II
C H R O N I C L E S
CHAP. XXX.
In this chapter we
have an account of the solemn passover which Hezekiah kept in the first year
of his reign. I. The consultation about it, and the resolution he and his
people came to for the observance of it, ver. 2-5. II. The invitation he sent
to
Judah
and
Israel
to come and keep it, ver. 1, 6-12. III. The joyful celebration of it, ver.
13-27. By this the reformation, set on foot in the foregoing chapter, was
greatly advanced and established, and that nail in God's holy place clenched.
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Preparations
for the Passover.
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B.
C. 726.
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1 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah,
and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the
house of the LORD
at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel.
2 For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in
Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month. 3 For they
could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified
themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together
to Jerusalem. 4 And the thing pleased the king and all the
congregation. 5 So they established a decree to make proclamation
throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba even to Dan, that they should come to
keep the passover unto the LORD
God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it of a long time
in such sort as it was written. 6 So the posts went with the
letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and
according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn
again unto the LORD
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you,
that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7 And be
not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the
LORD
God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye
see. 8 Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but
yield yourselves unto the LORD,
and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the
LORD
your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.
9 For if ye turn again unto the LORD,
your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that
lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD
your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his
face from you, if ye return unto him. 10 So the posts passed from
city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun:
but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them. 11 Nevertheless
divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to
Jerusalem. 12 Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one
heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the
LORD.
Here is, I. A passover resolved upon. That annual feast was instituted as a
memorial of the bringing of the children of Israel out of Egypt. It happened
that the reviving of the temple service fell within the appointed days of that
feast, the seventeenth day of the first month: this brought that forgotten
solemnity to mind. "What shall we do," says Hezekiah, "about
the passover? It is a very comfortable ordinance, and has been long neglected.
How shall we revive it? The time has elapsed for this year; we cannot go about
it immediately; the congregation is thin, the people have not notice, the
priests are not prepared, v. 3. Must we defer it till another
year?" Many, it is likely, were for deferring it; but Hezekiah considered
that by that time twelve-month the good affections of the people would cool,
and it would be too long to want the benefit of the ordinance; and therefore,
finding a proviso in the law of Moses that particular persons who were unclean
in the first month might keep the passover the fourteenth day of the second
month and be accepted (Num. ix. 11), he doubted not but that it might be
extended to the congregation. Whereupon they resolved to keep the passover in
the second month. Let the circumstance give way to the substance, and let
not the thing itself be lost upon a nicety about the time. It is good striking
while the iron is hot, and taking people when they are in a good mind. Delays
are dangerous.
II. A proclamation issued out to give notice of this passover and to summon
the people to it.
1. An invitation was sent to the ten revolted tribes to stir them up to come
and attend this solemnity. Letters were written to Ephraim and Manasseh to
invite them to Jerusalem to keep this passover (v. 1), not with any
political design, to bring them back to the house of David, but with a pious
design to bring them back to the Lord God of Israel. "Let them take whom
they will for their king," says Hezekiah, "so they will but take him
for their God." The matters in difference between Judah and Israel,
either upon a civil or sacred account, shall not hinder but that if the people
of Israel will sincerely return to the Lord their God Hezekiah will bid them
as welcome to the passover as any of his own subjects. Expresses are sent post
throughout all the tribes of Israel with memorials earnestly pressing the
people to take this opportunity of returning to the God from whom they had
revolted. Now here we have,
(1.) The contents of the circular letters that were despatched upon the
occasion, in which Hezekiah discovers a great concern both for the honour of
God and for the welfare of the neighbouring kingdom, the prosperity of which
he seems passionately desirous of, though he not only received no toll,
tribute, or custom, from it, but it had often, and not long since, been
vexatious to his kingdom. This is rendering good for evil. Observe,
[1.] What it is which he presses them to (v. 8): "Yield
yourselves unto the Lord. Before you can come into communion with him you
must come into covenant with him." Give the hand to the Lord (so
the word is), that is, "Consent to take him for your God." A bargain
is confirmed by giving the hand. "Strike this bargain. Join yourselves to
him in an everlasting covenant. Subscribe with the hand to be his, Isa.
