King Hezekiah Restore the Temple (2 Chronicles 29)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:07.990 He may be seated. Well, let's continue our reading in second chronicles. 2 00:00:08.070 --> 00:00:15.949 Were in second chronicles twenty nine, coming to a high point in the book 3 00:00:18.390 --> 00:00:27.339 and also coming to the end. Second Chronicles Twenty nine begins several chapters on 4 00:00:27.539 --> 00:00:42.289 King Hezekiah's reign. Let's hear God's word now and believe. Hezekiah began to 5 00:00:42.369 --> 00:00:46.729 reign when he was twenty five years old and he reigned twenty nine years in 6 00:00:46.770 --> 00:00:52.880 Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah, and he 7 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:57.000 did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that 8 00:00:57.079 --> 00:01:00.079 David, his father had done. In the first year of his reign, 9 00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:03.790 in the first month, he opened the doors of the House of the Lord 10 00:01:03.790 --> 00:01:08.590 and repaired them. He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them 11 00:01:08.629 --> 00:01:12.150 in the square on the east and said to them, hear me, Levites, 12 00:01:12.709 --> 00:01:17.829 now consecrate yourselves and consecrate the House of the Lord, the God of 13 00:01:17.870 --> 00:01:23.340 your father's and carry out the filth from this holy place, for our fathers 14 00:01:23.379 --> 00:01:26.340 have been unfaithful and have done what is evil. Were what was evil in 15 00:01:26.379 --> 00:01:30.459 the side of the Lord, our God. They have forsaken him and have 16 00:01:30.620 --> 00:01:36.010 turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord and turned their backs. 17 00:01:36.849 --> 00:01:41.090 They also shut the doors of the vestibule and put out the lamps and have 18 00:01:41.290 --> 00:01:45.290 not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of 19 00:01:45.370 --> 00:01:49.920 Israel. Therefore, the wrath of God came upon Judah and Jerusalem and he 20 00:01:51.040 --> 00:01:55.599 has made them an object of horror, of astonishment, of hissing, as 21 00:01:55.719 --> 00:02:00.159 you see with your own eyes. For behold, our fathers have fallen by 22 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:04.549 the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity. 23 00:02:04.670 --> 00:02:08.629 For this. Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with 24 00:02:08.750 --> 00:02:14.270 the Lord, the God of Israel, in order that his fierce anger may 25 00:02:14.389 --> 00:02:19.659 turn away from us. My sons do not know. Do not now be 26 00:02:19.900 --> 00:02:23.379 negligent, for the Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence, to 27 00:02:23.539 --> 00:02:30.650 Minister to him and to be his ministers and make offerings to him. Then 28 00:02:30.689 --> 00:02:36.650 the Levites arose, Maha Ma F, the son of Amasai, and Joel, 29 00:02:36.810 --> 00:02:40.009 the son of Azariah, and the sons of the Koothites and the sons 30 00:02:40.050 --> 00:02:46.400 of Mayor Mirari Kiss, the son of Abdi, and Azariah, the son 31 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:53.080 of Jalahillel, and the Gershenots, Gershenites, Joah, the son of Zimma 32 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:58.000 and Eden, the son of Joah, and the sons of Ellis, Fawn, 33 00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:04.710 Shimri and Jetouel, and the sons of Asath Zechariah and Matania, and 34 00:03:04.870 --> 00:03:09.550 the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shemai and the sons of Jedathan and Sheemi, 35 00:03:09.909 --> 00:03:15.580 Shemiah and Uziel. They gathered their brothers and consecrated themselves and went in, 36 00:03:15.740 --> 00:03:20.580 as the king had commanded by the words of the Lord, to cleanse 37 00:03:20.699 --> 00:03:23.900 the House of the Lord. The priests went into the Inter inner part of 38 00:03:23.939 --> 00:03:27.849 the House of the Lord to cleanse it, and they brought out all the 39 00:03:27.930 --> 00:03:31.090 uncleanliness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the Court of the 40 00:03:31.169 --> 00:03:35.770 House of the Lord and the Levites took it and carried it out to the 41 00:03:35.810 --> 00:03:39.009 Brook Kidron. They began to consecrate on the first month, day of the 42 00:03:39.090 --> 00:03:43.560 first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the 43 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:46.960 vestibule of the Lord. Then for eight days they consecrated the House of the 44 00:03:47.080 --> 00:03:53.039 Lord and on the Sixteen Day of the