July 29, 2015
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Turning Back to the Land

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Lord, You have shown me love beyond a price and a grace I treasure. May my life be a thank-offering to You.

Read 2 Chronicles 30:1-31:1

[1] Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel. [2] The king and his officials and the whole assembly in Jerusalem decided to celebrate the Passover in the second month. [3] They had not been able to celebrate it at the regular time because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem. [4] The plan seemed right both to the king and to the whole assembly. [5] They decided to send a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, calling the people to come to Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel. It had not been celebrated in large numbers according to what was written. [6] At the king’s command, couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and from his officials, which read: “People of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. [7] Do not be like your parents and your fellow Israelites, who were unfaithful to the LORD, the God of their ancestors, so that he made them an object of horror, as you see. [8] Do not be stiff-necked, as your ancestors were; submit to the LORD. Come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. [9] If you return to the LORD, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.” [10] The couriers went from town to town in Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun, but people scorned and ridiculed them. [11] Nevertheless, some from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem. [12] Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the LORD. [13] A very large crowd of people assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month. [14] They removed the altars in Jerusalem and cleared 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 the Levites were ashamed and consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the temple of the LORD. [16] Then they took up their regular positions as prescribed in the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests splashed against the altar the blood handed to them by the Levites. [17] Since many in the crowd had not consecrated themselves, the Levites had to kill the Passover lambs for all those who were not ceremonially clean and could not consecrate their lambs to the LORD. [18] 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 [19] 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.” [20] And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people. [21] The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great rejoicing, while the Levites and priests praised the LORD every day with resounding instruments dedicated to the LORD. [22] Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites, who showed good understanding of the service of the LORD. For the seven days they ate their assigned portion and offered fellowship offerings and praised the LORD, the God of their ancestors. [23] The whole assembly then agreed to celebrate the festival seven more days; so for another seven days they celebrated joyfully. [24] Hezekiah king of Judah provided a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep and goats for the assembly, and the officials provided them with a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep and goats. A great number of priests consecrated themselves. [25] The entire assembly of Judah rejoiced, along with the priests and Levites and all who had assembled from Israel, including the foreigners who had come from Israel and also those who resided in Judah. [26] There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. [27] The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place. [1] When all this had ended, the Israelites who were there went out to the towns of Judah, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. They destroyed the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin and in Ephraim and Manasseh. After they had destroyed all of them, the Israelites returned to their own towns and to their own property.

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

“The vitality of the church in every age depends on those who hear and affirm God’s call to holy living and who make that pursuit the principal agenda for their lives, whether they achieve it or not” (Bruce Larson, 1925-2008). This is a way in which renewal can come.

Hezekiah came to the throne in Jerusalem a few years after the northern kingdom of Samaria had been overrun by the armies of Assyria. Hoshea, the last king of Israel, attempted the dangerous game of riding two imperial horses at once, accepting the authority of Assyria, while secretly negotiating with Egypt (2 Kings 17:1-6). Israel paid a high price for his incompetence. Hezekiah sent invitations to “all Israel” (1) to attend a Passover in Jerusalem, so including the dispirited remnant in the shattered northern kingdom. The moving appeal to “return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel” was combined with the promise that he will comfort those who have “escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria” (6). The letter was largely scorned and ridiculed, but some people responded positively and made their pilgrimage to the Temple.

Hezekiah had inherited a situation in which Judah was under the yoke of Assyria and his predecessors had conceded imperial demands, including the erection of a pagan altar within the Temple itself. However, Hezekiah’s arrival on the scene coincided with trouble for the new ruler, Sargon, in the mountains of northern Mesopotamia, offering a window of opportunity for a reform movement. Although the chronicler describes the reinstated worship in the Temple as comparable with that in the days of David and Solomon (26), he notes that perfection in strictly legal terms was impossible because many of those present had forgotten the requirements of worship laid down in the Law. Hezekiah (who may well reflect the theology of Isaiah here) says that it is enough that in such disjointed times people are seeking God with their hearts (18-19). Movements of reform and renewal have to begin where people are, and if God heard the prayers of this mixed multitude it seems that people can belong to the community of faith while at very different stages in their spiritual journey.

Apply

Movements of reform and renewal have to begin where people are. What might that mean in practice? How does this impact you?

Closing prayer

Lord, renew Your church and begin with me.

Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.

© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.

Encounter with God is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.

View all readings

Get ENCOUNTER:

in your email:

in Print:

Become a Member | Visit our store