Historical Books 2 Chronicles

The Call for Revival

Discover Jesus as: Royal Throne 2 Chronicles 30-31 Read on Bible Gateway (HCSB)

Day 316 of 730
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INTRO

We’ve now done 316 lessons in Revive School, and this week, we’ll finish up our study of 2 Chronicles. Our last three studies in 2 Chronicles will build to a climax like nothing we’ve ever studied before. We are going to see King Hezekiah walk out goodness.

MacArthur states, “Hezekiah reached back to restore the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover which apparently had not been properly and regularly observed in some time, perhaps since the division of the kingdom 215 years earlier.”1Hezekiah reestablished the Word of God that had been long forgotten back into their culture. Nelson’s Commentarystates, “Hezekiah never lost sight of the fact that God’s covenant was made with all 12 tribes and that His promises included them all.”2

TEACHING

2 Chronicles 30:1-9: Hezekiah and his officials and the people of Jerusalem decided to celebrate the Passover in the second month (they had missed the Passover at the normal time), and sent word to all Israel and all Judah, and to those of Ephraim and Manasseh to come participate with them (vv. 1-3). Putting it off a month allowed them to finish the work in the temple, consecrate enough priests, and have time for the people to come to Jerusalem. Everyone was satisfied with the proposal and spread the message all over Israel from the northernmost city (Dan) to the southernmost (Beer-sheba) (vv. 4-5). The king sent handwritten notes by couriers throughout both kingdoms, calling the people to revival—“Return to Yahweh” (v. 6). These couriers acted as ambassadors for the king throughout both lands. Just as Hezekiah appealed through his couriers, God appeals through us as well (Acts 1:8). It’s a picture of what revival could look like today. Hezekiah’s message was that, through the Passover lamb, the people could return to the Lord, just as we can through Jesus, the Lamb of God. Notice the couriers’ names were not recorded, but that didn’t stop them from delivering the king’s message. We have been given the authority to be “letter-bearers” and “message-bearers” to God’s redemptive message as well (Acts 10—11).

Richard L. Pratt Jr., points out eight exhortations in the king’s messages recorded in 2 Chronicles 30:6-9:

  1. Return (v. 6a), a guiding principle.
  2. Don’t be like your fathers (v. 7a), a negative requirement.
  3. Don’t be stiff-necked, or obstinate (v. 8a), a negative requirement.
  4. Submit (v. 8b), a positive requirement.
  5. Come (v. 8c), a positive requirement.
  6. Serve (v. 8c), a positive requirement.
  7. If you return (v. 9a), a guiding principle.
  8. If you return (v. 9b), a guiding principle.3

All thing that Hezekiah wrote to the people of Israel and Judah is the same message that is needed for the church today to experience revival—we have to return to God!

2 Chronicles 30:10-15: Many of the inhabitants refused to hear Hezekiah’s message and laughed at the couriers (v. 10). But Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulon humbled themselves, received the message and came to Jerusalem (vv. 11-12). And a very large assembly of people gathered in Jerusalem to observe the festival (v.13). Where there is humility there can be unity.

2 Chronicles 30:16-27: The celebration went so well the people wanted more and continued to worship for another seven days (v. 23).

CLOSING

When the people experience the presence of God, they will want more and revival breaks out!

  1. John MacArthur, The MacArthur Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2005), p. 512.

  2. Earl Radmacher, Ronald B. Allen, and H. Wayne House, eds., Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999), p. 559.

  3. Richard L. Pratt, Jr., “The Reunited Kingdom, part 4,” Reformed Perspectives; available at http://reformedperspectives.org/article.asp/link/http:%5E%5Ereformedperspectives.org%5Earti-cles%5Eric_pratt%5EOT.Pratt.2Chr.30.1-12.html/at/The%20Reunited%20Kingdom,%20part%204.

Questions

  1. Why did King Hezekiah change the dates for the Passover? What is the meaning of Passover? Where did God give instructions for Passover? (Exodus 12:11-14)
  2. In 2 Chronicles 30:18, many of the people were not clean, and yet they ate anyway. What were the proper procedures at that time for Passover (Deuteronomy 16:1–8)? What happened when Hezekiah prayed for them?
  3. The people brought their firstfruits in 2 Chronicles 31:5-6. Where else do we see God giving this directive? (Deuteronomy 26:2; Proverbs 3:9)
  4. In 2 Chronicles 31:10-21, King Hezekiah had a storehouse built. Why? Where do we see the promises of God on giving (Malachi 3:10; Matthew 6:33)? Can a person out-give God? Why or why not?
  5. What did the Holy Spirit highlight to you in 2 Chronicles 30—31 through the reading or the teaching?

Next: the Daily Word →

Daily Word

Laura Martin 2 Chronicles 30:6

“So the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the hand of the king and his officials, and according to the king’s command, saying, ‘Israelites, return to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel so that He may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped from the grasp of the kings of Assyria.’”

King Hezekiah sent word throughout all Israel and Judah for the people to gather at the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem to observe the Passover of Yahweh, the God of Israel, which hadn’t been observed in quite some time. He wrote letters and sent couriers to spread the message: “It is time to return to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that He may return to those of you who remain.” Upon hearing the message, some laughed and mocked the couriers, but others humbled themselves and traveled to Jerusalem. God’s power united them all, and King Hezekiah was the tool through which the Lord’s power worked.

Sometimesyou may need to walk obediently as the Lord’s messenger in someone’s life, understanding that God’s power goes before you. Today, take a minute to ask the Lord if there is someone in your life who needs to return to the Lord. Don’t worry. If they chose not to listen, or if they laugh and mock you, they are rejecting Jesus, not you. However, you may hear a humble response and witness them turn their heart back to the Lord. The Lord’s mercy covers all those who return to Him. So, go send that text, write that email, or pick up the phone and call! Be the tool that can help change begin in someone’s life and allow God’s grace to flow.

“So the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the hand of the king and his officials, and according to the king’s command, saying, ‘Israelites, return to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel so that He may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped from the grasp of the kings of Assyria.’”

—2 Chronicles 30:6

FURTHER SCRIPTURE

  • Jeremiah 15:19 — “Therefore, this is what the Lord says: If you return, I will restore you; you will stand in My presence. And if you speak noble words, rather than worthless ones, you will be My spokesman. It is they who must return to you; you must not return to them.”
  • Joel 2:13 — “Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the Lord your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love, and He relents from sending disaster.”
  • 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 — “Now brothers, I want to clarify for you the Gospel I proclaimed to you; you received it and have taken your stand on it. You are also saved by it, if you hold to the message I proclaimed to you—unless you believed for no purpose. For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”