first month they finished. Then they 45 00:03:53.159 --> 00:03:58.550 went into Hezekiah, the king, and said we have cleansed all the house 46 00:03:58.629 --> 00:04:01.750 of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and 47 00:04:01.870 --> 00:04:06.189 the table for the showbread and all its utensils, all the utensils the king 48 00:04:06.349 --> 00:04:11.699 a has discarded in his reign when he was faithless, we have made ready 49 00:04:12.060 --> 00:04:17.819 and consecrated and behold they are before the altar of the Lord. Then Hezekiah, 50 00:04:17.899 --> 00:04:21.379 the king, rose early and gathered the officials of the city and went 51 00:04:21.459 --> 00:04:26.970 up to the House of the Lord and they brought seven bulls, seven rams, 52 00:04:27.490 --> 00:04:30.649 seven lambs and seven male Gos for a sin offering for the kingdom and 53 00:04:31.050 --> 00:04:35.970 for the sanctuary and for Judah. And he commanded the priests, the sons 54 00:04:36.009 --> 00:04:40.759 of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. So they 55 00:04:40.800 --> 00:04:45.199 slaughtered the Bulls and the priests received the blood and threw it against the altar, 56 00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:48.199 and they slatted the rams and their blood was thrown against the altar, 57 00:04:48.600 --> 00:04:53.750 and they slaughtered the lambs and their blood was thrown against the altar. Then 58 00:04:53.750 --> 00:04:57.629 the goats for the sin offering were brought to the king and the assembly and 59 00:04:57.709 --> 00:05:00.470 they laid their hands on them and the priest slaughtered them and made a sin 60 00:05:00.589 --> 00:05:05.709 offering with their blood on the altar to make atonement for all Israel. For 61 00:05:05.790 --> 00:05:10.819 the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for 62 00:05:10.939 --> 00:05:15.819 all Israel, and he stationed the Levites in the House of the Lord with 63 00:05:15.939 --> 00:05:18.980 Symbols Harps and liars, according to the commandment of David and of Gad, 64 00:05:19.300 --> 00:05:24.170 the king's Sear, and of Nathan, the Prophet, for the commandment was 65 00:05:24.290 --> 00:05:29.129 from the Lord through his prophets. The Levites stood with the instruments of David 66 00:05:29.129 --> 00:05:32.329 and the priests with the trumpets. Then has a Kaiah commanded that the burnt 67 00:05:32.410 --> 00:05:35.839 offerings be offered on the altar. And when the all and when the burnt 68 00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:40.879 offering began, the song to the Lord began also, and the trumpets, 69 00:05:40.920 --> 00:05:45.800 accompanied by the instruments of David, King of Israel. The whole assembly worshiped 70 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:49.709 and all the singers sang and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the 71 00:05:49.790 --> 00:05:55.149 burnt offering was finished. When the offering was finished, the king and all 72 00:05:55.189 --> 00:05:59.389 who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped and has a high of the 73 00:05:59.389 --> 00:06:02.350 king and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the 74 00:06:02.389 --> 00:06:08.139 words of David and of Asaf the seer, and they saying praises with gladness 75 00:06:08.459 --> 00:06:14.180 and they bowed down and worshiped. Then Hezekiah said, you have now consecrated 76 00:06:14.220 --> 00:06:18.250 yourselves to the Lord. Come near, bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the 77 00:06:18.329 --> 00:06:23.889 House of the Lord. And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and 78 00:06:24.089 --> 00:06:28.170 all who were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings. The number of the 79 00:06:28.250 --> 00:06:31.649 burnt offerings that the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams and two 80 00:06:31.649 --> 00:06:36.360 hundred lambs. All these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. And 81 00:06:36.519 --> 00:06:43.399 the consecrated offerings were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep. But the priests 82 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:46.709 were too few and could not flay all the burnt offerings. So until other 83 00:06:46.790 --> 00:06:51.069 priests had consecrated themselves, their brothers, the levites, helped them until the 84 00:06:51.149 --> 00:06:56.709 work was finished, for the Levites were more upright in heart than the priests 85 00:06:56.829 --> 00:07:01.500 in consecrating themselves. Besides the great number of burnt offerings, there was the 86 00:07:01.579 --> 00:07:05.579 fat of the peace offerings and there were the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. 