xliv. 5. Give him your hand, in token of giving him your heart. Lay your hand
to his plough. Devote yourselves to his service, to work for him. Yield to
him," that is, "Come up to his terms, come under his government,
stand it not out any longer against him." "Yield to him, to
be absolutely and universally at his command, at his disposal, to be, and do,
and have, and suffer, whatever he pleases. In order to this, be not stiff-necked
as your fathers were; let not your corrupt and wicked wills rise up in
resistance of and rebellion against the will of God. Say not that you will do
what you please, but resolve to do what he pleases." There is in the
carnal mind a stiffness, an obstinacy, an unaptness to comply with God. We
have it from our fathers; it is bred in the bone with us. This must be
conquered; and the will that had in it a spirit of contradiction must be
melted into the will of God; and to his yoke the neck that was an iron sinew
must be bowed and fitted. In pursuance of this resignation to God, he presses
them to enter into his sanctuary, that is, to attend upon him in that
place which he had chosen, to put his name there, and serve him in the
ordinances which he had appointed. "The doors of the sanctuary are now
opened, and you have liberty to enter; the temple service is now revived, and
you are welcome to join in it." The king says, Come; the princes
and priests say, Come; whosoever will, let him come. This he calls (v.
6) turning to the Lord God; for they had forsaken him, and worshipped
other gods. Repent now, and be converted. Thus those who through grace
have turned to God themselves should do all they can to bring others back to
him.
[2.] What arguments he uses to persuade them to do this. First,
"You are children of Israel, and therefore stand related, stand obliged,
to the God of Israel, from whom you have revolted." Secondly,
"The God you are called to return to is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, a God in covenant with your first fathers, who served him and yielded
themselves to him; and it was their honour and happiness that they did
so." Thirdly, "Your late fathers that forsook him and
trespassed against him have been given up to desolation; their apostasy and
idolatry have been their ruin, as you see (v. 7); let their harms be
your warnings." Fourthly, "You yourselves are but a remnant
narrowly escaped out of the hands of the kings of Assyria (v.
6), and therefore are concerned to put yourselves under the protection of the
God of your fathers, that you be not quite swallowed up." Fifthly,
"This is the only way of turning away the fierceness of God's anger
from you (v. 8), which will certainly consume you if you continue
stiff-necked." Lastly, "If you return to God in a way of
duty, he will return to you in a way of mercy." This he begins with (v.
6) and concludes with, v. 9. In general, "You will find him gracious
and merciful, and one that will not turn away his face from you, if
you seek him, notwithstanding the provocations you have given him."
Particularly, "You may hope that he will turn again the captivity of your
brethren that are carried away, and bring them back to their own land."
Could any thing be expressed more pathetically, more movingly? Could there be
a better cause, or could it be better pleaded?
