2 Chronicles 30:1-12 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh… I. A PASSOVER DECIDED ON. (Vers. 1, 5.) 1. By whom! Hezekiah, his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, with both of whom he had taken counsel. The important step, not adopted without deliberation, was concurred in by the entire body of the people (ver. 4). If any in the nation held aloof, these were the priests and the Levites (ver. 15). 2. For whom? All Israel and Judah. The contemplated Passover should not be sectional or provincial, but national. For "all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan" - for the inhabitants of the two kingdoms, which ought never to have been divided, and in religion at least should ever have been one. 3. On what ground? (1) That it was their duty to keep such a Passover. It was written in the Law of Moses that all the congregation of Israel should eat the Passover (Exodus 12:47); that three times a year should all the males of the nation keep a feast unto the Lord, one of these feasts being that of Unleavened Bread, or the Passover (Exodus 23:14, 15); and that the Passover should be "sacrificed in the place which Jehovah should choose to set his Name there" (Deuteronomy 16:2). (2) That such a Passover had not been observed by them either in great numbers (Revised Version), en masse, by the whole body of the people (Bertheau, Keil), or for a long time (Authorized Version, De Wette). Certainly since the division of the kingdom they had not observed the Passover; and even prior to that it is doubtful if the feast had been observed by such numbers as to amount to a national celebration. The unsettled state of the country during the period of the judges was not favourable to the carrying out of the Deuteronomic programme; and the same might be said (though perhaps in a less degree) of the early years of the monarchy; so that probably for a Paschal celebration on a truly national scale the historian must go back to the days of Joshua immediately after entering Canaan, and before the dispersion of the people had commenced (Joshua 5:10, 11). II. THE TIME OF CELEBRATION FIXED. (Ver. 2.) 1. In the second month. (1) This not the regular or legal month, which was the first, or Abib (Exodus 12:18; Leviticus 23:5, 8), the month in which Jehovah brought his people out of Egypt (Deuteronomy 16:1, 2). (2) This, however, allowable in special circumstances, as e.g. when through absence on a journey or ceremonial uncleanness it could not be kept on the statutory day (Numbers 9:6-12). In the present instance the special circumstances were that when the decision to hold a Passover was arrived at, the 14th of Abib was too near to admit of either the priests getting themselves sanctified in sufficient numbers to do the necessary work, or the population of the country gathering at Jerusalem in time to give to the feast the character of a national celebration. 2. In the first or sixth (perhaps seventh) year of Hezekiah's reign. (1) In favour of the former view (Bertheau, Jamieson), it may be urged that it is the most natural; that Hezekiah would more likely take advantage of the widespread religious enthusiasm evoked by the purification and re-dedication of the temple to appoint a Passover than delay for five if not six years; and that the difficulty of understanding how he got permission to send heralds through the northern kingdom may be overcome by remembering that Hoshea, the last King of Israel, was not so bad as his predecessors on the throne had been (2 Kings 17:2), and that Hezekiah may have obtained his consent to the proposal of a grand Passover for all Israel and Judah (Bertheau). An obvious objection to this is that Hezekiah's letters represented the inhabitants of Israel as "the remnant escaped out of the hands of the kings of Assyria" (ver. 6), and that the siege of Samaria did not commence till Hezekiah's fourth year (2 Kings 18:9), while the only deportation of people from the northern kingdom before that was the removal of the trans-Jordanic tribes and Naphtalites by Tiglath-Pileser II. (2 Kings 15:29) - which would hardly have justified the strong language of Hezekiah with reference to Israel's depleted condition. Another difficulty is that, as during the first years of Hezekiah's reign Hoshea was becoming restive under the heavy tribute of ten talents of gold and a thousand of silver imposed on him by Tiglath-Pileser II. ('Records,' etc., 5:52; Schrader, 'Keiliuschriften,' 256), and was even negotiating with So (Sabako), King of Egypt, about throwing off the Assyrian yoke (2 Kings 17:4), it is hardly to be supposed he would readily consent to the absence of all his male subjects at Jerusalem even for a limited time. Besides,. it is doubtful if a month was not too short a space to admit of the king's runners travelling from Dan to Beersheba, and of the people assembling from all corners of the land at Jerusalem. (2) In favour of the second view (Keil, Caspari), that the Passover was held after the capture of Samaria, in B.C. 720, and the deportation of its inhabitants - according to an inscription of Sargon, 27,280 (Schrader, 'Keilin-schriften,' 272; 'Records,' etc., 7:28) - it may be pointed out that after that event the situation in Israel corresponded more exactly with the language of Hezekiah (ver. 6), and that, Israel having no more an independent sovereign, Hezekiah may have deemed the moment opportune for attempting a reunion of the nations. III. THE INVITATIONS ISSUED. (Vers. 6-10.) 