Sermon Manuscript
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Sermon, 2017-03-26, Genesis to Revelation, Hezekiah’s Disease 1 | P a g e Series title slide We are going thru the Bible from Genesis to Revelation this year. In the last couple of weeks, we are in the historical books section of the Old Testament that talks about the kings who ruled in Israel and Judah. Today, I have a graphic that will help us to see the big picture of the kings. Show Kings of Israel & Judah graphic There will not be a test on this later. This is just an aid to help you understand the OT a little better. Saul is the first king. He was not a good king, hence the black graphic next to his name. Then God chose David. David is a man after God’s heart. He is a white king. Then when David dies, his son Solomon becomes king. Solomon starts out faithful to God, but then strays. Then Solomon’s son Rehoboam becomes king. But, shortly after Rehoboam is crowned, there is a civil war against him over forced labor. And the kingdom splits. 10 tribes in the north breakaway and make someone called Jeroboam king And then they are then called Israel. 2 tribes in the south, and all the Levites, stay with Rehoboam and they are called Judah. Both sides go on to have 20 kings for a total of 40 kings. All the kings in the north in Israel are unfaithful to the Lord. They are all coded black. The kings in the south in Judah – some are faithful. They are white. And some do some good and some evil. They are gray. And some kings of Judah are unfaithful to God and evil. They are black. This morning I want to tell you the story of a king in the south in Judah called Hezekiah. Hezekiah is king in Judah around 700 years before Christ. We will see is an ALMOST entirely a good king. He should maybe have a little black line near his midpoint. Most kings in the books of 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles, get ½ a chapter or a chapter. But, Hezekiah is such a good king, he gets 3 large sections in the Old Testament. We find his story in 2 Kings 18–20, 2 Chronicles 29–32, & Isaiah 36–39. because Isaiah was a prophet for God in Judah during the days of Hezekiah. Perhaps you can take time later today to read these chapters through on your own. Sermon, 2017-03-26, Genesis to Revelation, Hezekiah’s Disease 2 | P a g e And here’s the beginning of Hezekiah’s story in the book of 2 Chronicles. 2 Chronicles 29:1-6 Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done. 3 In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the LORD and repaired them. 4 He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side 5 and said: “Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the LORD, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. 6 Our parents were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the LORD our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the LORD’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him. So the temple was boarded up. There were no sacrifices taking place at the temple. There was no worship of God at the temple for years. And it was in disrepair and even had pagan things in it and done in it before it was shut. But the people had not forgotten the Lord. And when Hezekiah becomes king, in his first month, in his first year, he changes that. We talk about what our presidents get done in their first 100 days or first 30 days. Hezekiah, returns his nation to the Lord in his first month! He gathers the priests. Because they are Aaron’s family line, they still know who they are. And the Levites. That’s one of the tribes that’s responsible for the temple worship. He tells them to consecrate themselves, to purify themselves for service. And they do some spring cleaning in the temple. It takes them 15 days to clean the whole temple area. They return to their places all the temple furnishings and objects that the Levites saved when Hezekiah’s father Ahaz had the temple shut. Then, Hezekiah gathers all the officials in Jerusalem and they go to the temple And they make sacrifices. They make sin offerings for all the people and the leaders lay their hands on the heads of the offerings as representatives of the people. They get out the musical instruments, harps and horns, and they sing and play and worship as the offerings are made. Sermon, 2017-03-26, Genesis to Revelation, Hezekiah’s Disease 3 | P a g e Check this out. 2 Chronicles 29:30 (NIV) King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed down and worshiped. What are the words of David and Asaph the seer? They are the Psalms! They sang the Psalms just like we find many of the Psalms described to be done. The people all brought animal sacrifices as thank offerings and sin offerings, They brought so many animals for offerings that the text says there weren’t enough priests ready and trained to skin them fast enough. That’s one of the good things Hezekiah does. He restores the temple. (Blank) Then, Hezekiah announces to all the people that they were going to Celebrate the Passover. He even sends invitations to all the tribes in the north to come. The Passover is the meal that remembers and celebrates the time that God saved Israel from the Egyptians and set them free. God had told the Israelites that every year in the first month they were to do it as a nation. But, when Hezekiah leads this revival, it’s already the second month of the year. But they can’t wait a whole year for the date to come around, so they do it in the wrong month on the wrong day. It’s like if Christianity has been forgotten and then there’s a huge revival, And the people say, let’s celebrate Easter. And someone says, but Easter’s true date was last month. And they say, let’s do it anyway! Then, when the people come from the lands in the north in Israel for this Passover, many of them haven’t consecrated themselves properly. So, the priest have to prepare their lambs. And Hezekiah prays to God for them, saying: 2 Chronicles 30:18-20 “May the LORD, who is good, pardon everyone 19 who sets their heart on seeking God—the LORD, the God of their ancestors—even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.” 20 And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people. Sometimes we get the impression from some things in the OT that God is all about rules. But, this shows us that what’s truly important to God is setting our hearts on seeking Him! Sermon, 2017-03-26, Genesis to Revelation, Hezekiah’s Disease 4 | P a g e And then, it even goes further. The Passover usually is a meal that is followed by a week-long harvest festival. So all the Israelites would go to Jerusalem for a week long feast of Thanksgiving. But in Hezekiah’s Passover, they are having such a great time, They all decide to stay for a second week. Hezekiah gives them a thousand bulls to sacrifice and eat. And the city officials give food for all the people. And the festival lasts 2 weeks! It’s like your family comes home for Thanksgiving, And everybody has such a great time, that they all decide to call off work on Monday and stay an extra week! Who here would love that?!? That’s another one of the good things Hezekiah does. He Celebrates the Passover. (blank slide) After this, when they all disperse and go home, they go throughout the land and destroy the sacred stones, the Baal worship places, and they tear down their Asherah poles and their altars and high places all thru the land. That’s another good and right thing Hezekiah does. Then, Hezekiah called on the people to return to giving God a tithe, a tenth of all he provided. 2 Chronicles 31:4-5 He ordered the people living in Jerusalem to give the portion due the priests and Levites so they could devote themselves to the Law of the LORD. 5 As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously gave the firstfruits of their grain, new wine, olive oil and honey and all that the fields produced. They brought a great amount, a tithe of everything. They restored their temple. They got back to worship. They had great gatherings as a people on their holy days. They sought the Lord with all their hearts. They repented of their sins. They went through their houses and land and cleaned out all the idolatry. And then the rival even made it into their wallets! Who here knows sometimes the last thing to get saved is the wallet?! Sermon, 2017-03-26, Genesis to Revelation, Hezekiah’s Disease 5 | P a g e They brought their tithes to the house of God, it says, so the Levites and Priests could devote themselves to the Law of the Lord.