Reflecting God’s Devotions for Holy Living – Sunday, 12 January
2014 “Faithfulness Rather Than Ritual” Scripture 2 Chronicles 30: 13 Many
people came together in Jerusalem to keep the festival of unleavened bread in
the second month, a very large assembly. 14 They
set to work and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars
for offering incense they took away and threw into the Wadi Kidron.15 They
slaughtered the passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The
priests and the Levites were ashamed, and they sanctified themselves and
brought burnt offerings into the house of the Lord.16 They took
their accustomed posts according to the law of Moses the man of God; the
priests dashed the blood that they received[a] from the hands of the Levites. 17 For
there were many in the assembly who had not sanctified themselves; therefore
the Levites had to slaughter the passover lamb for everyone who was not clean,
to make it holy to the Lord. 18 For
a multitude of the people, many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and
Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the passover otherwise than
as prescribed. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “The good Lord pardon
all19 who set their hearts to seek God, the Lord the
God of their ancestors, even though not in accordance with the sanctuary’s
rules of cleanness.” 20 The Lordheard Hezekiah, and healed the people. 21 The
people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the festival of unleavened
bread seven days with great gladness; and the Levites and the priests praised
the Lord day by day, accompanied by loud
instruments for the Lord.22 Hezekiah
spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of
theLord.
So the people ate the food of the festival for seven days, sacrificing
offerings of well-being and giving thanks to the Lord the
God of their ancestors.
23 Then
the whole assembly agreed together to keep the festival for another seven days;
so they kept it for another seven days with gladness. 24 For
King Hezekiah of Judah gave the assembly a thousand bulls and seven thousand
sheep for offerings, and the officials gave the assembly a thousand bulls and
ten thousand sheep. The priests sanctified themselves in great numbers. 25 The
whole assembly of Judah, the priests and the Levites, and the whole assembly
that came out of Israel, and the resident aliens who came out of the land of
Israel, and the resident aliens who lived in Judah, rejoiced. 26 There
was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon son of King David of
Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. 27 Then
the priests and the Levites stood up and blessed the people, and their voice
was heard; their prayer came to his holy dwelling in heaven.
Pagan Shrines Destroyed
31 Now
when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of
Judah and broke down the pillars, hewed down the sacred poles,[b]and
pulled down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin,
and in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the
people of Israel returned to their cities, all to their individual properties.
Footnotes:
“Faithfulness Rather Than Ritual” by H. Ray Dunning
Hezekiah was one of the few good kings in Judah’s history. He
sought to return his wayward nation back to the Lord. This involved destroying
symbols of idol worship and restoring the rituals established through Moses,
especially observance of Passover. Elaborate rituals of purification were
required to qualify the participants. The priests performed these rituals in
preparation for their role but many of the people who attended were not
ceremonially clean and thus theoretically unable to eat the Passover meal.
Nonetheless they ate the Passover anyway, “contrary to what was written” (v.
18).
Enter Hezekiah! He felt that God would be more concerned for the
love and commitment of his children than the proper observance of the ritual.
Thus he prayed for a dispensation of grace. This does not mean that prescribed
rituals were unimportant but that far more important was the attitude of the
heart. After all, many prophets had condemned the observance of ritual
unaccompanied by ethical behavior and faithfulness to God.
For us, the important thing is to participate in those rituals
that symbolize aspects of the faith, such as the Lord’s Supper, but with a
heart completely committed to love and faithfulness to the God to whom they
point
Hymn for Today:
“There’s A Wideness in God’s Mercy” by Frederick W. Faber
1. There's a wideness in God's mercy,
like the wideness of the sea.
There's a kindness in God's justice,
which is more than liberty.
There is no place where earth's sorrows
are more felt than up in heaven.
There is no place where earth's failings
have such kindly judgment given.
2. For the love of God is broader
than the measures of the mind.
And the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.
If our love were but more faithful,
we would gladly trust God's Word,
and our lives reflect thanksgiving
for the goodness of our Lord.
Thought for Today:
“For I desired chesed, and not zevach; and the da’as Elohim more
than olot (burnt offerings). [Mt 9:13 OJBC]” (Hosea 6:6).
Prayer Needs:
Many people in Kosovo will come to know Jesus the Christ (Yeshua
the Messiah) and receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
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