[0:10] We are in 2 Chronicles 29. And we'll see if we can make 29 and 30 tonight. But we will stop at 8 o'clock. So if we don't make 30, we'll make somewhere in 30 probably. And then we'll just pick up where we left off. That works, you know. And so...

[0:36] The title of today's message is A Righteous Rain. And so, Lord, we just lift up this study now and just ask for your blessing upon it, and that our hearts would be open and our minds, and you would have your way in our lives and in this church and in this community. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. And so, verse 1 and 2, chapter 29, Hezekiah became king when he was 25 years old, and he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah, and he did what was right in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father David had done. And so, you know, when it makes reference to his father David, meaning is great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great. I think I counted like 12, grandpa.

[1:42] But, you know, it just means the references is always given to David because the first and the main reason is the divinic covenant. And that was the promise God made that the Messiah would come through the line of David. And so that promise of salvation through the line of David. And then secondly, when it makes reference to David, well, we remember that David was not a perfect king. And so, a lot's being said when, you know, it says there that all that he did, according to all that his father David had done, he did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done. And so, David, we know, did horrible things at some point. You know, David, he committed murder, he committed adultery.

[2:43] And yet, what we have in David again, why the best king, Hezekiah, is compared with or commended for being like David is because David was a man of God. And what do we know of all men? All men are sinners. All men fall short. All men are imperfect in every way, you know, one way or another. And so we know that of all men, so that would be including David, including Hezekiah. And yet David, the Bible tells us, was a man after God's own heart, unlike his son Solomon.

[3:25] Solomon started okay, but it tells us in 1 Kings 11, for it was so when Solomon was old that his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not loyal to the Lord, his God, as was the heart of his father David. For Solomon went after Astaroth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. And again, so God's standard, David. And yet, David, we know, and why he's put forth in that way is because David never worshipped idols. David was a man that blew it. He answered to God alone, even through all his sin and trials. He always answered to God. He faced the giants and had great victory, and he had many other victories, and it was always credited to God. And he faced judgment and he repented and he suffered the consequences of the judgment and it was all before God. He never gave credence at all to idols.

[4:45] And we learn, you know, when Nathan the prophet came to David, and David for a very long time was refusing to repent, was refusing to come clean of the sin against, you know, of murder and adultery. And, you know, the Bible says that he was, you know, basically just, you know, tormented by his sin. But it tells us, so in 2 Samuel 12, so David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And this is David. After he's busted, after Nathan comes to him and reveals to him these things and, you know, tells him that, you know, these things. And Nathan said to David, the Lord also put away your sin. You shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion for the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die. Then Nathan departed to his house, and the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and it became ill.

[6:00] And so it also tells us that this judgment came against David's house as well because of his sin. It tells us that there would always be a sword against the house of David because of his sin. And so not only within his house, but without his house, the Bible tells us that sin is pleasurable for a season, but then comes judgment. And so we see that even though David once again is put forth in Scripture as an example of doing what's right before the Lord, again, because he did not turn back.

[6:44] To idols. And, you know, not true of the many, the wicked, the wicked sins. When another time that David had sinned, when he numbered the people, which was a sin against God because he wasn't to do that. So Gad came to David for 2 Samuel 24 and told him, he said to him, shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days plague in your land? Now consider and see what I should take back to him who sent me. In other words, the Lord was giving him a choice of the judgment because of his sin. David said to Gad, I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man. So once again, there's the difference. David was answering to the Lord, and he knew that the Lord was the one that would be judging him. So he had that relationship, even though David would sin. Unlike the wicked kings that turned to idols, like even in our last chapter, to remember with Ahaz in 2 Chronicles 28 verses 22 and 23, just a few verses back there.

[8:09] Now, in the time of his distress, King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful to the Lord. This is that King Ahaz, for he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, which had defeated him.

[8:24] Saying, because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me, but they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. There was a difference.

