"Now I intend to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us. My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense."- King Hezekiah, 2 Chronicles 29:10-11There 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. The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, His holy dwelling place.
It's a good day for this reading. A nation fallen away is brought back to the Lord by a God-focused leader.
No one could have anticipated a God-fearing-and-respecting-and-following man like Hezekiah would follow in his father Ahaz's footsteps. Hezekiah's devotion and leadership isn't met with universal appeal. The priests had to be shamed into consecrating themselves to perform the Passover service. [2 Chronicles 30:15] The Levites "had been more conscientious in consecrating themselves than the priests had been." [2 Chronicles 29:34] And, when the couriers are sent from town to town to invite the nation to the first national Passover observance in a long time, "the people scorned and ridiculed them." [2 Chronicles 30:10] This rings so true. Leading a nation from a God-fearing point-of-view would be anything but popular.
Independence Day is a good time to be reminded where true independence and freedom is found: in the Lord. His law doesn't bind. It frees. And if we would come back to Him as a nation, would our economic trials and international conflicts cease? Well, it's as good a plan as any other I've heard proposed.
And, who knows, maybe a God-fearing-and-following leadership will come from another unexpected place and father?
Lord knows.
Another very cool passage in this reading is 2 Chronicles 30:17-20. Hezekiah prays here that the people who came to celebrate Passover and didn't do it properly, those who didn't purify themselves before eating the feast "contrary to what was written," would be forgiven.
Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone who sets his heart on seeking God -- the Lord, the God of his fathers -- even if he is not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary." And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people. 2 Chronicles 30:18-20
Once again, scripture suggests its more about the heart than it is keeping proper religious form.
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