87 00:07:06.139 --> 00:07:10.220 Thus the service of the House of God, or how the House of 88 00:07:10.259 --> 00:07:15.810 the Lord was restored and Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had provided 89 00:07:15.850 --> 00:07:21.689 for the people, for the thing came about. Suddenly, my God, 90 00:07:21.769 --> 00:07:36.199 plesses were to us. Well, has a kioh certainly a remarkable young man. 91 00:07:38.680 --> 00:07:44.589 By his age, today he would be a millennial. What chiefly characterizes 92 00:07:44.629 --> 00:07:49.110 him, though, is not his age, but his actions. They are 93 00:07:49.149 --> 00:07:56.550 summarized in verse two, where it says that he did what was right in 94 00:07:56.629 --> 00:08:01.699 the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David, his father, 95 00:08:01.379 --> 00:08:09.579 had done. Hezekiah lived his life not for the sake of power, the 96 00:08:09.660 --> 00:08:13.250 sake of honor or for his flesh. Well, he did, he did 97 00:08:13.370 --> 00:08:16.250 for the Lord, and if you want to understand that, just consider the 98 00:08:16.329 --> 00:08:20.529 actions of his father, David. In many ways, the work of David 99 00:08:20.610 --> 00:08:26.449 and also of Solomon to come here together in second chronicles twenty nine, in 100 00:08:26.610 --> 00:08:33.000 this son of their's, a grandson of several generations King Hezekiah, we see 101 00:08:33.080 --> 00:08:37.639 many, many details in which he is a leading the way. Notice how 102 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:41.990 often David's name comes up, not only here in verse two, but when 103 00:08:43.029 --> 00:08:48.149 it mentions David songs, David's instruments, of the preparations David made according to 104 00:08:48.230 --> 00:08:54.429 David's instructions. Here we are perhaps gaining a little bit of hope, and 105 00:08:54.629 --> 00:08:58.980 as we read in the story, that God is going to provide a son 106 00:08:58.059 --> 00:09:03.340 of David after all to sit on the throne and establish rule in Israel. 107 00:09:05.500 --> 00:09:09.210 This was a very good thing, because after this is following a very evil 108 00:09:09.289 --> 00:09:16.330 king. I'm it says here that David was his father, has a Kai 109 00:09:16.450 --> 00:09:20.330 did according to all that David his father had done, but this is used 110 00:09:20.409 --> 00:09:26.600 in the broad or general way that genealogy sometimes use this language. His most 111 00:09:26.679 --> 00:09:33.200 direct father was a has, and they has was most recently the part of 112 00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:39.429 all of Israel's troubles. Hez A KIAH was very different, though. Where 113 00:09:39.470 --> 00:09:43.230 his father, a has had destroyed the temple, closed the doors, dismissed 114 00:09:43.309 --> 00:09:48.549 the priests and set up altars for other gods, has a Kiah was undoing 115 00:09:48.669 --> 00:09:54.580 all of that. He was returning back to the fear of the Lord. 116 00:09:54.580 --> 00:09:58.820 He was hoping that God would relent in his as we read in verse ten, 117 00:10:00.059 --> 00:10:05.220 fierce anger turned from us because of the rejection of God that had happened 118 00:10:05.299 --> 00:10:11.289 in Israel under a has. There was tragedy, has a Kaiah explains that. 119 00:10:13.009 --> 00:10:16.090 He says in verse nine, for behold, our fathers have fallen by 120 00:10:16.169 --> 00:10:22.000 the sword, our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity. 121 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:28.759 For this now a has when he and other kings that had come for has 122 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:33.639 a Kai, when they faced similar situations, oppression, captivity, war. 123 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:37.590 Many times the choice they made was to turn to other gods for help, 124 00:10:39.190 --> 00:10:43.110 to turn to other kings and alliances. This is not what Hezekiah does. 125 00:10:45.269 --> 00:10:50.580 His heart is for the Lord. So what does Haze Kaiah do? Well, 126 00:10:50.659 --> 00:10:54.179 he does many things, and we start just here in this chapter. 