| Church School Lesson: Celebrating The Past |
"Celebrating The Past"
September 14, 2025
Background: 2 Chron. 30:1-27; Print: 2 Chron. 30:1-9,26-27
Key Verse: 2 Chronicles 30:26; Devotional: Psalm 1
2 Chronicles 30:1-9 (ESV)
1 Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel.
2 For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to keep the Passover in the second month—
3 for they could not keep it at that time because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient number, nor had the people assembled in Jerusalem—
4 and the plan seemed right to the king and all the assembly.
5 So they decreed to make a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that the people should come and keep the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, for they had not kept it as often as prescribed.
6 So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes, as the king had commanded, saying, “O people of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.
7 Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were faithless to the LORD God of their fathers, so that he made them a desolation, as you see.
8 Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the LORD and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the LORD your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you.
9 For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.”
2 Chronicles 30:26-27 (ESV)
26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.
27 Then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to his holy habitation in heaven.
2 Chronicles Chapter 30 (Commentary)
30:1-5 The restoration of proper worship in the temple led to bigger things for Hezekiah and the people of Judah: the celebration of the Passover, which had fallen into neglect for many years (30:1). The date was set for the second month on the religious calendar, a month late (30:2), but the reasons were valid. There weren’t enough consecrated priests to celebrate the festival, and the people from the far regions needed time to get there (30:3). The invitation went out not only to Judah, the southern kingdom, but also to those in the northern kingdom of Israel, referred to here as Ephraim and Manasseh (30:1). This is a reference to those who had not been taken captive by the Assyrians.
30:6-12 Hezekiah’s invitation warmly asked those in the north to come to Jerusalem for a united celebration (30:6-7). It even contained a promise—return in service to the Lord, and he will return your fellow Israelites who have been taken away into captivity (30:8-9).
30:26-27 The chronicler notes that, indeed, nothing like this had been experienced in Jerusalem since the days of Solomon son of David (30:26), which is a clear reference to the importance of the Davidic king’s faithfulness to the Lord. The long celebration ended on the best of all possible high points: the priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, and their prayer came into his holy dwelling place in heaven (30:27).