Jeremiah Study – History on the Kings – Part 1 Lesson 6
2Kings 18 & 2Chronicles 29 – 31
Presented by Jaco van der Merwe
The Tabernacle of David Restored in Edom
Produced by Kimberly Rogers Brown – The Messianic Message
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Jeremiah Study Part-1 Lesson-6 The History of the Kings of Israel.pdf
DISCLAIMER! WHEN WE SAY THE WORD “JEWS” or “THE JEWS”, WE MEAN THE RELIGIOUS JEWS, THE CHABAD CABAL AND OTHER JEWISH LEADERSHIP AND THOSE FROM THE HOUSE OF JUDAH WHO SUBSCRIBE TO CHABAD’S EVIL DOCTRINES. I DO NOT MEAN CULTURAL JEWS OR ALL JEWISH PEOPLE!
Listen to the Audio
Listen to the Tuesday Midrash – Edited for quality purpose
Part 1
Part 2
Some notes to Midrash:
In the Midrash I mention that Isaiah thought that the end is declared from the beginning. The context of this principle is mentioned between Isaiah chapters 40 to 48. The specific verses that mention this principle is the following: Isaiah 40:21; 41:04; 41:22; 41:26; 42:09; 44:06-08; 46:9-10; 48:3-5.
I also mentioned about Ezekiel explaining the concept of Righteousness from Yahweh. This can be found in Ezekiel 18. Other references in Ezekiel to this is the following: Ezekiel 3:16; 33:18
Isaiah 29 was mentioned where Yahweh calls the city of Jerusalem “Ariel” Ariel means “Lion of God” The prophecy in Isaiah 29 is that Yahweh will lay siege and destroy Ariel. This prophecy was written in the times between Kings Ahaz and Hezekiah. Jerusalem was heavily under the burden of Kings Ahaz’s idolatry and Isaiah was bringing a message of destruction. It is these prophecies that king Hezekiah acted upon when he cleaned the Temple and called a feast of repentance.
Jeremiah Study – History on the Kings – Part 1 Lesson 6
2Kings 18 & 2Chronicles 29 – 31
Mat 23:8-10 MJKV But you must not be called Rabbi, for One is your teacher, Christ, and you are all brothers. And call no one your father on the earth, for One is your Father in Heaven. Nor be called teachers, for One is your Teacher, even Christ.
2Ti 3:13-17 MKJV But evil men and seducers will go forward to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But continue in the things that you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from a babe you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfected, thoroughly furnished to every good work.
Col 2:8-12 MKJV Beware lest anyone rob you through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you are complete in Him, who is the Head of all principality and power, in whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in whom also you were raised through the faith of the working of God, raising Him from the dead.
Isa 28:9 MKJV Whom shall He teach knowledge? And whom shall He make to understand doctrine? Those weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts.
Isa 28:10 MKJV For precept must be on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little;
Isa 28:11 MKJV for with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people.
Isa 28:12 MKJV To whom He said, This is the rest; cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing. Yet they were not willing to hear.
Isa 28:13 MKJV But the Word of Jehovah was to them precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken and snared and taken.
Lead in
King Ahaz became king of Judah and he walked in the sins of Kings Omri and Ahab of Israel. He worshiped Ba’al and Asherah and burned his children in the Valley of the sons of Hinnom according to the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh had cast out before the sons of Israel. Yahweh strengthened the enemies of Judah who attacked them and nearly all of Judah was taken or destroyed.
King Pekah reigned in Israel when Ahaz became king of Judah, and he attacked Judah with the help of the Syrians and invaded the northern cities of Judea. Yahweh took a stop to this, but not for the sake of Ahaz and the house of Judah, but because of the promise he made to King David. He had the Assyrians attack Syria and Israel and king Pekah submitted to Assyrian rule by paying tribute.
King Ahaz refused to repent and worship Yahweh, the Elohim of Abraham. Isaack and Israel and he submitted himself and chose to rather trust in the gods of the Syrians. Yahweh then raised up the Philistines and Edomites who attacked the southern boarders of Judah. In all of Judea, there were only a few fortified cities left from the tribe of Judah. Most of Judea was either taken or destroyed.
In the 12th year of King Ahaz, Hosea became king of Israel. This was about 15 years after he plotted against and killed king Pekah. And in the 3rd year that Hosea became king in Israel, Hezekiah became king in Judah.
Let’s go read the text of King Hezekiah in 2Kings chapter 18:
2Kings – Chapter 18
Hezekiah Reigns in Judah
1 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah King of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz King of Judah began to reign.