(2.) The entertainment which Hezekiah's messengers and message met with. It
does not appear that Hoshea, who was now king of Israel, took any umbrage
from, or gave any opposition to, the dispersing of these proclamations through
his kingdom, nor that he forbade his subjects to accept the invitation. He
seems to have left them entirely to their liberty. They might go to Jerusalem
to worship if they pleased; for, though he did evil, yet not like the kings
of Israel that were before him, 2 Kings xvii. 2. He saw ruin coming upon
his kingdom, and, if any of his subjects would try this expedient to prevent
it, they had his full permission. But, for the people, [1.] The generality of
them slighted the call and turned a deaf ear to it. The messengers went from
city to city, some to one and some to another, and used pressing entreaties
with the people to come up to Jerusalem to keep the passover; but they were so
far from complying with the message that they abused those that brought it, laughed
them to scorn, and mocked them (v. 10), not only refused, but
refused with disdain. Tell them of the God of Abraham! they knew him not, they
had other gods to serve, Baal and Ashtaroth. Tell them of the sanctuary! their
high places were as good. Tell them of God's mercy and wrath! they neither
dreaded the one nor desired the other. No marvel that the king's messengers
were thus despitefully used by this apostate race when God's messengers were
so, his servants the prophets, who produced credentials from him. The
destruction of the kingdom of the ten tribes was now at hand. It was but two
or three years after this that the king of Assyria laid siege to Samaria,
which ended in the captivity of those tribes. Just before this they had not
only a king of their own that permitted them to return to God's sanctuary, but
a king of Judah that earnestly invited them to do it. Had they generally
accepted this invitation, it might have prevented their ruin; but their
contempt of it hastened and aggravated it, and left them inexcusable. [2.] Yet
there were some few that accepted the invitation. The message, though to some
it was a savour of death unto death, was to others a savour of life
unto life, v. 11. In the worst of times God has had a remnant; so
he had here, many of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun (here is no mention of any
out of Ephraim, though some of that tribe are mentioned, v. 18), humbled
themselves, and came to Jerusalem, that is, were sorry for their sins and
submitted to God. Pride keeps men from yielding themselves to the Lord; when
that is brought down, the work is done.
2. A command was given to the men of Judah to attend this solemnity; and they
universally obeyed it, v. 12. They did it with one heart, were all of a
mind in it, and the hand of God gave them that one heart; for it
is in the day of power that Christ's subjects are made willing. It is God that
works both to will and to do. When people, at any time, manifest
an unexpected forwardness to do that which is good, we must acknowledge that
hand of God in it.
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The Celebration of the Passover.
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B.
C. 726.
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13 And there assembled at Jerusalem much people
to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great
congregation. 14 And they arose and took away the altars that were
in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them
into the brook Kidron. 15 Then they killed the passover on the
fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites
were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings
into the house of the LORD.
16 And they stood in their place after their manner, according to the law of
Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received
of the hand of the Levites. 17 For there were many in the
congregation that were not sanctified: therefore the Levites had the charge of
the killing of the passovers for every one that was not clean, to
sanctify them unto the LORD.
18 For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh,
Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the
passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying,
The good LORD pardon every one
19 That prepareth his heart to seek God, the LORD
God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the
purification of the sanctuary. 20 And the LORD
hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.
The time appointed for the passover having arrived, a very great congregation
came together upon the occasion, v. 13. Now here we have,
I. The preparation they made for the passover, and good preparation it was: They
took away all the idolatrous altars that were found, not
only in the temple, but in Jerusalem, v. 14. Before they kept
the feast, they cast out this old leaven. The best preparation we can make for
the gospel passover is to cast away our iniquities, our spiritual idolatries.
II. The celebration of the passover. In this the people were so forward and
zealous that the priests and Levites blushed to see themselves out-done by the
commonalty, to see them more ready to bring sacrifices than they were to offer
them. This put them upon sanctifying themselves (v. 15), that the work
might not stand still for want of hands to carry it on. The notice we take of
the zeal of others should make us ashamed of our own coldness, and quicken us
not only to do our duty, but to do it well, and to sanctify ourselves to it.
They did according to the duty of their place (v. 16), sprinkling the
blood upon the altar, which was a type of Christ our passover sacrificed
for us.
III. The irregularities they were guilty of in this solemnity. The substance
was well managed, and with a great deal of devotion; but, besides that it was
a month out of time, 1. The Levites killed the passover, which should
have been done by the priests only, v. 17. They also assisted more than
the law ordinarily allowed in offering the other sacrifices, particularly
those that were for the purifying of the unclean, many of which there was now
occasion for. Some think that it was the offerers' work, not the priests',
that the Levites had here the charge of. Ordinarily every man killed his lamb,
but now for those that were under any ceremonial pollution the Levites killed
it. 2. Many were permitted to eat the passover who were not purified according
to the strictness of the law, v. 18. This was the second month, and
there was not warrant to put them off further to the third month, as, if it
had been the first month, the law would have permitted them to eat it the
second. And they were loth to forbid them communicating at all, lest they
should discourage new converts, and send those away complaining whom they
desired to send away rejoicing. Grotius observes from this that ritual
institutions must give way, not only to a public necessity, but to a public
benefit and advantage.
