2 Chronicles 30:21 - Meaning and Application

After the Passover came the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which lasted seven days. The writer now tells how it was kept, and everything in the account feels lively and joyful.

First, many sacrifices were offered to God as peace offerings. These offerings showed both thanks to God and a request for his favor, and part of the sacrifice was eaten by the worshipers with their friends during those seven days (2 Chronicles 30:22). In that way, they showed their fellowship with God and the comfort they found in being reconciled to him. To keep this part of the service going, so that God’s altar would have plenty of fat and blood, and his priests and people would have plenty of meat, Hezekiah gave from his own wealth 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep. The leaders, moved by his godly example, gave the same number of bulls and even more sheep, all as peace offerings (2 Chronicles 30:24).

In this way God was honored, the joy of the feast continued, and the outsiders were encouraged to come to Jerusalem again. It was generous of the king and the leaders to provide so much for the whole crowd. But what is a large fortune for, if not to give people a greater ability to do good? Christ also fed those who followed him. I do not think Hezekiah or his leaders were any poorer at the end of the year because of this godly generosity.

Second, many good prayers were offered to God along with the peace offerings (2 Chronicles 30:22). They made confession to the Lord, the God of their fathers, and that gave the peace offerings their true meaning. When the priests sprinkled the blood and burned the fat, they made confession, and so did the people when they shared the meal that belonged to them. They confessed their relation to God and their dependence on him, confessed their sins and weaknesses with sorrow, thanked him for his mercies, and asked him for what they needed. In all of this, they looked to God as the God of their fathers, the God who had made a covenant with them.

Third, there was much good preaching. The Levites, whose work this was (Deuteronomy 33:10), taught the people the good knowledge of the Lord. They read and explained the Scriptures and instructed the congregation about God and their duty to him. This was greatly needed after the long famine of God’s word during the previous reign. Hezekiah did not preach himself, but he spoke encouragingly to the Levites who did. He attended to their preaching, praised their faithfulness, and promised them his support and protection. In this way he encouraged them to work hard and gave them honor, so that the people would respect them more. Rulers and magistrates do great service to God’s kingdom when they support faithful and hardworking preachers.

Fourth, they sang psalms every day (2 Chronicles 30:21). The Levites and priests praised the Lord day by day with songs and musical instruments, showing their own joy in God and stirring up one another’s thankfulness. Praising God should be a large part of what we do when we gather for worship.

Fifth, after keeping the seven days of the feast in this godly way, they found so much joy in the service that they kept another seven days as well (2 Chronicles 30:23). They did not invent new forms of worship. They simply continued the old ones for longer. This was an unusual case. They had gone a long time without this ordinance, and guilt had been built up through neglect. Now a very large crowd had come together, and they were in a serious and devout frame of mind. They did not know when they would have such another chance, so they could not bring themselves to leave until they had doubled the time. Many of them lived far away and had country work to return to, for this was the second month and they were in the middle of harvest. Yet they were in no hurry to go home. Their zeal for God’s house made them forget their ordinary business. How unlike those who were bored with God’s service and said, “What a burden it is,” or those who asked, “When will the Sabbath be over?” The servants of God should be full in his work.

Sixth, they did all this with gladness (2 Chronicles 30:23). They all rejoiced, especially the strangers (2 Chronicles 30:25). So there was great joy in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 30:26). Nothing like it had been seen since the temple was dedicated in Solomon’s time. Holy duties should be done with holy joy. We should come to them eagerly, find pleasure in them, and enjoy the sweetness of fellowship with God. We should count it a great mercy that we are allowed such worship and have such a foretaste of everlasting joy.

Seventh, the whole congregation was finally sent away with a solemn blessing (2 Chronicles 30:27). The priests gave the blessing, for that was part of their office to bless the people (Numbers 6:22-23). In doing so, they acted both as the people’s voice to God in prayer and as God’s voice to the people in promise, because their blessing included both. They showed their desire for the people’s good and their trust in God and in his word of grace, to which they commended the people. What a comfort it is for a congregation to go home under such a blessing.

God said amen to it. The priests’ voice, when they blessed the people, was heard in heaven and reached God’s holy dwelling. When they spoke the blessing, God appointed it, and he may also have given some visible sign that he accepted it. A prayer that rises to heaven in a cloud of incense will come back to earth in showers of blessing.