2 Chronicles 30:7
And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see. And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see.
The verse is part of Hezekiah's urgent letter carried by posts and couriers throughout all Israel and Judah, from Beersheba even to Dan and from city to city through Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun. It was sent in the third year of Hoshea's reign to the feeble escaped remnant still dwelling in the territory of the once-flourishing northern kingdom after its terrible blow from Assyria from which it never recovered. That blow had come when Tiglath-pileser carried away the Reubenites and Gadites and half tribe of Manasseh, with others of Gilead and Galilee and Naphtali.
It warns that escaped remnant not to be like their fathers and brethren who trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as they could see. The ruined condition of the northern kingdom and the judgments falling on the ten tribes were visible evidence of the consequences of disobedience and unfaithfulness. The display of those consequences stirred some people to seek God and respond to the invitation to worship in Jerusalem.
The warning accompanies a merciful invitation to turn again from idolatry to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel while a remnant still had the chance to do so. Through Hezekiah's reforms and Passover at Jerusalem, to which the northern tribes were invited with Judah and Benjamin to worship, God still remembered mercy and gave the people another opportunity. If they would return to Him, He would return to them and turn away the fierceness of His wrath, and would show compassion to their captive brethren and children.
The verse belongs to the account of Hezekiah's first Passover, when priests were provided and provision was made for teaching the people through public and daily reading of the law. Observing the statutes recorded by Moses, especially those in the book of the covenant, helped make his reign prosperous. The verse also speaks to the position of God's people at the present time, warning them not to follow that trespass and calling them to give themselves wholly to the Lord. That wholehearted consecration brings refreshing from the presence of the Lord, melts hearts to tenderness, and leads people of all ages to come forward and receive blessing.