Lesson 340 - Senior
Memory Verse
“The LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him” (II Chronicles 30:9).
Cross References
I Hezekiah’s Proclamation Concerning the Passover
1. Following the cleansing of the Temple, Hezekiah decreed that the Passover should be kept, [2 Chronicles:30:1];[2 Chronicles:30:30]:5; [Exodus:12:1-14]; [Leviticus:23:5].
2. Because of the ceremonial uncleanness of the priests and people, the Passover had to be observed in the second month, instead of the first, [2 Chronicles:30:2-4]; [2 Chronicles:29:17], [2 Chronicles:29:34]; [Numbers:9:6-14].
3. The feast of the Passover had been neglected for a long time, [2 Chronicles:30:5]; [2 Chronicles:28:1-4]; [1 Kings:12:26-28].
4. The proclamation was sent by post-riders to all Judah and Israel, [2 Chronicles:30:6-9].
5. Some of the Israelites ridiculed the exhortation to godliness, [2 Chronicles:30:10]; [2 Chronicles:36:14-16]; [Nehemiah:4:1-3]; [Zechariah:14:16-18].
6. A great congregation responded to the proclamation and came from both kingdoms to obey God’s command, [2 Chronicles:30:11-12].
II The Observance of the Passover
1. The congregation removed all remaining idol worship, [2 Chronicles:30:13-14].
2. The zeal of the people stirred the priests, and the Passover was observed according to the Law, [2 Chronicles:30:15-16].
3. Hezekiah prayed for God’s mercy on the earnest worshipers who were unable to fulfil all the Law’s requirements, [2 Chronicles:30:17-20]; [1 Samuel:16:7]; [1 Chronicles:28:9]; [Isaiah:1:10-20].
4. The feast of unleavened bread was extended because of continued great blessings from God, [2 Chronicles:30:21-23]; [Exodus:12:15-20]; [Exodus:13:6-10]; [Leviticus:23:5-8].
III The Results of Obedience to the Law of God
1. The king encouraged the Levites in their service to God, giving his own substance for the continued feasts and offerings, [2 Chronicles:30:22-24].
2. Great joy and rejoicing were present in Jerusalem, [2 Chronicles:30:25-27].
3. Following the Passover, the people returned to their cities, destroying the places of idolatrous worship, [2 Chronicles:31:1].
4. Hezekiah reinstated other parts of God’s worship that had been neglected, [2 Chronicles:31:2-19]; [Numbers:18:8-32].
5. Hezekiah prospered because of his attitude toward God’s Law, [2 Chronicles:31:20-21]; [2 Chronicles:29:2], [2 Chronicles:29:10-11].
Notes
Hezekiah, the Restorer of God’s Worship
King Hezekiah set out to re-establish the true worship of God immediately after he ascended to the throne of Judah. In the first month of his reign he opened the doors of the House of God and encouraged the Levites and priests to reconsecrate themselves for the service to which God had called them.
The Passover
“When Israel was in Egypt land,
Let My people go.
Oppressed so hard they could not stand,
Let My people go.”
In this manner, a song of our Southland begins. And songs of many other nations have, in the same manner, pointed to a great event, which took place in Egypt about 1,500 years before the birth of Christ. This event was the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, which was initiated by a feast called the Feast of the Passover. While the Israelites feasted, in accordance with the command of God, in their dwellings, the Egyptians felt the wrath of God in their homes. The death angel passed over the land and visited every home where the blood of the paschal lamb was not found on the doorposts and lintels. God had said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you” [Exodus:12:13]). The feast instituted that night was to be celebrated yearly by the Israelites after they entered the Promised Land, and it was named the Feast of the Passover because of this promise of God. In this way they were to remember the deliverance God had given them in Egypt.
Many of the rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic Law have been forgotten by modern Jewry, but they still remember and celebrate the Passover. Every Orthodox Jewish home has its feast on that night; portions of the Word of God are read aloud, while other portions are chanted by the participants as they partake of the items of food that are symbolic of the original Passover feast. It is a feast that is very dear to the heart of the Jews. They have again been oppressed in recent centuries and are again looking for deliverance.
Hezekiah’s Restoration of the Passover
As king of Judah, Hezekiah had a right to call his subjects together for any purpose he thought wise in connection with the kingdom of Judah. But he had another right, which he exercised over the whole of Israel – the ten tribes that were under King Hoshea as well as those that were called Judah. As king of the tribe, the right was his to call all the chosen people to the worship of God, and it could be held at no other place than Jerusalem.
Had Hezekiah not sent posts throughout the whole of Israel to call the entire nation to this observance of the Passover, he would have been derelict in his duty. Jeroboam, the first king of Israel after the division of the kingdom, had set up an idolatrous worship to substitute for the true worship so the ten tribes would not go to Jerusalem and there be reunited politically, as well as religiously, with the kingdom of Judah. Through this period of 250 years the ten tribes had not gone to Jerusalem to worship God, but had followed the evil and base practices of idolatry instead.
In the southern kingdom, things had not been much better during most of the time since the division, for “when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him” [2 Chronicles:12:1]). Now, when the true worship was again being observed, it was proper that the king who was responsible for that re-establishment notify all the Israelites so that they all might come and benefit from God’s blessings that were bound to be present.
