II Chronicles 30:12 Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the LORD.
Spiritual Unity
I saw a man in a restaurant yesterday who was wearing a jacket that instantly drew my attention. Most people probably wouldn’t care one way or the other, because most people don’t have a connection to that brand of jacket and what it represents. That particular brand represents backpacking, skiing, and mountaineering. It is not the kind of jacket you would know much about otherwise. Because I am interested in these pursuits, I feel a certain kinship to people who wear that brand. It’s interesting to think about what draws us to other people. Sometimes what draws us is trivial. We tend to find our unity with others geographically, socially, or in other ways that are not of the highest importance.
In II Chronicles 30, we find a nation that had been in civil war. This divided Israel had neglected the worship of Jehovah. Hezekiah governed one half of that divided kingdom, Judah. Hezekiah had a change of heart, and he intended to return to worshipping Jehovah. The Bible says, “And Hezekiah sent unto all Israel and Judah…that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel.” Politically, this was a dangerous move. He was leading his kingdom to come worship at Jerusalem as God had prescribed, but he was also reaching across the border and inviting the subjects of another kingdom to likewise come.
He told all these people, both from Judah and from Israel, that God would return to them if they would turn to God. Many scorned the messengers, but verses 11-12 say, “Nevertheless diverse of Asher, Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem. Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the LORD.”
The Bible concludes by saying, “So there was great joy in Jerusalem.” There was joy because the people were united. They were not united by geography, diet, or accent, but by devotion to God. Spiritual unity is at the heart of any group of people turning to God. At the center of spiritual unity are God’s Word, God’s way, and humility.
–God’s Word– These people determined that regardless of where they were from, they were not going to let their political alliances trump their devotion to God. The closer we draw to God’s Word, the closer we are to others who are drawn to God’s Word.
–God’s Way-God had revealed the way Israel was to worship. This worship was centered in Jerusalem, regardless of the civil war that had divided the nation.
–Humility-Humility was at the very center of this turning back to God. The Bible says that diverse people from all across this divided kingdom humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. It would not have been easy for a person from the northern kingdom to go south to worship Jehovah. But that is exactly what many did. While there are many things that may draw us to other people, no source of unity is more important than a heart for God.