Chapter 3: The Forgotten Feast

Then Hezekiah sent couriers throughout all of Israel and Judah, carrying letters that invited every tribe to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. The Passover was the most sacred feast in Israel, the night God delivered their ancestors from slavery in Egypt.

The feast was held in the second month instead of the first, because not enough priests had consecrated themselves in time and the people had not yet assembled. It was unusual, but Hezekiah pressed forward.

HEZEKIAH (in his letter, no face is shown, only voice)“People of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that He may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. Do not be stiff-necked as your ancestors were. Submit to the Lord. If you return to Him, then your brothers and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will come back to this land.”— 2 Chronicles 30:6-9

Most people scorned and ridiculed the letters. But some humbled themselves and came.

When the feast began, a problem arose. Many of the northerners who had come had not purified themselves according to the law. By tradition, eating the Passover in a state of uncleanness was forbidden. But rather than turning them away, Hezekiah prayed.

HEZEKIAH“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.”— 2 Chronicles 30:18-19

And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

The joy was so great that the assembly agreed to celebrate for seven additional days. Fourteen days in total. Jerusalem had not seen anything like this since the days of Solomon.

And the revival did not end when the feast did. The people poured out of Jerusalem into the towns of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh, and on their own, without a royal decree, they smashed the sacred stones, cut down the Asherah poles, and destroyed the high places until they were all gone.