[8:36] And Ahaz thought, well, since, you know, these defeated me, these Syrians, I'm going to turn to their gods since my God didn't help me. And so, and there's a difference. David never turned to idols. He knew when he blew it, it was, you know, his sin against the Lord. And so, you know, the Bible tells us that when the righteous rule in Proverbs 29, 2, when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. And so, again, the righteous rule, but never perfect. That's not going to happen until Jesus Christ comes and rules and reigns in righteousness. But until then, it's not going to happen. But until then, what does the Bible say? That God searches out for a man or a woman whose heart is turned towards him. 2 Chronicles 16, 9, If the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, show himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to him. And then in who he's talked to, this you have done foolishly. Therefore, from now on, you shall have wars. So, you know, so here the Lord's looking for those that follow him and obey him so that he might show himself strong on our behalf.

[10:02] When such a king or president or ruler is in place, again, that, you know, again, not perfect people, because there are none.

[10:15] But if they're standing for, their goals are, their heart is, you know, to bless people, to make things right, and so forth, the people rejoice to have such a ruler like that. And, you know, we see in the next verse there, verse 3, in the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. And so right away, Hezekiah quickly was doing a good work, knowing it would be God's will and end up blessing God's people. That was his purpose for moving forward. In doing this, he reestablished the worship of God in Judah. And so the king before him, a wicked king, his father, Ahaz, was a wicked, wicked, wicked ruler. And so during Ahaz's reign, the kingdom of Judah hit its lowest point.

[11:16] And so yet, out of the ashes of a corrupt, idolatrous mess rose a godly king. And that's significant because there's over a hundred references of Hezekiah in the Bible, 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Jeremiah, Hosea, Micah, and besides other places, references of this godly king. And so Hezekiah was, again, one of the best kings who ever sat upon the throne of Judah and is distinguished as the greatest in faith of all Judah's kings.

[11:56] You know, it tells us that in 2 Kings 18, where it says, He trusted or had incredible faith in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. For he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. So that's what's said of Hezekiah, that he was that king. And again, not a perfect man by any means. And you notice that always stressing this. Why am I always stressing this? Well, it's for our benefit. It's for our benefit that we understand this. Otherwise, we will get overtly or overly discouraged every time we blow it. But when we know the scriptures, we can be comforted by that. Because remember, only Jesus is the perfect one. And, and again, before we're done, we will be shaking our heads at Hezekiah.

[13:08] Asking why. Well, it's called the grace of God, that grace extended by God who is previous to everything. God, why are you so gracious? Why are you so compassionate? Why do you bless me so much? And then in the past, you say, why have you? I just blew it. Why have you been blessing me so much? Why have you extended your grace towards me? It's mind-blowing. And guess what? There are no exceptions. None. Oh, but he's, you know, more holy than I. No, you know what? We're all just sinners saved by God's grace. You can't play that card, I'm holier than thou art card. You can't play it. You know, if you don't believe me, just look at all the testimonies of Scripture. You know, because, you know, we can fool each other, but you can't fool God, you know. And we have to admire Hezekiah, who sets a great example for us, because although he had a wicked father, he did not play the woes me card, you know, which is our propensity as human beings to blame somebody else for our, you know, lot in life. You know, it's because them or him or them or she or it or whatever.

[14:35] And he trusted in God, and for any of us, that's all that ever matters. If we trust in God, that's all that ever matters. When we become believers, old things have passed away. Behold, all things become new. That's God's grace. And so if you have a tendency to blame those things that are in the past, then you're not really claiming the promises of God, because you're still blaming somebody or something, you know, and that's not correct.

[15:12] And so, Hezekiah had a great counselor, a great mentor in the prophet of Isaiah. And let's make note also, that's what will make the difference for many of us, is that we have a good counselor, we have a good mentor. Or, you know, we go to the right place for counsel. You know, it's not good for a Christian to go to an unbelieving place. A believer for counsel. That's not a good thing. You need to seek out a Spirit-filled believer for counseling. And they don't need to have some sort of licenses to their name to get God's counsel, even though I guess in some ways it would be really good when a Christian does have certain licenses because it opens up more doors for them to be able to counsel in the Lord. But anyway, what we need is to seek out those who will share the Word of God with us. And another key factor to spiritual success that Hezekiah enjoyed is he knew how to pray.

