Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel… Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the LORD, who is good, pardon everyone who sets their heart on seeking God—the LORD, the God of their ancestors—even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.” And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people. (2 Chronicles 30:1,18-20)
Yesterday my family welcomed several international students into our home to celebrate Thanksgiving. It seemed a fitting way to commemorate the cross cultural dimension of the original meal at Plymouth Rock. It helped to have a guest in attendance from Massachusetts who was familiar with the actual story to instruct us who were a bit fuzzy on the reasons why we were gorging ourselves on this traditional feast. We heard about the story of Squanto or Tisquantum, a Native American from the Patuxet tribe who resided in what became the colony of New England. Squanto was kidnapped in 1614 by an Englishman, taken to Europe, sold into slavery in Spain, and then redeemed at a price from the auction block by some friars who did so to set him free and to instruct him in the Christian faith. But Squanto desired to get back to his people, and eventually joined an expedition in 1619 back to New England only to find that his whole tribe had been wiped out entirely by small pox. When the Mayflower arrived in 1620 with the Pilgrims seeking to practice their faith free from persecution, they were greeted by Squanto, who they were surprised to find spoke beautiful English. Squanto adopted these settlers (who had just lost half of their group from the arduous journey) as his tribe and settled with them at Plymouth, where he had grown up. He helped them survive in this new land by teaching them the Native method of Maize cultivation and how to catch herring which were used to fertilize the crop. He would help broker a peace treaty between the settlers and the Pokanoket, a neighboring tribe – a treaty that lasted for fifty years. So after that first bountiful crop, Squanto brought the Pokanoket to join with the Pilgrims for an elaborate feast that lasted three days in order to give thanks to God for all He had done: for His protection from their persecutors, for brokering peace between between warring parties and for His abundant provision.
Squanto’s story of redemption and the feast he celebrated with these pilgrims is not unlike what Passover is about. God instituted a meal of remembrance so that Israel could remember YHWH’s mighty act in setting them free from slavery. But over the years Israel fell away from her roots and into idolatry, and this tradition by which to remember how they had been established as God’s people had been lost. When we fail to reflect on God’s merciful dealings, we begin to act mercilessly towards those around us. That’s what happened when this meal at Plymouth Rock lost it’s significance on the next generation: the European settlers would seek to subjugate and eradicate this nation’s first peoples from the land. In the years before Hezekiah came to reign, his father Ahaz was engaging in child sacrifice with his own sons (2 Kings 16:3; 2 Chronicles 28:3) choosing to walk away from God to serve lifeless idols and the demonic principalities behind them.
So when Hezekiah came and tore down the idols in the land, cleansing the temple, re-established priestly worship as David prescribed and then decides to hosts this meal of remembrance for the first time in hundreds of years, it was a true breath of fresh air! 2 Chronicles 30 tells the story of how he sent letters throughout all Israel and Judah and summoned the people to keep the Passover. Some mocked him, but many others came, making this the first time in hundreds of years that the divided Kingdom, Judah and Israel had come together on anything, much like that first Thanksgiving meal brought native and settler into one accord.
2 Chronicles 30:26 compares this celebration with the time of Solomon, a parallel that carries through the whole passage. This Passover follows a rededication of the temple (2 Chronicles 29) that echoed Solomon’s own dedication (2 Chronicles 5-7) where both had tremendous joy (2 Chronicles 5:13; 7:6, 10; 30:21-23, 26) and huge sacrificial offerings (2 Chronicles 5:6-7; 7:1, 4-5; 30:15-16, 22, 24). Hezekiah’s invitation (2 Chronicles 30;6-9) and prayer (2 Chronicles 30:18b-19) reflect Solomonic language from his own prayer (2 Chronicles 6) and God’s response (2 Chronicles 7:14). Solomon’s plea that foreigners be permitted to seek God at this temple (2 Chronicles 6:32-33) is fulfilled in Hezekiah’s Passover when aliens are part of the celebration (2 Chronicles 30:25).*
And while the parallels are easy to see, the contrast is not to be overlooked. That they finally reinstituted the Passover was a big deal, but the fact is, they did it all wrong. The timing was wrong (a month late and twice as long) and the method was off. Some will quote the exception to the usual timing in Numbers 9:2-14 as the rationale for celebrating on the second instead of the first month. But that exception was for unclean and traveling individuals so that they might get clean by the next month, according to the laws of ritual purity laid out in Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23, not for a whole nation to bypass the proper time only to have many who were unclean and therefore unprepared to enter into this holy convocation. The delay was allowed by Hezekiah because “not enough priests had consecrated themselves” and the people had not yet assembled in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 30:3) . In addition, many of the people had not consecrated themselves (2 Chronicles 30:18) requiring the Levites to step in to do the job. This demonstrates the Chronicler’s concern for ritualistic purity but at the same time notes that this was no conventional Passover meal. And the fact that God forgives this motley crew from their imperfect efforts demonstrates that God desires mercy more than sacrifice (Hosea 6:6; Matthew 9:13; 12:7) and that He is after a heart that truly is seeking Him far more than outward conformity to rituals.
Again the parallels with the passage I examined in the last entry abound. Just as God promised Solomon in response to his prayer (2 Chronicles 7:14), if Israel will “humble” ( 2 Chronicles 30:11), “pray” (2 Chronicles 30:18), “seek” (2 Chronicles 30:19), and “turn” (2 Chronicles 30:9), God will “hear” (2 Chronicles 30:20) and “heal” (2 Chronicles 30:20). The text explicitly records, as if to emphasize the legitimacy of Hezekiah’s request, that “the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people” (cf. 2 Chronicles 7:14).*
The use of the word “heal” begets the question, is this figurative or literal? Were they actually sick because of failing to obey the written prescription in the law or is this a preemptive healing from the plague that was looming over them for their lack of consecration? Does this speak of an inner or outer healing? Individual or national? Honestly I do not know, but I am inclined to say “all of the above”, and that the Hebrew word “rapha” is most likely used to bring us back to the book’s theme in 2 Chronicles 7:14.
James exhorts us to “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” (James 5:16) As the old pentecostal hymn goes, “There is a power, power, wonder working power, in the blood of the Lamb.” That’s what Passover is a reminder of. That’s what the Lord’s Supper is about. God’s power to heal, forgive and deliver by means of the blood of the Lamb who was slain that we might know freedom from bondage. How fitting that this meal Hezekiah re-instituted, celebrating the mercy of God, imperfectly adhered to, ends with a fresh experience of God’s mercy? And the proper response? That we should give God thanks for what He has done, is doing and will do (1 Thesalonians 5:18). On that first Thanksgiving meal, as Squanto reflected on all that God had done for him, I’m sure the costly redemption those friars purchased for him was top on his list of reasons to enter into gratitude. How much more we, who have been purchased at such a great cost, that we might be forgiven, that we might be delivered, that we might be healed?
*taken from http://johnmarkhicks.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/hezekiahs-passover-exegetical-considerations/
365 Days of Biblical Prayer 