Hezekiah was truly a worshipper of God. According to the Chronicler, it was worship that prepared Hezekiah to stand firm when the storm came (in the form of Assyria). He worked hard at re-establishing the worship services in the temple, and this, of course, included the celebration of the Passover. The Passover had not been celebrated for some time and yet it signified the very thing that unified all the twelve tribes of Israel and gave them their identity: they were a people redeemed by Yahweh. It was natural then that Hezekiah should send invitations to the northern tribes in Israel even though they were a separate and mostly a rival kingdom. But Hezekiah was not interested in competing with others. He wanted to worship with others. Hezekiah’s invitation to the northern tribes could not have been timelier. Israel was about to fall to the Assyrians because of her disregard of God. Judgement was approaching them and their idolatrous king, Hoshea, would bring this to a speedy and disastrous conclusion. So, Hezekiah appealed directly to the people of the north and called them to come down and join their revival in Jerusalem to be saved from the approaching judgement. It is a moving gesture. Today the same appeal is made wherever Christians gather: we come together to unite in worshipping God so that we can be revived, restored and saved. Today, God appeals to you: ‘Come to me now, without delay, before it is too late.’ Find yourself in the posture of worship. There is rest and hope for you in God.
Reach out to God and wait on him.
Read 2 Chronicles 30 and 31
