II Chronicles 30:13-21

Knowing the people's mind, does it not seem likely to you that if Hezekiah had not taken charge and forced them under the threat of the authority of the government, that if they did not do thus and such, it was not going to go well for them? That is exactly what he did. In order for him to control things, rather than allow the people to sacrifice the Passover lamb at their homes, he instead moved the operation to the Temple so he could personally watch and supervise what was going on.

Notice these differences between this Passover kept and celebrated in the days of Hezekiah, at the king's command, with what we have learned from Exodus 12 and Exodus 25 through 40. This is the very first time in the Bible that we have these things appearing.

Ezra was faithful to let us know that even in the days of Solomon and David when the nation had God's favor, it was not done this way. You would think that if they had God's favor there might be more leniency. But no, even in the days of Solomon and David no Passover was kept like this. Even though it was a Passover to God, it was different from what was commanded in Exodus. The main reason is because of the total paganization of the Judeans. They were so steeped in Baalism that it was not possible to trust them to keep a Passover at home.

That is exactly what Hezekiah attempted. He attempted, through a centralization of the worship, to somehow bring about a purification. It failed, but it was one good king's attempt to try to do something to turn the people around, and I have no doubt at all that God accepted it. It was better than no Passover at all. Even though God accepted it, this does not mean God changed His original command. It is very clearly seen the people understood this, because I gave you readings from books by Philo and Josephus that clearly showed that in the days of Christ the people were still offering the Passover sacrifice in their own homes.

The Passover under II Chronicles does not give authority for a change. It is only recording a very unusual circumstance in which the king took control of the situation. He tried to turn the nation around by centralizing the worship so that he could keep track of what the people were doing. This Passover led to even greater reform, but it did not change things for very long.

II Chronicles 30:15-21

Here comes John 18 in this. You are going to have to connect this to II Chronicles 30:15-21, and that is this: that the Passover could be eaten with a measure of legal impurity. The real Passover could be eaten with a measure of legal impurity. You should understand that from yourself. You take the Passover knowing that you have sinned. And that's the very reason that you take it! Thus it was with them, as well. The Passover presumes that the person taking it has sinned.