[16:24] And so around here, we make prayer a priority. We have lots of prayer warriors in this church. And I know that, you know, we have a great group of women that are all teamed up in different teams, and they're praying. And I know as a pastor, that comforts me greatly. Also, we have a men's prayer team on Wednesday morning, and they pray. And we prayed together, this team, for 20 years. We pray for those that are here early enough, what I call countertop prayer, where we hang out around the counter in the kitchen and we pray. It wouldn't be countertop prayer if we took it to the table.

[17:12] So we have countertop prayer. But there's a lot of prayer warriors, and I have no doubt, prayer warriors in this church that are praying in their prayer closets that God sees. But the main thing is that we make prayer a priority for ourselves personally And then if we are able to get together with others, that's great But the main thing is that prayer is a priority in our lives.

[17:43] And everybody in this church greatly appreciates it when you pray We all enjoy that for sure And so I have to pick up the pace a little bit here. So looking at verse 4, I'll read down to 11. Then he brought in the priest and the Levites and gathered them in the east square and said to them, Hear me, Levites, now sanctify yourselves, sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers. Carry out the rubbish from the holy place. For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the Lord our God. They have forsaken him.

[18:28] Have turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the Lord and turned their backs on him. They have also shut up the door of the festival, put out the lamps, and have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to God of Israel. Therefore, the wrath of the Lord fell upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he has given them up to trouble, to desolation, and to jeering, as you see with your eyes. For indeed, because of this, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity. Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel that his fierce wrath may turn away from us. My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that you should minister to him and burn incense.

[19:33] And so we see here first that, you know, coming from verse 3, that Hezekiah was repairing the house of the Lord. So he initiated that work. We see that in verse 3. And I didn't make mention that that word there, repaired, means he made them strong.

[19:54] And so I think there's a pun intended there because Hezekiah's name means God makes strong.

[20:02] And so he's living up to his name by initiating that and his first actions there as king he sets the stage for his instruction to the priest and to the levites so they would be the leaders in the temple they would be the servants they would be those that were appointed by god to work in the temple so he needed these guys on board he needed to have a little powwow with them and to discuss these things with them, that was a priority to do things in the order that God would work again in the temple. They had to be sanctified. They had to be set apart. The dwelling place. Now, we know as believers that this dwelling place, the Holy Spirit, is now within us. And so when we consider, you know, these verses here, we kind of make a connection because it tells us in 1 Corinthians 3, 16, 17, Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. And so now every Christian is personally accountable for the holy place. Do you ever think about that? Every Christian is accountable for the holy place.

[21:29] And we're instructed in that way. And so we have in verse 9, where he lets them know that these things came down upon the people because of this. Because of the dishonoring of the holy place. Because of their sin. For indeed, he says in verse 9, because of this, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity. And so the sacrifice stopped in the temple. The order that God had for the people stopped. And because of this, because there was no sacrifice, the whole family suffered. Right there, it just tells you there in verse 9. The whole family suffered. When I read that, I thought of Romans 12, 1 and 2, where it says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, your bodies, God's temple, and a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. So we're the servants of God in dwelling place, our bodies.

[22:48] And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you might prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And so we're responsible in the holy place. The sacrifices continue. Living sacrificially is living correctly and honoring the Lord in the temple of the Lord. And so we're to be set apart for that. And then Hezekiah, he says there in verse 10, that these things were in his heart.

[23:23] And he says there... Now, it is in my heart to make covenant with the Lord God of Israel that his fierce wrath may turn away from us. Now, that's important to make note of. The key there is that he is identifying with the people. He's not excluding himself from the people. He didn't exempt himself. And that's key. Not only is it key, but it's necessary and it's mandatory, this admission.

[23:57] Because really, when you think about the whole sin nature, the whole subject of sin, what are we exempted from? You know, the Apostle John, he says it real clearly in 1 John 1, 8 and 9, where he says, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

[24:19] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And so there's the process. We recognize we're sinners and we confess our sin. And then God heals us. That's ongoing. You know, that ain't a once and for all. That's ongoing. That's ongoing. And so that's a correct recognition of sin. You're included. You know, you're not excluded. You're a sinner. And so when you present the gospel, you have to get that down. You have to get that right. I'm included. I'm talking to a sinner that needs salvation.

