What is the meaning of 2 Chronicles 30:15? And on the fourteenth day of the second month • The Law originally set Passover for the fourteenth day of the first month (Exodus 12:6). Yet Numbers 9:10–11 gave a gracious provision for those who were ritually unclean or on a distant journey to keep it in the second month. • King Hezekiah applied this allowance because many priests had not yet purified themselves and most of the people had not gathered in Jerusalem in time (2 Chronicles 30:2–3). • The detail underscores God’s flexibility within His own commands to make a way for sincere worshipers, showing His mercy without compromising His standards. they slaughtered the Passover lamb • The heart of Passover is the lamb’s death in place of the firstborn, a vivid reminder of deliverance from Egypt (Exodus 12:21–27). • Every lamb pointed forward to “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Paul ties the two together: “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). • By reinstating the sacrifice, Hezekiah and the assembly realigned Judah with God’s redemptive storyline and affirmed that atonement comes only through a substitutionary, spotless offering. The priests and Levites were ashamed • Their shame reflects conviction for previous neglect of temple duties and personal purity (2 Chronicles 29:6). • Genuine embarrassment over sin is a mark of soft hearts; compare Ezra’s confession, “O my God, I am ashamed and disgraced” (Ezra 9:6), and the warning against those who “no longer know how to blush” (Jeremiah 6:15). • The public zeal of king and people stirred the ministers to face their own failings, a healthy example of corporate repentance. and they consecrated themselves • Consecration involved ceremonial washing, changing garments, and offering sin and burnt offerings (2 Chronicles 29:15–17; Leviticus 8:30). • Purity precedes ministry: “Let everyone who handles the vessels of the LORD purify himself” (Isaiah 52:11). • New-covenant believers are called to the same pattern: “If anyone cleanses himself…he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful to the Master” (2 Timothy 2:21). and brought burnt offerings to the house of the LORD • Burnt offerings were wholly consumed on the altar, symbolizing complete surrender to God (Leviticus 1:3–9). • After personal cleansing, the priests led the people in acts of full devotion, restoring proper worship at the temple (2 Chronicles 29:18–20). • The principle persists: believers present their bodies as “a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” (Romans 12:1). summary Hezekiah’s congregation kept Passover a month late but right on time with God’s mercy. The rescheduled date honored the letter and spirit of the Law, the slaughtered lamb reaffirmed substitutionary atonement, priestly shame birthed genuine repentance, consecration prepared servants for service, and burnt offerings expressed total devotion. The verse showcases God’s readiness to receive repentant worshipers who align themselves with His revealed will and foreshadows the perfect Passover Lamb who fulfills it all. |
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