2 Chronicles 29-31

Hezekiah became king of Judah after his father Ahaz, one of the worst kings of Judah, died. His grandfather on his mother's side was Zechariah, perhaps the same priest who kept Uzziah in line until his death? At any rate, his spiritual influence probably came from his mother, Abijah, because his father sure didn't follow the Lord!

Within the first month of his reign Hezekiah decided to clean house at the temple. It took the priests, at least 14 of them, 16 days to get that temple back in order! 16 days to clear out all the junk that had been allowed into the temple and to consecrate the holy items used in worship!
Then Hezekiah declared a celebration of the Passover, the remembrance of the Lord's faithfulness in protecting the Israelite people when the Angel of Death went throughout Egypt, killing the Egyptians' firstborn sons. Hezekiah sent a proclamation throughout not only Judah but also Israel inviting all who were willing to come out and celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem together. This humble act of friendship extended to Judah's relatives in Israel got laughed at and scorned (30:10) in Israel. Israel and Judah were not on good terms at the time.

Still, some of the people of Israel knew worshiping God and following His decrees was more important than choosing sides in a family feud. They humbled themselves, decided they didn't care what others thought, and went to Jerusalem in obedience to the Lord.

We then get to witness a celebration not seen in Judah since the days of Solomon! The Passover celebration was meant to last for seven days, but it was so amazing they all decided to celebrate for 14! Can you imagine what kind of a celebration it must have been? Two nations who had been warring with each other for generations came together and celebrated the God they both worshiped! There was one spot which blemished the celebration, however. Many of the people, specifically the group who came down from Israel, were ceremonially unclean. However, Hezekiah prayed to the Lord that He would pardon those who were not clean according to the temple regulations and that He would accept their worship based on their heart's desire to turn to Him. God looked on His people and healed their uncleanliness because He knew their heart was in the right place.

Many people like to argue that the God of the Old Testament was a mean, distant God who liked to kill people every chance He got. Here, however, we see the true God of the Old Testament. The God who looked down at His people and saw them eager to worship Him. The physical uncleanliness was not so much what concerned Him, but the state of their heart. He saw their hearts and intentions were pure before Him and He forgave their physical inadequacies.

In reading this section of scripture I am remind of two passages, one from the New Testament and one from the Old Testament. The New Testament passage is Mark 7:1-23 where the Pharisees questioned Jesus because His disciples did not wash their hands before they ate, thus making them "unclean". Jesus tells them it is not what goes into a person that makes him or her unclean, but what comes out of the person, meaning their sins. Jesus was telling the people, and us, He doesn't care about what we eat or the state of our body. What He is concerned about is the state of our heart.

The Old Testament passage I am reminded of is 1 Samuel 16:7 which says, "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." This was said by God to the prophet Samuel as he was searching for the person (David) to replace King Saul. He went to Jesse's family and looked at all of Jesse's sons thinking, "surely this guy is it!" God, however, chose the youngest of the boys, the least likely of the family to become Israel's next king. He reminded Samuel He wasn't interested in what the world saw in their future king. The Lord was concerned with the state of the new king's heart.

In the same way God is still more concerned with our heart's appearance than with our outward appearance. If we want to become more like Christ, we must spend more time focusing on what the Lord values rather than what the World values.