Nevertheless Some

“Nevertheless some... humbled themselves... the hand of God... gave them singleness of heart to obey the command of the king and the leaders, at the Word of the Lord.” [1]

The Lord graciously granted King Hezekiah a heart to obey Him. Hezekiah commanded priests and Levites to cleanse their hearts and to cleanse God’s house, and then, to call God’s people to gather together.

King Hezekiah said, “Hear me, Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place. For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the Lord our God; they have forsaken Him, have turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the Lord, and turned their backs on Him. Therefore the wrath of the Lord fell upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has given them up to trouble, to desolation, and to jeering, as you see with your eyes.” [2]

God’s wrath is on those who suppresses truth so that they can live in ungodly and unrighteous ways: “For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” [3]

Hezekiah humbled himself before God. He testified to his peers, “It is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us.” [4]

The Levites and priests sanctified themselves and the Lord’s house. It took eight days, but they did it. They completed the first phase of returning to the Lord. [5]

Next, King Hezekiah gathered the rulers of the city. They brought sin offerings of bulls, rams, lambs and goats to the house of the Lord to atone for the sins of the kingdom, the holy place and for the people. While their sin was being atoned for, the Levites made music with instruments and sang praise to the Lord. The people bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with words that the Lord gave to David and Asaph. After their sins were atoned for, they offered more animals as thank offerings to the Lord. “So, the service of the house of the Lord was set in order. Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced that God had prepared the people, since the events took place so suddenly.” [6]

After this, Hezekiah widened his outreach to include invitations to people in the farthest reaches of his kingdom. He sent out runners with invitations to a Passover feast. The Passover had not been observed in the prescribed manner for a long time. He urged people, saying, “Yield yourselves to the Lord; and enter His sanctuary, which He has sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you. For if you return to the Lord, your brethren and your children will be treated with compassion by those who lead them captive, so that they may come back to this land; for the Lord, your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn His face from you if you return to Him.” [7]

The runners were laughed at and mocked by many, but some humbled themselves and responded favorably. God gave them a heart to obey their king and His commands. [8]

“Now many people, a very great assembly, gathered at Jerusalem.” Some from the northern tribes had not properly prepared to partake of the Passover feast. Hezekiah noticed it. He prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord provide atonement for everyone who prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary. And the Lord listened to Hezekiah and healed the people.” [9]

The fact that the Lord needed to heal those who did not observe the Passover properly corresponds with the Corinthians falling sick in the New Testament era because they did not properly discern the Lord’s body and blood while partaking of communion.

“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.” [10]

Celebrating the Passover was a source of great gladness for the people. The Levites and priests were praising the Lord day by day, singing to Him and playing instruments to Him loudly. The people confessed their sins to God. “There was great joy in Jerusalem.” There is joy doing what the Lord expects of us. The leaders blessed the people. God answered their prayers. [11]

The Lord said of Hezekiah, “he did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So, he prospered.” [12]

It is vital to give God our faces and not our backs. To ask the Holy Spirit to cleanse our hearts! Are we under God’s wrath? Is He being longsuffering with us? Let us humble ourselves and ask the Lord Jesus to forgive our sins and restore within us the joy of salvation.

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.” [13]

“Dear Heavenly Father, please cleanse our hearts of that which is contrary to You. Help us to love You and our neighbors according to Your word. I agree with “the singers and the players on instruments [who] say, ‘All my springs are in you.’ We need You working within us to bear good fruit. While some laugh and mock, there are many who worship You. ‘All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your Name.’ So, I pray, Oh Lord, ‘unite my heart to fear Your Name.’” [14]

[1] 2 Chronicles 30:11-12
[2] 2 Chronicles 29:5-6, 8
[3] Romans 1:18
[4] 2 Chronicles 29:10
[5] 2 Chronicles 29:12-19 20-36
[6] 2 Chronicles 29:20-36
[7] 2 Chronicles 30:1-9
[8] 2 Chronicles 30:10-12
[9] 2 Chronicles 30:13-20
[10] 1 Corinthians 11:27-32
[11] 2 Chronicles 30:21-27
[12] 2 Chronicles 31:20-21
[13] 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8
[14] Psalm 87:7; 86:9-10

Paul points us to a direct relationship with Christ our Redeemer rather than trying to approach God via other beliefs and practices which amount to trying to approach God via our own merits. We come to God through Christ. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life! Jesus is the only way to the Father. See Colossians 2:8-22; John 14:6