Good weekend to you my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
In recent days we have seen some remarkable division and disunity in the political leadership of several major nations of the world in the summer of 2024!!. In the UK a new Prime Minister was suddenly elected three weeks ago. In France a hastily called general election backfired leaving the country hosting the Olympics without a clear, strong, stable Presidency. In the United States, a near assassination of former President Trump and then the sudden withdrawal of President Biden from his attempt to gain a second presidential term. And even in Israel over the past month or so we’ve seen growing division and discord in the leadership with war cabinet resignations and loud calls for the Prime Minister to resign.
Is there any place in the world where you see government leaders drawing the diversity of their nation TOGETHER into unity?
Come with me to Jerusalem in 715bc, the first year of King Hezekiah’s reign, for he was accomplishing a unity that had not been seen in 200 years and maybe, not since!! As we’ve seen in our study of the past few days, King Hezekiah was not accomplishing this remarkable national unity through economic incentives nor political pressure nor great military victories.
No, Hezekiah was focusing on a Spiritual revival by first re-opening and cleansing the great Temple of God in Jerusalem, during the first month of his kingship! That one act drew all the people of Judah together in celebration, for as a nation, nothing united them more than their worship of the God of Israel and their Temple. But yesterday we saw King Hezekiah taking a bold leadership step to the next level!
His radical idea was to unite the divided nation of Israel by sending couriers throughout the land with a courageous and passionate invitation for ALL Jews everywhere to gather together in Jerusalem for celebration of the Passover Festival! (2 Chronicles 30:5)
While many ridiculed the couriers and refused Hezekiah’s invitation, many others came, especially from the war torn northern kingdom of Israel and 2 Chronicles 30:13 reports “…a very large crowd of people assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread (Passover).” Normally the Passover festival lasted seven days and I doubt we can imagine what that week was like for these joy filled Israelites who were united together from all over the land, for the first time in 200 years!
Think back for a moment. What do you know about your family heritage or your city or even your country 200 years ago… 1824? Now think about how divided the people of your nation are TODAY and what would it be like if everyone of your country came together in unity and in worship of Almighty God?! It would be miraculous, wouldn’t it? It’s almost impossible to predict how such unity would affect our cities, our families, our nations and even our world!
In Jerusalem it was so wonderful the people didn’t want it to end. The record says “The whole assembly then agreed to celebrate the Passover Festival seven MORE days; so for another week they celebrated joyfully… a great number of priests consecrated themselves to God. The entire assembly of Judah rejoiced, along with all who had gathered from Israel, including the foreigners who had come from Israel and also those foreigners who resided in Judah.” (2 Chronicles 30:25)
Did you hear the word “foreigners”? Yes, both in Judah and in the northern kingdom Israel there were many peoples of other parts of the known world who had settled there over the centuries and they were not excluded IF they came to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! This is significant my friends because from the days of Moses it was God’s plan that His people Israel would be an attraction to all peoples of the entire world. Attracting people to what, you might ask? To God Himself!
God’s plan was that as the world watched the peace and prosperity of the nation of Israel and understood it was because they were a people protected and guided and blessed by God in response to their worship of Him and their faithfulness to His covenant with them, then other people would want the same type of relationship with God.
Do you recognize that as the same concept of the Gospel of Jesus Christ inviting people of the entire world to Jesus as their Savior and Lord? As the Gospel changes people and families and cities, the world should be drawn to recognize the work and Presence of Jesus among His people and the world should hunger to know and experience Jesus in the same way! So, is that happening in your city?
In the record I next see a remarkable statement that summarizes this unprecedented event and the unity and joy that was happening in Jerusalem: “There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David King of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. The priests and Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them for their prayer reached heaven, God’s holy dwelling place!” (2 Chron. 30:26,27)
Now what picture do you have in your mind as you imagine this scene, my friends? Do you see this as a fulfillment of God’s promise to Solomon during Solomon’s dedication of the Temple more than 200 years before?
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, THEN will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chron. 7:14) You’ve probably quoted that many times and here, in 715bc, under the leadership of new King Hezekiah, it was happening just as God had predicted!
So what would happen in your country if your President or King or Queen or whoever is the supreme leader of your nation would call everyone together to “humble themselves, and pray and seek God’s face and turn from their wicked ways…” what do you suppose God might do in your land?
I think we need to pause right here friends and pray, thanking God for this remarkable event and courageous King Hezekiah who was bold enough to lead the people to new unity through worship, prayer and repentance before God! Let’s also thank God that HE has not changed and therefore He is ready to respond to any people, anywhere in the world, choosing to do the same!
What would it take for it to happen in your country or even in Israel and Jerusalem today? Here’s a wonderful Charity Gayle song to help us thank God for this possibility, as God is ready to work in EVERY person’s life, regardless of their story…
Today’s Scripture: 2 Chronicles 30:13-27.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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