2 Chronicles 30-32: Forgiving the Unclean

Mercy meets a willing heart as Hezekiah gathers a divided people for a delayed Passover and God welcomes those determined to seek Him. Courage, reform, and prayer carry Judah through mockery, siege, and pride into renewal and joy.

• gratitude for listener support and partnership
• recap of Hezekiah’s reforms and reopened temple
• nationwide Passover invitation amid mixed reactions
• prayer for the unclean and God’s favorable response
• extended celebration leading to idol removal
• systems for tithes, storerooms, and fair distribution
• Sennacherib’s taunts, fortified defenses, and encouragement
• joint prayer with Isaiah and decisive deliverance
• warning about pride and the test of success
• invitation to approach God before life is tidy

If you want to go check out the more details of Hezekiah's life, two stories are fleshed out a little bit more in the book of 2 Kings, chapter 20.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Gratitude And Community Support
• 1:45 Hezekiah’s Reforms Recapped
• 2:43 A Nationwide Passover Invitation
• 4:30 Mockery, Mercy, And Unclean Worshipers
• 6:32 Joyful Festival And Unified Renewal
• 8:17 Provision, Tithes, And Temple Systems
• 10:27 Sennacherib’s Taunts And Hezekiah’s Courage
• 12:15 Prayer, Deliverance, And Humility
• 14:16 Reflection On Grace Over Cleanliness

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:11

Hey, welcome back to the Outloud Bible Project Podcast. And this is Mike. I just wanted to take a minute here before we get into our reading for today to thank you for your support of Out Loud Bible Project. I know uh just by just by listening, just by being in this conversation right now, then uh then that is uh a huge encouragement to me. Thank you so much for being here. If you've supported the out the mission of Outloud Bible financially, uh then thank you so much. That that really helps us plan for the future and really helps keep this thing on the forefront. And um super thankful for those who have, especially the the recurring support through the website, who have made that uh kind of an ongoing monthly thing. I really feel partnered with you and I appreciate that's uh that's a level of sacrifice on your part. And um and I really appreciate how uh how you have taken that step and uh we're encouraged by that. If you've shared a blog article from the website or if you joined us at a live Outloud Bible experience, thank you so much. You may be one of those who have sent a note or a message through the podcast or through the website. Thank you. I I love to hear from you and uh please keep it up. I I love to hear what God's doing and and what's going through your mind as we go through the Bible here together. So thank you. Thanks for being on this journey with me. I'm excited to see what the future holds here as we look forward to more growth, more opportunities to get in the Bible and not just hear it, but do it. And uh I'm so glad that you're with me here. So we're going through the book of 2 Chronicles, and last episode we were introduced to a new king, Hezekiah, who followed. His father was really kind of the first very bad king of the southern kingdom of Judah. That was a bit uncharacteristic of the southern kings of Judah, but uh he he went off the rails, and his son Hezekiah has now become king, and Hezekiah, as we read last time, saw how bad that was and how the people had strayed from the Lord. So he reopened the temple which had been closed down, he made repairs, he got rid of all of the places of demonic worship that had been set up around the city and around the countryside. He's getting everything back on track. He consecrated the temple, the priests consecrated themselves, got everybody back, they had a big worship set, and it was a whole great thing. So we're gonna continue with the story of Hezekiah as uh a few chapters are dedicated to him and the things that he did. So uh we're gonna track the story of Hezekiah here through 2 Chronicles 30 through 32 in the New English translation. Hezekiah sent messages throughout Israel and Judah. Again, he's looking to even involve the entire nation of Israel in this celebration, which is great. He even wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, summoning them to come to the Lord's temple in Jerusalem and observe a Passover celebration for the Lord God of Israel. The king, his officials, and the entire assembly in Jerusalem decided to observe the Passover in the second month. They were unable to observe it at the regular time because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem. The proposal seemed appropriate to the king and the entire assembly, so they sent an edict throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, summoning the people to come and observe a Passover for the Lord God of Israel in Jerusalem, for they had not observed it on a nationwide scale as prescribed in the law. Messengers deliver the letters from the king and his officials throughout Israel and Judah. This royal edict read, O Israelites, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so he may return to you who have been spared from the kings of Assyria. Don't be like your fathers and brothers who were unfaithful to the Lord God of their ancestors, provoking him to destroy them, as you can see. Now don't be stubborn like your fathers. Submit to the Lord, come