TITLE:  Hezekiah’s Passover
TEXT:  2 Kings 18:4-7
PROPOSITION:  There are no exceptions to the details of a command from God.
QUESTION:  Why?
KEY WORD:  Viewpoints
SCRIPTURE READING:  Same

INTRODUCTION:

1. John Mark Hicks (teacher at Lipscomb) and Greg Taylor (editor of Wineskins) authored a book – Down in the River to Pray
2. Gist of the book:
   1. Baptism is important
   2. But not essential
   3. One is not lost because of a detail – sprinkled, infant, wrong reason
3. Their argument is based on Hezekiah’s Passover
   1. Passover was to be on the 14^th day of FIRST month.
   2. Hezekiah has a Passover on the 14^th day of the SECOND month
   3. AND GOD ACCEPTED AND APPROVED IT!

Background

1. Hezekiah – king at 25
2. Drove out idol worship (2 Chronicles 29:2-3)
3. Hezekiah led a restoration movement – Passover
4. BUT – people not notified, priests not consecrated, people not clean
5. SO – Passover was on the 2^nd month instead of the 1^st

Result

1. Hezekiah’s Passover was different in 2 ways
   1. Time of celebration – wrong month from normal time
   2. Some of the ritual prescriptions were not followed
2. He prayed for forgiveness – 2 Chronicles 30:18-20

Abuses

1. Some are saying that ritual, details, specifics are not important
2. As long as we are seeking God – He will overlook the details, specifics
3. Hicks and Taylor, (185) “God values a seeker’s heart and benevolent mercy more than ritual.”
4. “Is there any unity to be had at the river, where Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, and Campbellites had trod?” (256)
5. “Baptism is a normative means through which God mediates his grace to us, but God is not limited by this means. “ (238)
6. They argue that God accepts anyone who seeks him even though they do not seek him “in accordance with the sanctuary’s rules of cleanness.” They say “those whose hearts seek God are received, even though they transgress his ritual prescriptions, because God is good.”
7. “Therefore, God values a transformed life more than he values baptism.” (191)

Answer

1. God allowed for Passover in the 2^nd month – Numbers 9:6-13
2. Some were not clean before Passover – Hezekiah prayed for them – knowing that they were wrong – asking for mercy and forgiveness for ignoring the details
3. This example does not support – ignore the details – it points out the danger and sin of not obeying in every detail of the ritual as commanded.