2 Chronicles 30:13 - Meaning and Application

When the time for the Passover came, a very large crowd gathered for it (2 Chronicles 30:13). Here we see the preparation they made for the feast, and it was a good one. They removed all the idols and idolatrous altars they found, not only in the temple but also in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 30:14). Before they kept the feast, they put away this old leaven. The best way to prepare for the gospel Passover is to cast off our sins and our spiritual idolatries.

We also see how the Passover was celebrated. The people were so eager and zealous that the priests and Levites, the temple servants, were ashamed to see the common people ahead of them. The people were more ready to bring sacrifices than the priests were to offer them. This moved the priests and Levites to consecrate themselves, that is, to set themselves apart for God’s service, so the work would not stop for lack of workers (2 Chronicles 30:15). When we see other believers’ zeal, it should shame our coldness and stir us to do our duty, and to do it well. They carried out the duties of their office (2 Chronicles 30:16), sprinkling the blood on the altar, which pointed forward to Christ, our Passover sacrifice, offered for us.

There were also some irregularities in this solemn event. The main matter was handled well, and with much devotion, but it was held a month late. First, the Levites killed the Passover lamb, which should normally have been done only by the priests (2 Chronicles 30:17). They also helped more than the law usually allowed in offering the other sacrifices, especially those needed for cleansing people who were ceremonially unclean, and there were many such cases then. Some think the Levites were taking the part usually done by the offerers themselves, not the priests. Normally, each man killed his own lamb, but now the Levites did it for those under ceremonial pollution.

Second, many were allowed to eat the Passover who had not been purified with the strict care the law required (2 Chronicles 30:18). This was the second month, and there was no warrant to delay it further to the third month. If it had been the first month, the law would have allowed them to keep it in the second. The leaders were unwilling to forbid them from taking part at all, because that might discourage new converts and send people away complaining, when they wanted to send them away rejoicing. Grotius notes from this that ceremonial rules must give way, not only to public need, but also to public good.

Hezekiah prayed to God for forgiveness of these irregularities. His zeal had brought the people together in such haste, and he did not want anyone to suffer because there was too little time to prepare. So he interceded for those who ate the Passover in a way that was not fully written in the law, asking that the Lord’s wrath would not come on them. His prayer was short, but it reached the point. “The good Lord pardon everyone” who had fixed, committed, or prepared their heart to seek God, even if ceremonial preparation was lacking.

The main thing God requires in our worship is that we prepare our hearts to seek him. We must be sincere and upright in what we do, with our inward life fully engaged. Without that, everything else is nothing. God wants truth in the inner person. Hezekiah was not asking that sincerity should replace all other duties, or that a lack of heart-preparation should be ignored. Rather, he was saying that this inward commitment is the one necessary thing, that we seek God, his favor, and his honor, and set our hearts to do it.

Even where that sincerity is present, there may still be many faults and weaknesses. Our spirit may not be as pure as it should be, our thoughts may not stay fixed, our desires may not burn as brightly, and our faith may not work as it ought. There can still be a lack in our sanctification, our being made holy. Nothing is perfect in this world, and there is no righteous person who does good and never sins. These defects need God’s forgiving and healing grace, because failures in duty are sins too, just like refusing duty altogether. If God dealt with us by strict justice according to our best works, we would be ruined.

The way to receive pardon for our shortcomings in duty, and for the sins that stain our holy things, is to ask God for it in prayer. Pardon is not given so loosely that it comes without request, but must be sought through prayer and through the blood of Christ. In such prayer, we should appeal to God’s goodness: “The good Lord pardon.” When God revealed his goodness, he especially named forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin.

It is also the duty of those who have care over others, not only to watch themselves but to watch those under their care, to see what is lacking and pray for them, as Hezekiah did. See Job 1:5. The Lord listened to Hezekiah, was pleased with his godly concern for the congregation, and answered his prayer by healing the people (2 Chronicles 30:20). He did not count their sin against them, but graciously accepted their service despite its flaws. Healing here means not only forgiveness (Isaiah 6:10; Psalm 103:3), but also comfort and peace (Isaiah 57:18; Malachi 4:2).