It was not possible for the Passover to be celebrated at the proper time because the Temple was not cleansed until after the Passover date. But Hezekiah was not willing to let another year pass without observance of this glorious feast. In the Mosaic Law, Hezekiah saw that one exception was allowed to the eating of the Passover on the 15th day of the first month. This exception was made in the event people were not ceremonially clean at the time of the Passover. Hezekiah invoked God’s provision in this regard and announced that the Passover would be eaten in the second month, instead of the first.
Hezekiah’s advice was good. He wrote to Israel: “Be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.” The ten tribes of Israel were already feeling the wrath of God, and it was only a few months after this that their captivity and dispersion was complete. Judah was not carried away into captivity until about 150 years later, which delay is directly attributable to the godliness of some of Judah’s kings and the revivals that had taken place in that kingdom. Those who fear God will be protected by Him. Those who honour God will be provided for by Him. These principles apply today as well as in former centuries, to us as well as to the Israelites.
The Destruction of Idol Worship
But all the Israelites did not respond to Hezekiah’s invitation to come to Jerusalem. “They laughed them to scorn, and mocked them. Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulon humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.” “And there assembled at Jerusalem much people . . . a very great congregation.”
These people, whose hearts had no doubt hungered long for the opportunity to mingle with others of kindred faith and worship of the true God, had no love for the substitute religion their kings had invented. And once the true worship was established they had no time nor devotion for anything but the worship of the living God. They broke down the altars in Jerusalem, casting the rubbish into the public dumping ground at the brook Kidron. Then, after the feast was finished and they were returning to their homes, they “went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all.”
In the heart of the true child of God there is no desire for anything less than the worship of the true God. There will be no compromising of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in that person. He will be patient and helpful to those who are weak, long-suffering and kind to those who need help and instruction, but at the same time he will hold a firm attitude toward the doctrines of the Word. Even if those who brought him the Gospel in the first place, or angels from Heaven, would come to tell him that the Gospel is no longer effective or operative, he would not receive them. He knows whom he has believed, and is persuaded that God is able to keep that which has been committed to Him until the consummation of all things.
The true child of God knows that God never changes, that His Word is forever settled in Heaven [Psalms:119:89]). Therefore, the true child of God puts his confidence in that Word and promise, and remains firm no matter how many about him depart from the faith. It is this firm hope and determination that carries the Christian through every adversity, and which eventually brings him to his heavenly home. How encouraging it is to see this fidelity in the world today, in the hearts and lives of the faithful few whom God has chosen! And how wonderful to see that even in the darkest time of the ten tribes’ history, that same spirit was present in the hearts of a great congregation who sent to Jerusalem to worship the God of Heaven!
The Results of the Re-establishment of True Worship
God honours obedience to His Word. Obedience is more important than sacrifices or rituals [1 Samuel:15:22]).
The blind man of Jesus’ day would never have been healed had he not obeyed the words of the Master and washed the clay from his eyes. Naaman the Syrian would never have been cleansed of his leprosy had he not dipped in Jordan the seven times that were specified by the man of God. The fire of God would never have fallen on the brazen altar at the establishment of the Tabernacle worship had Moses not been careful to see that all details shown him in the mount were followed. Obedience is necessary if we are to receive the blessing of God. When God commands, it is time to obey! It is wise, also, to obey instantly, and not to ponder or weigh the matter, once the will of God is clear.
Those who obeyed in Hezekiah’s time were blessed. “There was great joy in Jerusalem.” “Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven.” The people obeyed God concerning the firstfruits of their harvest. They paid their tithes. They brought freewill offerings. And when they did these things, the Lord blessed them the more, and prospered them in every way. The priests and Levites were provided for as God had ordained, and they were able to continue the work and service of God, which was instituted for the spiritual and temporal welfare of the people. So we can see that the nation was doubly blessed by their keeping of the commands of God.
With what a wonderful statement does our lesson text close! It is written that Hezekiah “wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.”
Here is the key to success in every phase of life. If we do that which is “good and right and truth” before our God; if we do with all our heart every work that we begin in the service of the House of God, and in the Word of God, to seek the Lord with all diligence – if we do these things we will be spiritually blessed and we will prosper. This is the Word of God. This is the promise of God. Could any man, or group of men, promise and give us more than that? Never could God’s assurances be excelled, for there is nothing greater than the blessings of God. The true child of God says: “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee” [Psalms:73:25]).
Questions
1. About what important Jewish feast is our lesson concerned? How often was this feast to be celebrated? What great event did it commemorate?
2. Why was the date of this feast postponed at this particular time? Was Hezekiah right in postponing it?
3. What right did Hezekiah have, as king of Judah only, to send a decree to the people of Israel?
4. How did Hezekiah send the decree?
5. What reaction was there to the decree?
6. What did the congregation do to the places of idol worship?
7. What happened when the people obeyed the command of God and observed the Passover?
8. What other ordinances of God were obeyed after the Passover?
9. What attitude are we to take toward those who would attempt to lead us away from the true Gospel?
10. What is said in the last verses of our lesson concerning Hezekiah? How is it a good example for us?