2 Twenty-five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah.
3 And he did that which was right in the sight of YHVH, according to all that David his father did.
4 He removed the idol temples, and broke the images, and cut down the Asherim, and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moshe had made: for in those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and called it Nehushtan.
5 He trusted in YHVH Elohim of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.
6 For he clave to YHVH, and departed not from following Him, but kept His commandments, which YHVH commanded Moshe.
7 And YHVH was with him; and prospered him wherever he went: and he rebelled against the King of Assyria, and did not serve him.
8 He killed the Philistines, even to Gaza, and the borders of it, from the Tower of The Watchmen to the fortified city.
9 And it came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah King of Israel, that Shalmaneser King of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.
10 And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea King of Israel, Samaria was taken.
11 And the King of Assyria did carry away Israel to Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the River Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes:
12 Because they obeyed not the voice of YHVH their Elohim, but transgressed His covenant, and all that Moses the servant of YHVH commanded, and would not listen to them, nor do them.
Hezekiah Reigns in Judah
King Hezekiah reigned from the 3rd year of King Hosea. He was 25 years old when he took the throne and ruled for 29 years. King Hosea reigned for 9 years, and Samara was besieged for 3 years of his 9-year reign. Samaria was taken in the 9th year of King Hosea. This means that Hezekiah reigned 3 years and in his 4th year, Assyria besieged Samaria and in his 6th year Samaria fell and Assyria took Israel.
The Kingdom of the house of Judah was nearly destroyed when Hezekiah took the throne. King Ahaz had Idol worship going on in the Temple of Yahweh. The southern cities were sacked by the Philistines and people was taken captive by the Edomites and only the tribe of Judah was left within all Israel. Hezekiah knew this was because of the sins of their fathers, especially his father, who worshipped Ba’al and turned against Yahweh and did not keep His Statutes, ordinances and commandments as Yahweh instructed through Moses.
In Jeremiah Chapter 26, we read that Micah prophesied during the times of king Hezekiah.
Jer 26:18 MKJV Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, So says Jehovah of Hosts: Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house like the high places of a forest.
Micah started to prophecy during the times of King Jotham and Ahaz, and his prophesies was still going strong during the times of Hezekiah. We know these prophecies were written down, since we have it even today. This verse in Jeremiah shows that Micah’s prophecies stayed with the people of Judah, and they never forgot.
The prophet Amos prophesied even before Micah and the prophet Hosea was prophesying as well. We also had the prophet Isaiah still alive and prophesying. I even believe it possible that Isaiah was a councillor to king Hezekiah, even from before he became the king of Judah. How ever the case may be, King Hezekiah was familiar with the prophecies of the prophets. His becoming king to a nearly destroyed kingdom, were proof enough that the prophecies was true. Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king. His father only ruled for 16 years, meaning that the destruction on Judah happened during the time of Hezekiah growing up in Jerusalem.
Rather than fearing the Assyrians, he trusted in Yahweh. He cleaned up the cities of Judah of Idolatry and broke down the Ashtaroth and temples dedicated to Idolatry. He also cleaned up the Temple of Yahweh and got rid of the Altars placed there by King Ahaz. He had the Priests and the Levites cleanse themselves and dedicate the Temple back to the sacrificial system of Yahweh. He also organized the Levites and the Priests as King David commanded and as it was written down by Gad the Seer and Nathan the Prophet. He organized soldiers and pushed the Edomites back.
Then the King of Assyria came against Hezekiah and Jerusalem, just like Micah prophesied, but Hezekiah repented and was found righteous before Yahweh. Judah and Jerusalem were spared, just like Yahweh promised King Ahaz. But keep in mind, Yahweh’s prophecies are not time bound and are always true. Because King Hezekiah repented and trusted in Yahweh as he did, the prophecy quoted earlier from Micah did not happen during his reign. During the time of Jeremiah, the people were still questioning if this prophecy of destruction was true or not since Jerusalem was not yet “plowed like a field” and they did not believe Jeremiah’s prophesies.
In 2Chronocles we will get the details on the cleansing of the Temple and the re-establishing of the feasts. We will be going back and forth between 2Kings and 2Chronicles to try and establish some sort of chronology of events during the time of King Hezekiah’s reign. But before we do this, lets go to the prophet Joel.
An Invasion of Locusts
Joe 1:1 MKJV The Word of Jehovah that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.
Joe 1:2 MKJV Hear this, you old men, and give ear, all dwellers of the land. Has this been in your days or even in the days of your fathers?
