Second Chronicles 28:12

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 28:12-23, “Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war,[13] And said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for whereas we have offended against the LORD already, ye intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass: for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.[14] So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation.[15] And the men which were expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.[16] At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him.[17] For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives.[18] The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnah with the villages thereof, Gimzo also and the villages thereof: and they dwelt there.[19] For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD.[20] And Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not.[21] For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the LORD, and out of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but he helped him not.[22] And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the LORD: this is that king Ahaz.[23] For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.” Some of the people of Israel made a good decision after hearing the words of the prophet Obed. They realized that they had sinned a lot, and now finally they want to do the right thing. And so they obeyed the word of God that came by way of the prophet, and they let the captives go free. This is a good reminder of the importance of the preaching of God’s Word. God has established His means of speaking to people: by the preaching of His Word. It is no wonder that Paul wrote to Timothy: “Preach the Word, be instant in season and out of season.”

King Ahaz was one of the wicked kings. Verse nineteen says that “At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him.” He should have gone to the Lord for help. Ahaz’s plan to get help from the Assyrians did not work. It worked against him. The Assyrians came against Israel. Ahaz’s plan to pay the Assyrians did not work. He paid them from the riches of the temple, but then they did not help. And then Ahaz foolishly started worshipping the idols of the Assyrians. Ahaz thought that there must be something to the religion of the Assyrians because they were winning, and Ahaz kept losing. Because Ahaz was wicked, he was also foolish, and he failed to realize that he was losing because he had not turned to the Lord. The result of turning to false religion is given at the end of verse twenty-three: “But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.”

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 28:24-27, “And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem.[25] And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers.[26] Now the rest of his acts and of all his ways, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.[27] And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem: but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.” Not surprising that Ahab was against true religion. And he supported and increased false religion. That is the exact same evil work that some leaders in some countries are doing today. They should be reminded that the judgment is coming, and they will give an answer to the Holy One who sees all and knows all.

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 29:1-6, “Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.[2] And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.[3] He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.[4] And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street,[5] And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.[6] For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs.” Hezekiah wanted to do that which was right in the sight of the Lord. And so he went about fixing the things that were broken. We can all do that. There are plenty of things that are broken and that need repair. There are many broken lives and they need to be fixed. There are things that need to be cleaned up and made better. There are things that need to be totally redone. There are places that have not had very much of the Gospel of Christ, and those places need workers in the harvest field. Leave the world a better place after you are gone. Why did King Hezekiah have so much to do? The generations before him had broken down things that should have been built up, and they neglected things that were important. We are in a similar situation and maybe worse. So many failed at their opportunities and responsibilities. They replaced the truth of Creation with the theory of evolution. They encouraged drinking and smoking and other substance abuse. They took prayer and the Bible out of schools and the public square. They encourage abortion instead of family values. Now they try to change the definition of basic human life by confusing male and female. Maybe we cannot reverse all this craziness, but we can help a few to escape the burning. And if we cannot help a few, we can make an effort and keep praying for them in order to honor God and all that Jesus has done for us.

Notice that Hezekiah did not repeat the errors of his father. A few people have really good parents. Many people do not. Even if your parents do wrong, you can still turn to the Lord and follow Him. You do not have to follow the bad example of the parents. As a matter of fact, you can learn from your parents, and learn not to do what they did. Keep loving them, but do not repeat their mistakes.

King Hezekiah is still speaking. The Bible says in Second Chronicles 29:7-11, “Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.[8] Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.[9] For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.[10] Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.[11] My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense.” Bad things can happen in this life for many different reasons. One reason is because of sin. Repent of the sins and things will get better. God is in charge. Hezekiah knew that this was the problem. People had gone away from God, and now was the time to start serving Him. Hezekiah said in verse eleven, “for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him…” The purpose of life is to serve God. To serve Him we must come to know Him through faith in Christ. Then we must grow in the knowledge of the Lord through hearing good Bible teaching, reading the Word, and putting it into practice. As we grow in our relationship with Jesus, we can serve Him more fruitfully. We were born to serve the Lord.

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 29:12-17, “Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites: and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalelel: and of the Gershonites; Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah:[13] And of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and of the sons of Asaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah:[14] And of the sons of Heman; Jehiel, and Shimei: and of the sons of Jeduthun; Shemaiah, and Uzziel.[15] And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.[16] And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron.[17] Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the LORD: so they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.” Hezekiah spoke the truth, and those that heard it were moved by it and touched by it. That is God’s plan. Paul told Timothy to preach the Word. It says in Romans 10V14: how shall they believe except they hear, and how shall they hear except someone tell them the Gospel? Jesus said to pray the Lord of the harvest that He would send forth laborers into His harvest. Jesus ascended into heaven, and He gave gifts unto men so that His work would continue. Among those gifts are: apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers. Each one of those gifts involve speaking forth the Word of God.

The Bible says in Second Chronicles 29:18-24, “Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof.[19] Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.[20] Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD.[21] And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the LORD.[22] So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar.[23] And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them:[24] And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.” There were a lot of sacrifices and a lot of blood. The sacrifices bear witness to the fact that God needs a sacrifice for sin. Someone must pay the price for sin. The wages of sin is death: it says in Romans 6:23. Jesus is our sacrifice, and His sacrifice was very bloody too. Without the shedding of blood is no remission from sin. The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. There is power in the blood, as correctly says an old Gospel song.

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