[25:00] I'm a sinner talking to a sinner. I'm a sinner forgiven. He's a sinner yet to be forgiven. So, and there's the only difference. That's important to communicate, right? And so then in verse 11, I thought was very important to recognize. He's talking to the priests, the Levites. They've been not functioning as priests and Levites. And now he's challenging them to take their correct, appropriate role. And he says to them, my sons, do not be negligent. The Lord has chosen you. And when I read that, I thought it'd be like saying, don't disqualify yourself with, you know, things like, you know, I'm not qualified to do this.

[25:50] I'm not worthy. Well, that's true.

[25:54] In a sense, you're qualified because Jesus Christ made you qualified. You're worthy because Jesus Christ made you worthy. On your own, you're not. Yeah. And, you know, you're not a perfect person. But rather, you have to accept and believe despite your inconsistencies. And, you know, he's saying that to them. Yeah, despite who you think you are, don't neglect now. He says here, he gives like three things, three steps here. You know the Lord has chosen you to stand before him to serve him and that you should minister to him and so the Lord has chosen you he chooses you he anoints you and he positions you so then he can bless you the Lord has done all this don't be negligent now for us and I would say the New Testament equivalent is where the Apostle Paul says in verse 5 and 6 of Ephesians 1, having predestined us to adoption as sons of Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to praise of the glory of his grace, by which he made us accepted in the beloved.

[27:10] There's no half step. There's no gray zone. It was according to his will. And it says for his good pleasure. So in other words, God looked forward to you and he made a provision for you. He looked forward to you, the relationship with you. And so he made provision for it.

[27:27] And so we need to step up and say, thank you, Lord. I'm your servant. What do you want me to do? Not, but I've done this and I've done this. And that's negligence to the promises of God. He's the one that's perfect. You're not. You need his forgiveness. Every day you need to take up your costs and follow the Lord. And so...

[27:48] And so verses 12 through 19, then these Levites arose, Mahath, the son of Amazai, and Joel, the son of Azariah. Hey, your name's in there. Of the sons of the Kohathites, of the sons of Merai, Kish, the son of Abadi and Azariah, the son of Jehalel, of the Gershonites, Joah, the son of Zimah, and Eden, the son of Joah, of the sons of Elisphan and Shemari and these other guys.

[28:28] And the sons of Heman and all these other sons.

[28:33] And Pete loves to pronounce all those, but I don't. And they gathered their brethren, they sanctified themselves and went according to the commandment of the king at the words of the Lord to cleanse the house of the Lord. Then the priest went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it and brought out all the debris that they found in the temple of the Lord to the court of the house of the Lord, and the Levites took it out and carried it to the brook Kidron.

[29:08] Now they began to sanctify on the first day of the first month. On the eighth day of the month, they came to the vestibule of the Lord. So they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days. And on the 16th day of the first month, they finished. Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, the altar of the burnt offerings with all its articles, and the tables of showbread with all its articles. Moreover, all the articles which King Ahaz and his reign had cast aside in his transgression, we have prepared and sanctified, and there they are before the altar of the Lord. And so, the Levites, we see they did not hesitate to step up to the command of the king to get right to work. You see that in verse 15 there.

[30:05] They gathered their brethren, sanctified themselves, and they went to work. And in verse 12 there, where it mentions the Kohath, Merai, and Gershon, they were the three sons of Levi. And so here, all their descendants are named here. They became the three main clans of the tribe of the Levites to work in the temple. And so their lineage continued. And then in verse 17 there Where it gives that date That would be March or April Early March or March or early April 715 BC To kind of give you a timeline there.

[30:52] And then in verse 20, it says, Then King Hezekiah rose early, gathering the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, for Judah. Then he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord. So they killed the bulls, and the priest received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. Likewise, they killed the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They also killed the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar. Then they brought out the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them. And the priest killed them, and they presented their blood on the altar as a sin offering to make an atonement for all Israel. for the king commanded that the burnt offerings and the sin offerings be made for all Israel. And so here, the sin offering there in verse 21 was the first offering.