Joe 1:3 MKJV Tell your sons of it, and let your sons tell their sons, and their sons another generation.
Joe 1:4 MKJV That which the creeping locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten. And that which the swarming locust has left, the locust larvae has eaten. And that which the locust larvae has left, the stripping locust has eaten.
Joe 1:5 MKJV Awake, drunkards, and weep; and howl, all drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
Joe 1:6 MKJV For a nation has come up on My land, strong and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the jaw teeth of a lioness.
Joe 1:7 MKJV He has laid My vine waste and splintered My fig tree. He has stripped it and cast it away; its branches grow white.
Joe 1:8 MKJV Weep like a virgin clothed with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
Joe 1:9 MKJV The food offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of Jehovah; the priests, Jehovah’s ministers, mourn.
Joe 1:10 MKJV The field is wasted; the land mourns, for the grain is wasted. The new wine is dried up; the oil tree droops.
Joe 1:11 MKJV Be ashamed, husbandmen; howl, vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field has perished.
Joe 1:12 MKJV The vine is dried up, and the fig tree droops, the pomegranate and the palm tree, and the apple tree; all the trees of the field are dried up, because joy has dried up from the sons of men.
A Call to Repentance
Joe 1:13 MKJV Gird up and lament, priests; howl, ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, ministers of my God. For the food offering and the drink offering are held back from the house of your God.
Joe 1:14 MKJV Set apart a fast; call a solemn gathering; gather the elders and all the people of the land into the house of Jehovah your God, and cry to the Lord,
Joe 1:15 MKJV Alas for the day! For the day of Jehovah is at hand, and it shall come as a ruin from the Almighty.
Joe 1:16 MKJV Is not the food cut off before our eyes, and joy and gladness from the house of our God?
Joe 1:17 MKJV The seed is rotten under their clods; the storage bins are laid waste; the barns are broken down, for the grain has dried up.
Joe 1:18 MKJV How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are troubled because they have no pasture. Yes, the flocks of sheep are destroyed.
Joe 1:19 MKJV O Jehovah, to You will I cry; for the fire has burned up the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the field.
Joe 1:20 MKJV The beasts of the field also cry to You; for the rivers of water are dried up, and the fire has burned up the pastures of the wilderness.
The Lord Had Pity
Joe 2:12 MKJV Yet even now, says Jehovah, turn to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.
Joe 2:13 MKJV Yes, tear your heart and not your robes, and turn to Jehovah your God: for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and He pities because of the evil.
Joe 2:14 MKJV Who knows if He will turn and have pity and leave a blessing behind Him, a food offering and a drink offering to Jehovah your God?
Joe 2:15 MKJV Blow a trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn gathering.
Joe 2:16 MKJV Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, gather the elders, gather the children and those who suck the breasts. Let the bridegroom go forth out of his chamber, and the bride out of her room.
Joe 2:17 MKJV Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Have pity on Your people, O Jehovah, and give not Your inheritance to shame, for a proverb among those of the nations. Why should they say among the people, Where is their God?
Joe 2:18 MKJV Then Jehovah will be jealous for His land and pity His people.
Joe 2:19 MKJV Yes, Jehovah will answer and say to His people, Behold, I will send you grain, and wine, and oil, and you shall be satisfied with it. And I will no more make you a curse among the nations.
Joe 2:20 MKJV But I will remove the northern army far from you, and will drive him into a barren and deserted land, with his face toward the eastern sea and his rear toward the western sea. And his stench shall come up, and his ill odor shall come up, because he was doing great things.
Joe 2:21 MKJV Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice. For Jehovah will do great things.
Joe 2:22 MKJV Do not be afraid, beasts of the field; for the pastures of the wilderness grow green; for the tree bears its fruit, and the fig tree and the vine yield their strength.
Joe 2:23 MKJV Be glad then, sons of Zion, and rejoice in Jehovah your God. For He has given you the former rain according to righteousness, and He will cause the rain to come down for you, the former rain and the latter rain in the first month.
Joe 2:24 MKJV And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
Joe 2:25 MKJV And I will restore to you the years which the swarming locust has eaten, the locust larvae, and the stripping locust, and the cutting locust, My great army which I sent among you.
Joe 2:26 MKJV And you shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of Jehovah your God, who has dealt with you wonderfully; and My people shall never be ashamed.|
Joe 2:27 MKJV And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Jehovah your God, and no one else; and My people shall never be ashamed.
