2 Chronicles – Chapter 30

For a majority of the people, many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord pardon everyone who sets his heart to seek God, the Lord, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary’s rules of cleanness.” And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people. 2 Chronicles 30:18-20 – Most of the people who came to worship had not taken the time to follow the commands to be clean before coming to celebrate the Passover. What did God do to them for this act of disobedience? He struck them down, He banished them, He said He wanted nothing to do with them…..nope, scripture says He healed them. He looked at their true heart for Him and was gracious to them, welcoming them back into His presence. This chapter is so beautiful because it opens our eyes to the truth God has always been the gracious, loving God we see in Jesus. Yes, He has His commands and He expects His people to follow them, but His desire is our heart being after Him. If you even look back in Numbers 9 He made a way for those unclean to celebrate the Passover. We see God’s heart for His people then and His heart for us today. So maybe you too feel as if your heart isn’t clean enough to come to Jesus. Hear from this passage God welcomes you as you are and will bring the healing you need when you come to Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1544

The whole assembly of Judah, and the priests and the Levites, and the whole assembly that came out of Israel, and the sojourners who came out of the land of Israel, and the sojourners who lived in Judah, rejoiced. ²⁶So 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. ²⁷Then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to his holy habitation in heaven. 2 Chronicles 30:25-27 – If you don’t have context to what happened in the verses prior in this chapter, I wonder what you think must have taken place to create such a great joy in Jerusalem that day, a joy that hadn’t been seen for generations. Did they win a massive victory against an enemy? Nope, they celebrated Passover. Hezekiah, doing the unthinkable in his day, invited all the people of Israel to worship the Lord in Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. Not just his people, but all of God’s people were invited and welcomed to come. While many laughed and mocked at the invite, many came. Worship of the Lord was made and offerings were made to bring cleanliness, such that hadn’t been seen for decades. This high level of worship and rejoicing though was only possible due to the king’s wise choice to invite those who were against him into worship with him. Yes, Israel and Judah had many battles and the kingdom had been split for ages, but they were still God’s chosen people together and Hezekiah chose to remember this. Is your worship not as great as it could be because you haven’t welcomed the one who is against you into the worship of Jesus with you? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2619