127 00:10:54.860 --> 00:10:58.899 The first thing that we read is in verse three. In the first year 128 00:10:58.899 --> 00:11:05.049 of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the 129 00:11:05.169 --> 00:11:09.250 House of the Lord and repaired him, prepared them. This is a man 130 00:11:09.570 --> 00:11:13.690 on a mission. He knows what he's supposed to do and he is on 131 00:11:13.970 --> 00:11:22.840 task. As he responds here to all the work the A has had a 132 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:28.360 done, he desires now to come before Yahweh to bow low and repentance and 133 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:35.070 humility and trust that the Lord will bless them. And indeed that is what 134 00:11:35.230 --> 00:11:41.549 the Lord does. He opens the temple up. The second thing he does 135 00:11:41.789 --> 00:11:45.870 is he calls to him the priests and the Levites, he assembles them in 136 00:11:45.950 --> 00:11:48.659 the square and essentially says, brothers, we have a job to do. 137 00:11:50.100 --> 00:11:54.899 He even commands them with this interesting language later on where he says my son's 138 00:11:54.940 --> 00:12:03.690 he's speaks to these levites and these priests and he says we have a massive 139 00:12:03.850 --> 00:12:07.970 problem on our hands. The temple is a mess. And that was true 140 00:12:09.129 --> 00:12:13.970 in two senses. In just a messy, cluttered sense, likely it had 141 00:12:15.009 --> 00:12:20.240 been abandoned, it had been wasted and misused, but in a moral sense, 142 00:12:20.600 --> 00:12:24.159 the sense in which Jesus was referring to when we were talking in Matthew 143 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:31.629 Fifteen, the temple had been defiled by the king, by the priests, 144 00:12:31.870 --> 00:12:37.669 by the Levites and others. No more. It's time to re establish the 145 00:12:37.830 --> 00:12:43.590 worship of God in Israel, it's time to come close to the Lord, 146 00:12:43.590 --> 00:12:48.500 it's time to renew the covenant. And so he tells these priests and Levites 147 00:12:48.980 --> 00:12:52.419 get in there and clean it up, and they go in and that's what 148 00:12:52.539 --> 00:12:56.860 they do, and that this isn't just a matter of sweeping, as I 149 00:12:56.980 --> 00:13:01.730 say, not just a matter of putting things in place and getting things back 150 00:13:01.730 --> 00:13:05.529 in order, but it's a matter of holiness and in the various ways in 151 00:13:05.649 --> 00:13:09.850 which the story is tell they won't pull up, put out or point out 152 00:13:09.889 --> 00:13:16.799 all the details, but the author, or this chroniclers historian, is very 153 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:22.679 precise and giving us details to help us understand that they were very precise in 154 00:13:22.759 --> 00:13:26.039 the way that they went about this. So, for example, I'll give 155 00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:31.830 you just one. The priests are the one that go into the holy place. 156 00:13:31.029 --> 00:13:35.750 The Levites don't enter in after they set everything up there and they bring 157 00:13:35.830 --> 00:13:41.340 it out, then the Levites are allowed to handle it. Later on when 158 00:13:41.340 --> 00:13:45.659 we read about the sacrifices being offered, it's the same kind of things. 159 00:13:46.059 --> 00:13:52.259 These descriptions, these intimate descriptions about certain animals and blood being splattered on the 160 00:13:52.340 --> 00:13:58.409 altar and and various procedures. It does add drama to the story in a 161 00:13:58.450 --> 00:14:03.690 way by adding detail, but it's more than that. It's communicating something theologically 162 00:14:03.730 --> 00:14:07.769 as well. It's telling them, that telling us that they were doing things 163 00:14:07.809 --> 00:14:13.360 as God had commanded. They weren't establishing new worship. They weren't saying, 164 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:16.559 you know what, we need to get back to God, let's invent some 165 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:20.960 things to do that. No, they said, let's go back back to 166 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:24.909 what God has said. Let's do what he has commanded us to do. 167 00:14:26.029 --> 00:14:31.509 As it says in Verse Twenty, this was Hezeki as heart, Hez a 168 00:14:31.549 --> 00:14:35.149 Kia, you might put it this way, gets the Covenant Calculus Right. 169 00:14:37.269 --> 00:14:41.659 Rejection of the Lord means rejection by the Lord. When you turn away from 170 00:14:41.700 --> 00:14:46.379 him, you face his wrath and you're his anger. But it also means 171 00:14:46.860 --> 00:14:52.370 that turning to the Lord can bring life and hope, and that's what he's 172 00:14:52.450 --> 00:14:58.409 calling Israel to do. Even this word is real is significant. For a 173 00:14:58.529 --> 00:15:03.929 long time we haven't really heard about Israel in a positive sense. Israel has 174 00:15:03.970 --> 00:15:09.240 been the wicked neighbor to the north, but now has a KI is calling 175 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:16.519 all Israel to come and to join and to worship has a Chi, or 176 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:20.759 the the people have been rejected by the Lord Death, wrath, poverty. 