My Favourite Bible Story
i do have a favourite. There are a ton of good ones in there ~ & seriously, every time i read my bible, i find details that i've missed every other time. It is such a good book. i love the "do not worry" passage in Matthew ~ & haven't we all at some point felt like we could relate to Job? & then there's Jonah... & the big fish & John the Baptist & Elijah... i love the story of the fiery furnace & the story of Esther being born 'for such a time as this'... just jumping around randomly to a few that pop to mind as i type this...
But, my favourite bible story is in 2 Chronicles.
It's part of the story of King Hezekiah ~ i know he wasn't perfect ~ but there's a part where the people have totally fallen away from God, Hezekiah says, "our fathers were unfaithful"... & he knows things need to change ~ but it's not even Hezekiah's obedience that gets me. It's later on, when Hezekiah decides to celebrate Passover. It's supposed to be celebrated in a certain way & there were rules to follow & times to observe it. They hadn't been able to celebrate it at the regular time because not enough priests had 'consecrated' themselves & the people had not assembled in Jerusalem ~ & later on it says 'since many in the crowd had not consecrated themselves'... (2 chronicles 30:18-20) "*yet* they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them saying, "May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone who sets his heart on seeking God ~ the Lord, the God of his fathers ~ even if he is not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary." And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people."
So i love this story because every so often, i've wondered, 'God, have we just fallen too far & are too far gone to hear your voice & follow? Have we messed up our bible translations, have we misinterpreted the Good News? Have we passed down tradition instead of *true* Christianity? Hezekiah's story gives me hope. They did it wrong, & the only thing they had in their defence was that they had set their hearts on seeking God.
It's not a finish line, but it's a good starting point. i'm setting my heart on seeking God ~ He is faithful ~ i have to believe that He will teach me & not let me continue in ignorance...
So, i make Hezekiah's prayer mine too...
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3 comments:
That is one of my favorite stories too.
They didn't do it wrong.. there is provision in Torah for doing Passover 1 month later, for those who have become defiled or who were away on a trip.. Numbers 9: 6 But there were certain people who had become unclean because of someone's corpse, so that they could not observe Pesach on that day. So they came before Moshe and Aharon that day 7 and said to him, "We are unclean because of someone's corpse; but why must we be kept from bringing the offering for ADONAI at the time designated for the people of Isra'el?" 8 Moshe answered them, "Wait, so that I can hear what ADONAI will order concerning you." 9 ADONAI said to Moshe, 10 "Tell the people of Isra'el, 'If any of you now or in future generations is unclean because of a corpse, or if he is on a trip abroad, nevertheless he is to observe Pesach. 11 But he will observe it in the second month on the fourteenth day at dusk. They are to eat it with matzah and maror,
Hezekiah celebrated Pesach on this second month.. .. if he had celebrated it at any other time, it would have been sin - and not credited as a blessing to the Lord These feasts are an appointed time - like an appointment in your date book. If you show up late, or at a different time than what's written in your date book, the person you're meeting might not be there anymore.. he might not have waited around for you to show up. Fortunately we serve a forgiving God, but we need to meet with Him according to HIS schedule, not our own..
Sombra HSB/MoreLittleWilsons
~yes~ you're right, there was a provision for not celebrating it at the regular time, but it does say that they had done it 'contrary to what was written'(eating Passover despite being unclean) ~ which is where i was getting that they had done it wrong...
You are *also* right, that we are incredibly fortunate to be serving a forgiving God... :)
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