IV. Hezekiah's prayer to God for the forgiveness of this irregularity. It was
his zeal that had called them together in such haste, and he would not that
any should fare the worse for being straitened of time in their preparation.
He therefore thought himself concerned to be an intercessor for those that ate
the passover otherwise than it was written, that there might not be wrath
upon them from the Lord. His prayer was,
1. A short prayer, but to the purpose: The good Lord pardon every one
in the congregation that has fixed, engaged, or prepared, his heart to
those services, though the ceremonial preparation be wanting. Note, (1.) The
great thing required in our attendance upon God in solemn ordinances is that
we prepare our hearts to seek him, that we be sincere and upright in
all we do, that the inward man be engaged and employed in it, and that we make
heart-work of it; it is all nothing without this. Behold, thou desirest
truth in the inward part. Hezekiah does not pray that this might be
dispensed with, nor that the want of other things might be pardoned where
there was not this. For this is the one thing needful, that we seek
God, his favour, his honour, and that we set our hearts to do it. (2.)
Where this sincerity and fixedness of heart are there may still be many
defects and infirmities, both the frame of the spirit and the performance of
the service may be short of the purification of the sanctuary.
Corruptions may not be so fully conquered, thoughts not so closely fixed,
affections not so lively, faith not so operative, as they should be. Here is a
defect in sanctuary purification. There is nothing perfect under the sun, nor a
just man that doeth good, and sinneth not. (3.) These defects need
pardoning healing grace; for omissions in duty are sins as well as omissions
of duty. If God should deal with us in strict justice according to the best of
our performances, we should be undone. (4.) The way to obtain pardon for our
deficiencies in duty, and all the iniquities of our holy things, is to seek it
of God by prayer; it is not so a pardon of course but that it must be obtained
by petition through the blood of Christ. (5.) In this prayer we must take
encouragement from the goodness of God: The good Lord pardon; for, when
he proclaimed his goodness, he insisted most upon this branch of it, forgiving
iniquity, transgression, and sin. (6.) It is the duty of those that have
the charge of others, not only to look to themselves, but to those also that
are under their charge, to see wherein they are wanting, and to pray for them,
as Hezekiah here. See Job i. 5.
2. A successful prayer: The Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, was well
pleased with his pious concern for the congregation, and, in answer to his
prayer, healed the people (v. 20), not only did not lay their
sin to their charge, but graciously accepted their services notwithstanding;
for healing denotes not only forgiveness (Isa. vi. 10; Ps. ciii. 3), but
comfort and peace, Isa. lvii. 18; Mal. iv. 2.
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The
Feast of Unleavened Bread.
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B.
C. 726.
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21 And the children of Israel that were present
at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great
gladness: and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD
day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the LORD.
22 And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites that taught the good
knowledge of the LORD:
and they did eat throughout the feast seven days, offering peace offerings,
and making confession to the LORD
God of their fathers. 23 And the whole assembly took counsel to
keep other seven days: and they kept other seven days with
gladness. 24 For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the
congregation a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes
gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep: and a
great number of priests sanctified themselves. 25 And all the
congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the
congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came out of the
land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced. 26 So there was
great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of
Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem. 27 Then the
priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard,
and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto
heaven.
After the passover followed the feast of unleavened bread, which continued
seven days. How that was observed we are here told, and every thing in this
account looks pleasant and lively. 1. Abundance of sacrifices were offered to
God in peace-offerings, by which they both acknowledged and implored the
favour of God, and on part of which the offerers feasted with their friends
during these seven days (v. 22), in token of their communion with God
and the comfort they took in his favour and their reconciliation to him. To
keep up this part of the service, that God's altar might be abundantly regaled
with the fat and blood and his priests and people with the flesh of the
peace-offerings, Hezekiah gave out of his own stock 1000 bullocks and 7000
sheep, and the princes, excited by his pious example, gave the same number of
bullocks and a greater number of sheep, and all for peace-offerings, v.