Nobody knows when Joel’s prophecy was given and written down, but what Joel described came to pass. It was during the days of King Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah that Assyria invaded the northern lands of Israel. The food and drink offerings in the House of Yahweh seized and the priests were not functioning in the Statutes written down to them by Moses.
In the days of Pekah, king of Israel, the Assyrians came and took Ijon, Abel-Beth-Maachah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Goleas, Lalilee and all the the lands of Naphtali. Many Israelites were taken captive and exiled to the land of the Assyrians. Israel was attacked by Assyria numerous times and King Hosea was paying Tribute to the king of Assyria. So, during the times of king Hezekiah, the mentioned areas were much less occupied than what they used to be, but there were still many Israelites living in the northern Tribes occupied by Assyria.
The first thing Hezekiah did after he became king was to call the Priests and the Levites and started preparations so that they can call a solemn gathering and keep the feast of Passover in Jerusalem, just as the prophet Joel has written.
Let’s go to 2Chronicles Chapter 29 and read about it.
2Chronicles – Chapter 29
Hezekiah Cleanses the Temple
3 He (Hezekiah) in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the House of YHVH, and repaired them.
4 And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the East Street,
5 And said to them, Listen to me, you Levites, set yourselves apart, and set-apart the House of YHVH Elohim of your fathers, and carry out the filth still in the Holy Place.
6 For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of YHVH our Elohim, and have forsaken Him, and have turned away their faces from the dwelling of YHVH, and turned their backs.
7 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 to the Elohim of Israel.
8 Therefore the wrath of YHVH was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as you see with your eyes.
9 For, see, 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 my heart to make a covenant with YHVH Elohim of Israel, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us.
11 My sons; be not now negligent: for YHVH has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and that you should serve Him, and burn incense.
12 Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amatsai, 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; Zachariah, and Mattaniah:
14 And of the sons of Heman; Yehiel, and Shimei: and of the sons of Jeduthun; Shemaiah, and Uzziel.
15 And they gathered their brothers, and set themselves apart, and came, according to the commandment of the King, by the words of YHVH, to cleanse the House of YHVH.
16 And the priests went into the inner part of the House of YHVH, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the Holy section of YHVH into the court of the House of YHVH. 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 set it apart, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the porch of YHVH: so they set apart the House of YHVH in eight days; and on the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.
18 Then they went in to Hezekiah the King, and said, We have cleansed all the House of YHVH, and the altar of burnt offering, with all its vessels, and the Showbread Table, with all its vessels.
19 Moreover all the vessels, which King Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and set-apart, and, see, they are before the altar of YHVH.
The very 1st thing Hezekiah did when he became King was to call the Levites and the Priests among them, and restore the House of Yahweh. They started on the 1st day of the 1st month and it took them 8 days to clean out the Temple of all idols and to set it apart to Yahweh. It took them 8 more days to fix the altars and prepare the vessels needed for Temple worship. The Levites replaced everything that king Ahaz removed from the Temple and on the 16th of the 1st month the Temple was ready, but there was not enough time for the Priests to set themselves apart for Temple service to begin immediately.
2Chronicles – Chapter 29
Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship
20 Then Hezekiah the King rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the House of YHVH.
21 And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven male goats, for a sin offering for the Kingdom, and for the Holy Place, and for Judah. And he commanded the Priests, the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of YHVH.
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 male 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 blood atonement for all Israel: for the King commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.
25 And he appointed the Levites in the House of YHVH with cymbals, with lyres, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the King’s seer, and Natan the prophet: for so was the commandment of YHVH by His Prophets.
26 And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the shofars.
27 And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the songs of YHVH began also with the shofars, and with the instruments ordained by David King of Israel.
28 And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.
29 And when they had made an end of offering, the King and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped.
30 And Hezekiah the King and the rulers commanded the Levites to sing and give praise to YHVH with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with rejoice, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.
31 Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now you have set-apart yourselves to YHVH, come near and bring sacrifices and give thank offerings into the House of YHVH. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and gave thank offerings; and burnt offerings by as many as were of a moved heart.
32 And the number of the burnt offerings, which the congregation brought, was seventy bullocks, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs: all these were for a burnt offering to YHVH.
33 And the Aet-Apart things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.
34 But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings: therefore their brothers the Levites did help them, until the work was ended, and until the priests had set themselves apart: for the Levites were more upright in heart to set themselves apart than the priests.
35 And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings, and the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the House of YHVH was re-established.
36 And Hezekiah had rejoice, with all the people, in that Elohim had prepared the people: for the task was done suddenly and promptly.