177 00:15:20.870 --> 00:15:24.950 Has A KAI wants to turn that around. He calls the priests to turn 178 00:15:26.070 --> 00:15:37.299 that around, and then they offer these sacrifices, so many sacrifices. It 179 00:15:37.460 --> 00:15:43.980 begins with a smallish number, but it's very complete. Not only is the 180 00:15:43.059 --> 00:15:48.500 temple consecrated, but we read in verse fifteen the brothers themselves had to be 181 00:15:48.659 --> 00:15:54.330 consecrated and then they go and they offer to the Lord in Verse Twenty One, 182 00:15:54.529 --> 00:15:58.210 Seven Bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, seven male goats for a 183 00:15:58.409 --> 00:16:07.559 sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. He commanded 184 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:10.679 the priests the sons of Errand to offer them on the altar to the Lord. 185 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:17.480 If you've read much of scripture at all, you recognize that these number 186 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:25.350 sevens are not just random numbers but their way of showing completeness and of commitment 187 00:16:25.549 --> 00:16:30.309 and and wholeness. They are bringing not a small portion but a complete number 188 00:16:30.389 --> 00:16:37.139 as they go and they offer a sin offering to the Lord. Later on 189 00:16:37.259 --> 00:16:40.899 in the chapter we do read about other kinds of offerings, a thank offering 190 00:16:41.059 --> 00:16:48.009 particularly particularly, but not until this happens, not until they first go before 191 00:16:48.049 --> 00:16:52.809 the Lord and they show their repentance. Notice a few things about this. 192 00:16:55.090 --> 00:16:57.129 First, notice how many offerings there were, not just the seven, but 193 00:16:57.210 --> 00:17:03.320 the many that followed. Three thousand sheep. We read many people streaming in, 194 00:17:03.960 --> 00:17:07.640 people not just the the the king and the princes and other leadership, 195 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:14.720 but people throughout Judah. This is a sign of renewal, of starting over, 196 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:23.190 of commitment and repentance. King Hezekiah Praises God. At the end of 197 00:17:23.230 --> 00:17:27.549 the chapter, we read that Hezekai and all the people rejoiced because God had 198 00:17:27.589 --> 00:17:33.339 provided for the people, for the thing came about very suddenly. Can you 199 00:17:33.380 --> 00:17:37.339 imagine the risks that would have to be taken if you were King Hezekiah? 200 00:17:38.220 --> 00:17:42.019 He's not coming into a situation that's sort of sat up well for him. 201 00:17:42.940 --> 00:17:48.490 He comes into a situation where there's captivity in war, there's pressures on all 202 00:17:48.650 --> 00:17:55.369 sides. Hezek Hezekiah comes into a situation where there has been death and idolatry 203 00:17:55.490 --> 00:18:00.519 and the anger of the Lord. No doubt there were a political problems and 204 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:07.759 challenges internally and externally, but he takes a stand for the Lord and the 205 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:14.869 Lord blesses him, and not just him but all the people. He provides 206 00:18:15.029 --> 00:18:21.549 all of these sacrifices and, more importantly, he provides this repentance. The 207 00:18:21.670 --> 00:18:25.549 second thing to notice is how personal all this was. This wasn't just a 208 00:18:25.750 --> 00:18:30.859 show. The king wasn't just establishing himself on the throne or doing some kind 209 00:18:30.900 --> 00:18:36.859 of political thing as a way to increase his power. Everything that he does, 210 00:18:37.019 --> 00:18:41.099 everything that he's focused on, is focused on bringing the people back to 211 00:18:41.180 --> 00:18:45.650 the Lord. Its foe. He's focused not on kingly renewal but on theocratic 212 00:18:45.809 --> 00:18:52.769 renewal. He's focused on Yahwa, whom he loves. And finally, third, 213 00:18:55.049 --> 00:18:57.799 notice how they do not try to appease God by coming up with some 214 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:03.559 new kind of piety, as I mentioned before. They worship him according to 215 00:19:03.799 --> 00:19:08.319 his commands, where other kings have gone to other gods in times of trouble, 216 00:19:08.440 --> 00:19:17.390 other kinds of political manipulation. Hezekiah leads the people to God. But 217 00:19:17.509 --> 