24. By this God was honoured, the joy of the festival was kept up, and the
strangers were encouraged to come again to Jerusalem. It was generously done
of the king and the princes thus plentifully to entertain the whole
congregation; but what is a great estate good for but that it puts men into a
capacity of doing so much the more good? Christ feasted those that followed
him. I believe neither Hezekiah nor his princes were the poorer at the year's
end for this their pious liberality. 2. Many good prayers were put up to God
with the peace-offerings, v. 22. They made confession to the Lord
God of their fathers, in which the intent and meaning of the
peace-offerings were directed and explained. When the priests sprinkled the
blood and burnt the fat they made confession, so did the people when they
feasted on their part. They made a religious confession of their relation to
God and dependence upon him, a penitent confession of their sins and
infirmities, a thankful confession of God's mercies to them, and a
supplicatory confession of their wants and desires; and, in all these, they
had an eye to God as the God of their fathers, a God in covenant with
them. 3. There was a great deal of good preaching. The Levites (whose office
it was, Deut. xxxiii. 10) taught the people the good knowledge of the Lord,
read and opened the scriptures, and instructed the congregation concerning God
and their duty to him; and great need there was of this, after so long a
famine of the word as there had been in the last reign. Hezekiah did not
himself preach, but he spoke comfortably to the Levites that did,
attended their preaching, commended their diligence, and assured them of his
protection and countenance. Hereby he encouraged them to study hard and take
pains, and put a reputation upon them, that the people might respect and
regard them the more. Princes and magistrates, by owning and encouraging
faithful and laborious preachers, greatly serve the interest of God's kingdom
among men. 4. They sang psalms every day (v. 21): The Levites and
priests praised the Lord day by day, both with songs and musical
instruments, thus expressing their own and exciting one another's joy in God
and thankfulness to him. Praising God should be much of our work in our
religious assemblies. 5. Having kept the seven days of the feast in this
religious manner, they had so much comfort in the service that they kept
other seven days, v. 23. They did not institute any new modes of
worship, but repeated and continued the old. The case was extraordinary: they
had been long without the ordinance; guilt had been contracted by the neglect
of it; they had now got a very great congregation together, and were in a
devout serious frame; they knew not when they might have such another
opportunity, and therefore could not now find in their hearts to separate till
they had doubled the time. Many of them were a great way from home, and had
business in the country to look after, for, this being the second month, they
were in the midst of their harvest; yet they were in no haste to return: the
zeal of God's house made them forget their secular affairs. How unlike those
who snuffed at God's service, and said, What a weariness is it! Or
those who asked, When will the sabbath be gone? The servants of God
should abound in his work. 6. All this they did with gladness (v.
23); they all rejoiced, and particularly the strangers, v. 25. So
there was great joy in Jerusalem, v. 26. Never was the like since
the dedication of the temple in Solomon's time. Note, Holy duties should be
performed with holy gladness; we should be forward to them, and take pleasure
in them, relish the sweetness of communion with God, and look upon it as
matter of unspeakable joy and comfort that we are thus favoured and have such
earnests of everlasting joy. 7. The congregation was at length dismissed with
a solemn blessing, v. 27. (1.) The priests pronounced it; for it was
part of their office to bless the people (Num. vi. 22, 23), in which
they were both the people's mouth to God by way of prayer and God's mouth to
the people by way of promise; for their blessing included both. In it they
testified both their desire of the people's welfare and their dependence upon
God and that word of his grace to which they commended them. What a comfort is
it to a congregation to be sent home thus crowned! (2.) God said Amen
to it. The voice of the priests, when they blessed the people, was heard in
heaven and came up to the habitation of God's holiness. When they
pronounced the blessing God commanded it, and perhaps gave some sensible token
of the ratification of it. The prayer that comes up to heaven in a cloud of
incense will come down again to this earth in showers of blessings.
Contents
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