result.
Repent of our idols, when we have stubborn and hard hearts (v14, 7-8, 10). Ask for forgiveness, that God would tune our hearts to Him and the church would be unified in spirit (Psalm 122:3).
Confess God’s goodness (v22) and give thanks that He hears our prayers (v27).
Pray blessing over the church (Numbers 6:24-27), pray for healing (v19-20), and pray for teaching of the good knowledge of the Lord (v22).
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