00:19:23.900 how does he do that? He does it through repentance. Just a practical 218 00:19:23.980 --> 00:19:30.220 comment on this. Sometimes people think that there can be grace without repentance, 219 00:19:30.059 --> 00:19:33.980 that they can go to God on their own terms and that he has to 220 00:19:34.180 --> 00:19:40.250 accept them no matter what. They think of God kind of like a needy, 221 00:19:40.569 --> 00:19:45.529 codependent gift giver. They think of God as though he means us, 222 00:19:45.289 --> 00:19:49.250 he has to take us back, that we can just sort of waltz in 223 00:19:49.490 --> 00:19:53.440 and not have to apologize or own up to anything we do, because God 224 00:19:53.680 --> 00:20:00.000 is loving and God is forgiving. God is loving. God's more loving than 225 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:06.960 you and I will ever know. God is forgiving when he cleanses us of 226 00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:10.470 our sins, as he promises to do, when we confess our sins, 227 00:20:10.509 --> 00:20:15.910 he cleanses us of all in righteousness. He makes us as wide as the 228 00:20:15.029 --> 00:20:22.180 snow. But waltzing into the Throne Room of God and demanding something that is 229 00:20:22.380 --> 00:20:29.819 owed to us is not repentance, thinking that we don't have to be accountable 230 00:20:29.819 --> 00:20:32.660 for our sins, that we can do what we want and God just has 231 00:20:32.700 --> 00:20:37.849 to deliver. Because, well, you said, God is love. That's 232 00:20:37.890 --> 00:20:45.289 not who God is. And Heze Kai understands that God promises to forgive the 233 00:20:45.369 --> 00:20:52.000 sin of those who seek him in faith and in repentance. Heze Kai understands 234 00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:59.039 the Great Holiness and supremacy of his king. He understands that they must come 235 00:20:59.240 --> 00:21:03.990 not with a list of demands, but in lowliness for their sins, but 236 00:21:04.190 --> 00:21:10.710 also in faith that God will forgive. How does this apply to us to 237 00:21:10.750 --> 00:21:15.789 day? I'll point out three things, though of course we could say a 238 00:21:15.829 --> 00:21:22.059 lot more. First, we can start with the fact that sin is still 239 00:21:22.099 --> 00:21:29.420 a reality in our lives as much as it was for them. Sin Stares 240 00:21:29.500 --> 00:21:34.650 at us in the face every day like a terminal disease, taking more and 241 00:21:34.890 --> 00:21:40.569 more and more. And if it weren't for the death of our Savior, 242 00:21:41.450 --> 00:21:45.569 who took the curse and the disease on for us, we would die from 243 00:21:45.690 --> 00:21:53.680 that disease. Sin For you, maybe is an addiction, maybe it's anger. 244 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:59.480 Maybe you find that you're caught in a web of lies. Maybe you 245 00:21:59.559 --> 00:22:04.230 find that your pride or your greed is insatiable. Maybe your heart for God 246 00:22:04.789 --> 00:22:10.549 lacks the zeal it ought. Maybe you know you're just going through the motions. 247 00:22:11.750 --> 00:22:17.539 None of us are without sin. Any of us who truly wants to 248 00:22:17.660 --> 00:22:23.859 be freed of this disease must start, however, with a diagnosis, with 249 00:22:25.140 --> 00:22:30.130 open eyes and honesty about what it is that we have in us, what 250 00:22:30.289 --> 00:22:36.569 it is the things that we have done. Sin Was a reality for them 251 00:22:37.569 --> 00:22:44.049 and it's a reality for us. The second thing to note here is that 252 00:22:44.920 --> 00:22:49.640 through repentance, God does provide the forgiveness of sins. As the people go 253 00:22:49.799 --> 00:22:52.279 to the Lord in this way, as we'll see in the coming chapters, 254 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:57.359 he blesses them greatly. Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of the 255 00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:03.670 Lord. He followed after his father David, not only in these acts of 256 00:23:03.750 --> 00:23:10.910 righteousness, but also in responding to unrighteousness, which is to say in repenting. 257 00:23:10.950 --> 00:23:15.460 David, you remember, is the one who said blessed is the one 258 00:23:15.539 --> 00:23:19.420 who's forgiven. Blessed is the one who against whom the Lord counts no iniquity. 