[32:02] And it needed was a sin offering in order to establish fellowship once again with God. And so the sin offering, and if you remember with David for a year when he had sinned, And he didn't repent. The Bible describes him as drying up. And, of course, this could be related because it was, you know, repentance for the nation. The nation of Judah had dried up. But with David, he described it this way in Psalm 32, 1 through 5. So it says there, the David, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered, blesses the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

[32:52] And then here, when he says, I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night, your hand was heavy upon me. My vitality was turned into the drought of summer, Selah. I acknowledge my sin to you, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, I will confess my transgression to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin, Selah.

[33:18] And so you see, once there's repentance, in this case, once there's the sin offering, then God forgives. And so where a nation was drying up, now with the sin offering and the sacrifice, now this nation is going to be revitalized in the Lord. So the purpose of the sin offering and sacrifice was because of the purpose of acknowledging sin, needing to be atoned. So you're acknowledging that there's sin that needs to be atoned, not ignoring the sin. And so then we have in verse 25 through 30, And he stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with string instruments, and with harps according to the commandment of David of Gad the king, Seir, and of Nathan the prophet. For thus was the commandment of the Lord by his prophets. The Levites stood with the instruments of David and the priests with the trumpets. Then Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. The song of the Lord also began with the trumpets and with the instruments of David, king of Israel. So all the assembly worshipped.

[34:28] The singers sang and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished. And then they had finished offering the king. When they had finished offering the king and all who were present with him bowed and worshiped. Moreover, King Hezekiah, the leaders, commanded the Levites to sing praise to the Lord with words of David and of Asaph. So there's the words of the Psalms that they sang.

[34:58] So they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped. And so, you know, many of those singing psalms was when I was a new believer, we used to sing those psalms, and it was just a way of learning the Word of God. But they were singing those, and now in verse 27 there, it's the burnt offering, which was the offering of consecration. And so the next step after the sin had been atoned for, this offering was accompanied with song and music and worship. A wonderful expression as they're moving forward in the Lord. Your sin is forgiven. And now we can be concentrated, separated unto the Lord. Just a wonderful time of worship, responding in adoration. It tells us in Psalm 95, 1 through 3, O come, let us sing to the Lord, let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving. Let us shout joyfully to him with psalms. For the Lord is the great God and the great King above all gods. And so this was their response of adoration because, wow, our sin has been atoned for, our sin is covered.

[36:19] And so with that, when you understand that your sin is forgiven because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, you also then stop and you worship and you have such joy in your heart. And so then...

[36:30] We see in verse 31, then Hezekiah answered and said, Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the Lord. So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and as many as were of a willing heart, that's necessary, brought burnt offerings. And the number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was 70 bulls, 100 rams, 200 lambs. All these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. The consecrated things were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep, but the priests were too few, so they could not skin all the burnt offerings. Therefore, their brethren, the Levites, helped them until the work was ended and until the other priests had sanctified themselves, for the Levites were more diligent in sanctifying themselves than the priests.

[37:30] Also, the burnt offerings were in abundance with the fat of the peace offerings and with the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the Lord was set in order. And then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced that God had prepared the people since the events took place so suddenly. And so now in this, the people were invested. They weren't just observers.

[37:57] They brought their sacrifices. And if you notice 31, out of a willing heart. So that arises this time of worship from a willing heart that you would be invested. If it's not by a willing heart, it's just religion, just jumping through the hoops. But they were all in. And then you see in verse 35, last was the peace offering. And so being settled in heart, there was the sin offering. And then they were set apart, and now they could rest. They could be at peace with God, not at war, which is a previous state to not knowing the Lord. Romans 5, 1 and 2 says, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have access by faith into the grace in which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And so we now have peace because of our faith in Jesus Christ.