to his sanctuary which he's permanently consecrated. Serve the Lord your God so that he might relent from his raging anger. For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and sisters will be shown mercy by their captors and return to this land. The Lord your God is merciful and compassionate. He will not reject you if you return to him. Don't you just love those little declarations in the Old Testament about God's mercy and compassion and his wanting people to return to him and his patience like flies in the face of this nonsense idea that, oh, well, the God of the Old Testament is a god of wrath, and nah, ph forget it. It's all over the place. Let's check it out. It's awesome. The messengers, anyway, journeyed from city to city throughout the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but people mocked and ridiculed them. But some men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. In Judah, God moved the people to unite and carry out the edict of the king and the officers in keeping with the Lord's message. A huge crowd assembled in Jerusalem to observe the feast of the unleavened bread in the second month. They removed the altars in Jerusalem, they also removed all the incense altars and threw them into the Gidron Valley. They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and Levites were ashamed, so they consecrated themselves and brought burnt sacrifices to the Lord's temple. They stood at their posts according to the regulations outlined in the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests were splashing the blood as the Levites handed it to them, because many of the assembly had not consecrated themselves, the Levites slaughtered the Passover lambs of all who were ceremonially unclean and couldn't consecrate their sacrifice to the Lord. The majority of the many people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun were ceremonially unclean, yet they ate the Passover, in violation of what's prescribed in the law. For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, May the Lord who is good forgive everyone who is determined to follow God, the Lord God of his ancestors, even if he's not ceremonially clean according to the standards of the temple. Hmm, that's interesting. Sounds like a gamble, isn't it? Appealing to God's mercy to bend the rules a little bit and uh appeal to his mercy in this situation. Verse twenty says, The Lord responded favorably to Hezekiah and forgave the people. The Israelites who were in Jerusalem observed the feast of unleavened bread for seven days with great joy. The Levites and priests were praising the Lord every day with all their might. Hezekiah expressed his appreciation to all the Levites who demonstrated great skill in serving the Lord. They feasted for the seven days of the festival and were making peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord God of their ancestors. The entire assembly then decided to celebrate for seven more days, so they joyfully celebrated for seven more days. King Hezekiah of Judah supplied one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the assembly, while the officials supplied them with a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep. Many priests consecrated themselves. The celebration included the entire assembly of Judah, the priests, the Levites, the entire assembly of those who came from Israel, the resident foreigners who came from the land of Israel, and those who were residents of Judah. There was a great celebration in Jerusalem, unlike anything that had occurred in Jerusalem since the time of King Solomon, son of David of Israel. The priests and Levites got up and pronounced blessings on the people, and the Lord responded favorably to them as their prayers reached his holy dwelling place in heaven. When all this was over, the Israelites who were in the city of Judah went out and smashed the sacred pillars, cut down the ashera poles, and demolished all the high places and altars throughout Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh, and then all the Israelites returned to their own homes in their cities. Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and Levites to do their assigned tasks, to offer burnt sacrifices and present offerings, and to serve, give thanks, and offer praise in the gates of the Lord's sanctuary. The king contributed some of what he owned for burnt sacrifices, including the morning and evening burnt sacrifices and the burnt sacrifices made on Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and at other appointed times prescribed in the law of the Lord. He ordered the people living in Jerusalem to contribute the portion prescribed for the priests and Levites so that they might be obedient to the law of the Lord. When the edict was issued, the Israelites freely contributed the initial portion of their grain, wine, olive oil, honey, and all the produce of the fields. They brought a tenth of everything, which added up to a huge amount. The Israelites and people of Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also contributed a tenth of their cattle and sheep, as well as a tenth of the holy items consecrated to the Lord their God. They brought them and placed them in many heaps. In the third month, they began piling their contributions in heaps and finished in the seventh month. When Hezekiah and the officials came and saw the heaps, they praised the Lord and pronounced blessings on his people Israel. When Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the heaps, Azariah, the head priest from the family of Zadok, said to him, Since the contributions began arriving in the Lord's temple, we have had plenty to eat and have a large quantity left over, for the Lord has blessed his people, and this large amount remains. Hezekiah ordered that the storerooms be prepared in the Lord's temple. When this was done, they brought in the contributions, tithes, and consecrated items that had been offered. Konaniah, a Levite, was in charge of all this, assisted by his brother Shimei. Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jeremoth, Josebed, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Beniah worked under the supervision of Conaniah and his brother Shimei, as directed by King Hezekiah and Azariah, the supervisor of God's temple. Kore, son of Imna, a Levite and the guard on the east side, was in charge of the voluntary offerings made to God and dispersed the contributions made to the Lord and the consecrated items. In the cities of the priests, Eden, Mini Amen, Jeshua, Shemiah, Amariah, and Shechaniah faithfully assisted him in making disbursements to their fellow priests, according to their divisions, regardless of age. They made disbursements to all the males three years old and up who were listed in the genealogical records, to all who would enter the Lord's temple to serve on a daily basis and fulfill their duties as assigned to their divisions. They made disbursements to the priests listed in the genealogical records by their families, and to the Levites twenty years old and up according to their duties, as assigned to their divisions, and to all the infants, wives, sons, and daughters of the entire assembly listed in the genealogical records, for they faithfully consecrated themselves. As for the descendants of Aaron, the priests who lived in the outskirts of all their cities, men were assigned to disperse portions to every male among the priests and to every Levite listed in the genealogical records. This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah. He did what the Lord his God considered good and right and faithful. He wholeheartedly and successfully reinstituted service in God's temple and obedience to the law in order to follow his God. That's pretty awesome. After these faithful deeds were accomplished, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah. He besieged the fortified cities intending to seize them. When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had invaded and intended to attack Jerusalem, he consulted with his advisors and military officers about stopping up the springs outside the city, and they supported him. A large number of people gathered together and stopped up all the springs and the stream that flowed through the district. They reasoned, why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water? Hezekiah energetically rebuilt every broken wall. He erected towers and an outer wall, and fortified the terrace of the city of David. He made many weapons and shields, he appointed military officers over the army and assembled them in the square in the city gate. He encouraged them, saying, Be strong and brave, don't be afraid, and don't panic because of the king of Assyria and his huge army that's with him. We have with us one who is stronger than those who are with him. He has with him mere human strength, but the Lord our God is with us to help us and fight our battles. The army was encouraged by the words of King Hezekiah of Judah. Afterward, King Sennacherib of Assyria, while attacking Lachish with all his military might, sent his messengers to Jerusalem. The message was for King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem. It read This is what King Senacrib of Assyria says. Why are you so confident that you remain in Jerusalem while it's under siege? Hezekiah says, The Lord our God will rescue us from the power of the King of Assyria. But he's misleading you, and you will die of hunger and thirst. Hezekiah is the one who eliminated the Lord's high places and altars and then told Judah and Jerusalem at one altar you must worship and offer sacrifices? Are you not aware of what I and my predecessors have done to all the nations of the surrounding lands? Have the gods of the surrounding lands actually been able to rescue their lands from my power? Who among all the gods of these nations whom my predecessors annihilated was able to rescue his people from my power? That your God would be able to rescue you from my power. Now don't let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this. Don't believe him, for no God of any nation or kingdom has been able to rescue his people from my power or the power of my predecessors. So how can your gods rescue you from my power? Sennacherib's servants further insulted the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah. He wrote letters mocking the Lord God of Israel and insulting him with these words The gods of the surrounding nations couldn't rescue their people from my power, neither can Hezekiah's God rescue his people from my power. They called out loudly in the Judahite dialect to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, trying to scare and terrify them so that they could seize the city. They talked about the