259 00:23:21.779 --> 00:23:26.220 For David, these were not platitudes, they were things that he personally 260 00:23:26.460 --> 00:23:33.849 experienced, just as many of you have personally experienced. The forgiveness of sins, 261 00:23:34.970 --> 00:23:41.130 sinfulness, the sinfulness of sin, but also the grace of forgiveness, 262 00:23:41.170 --> 00:23:47.039 were David's and they were for Hezekiah his as well, and they can be 263 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:52.880 for us too. This is what Jesus promises when we go to him in 264 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:56.910 confession and repentance. And that brings us to the third and final thing. 265 00:23:59.269 --> 00:24:04.269 Will Sin and the promise of forgiveness of sins are still the same? There 266 00:24:04.349 --> 00:24:12.619 is something that has changed between Hezekiah's time and the theocracy and our time and 267 00:24:12.859 --> 00:24:22.900 the sojourner pilgrim lives that we live in, nonthoocratic kingdoms. The outward means 268 00:24:23.059 --> 00:24:29.329 of repentance has changed and the old covenant, the forgiveness of Sins, was 269 00:24:29.450 --> 00:24:34.049 promised through these various offerings, and that's why Hezekiah goes this way. That's 270 00:24:34.089 --> 00:24:38.680 why they offer these offerings. We have, however. We however, have 271 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:45.759 none of these. For example, this morning we together as a congregation, 272 00:24:45.960 --> 00:24:52.119 publicly confessed our sins, we asked forgiveness of God as a church, and 273 00:24:52.319 --> 00:25:00.349 not a single animal lost its life. Isn't that fascinating? Why? Why 274 00:25:00.390 --> 00:25:04.789 didn't you all show up here today with bowls and goats and rams and doves, 275 00:25:06.349 --> 00:25:10.980 piling them in the back of your minivans and whatnot? Why, just 276 00:25:11.099 --> 00:25:15.460 because we don't do it anymore, has a KAIA did it? There must 277 00:25:15.700 --> 00:25:22.769 be a reason, and there is. We are not being halfhearted in our 278 00:25:22.890 --> 00:25:29.529 repentance by not offering animal sacrifices. The reason is is that in the fullness 279 00:25:29.569 --> 00:25:36.000 of time, God sent his son Jesus to be the fulfillment of all of 280 00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:41.599 these things that are mentioned here in this chapter, the king, the temple, 281 00:25:42.599 --> 00:25:48.640 the priesthood and the sacrifices. As to the temple, Jesus, you 282 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:53.869 remember, was God incarnate, the spirit, says in Colossians to nine, 283 00:25:55.269 --> 00:26:06.339 for in him the whole fullness of Deity dwells bodily. In second chronicles, 284 00:26:06.420 --> 00:26:10.339 the temple is referred to as the House of the Lord. It is where 285 00:26:10.380 --> 00:26:17.740 the Lord dwells. Chronicles are Collossians to nine says of Jesus. In him 286 00:26:18.500 --> 00:26:26.049 the fullness of Deity dwells bodily, not in a house made of stones, 287 00:26:26.250 --> 00:26:30.410 but in a body made of flesh. John says it in his Gospel this 288 00:26:30.529 --> 00:26:37.079 way. When the word became flesh, he dwelt among us. Jesus is 289 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:44.759 the new temple. That's why we go to him and not to a temple. 290 00:26:45.079 --> 00:26:48.509 As to the priesthood, Jesus was a better priest and of a better 291 00:26:48.549 --> 00:26:53.750 order. Hebrews says this, and Hebrews Eight, we have such a high 292 00:26:53.789 --> 00:26:57.390 priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the 293 00:26:57.509 --> 00:27:03.819 Majesty in Heaven. Christ has obtained a ministry that is much more excellent than 294 00:27:03.940 --> 00:27:11.500 the old as the covenant he mediates is better. Jesus comes as a new 295 00:27:11.660 --> 00:27:18.009 priest, as a better priest. He supersedes these priests that we read in 296 00:27:18.450 --> 00:27:25.210 Second Chronicles, twenty nine. And then there's the sacrifices. Listen to Hebrews 297 00:27:25.289 --> 00:27:30.400 Nine, eleven through fourteen. But when Christ appeared as a high priest, 298 00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:36.160 of the good things that have come then through the greater and more perfect tent, 299 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:41.000 which is a reference to the Tabernacle and therefore to the temple not made 300 00:27:41.160 --> 00:27:47.390 with hands, that is not of this creation. He entered once for all 301 00:27:47.549 --> 00:27:52.950 into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves, 302 00:27:52.990 --> 00:28:03.380 but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 303 00:28:04.019 --> 00:28:10.220 For if the blood of goats and Bulls and the sprinkling of defiled persons with 304 00:28:10.380 --> 00:28:15.650 the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much 305 00:28:15.650 --> 00:28:19.890 more will the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal spirit, offered 306 00:28:19.930 --> 00:28:26.960 himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the 307 00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:38.079 Living God? How can we come to God through Jesus, just as Hez 308 00:28:38.119 --> 00:28:44.230 a Kiah did? In a way we're doing something very different, but in 309 00:28:44.309 --> 00:28:49.309 another way we're doing everything exactly the same, because Jesus is the fulfillment of 310 00:28:49.390 --> 00:28:55.779 these things, because he is the sacrifice, and a better one, because 311 00:28:55.940 --> 00:29:00.299 blood was offered, but once and for all, we come in the same 312 00:29:00.619 --> 00:29:04.539 faith and in the same hope as Hez a Kiah did, but we have 313 00:29:04.859 --> 00:29:10.289 not the shadow of the things that were, but the substance of the things 314 00:29:10.809 --> 00:29:15.650 that are now, the things that has a Kiah and the people of Israel 315 00:29:15.690 --> 00:29:22.529 did. We're not bad, but they were pointing towards something in the future. 316 00:29:22.769 --> 00:29:26.599 That's why I say when we come in confession of our sins in the 317 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:32.960 name of Jesus, in the blood of Jesus, we are not offering a 318 00:29:33.240 --> 00:29:37.279 half hearted repentance. We come in the name of blood and of the name 319 00:29:37.400 --> 00:29:41.549 of the king of Kings, of which there is nothing higher, no blood 320 00:29:41.589 --> 00:29:51.109 that is more precious. Or could atone more greatly for our sins in this 321 00:29:51.349 --> 00:29:56.500 way, though outwardly, I suspect it would be a much bigger spectacle if 322 00:29:56.539 --> 00:30:00.660 we had animals every where and I was up here cutting and, you know, 323 00:30:00.779 --> 00:30:07.970 flying animals and sprinkling blood. They would be perhaps a lot more glorious 324 00:30:07.089 --> 00:30:17.890 in a way, but ultimately it's not. When we think about how big 325 00:30:17.930 --> 00:30:23.599 a seem this would have been and what it means that Jesus has superseded all 326 00:30:23.640 --> 00:30:30.119 of that, we can stand in truth before the eyes of God and know 327 00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:34.950 that we stand in something that's even more weighty and more permanent than what they 328 00:30:34.990 --> 00:30:41.829 had. Then the humble means through which we come are not less humble, 329 00:30:42.509 --> 00:30:48.390 but more humble. We don't come through the death of animals pointing to Christ, 330 00:30:49.019 --> 00:30:55.380 but through the death of the son of God himself and the means by 331 00:30:55.420 --> 00:30:59.940 which we are raised is not less, but more. We worship not in 332 00:31:00.019 --> 00:31:06.009 the splendor of an earthly temple, but of a heavenly one, a kingdom 333 00:31:06.170 --> 00:31:14.049 that cannot be shaken. Sadly, Hezekiah's reign will come to an end, 334 00:31:15.730 --> 00:31:21.440 but that's not true of Jesus's reign. Jesus's reign will never come to an 335 00:31:21.480 --> 00:31:26.480 end, as it says in Hebrews, it's an eternal redemption, an eternal 336 00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:33.230 kingdom, and as we come together, we do so not only as the 337 00:31:33.349 --> 00:31:38.950 citizens of one nation, but as citizens of many nations throughout all the world, 338 00:31:40.750 --> 00:31:45.990 together constituting the Kingdom of God. Much more, of course, a 339 00:31:45.829 --> 00:31:52.099 could be added. The Lessons of this chapter are many, but I want 340 00:31:52.140 --> 00:31:56.740 to leave you to night to just reflect on this. Hezekiah was a great 341 00:31:56.819 --> 00:32:02.769 king who led his people back to God by leading them in the repentance of 342 00:32:02.890 --> 00:32:09.329 the old covenant, a good repentance, a holy repentance, one that trusted 343 00:32:09.490 --> 00:32:15.480 in God and his promises for forgiveness, and was effective. But this work 344 00:32:15.640 --> 00:32:22.000 was only a foreshadow of what would come in Christ. We learn best from 345 00:32:22.039 --> 00:32:28.039 this chapter when we see what he did as just the beginning of what Jesus 346 00:32:28.079 --> 00:32:34.869 would finally accomplish. Jesus not only leads us back to God, he came, 347 00:32:35.470 --> 00:32:40.230 He who came to us, was God and is God, and because 348 00:32:40.309 --> 00:32:45.259 of that you can know that whenever you offer repentance in his name, you 349 00:32:45.460 --> 00:32:52.660 will be forgiven, you will be blessed and you may rejoice. Let us 350 00:32:52.700 --> pray