Hezekiah’s Passover

Hezekiah cared about ritual cleanliness. In the first year of his reign, at the age of 25, he charged the priests and the Levites:

Sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.

2 Chronicles 29:5

The priests and Levites responded by cleaning out the temple and preparing themselves to officiate in its ordinances (2 Chronicles 29:12-17). When they were done, they presented it to the king, and he gathered the rulers of the city to offer a large number of sacrifices to God (2 Chronicles 29:18-36).

Then, he decided to organize an enormous Passover celebration. Not content to limit it to his own people, he sent messengers into the land of Israel, which had recently been conquered by the Assyrians. The messengers found people who had been left behind when the Assyrian army carried away many of its people. They invited the people to Jerusalem, and some people from the tribes of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun came (2 Chronicles 30:11).

When they arrived, there were some irregularities. It came to Hezekiah’s attention that some of the visitors had not cleansed themselves according to the instructions in the law. Instead of trying to fix the situation, Hezekiah simply prayed:

The good Lord pardon every one
That prepareth his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.

2 Chronicles 30:18-19

In response, “the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people” (2 Chronicles 30:20).

Hezekiah seems to have understood that the purpose of ritual purification was to prepare the heart. If a person failed to follow the instructions in the law precisely but was doing their best within their circumstances and understanding, Hezekiah knew that God would honor their sacrifice.

When Benjamin gathered his people together, they offered “sacrifice and burnt offerings according to the law of Moses” (Mosiah 2:3). Afterward, as he began to speak, he invited them, “open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view” (Mosiah 2:9). The physical sacrifices were important, but ultimately Benjamin wanted his people to do what Hezekiah’s guests had done: prepare their hearts to seek God.

Today I will prepare my heart. Even as I strive to follow all of God’s instructions, I will trust Him to be merciful when I fall short, as long as my heart is open to hear Him.