Symbols in the Bible Symbolization: To Be Ceremonially Clean

Original Entry Date 3/24/2015:
All through the Old Testament we read about kings in Israel and Judah, rising to power and then dying. Many of them were deemed evil, turning the people away from the Lord.
These evil Kings would rise to power. And we would read, “…and he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord.”

Then, every so often, a king with a heart for the Lord would rise. He would clean up the mess or the former, turning the hearts of the people back to God.
King Hezekiah was one of those where we read,”…And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord…”
(For more about Hezekiah read the following entries Symbolization: True Worship to God and Symbolization: Sanctification and Cleansing the Temple)

At the end of Chapter 29 we read how Hezekiah brought order back to the House of the Lord, restoring true worship and burnt offerings to God alone. All of the people rejoiced with gladness of heart. The Passover came to Hezekiahs mind:

And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to the Lord God of Israel. ²For the king and his leaders and all the assembly in Jerusalem had agreed to keep the Passover in the second month. ³For they could not keep it at the regular time, because a sufficient number of priests had not consecrated themselves, nor had the people gathered together at Jerusalem. ⁴And the matter pleased the king and all the assembly. ⁵So they resolved to make a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover to the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem, since they had not done it for a long time in the prescribed manner.
2 Chronicles 30:1-5 NKJV
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The runners went throughout the lands proclaiming to all who would listen:

⁸Now do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord; and enter His sanctuary, which He has sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you. ⁹For if you return to the Lord, your brethren and your children will be treated with compassion by those who lead them captive, so that they may come back to this land; for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn His face from you if you return to Him.”
So the runners passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun; but they laughed at them and mocked them. ¹¹Nevertheless some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ¹²Also the hand of God was on Judah to give them singleness of heart to obey the command of the king and the leaders, at the word of the Lord.
2 Chronicles 30:8-12 NKJV
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Now here is where things get interesting. Thinking of God in the OT, I think of the danger of being unclean and to enter His Presence. Remember, the High Priest wore bells on his garments. The sound would reassure those outside that he had not fallen dead after entering the Holy Place.
In the next portion of scripture, we read of this mass of people, approaching the Lord. They are ceremonially unclean by the standards of the Law. But their hearts desire is for the Living God:

¹³Now many people, a very great assembly, gathered at Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month. ¹⁴They arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and they took away all the incense altars and cast them into the Brook Kidron. ¹⁵Then they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought the burnt offerings to the house of the Lord. ¹⁶They stood in their place according to their custom, according to the Law of Moses the man of God; the priests sprinkled the blood received from the hand of the Levites. ¹⁷For there were many in the assembly who had not sanctified themselves; therefore the Levites had charge of the slaughter of the Passover lambs for everyone who was not clean, to sanctify them to the Lord.
2 Chronicles 30:13-17 NKJV
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Through the Blood of Christ, the Passover Lamb, we can enter Gods Presence. And Jesus, our Intercessor stands in the gap for us. Here we see Hezekiah as a symbol of Jesus interceding for us as we come to the Lord:

¹⁸For a multitude of the people, many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord provide atonement for everyone ¹⁹who prepares his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.” ²⁰And the Lord listened to Hezekiah and healed the people.
2 Chronicles 30:18-20
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Thank You, Lord Jesus. You are at the Right Hand of God, in all Your Glory and in all Your splendor. But Your thoughts and desire are set on us. There is no greater love than this, I pray that we Love in this same manner, Lord. Amen