[39:02] And so we enjoy these components. We rejoice in hope. We have confidence now because we have this peace. And so this is where they're at. They would enjoy fellowship. And then, of course, there would be a big barbecue. That's what happens to all this meat that's getting cooked. And also, I would say that they would enjoy the fellowship of having an appetite for fellowship, given an appetite for those spiritual things where, you know, it says that we would hunger and thirst for righteousness. And so once your sin is covered and once you're set apart, you're at peace with the Lord, you have an appetite. You have an appetite tonight to fellowship. You have an appetite for the word of God that comes with those things being in order. And so now, they've certainly worked up an appetite. And so all this meat is being prepared, and there's a celebration, a feast, lots of carne asada. And then for those of you on the carnivore diets, you know, you enthusiasts, there's plenty of food there for you. Yeah, lamb chops. So that's why I never put down that diet. That's a good diet. If ever I went on a diet, that would be my diet.

[40:28] And so chapter 30, and then it says, And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, 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. For the king and his leaders and all the assembly in Jerusalem had agreed to keep the Passover in the second month. For 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, and the matter pleased the king and all the assemblies. So 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. And so this is interesting because in the law of Moses, there was a provision made by the Lord concerning those who could not partake of the Passover at the first time.

[41:47] First month. And, you know, that word is given in Numbers 9, 9 through 11. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the children of Israel saying, if any one of you or your posterity is unclean because of a corpse or is far away on a journey, he may still keep the Lord's Passover on the 14th day of the second month at twilight. They may keep it. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. And so they get another shot at it if they weren't able to make the first one. And, you know, that just shouts out, God is reasonable, you know, and that applies across the board with the way that the Lord works in our lives and the way he works with us in his grace and so forth. And so number five there, the fact that they're inviting Israel is a big deal.

[42:42] Israel? This is Hezekiah trying to reunite the nation, but it also is a reminder that God never forgets the remnant. In Israel, there was a remnant. Even though they were a divided kingdom, the kingdom in the north, there was a remnant, and it gives opportunity for restoration. In verses 6 through 9, Then the runners went throughout all Israel and Judah with the letters from the king and his leaders and spoke according to the command of the king, children of the king, children of Israel, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Then he will return to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. And do not be like your fathers and your brethren who trespass against the Lord God of their fathers so that he gave them. up to desolation, as you see. Now 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. For if you return to the Lord, your brethren and your children will be treated with compassion by those who led them.

[43:58] Captive so that the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn his face from you if you return to him. And so you can read later the account in 2 Kings chapter 17 that speaks of when the Assyrians had already brought or taken into captivity the northern kingdom. And so this invitation went out to the remnant, but they had already been taken captive and only a remnant of people were left. And so again, this reveals Hezekiah's heart really represented the Lord's heart for Israel and those left. And his concern moved him to try and reunite them with Judah. But the purpose once again was to reunite them with the Lord. And that's why he puts forth the fact, If you are not stubborn.

[44:53] Then you come to celebrate, the Lord will receive you and forgive you. And so he puts forth that. And so, you know, verse 9, revealing the nature of God for all who come back to him. And so we know sin, sad thing, is that they were captured, taken by the Assyrians. That was never God's intention. But sin separates from God's wanting, desire to bless us. Sin separates us from that blessing. And that principle remains, still remains. Sin separates us from the blessing of the Lord and really puts us in bondage if we don't repent. The same thing happens. And it can impact a whole family. And so, that's as far as we're going to get. So, let's pray. Thank you, Lord, for your word once again, and we just ask that you would continue to be moving in our hearts. And we thank you for the record of...

[45:59] Of how you worked with your people who had wandered away and then had come back, and how you restored them. We want to thank you that you're a God of forgiveness. And also to be reminded how, although the kings were commended for being following in obedience and commended as godly kings and righteous and all of that, yet they were kings that blew it in big ways. And so we want to thank you for that because we're people who blow it in big ways, but yet we can honor you just simply by just asking for forgiveness and remember that we're accepted in the Beloved. And so thank you for that. Thank you for your extended grace to us even knowing your previous to everything Lord that we could do wrong in the future and yet you're loving us and gracing us out today and you will every single time we repent and we thank you for that so bless your people Lord we pray in Jesus name amen God bless you.