1. In whose name they were given. In that of Hezekiah and his princes. The absence of any reference to Hoshea points to a time subsequent to the captivity of Israel. 2. By whom they were carried. The pests, or runners, i.e. king's messengers (Esther 3:13, 15; Esther 8:14), who may have been members of the royal body-guard (2 Chronicles 12:10). 3. To what purport they ran. (1) A threefold exhortation. (a) To turn again to Jehovah, renouncing idolatry and embracing the religion prescribed by Moses (ver. 6). (b) Not to imitate the stubborn conduct of their fathers, who had been carried away captive (vers. 7, 8). (c) To resume attendance at the sanctuary, which Jehovah had sanctified for ever as the central place of his worship (ver. 8). (2) A four-fold argument. (a) Duty. Jehovah was the Lord God of their fathers, even of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and, as the one living and true, gracious, and covenant-keeping God, was entitled to their allegiance (vers. 6, 7). (b) Fear. If they continued rebellious, Jehovah's anger would fall on and consume them who were but a remnant, as already it had fallen on and consumed their fathers. (c) Clemency. If they returned to Jehovah, Jehovah would turn away the fierceness of his anger from them, and extend mercy to those who had been carried away captive, causing them to find favour in the eyes of their captors and even to return to their own land (ver. 9). (d) Hope. The certainty that they would thus be treated was guaranteed by the fact that Jehovah, whom they had forsaken, and to whom they were now invited to return, was a gracious and merciful God (ver. 9). Or otherwise, Hezekiah pleaded with them to return on the grounds of national unity - Jehovah was Israel's God as well as Judah's; of historic continuity - Jehovah had been the Lord God of their fathers; of self-interest - it was the only way to avert their total extinction; of brotherly compassion - it was the most effectual means of helping their exiled brethren. IV. THE RECEPTION ACCORDED TO THE MESSENGERS. (Vers. 10-12.) 1. In Israel. (1) From the main body of the population, laughter and scorn. Seemingly they ridiculed the idea of having to protect themselves from extermination by finding a sovereign in Hezekiah and a God in Jehovah. Tiglath-Pileser II., if the earlier date be adopted, had only overrun and laid waste a portion of their country, the trans-Jordanic tribes, with the land of Naphtali, and from these had carried away not all the population, but only the principal inhabitants; while, if the latter date be accepted as the more probable, Sargon in addition had removed only 27,280 persons ('Records,' 7:28). Hence as yet they perceived not the necessity of either abandoning hope for the kingdom or of repairing to Jerusalem to find a king and a God. So the ambassadors of a greater King than Hezekiah, wandering from city to city throughout the world and carrying to their fellows a better invitation than Hezekiah's runners did to Israel, are frequently met with derision for themselves and their glad tidings; as e.g. Paul at Athens (Acts 17:32), as Christ himself, God's chief Ambassador and Plenipotentiary in the city of Jerusalem (John 1:11). (2) From individuals, especially in Asher, Manasseh, Zabulon (ver. 11), and Issachar (ver. 8), the northern tribes contiguous to Naphtali, cordial acceptance. These, being country-people, were meek ones, not ashamed to humble themselves on account of their own and their nation's wickedness, and to embrace the opportunity of becoming reconciled to Jehovah and their brethren in Judah. Accordingly they spurned not the invitation addressed to them, but "came to Jerusalem." In like manner is the King's letter in the gospel oftener welcomed and accepted by unlearned rustics than by gay and wise residents in cities; and always by the poor in spirit, who, conscious of their sin and misery, long to be reconciled to God (Matthew 5:3-6). 2. In Judah. The people generally responded to their sovereign's invitation. (1) With unanimity. They were of one mind to do the commandment of the king and the princes. A united heart an invaluable preparation for obedience, whether for individual or for state (Jeremiah 32:39; Ezekiel 11:19, 20). (2) In a spirit of obedience. They recognized the king's and princes' commandment to be in accordance with the word of Jehovah (cf. ch. 29:15). The Word of God, in the Old and New Testaments, the supreme directory for faith and practice. "To the Law and to the testimony" (Isaiah 8:20). The Bereans searched the Scriptures (Acts 17:11). (3) In compliance with a heavenly impulse. That they were thus enlightened and unanimous was owing to Divine grace; "The hand of God was upon them" for good, as it always is upon them that seek him (Ezra 8:22). Learn: 1. The unspeakable blessing to a land of a pious king and court. 2. The certainty that God will aid all who seek to extend his cause and kingdom. 3. The necessity of diligence, fidelity, sympathy, and courage on the part of all "runners" to the King of heaven. 4. The hopefulness with which divinely commissioned preachers may enter on their mission - there will always be found a remnant to hear and obey. 5. The excellence of a humble spirit in disposing one to listen to the gospel. - W. Parallel Verses KJV: And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel. |
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