god of Jerusalem as if he were one of the man-made gods of the nations of the earth. Well, King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, son of Amos, prayed about this and cried out to heaven. The Lord sent a messenger, and he wiped out all the soldiers, princes, and officers in the army of the king of Assyria. So Sennacherib returned home, humiliated. When he entered the temple of his God, some of his own sons struck him down with a sword. The Lord delivered Hezekiah and the residents of Jerusalem from the power of King Sennacherib of Assyria and from all the other nations. He made them secure on every side. Many were bringing presents to the Lord in Jerusalem and precious gifts to King Hezekiah of Judah. From that time on he was respected by all the nations. But Hezekiah was ungrateful. He had a proud attitude, provoking God to be angry with him, as well as Judah and Jerusalem. But then Hezekiah and the residents of Jerusalem humbled themselves and abandoned their pride, and the Lord was not angry with them for the rest of Hezekiah's reign. Hezekiah was very wealthy and greatly respected. He made storehouses for his silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and all his other valuable possessions. He made storerooms for the harvest of grain, wine, and olive oil, and stalls for all his various kinds of livestock and his flocks. He built royal cities and owned a large number of sheep and cattle, for God gave him a huge amount of possessions. Hezekiah dammed up the source of the waters of the Upper Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the city of David. Hezekiah succeeded in all that he did. So, when the envoys arrived from the Babylonian officials to visit him and inquire about the sign that occurred in the land, God left him alone to test him in order to know his true motives. The rest of the events of Hezekiah's reign, including his faithful deeds, are recorded in the vision of the prophet Isaiah, son of Amos, included in the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel. Hezekiah passed away and was buried on the ascent of the tombs of the descendants of David. All the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem buried him with great honor. His son, Manasseh, replaced him as king. We'll stop there. We'll read about Manasseh next time. If at the end of that story you were like, wait, what happened with him being proud or ungrateful after being told that he was going to be healed? How'd that work out? And what's with this, the Babylonians come and God left him alone to test his response or something like that? Well, if you want to go, uh check out the more details of that story, though those two stories are fleshed out a little bit more in the book of 2 Kings, chapter 20. If you want to go check that out, it might be some fun reading. Uh, or we've already recorded that in the podcast. You can go back to that episode and listen to it if you there if you'd like. Um, but uh a little more detail is provided in 2 Kings chapter 20, makes for an interesting study on the life of Hezekiah. But in the meantime, I'll tell you what, I was planning on talking a couple minutes at the end here about Sennacherib's threats and how they really parallel what Satan tries to do to instill fear and discourage us and try to get us to stop trusting in the Lord and stop encouraging others in the Lord. And uh, while it's certainly maybe worth another look and a study on your own, I was not expecting to be struck by earlier in this reading, chapter 30, the case of all of the people who are coming to worship the Lord and celebrate the Passover together, but they were not ceremonially clean. They hadn't followed the law according to the standards that God had set in the law of Moses. However, Hezekiah saw their willingness just to get right with God. They just wanted to get right with God. They weren't coming arrogantly, they weren't coming ignorantly, they weren't coming, you know, well, yeah, he'll accept us anyway. He loves us, right? He'll he'll accept us no matter what. No, they they they came just eager. They just, like Hezekiah prayed, they are determined to follow God. Even if they're not ceremonially clean according to the standards of the temple to God, they just want to follow you. Will you forgive them for for not being ceremonially clean here and just honor their desire to follow you and be right with you? And God responded favorably. Isn't that beautiful? It's a beautiful reminder that you don't have to get your life all cleaned up according to the standards that maybe a church has or your parents have, or even even dare I say, the Bible has. Like you don't have to look just exactly like the Bible prescribes as the ideal for you to come to God. Now look, does God want to clean you and give you a new heart and and craft you into his perfect masterpiece? Yes, over time, but he knows you're not like that now. And if you've been distant from God, this can be your cue and your encouragement to just come and seek him. He's not gonna punish you. If you really want to follow him, you know that your life's a mess, you don't have time to make everything right, that's okay. Hear God's heart, know God's heart here from the story, and let it give you the confidence to approach God today, however you are, and see how he responds favorably to you. That's the thinking out loud thought for the day.