On the 16th day King Hezekiah called the rulers of the city for the sacrifices which Yahweh commanded in the Torah, Sin offering, Burned Offerings and Peace Offerings and all the congregation of Judah took part in it. The priests made reconciliation with the blood of the animals on the altar so to make blood atonement for all of Israel. Hezekiah commanded that this be done for all of Israel, and not just the Jewish people.
Hezekiah also organized the priests as it was written down and commanded by King David, Gad the seer and Nathan the prophet in their writings. The Levites made song to Yahweh for as long as the burned offerings was going. And after this Hezekiah worshipped Yahweh and then allowed the people to make peace offerings to Yahweh, as it is commanded in Torah. You can read about these procedures in Leviticus Chapter 1 to Chapter 7.
2Chronicles – Chapter 30
Passover celebrated
Part of the restoration process of the Temple and the Temple service would be the keeping of the feasts of Yahweh according to the Torah. But the cleansing of the Temple and the purification of the Levites and Priests that would take part in the ceremonial rituals was not ready in time, so Hezekiah moved it to the 2nd month, as it is written in the Torah. Passover starts in the 14th of the 1st month of feasts, and they only manage to cleanse the Temple and sanctify the people on the 16th of the 1st month. The Priests and the Levites were not cleansed to do the ceremony.
Let’s read the commandment in Numbers Chapter 9 from verse 9:
Num 9:9 MKJV And Jehovah spoke to Moses saying,
Num 9:10 MKJV Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your generations shall be unclean because of a dead body, or in a journey afar off, he shall still keep the Passover to Jehovah.
Num 9:11 MKJV They shall keep it the fourteenth day of the second month at evening, eating it with unleavened cakes and bitter herbs.
Num 9:12 MKJV They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break any bone of it. According to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it.
Num 9:13 MKJV But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and holds back from preparing the Passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he did not bring the offering of Jehovah in His appointed time, that man shall bear his sin.
Num 9:14 MKJV And if a stranger shall live among you, and prepares the Passover to Jehovah, he shall do according to the ordinance of the Passover, and according to its ordinance. You shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger and for him that was born in the land.
This feast is for all Israel who are in covenant as well as for those who wish to join in the covenant of Yahweh. Hezekiah sent out an invitation to the Northern tribes to attend the Passover, as it is commanded in the Torah. This all happened in the 1st year and the 1st month that Hezekiah was king in Judah. This was the 3rd year that Hosea was king in Israel. This would then have been before the Assyrians attacked the Northern Tribes and besieged Samaria during the time of King Hosea. The lands of Ephraim belonged to Assyria already and King Hosea was paying tribute to the Assyrians. Hosea was a vassal king to Assyria now. In 2Kings 17:2 we read that Hosea did evil in the sight of Yahweh, but not as the previous kings of Israel did. We will see later in out text that many Israelites went to Jerusalem for the feasts. This gives an indication that King Hosea did not prevent his people to go to Jerusalem as the previous Kings of Israel did.
Hezekiah feared Yahweh more than the King of Assyria and understood the principle of repentance and forgiveness. Hezekiah told the people that if they come to keep the feast and repent, then Yahweh will forgive them and restore them and even bring back the captives to the land. Many of those of the northern tribes laughed at this gesture. Remember that we read in the book of Hosea that the children of Israel did not know Yahweh. But many of the people of the northern tribes listened to the messengers of Hezekiah and went up to Jerusalem for the feast. This all happened after the 16th of the 1st month and before the 14th of the 2nd month, when 2nd month Passover was to take place.
Let’s read the text in 2Chronicles Chapter 30:
2Chronicles – Chapter 30
Passover Celebrated
1 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the House of YHVH at Jerusalem, to keep the Pesach to YHVH Elohim of Israel.
2 For the King had taken counsel, and his rulers, and the entire congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the Pesach in the second month.
3 For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not set themselves apart sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem.
4 And the thing pleased the King and the entire congregation.
5 So they established a decree to make a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Be-er-Sheva even to Dan, that they should come to keep the Pesach to YHVH Elohim of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it for a long time as it had been commanded.
6 So the postal runners went with the letters from the King and his rulers throughout All Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the King, saying, You children of Israel, repent again to YHVH Elohim of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Israel, and He will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.
7 And be not you like your fathers, and like your brothers, who trespassed against YHVH Elohim of their fathers, who then gave them up to desolation, as you see.
8 Now be not stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to YHVH, and enter into His Temple, which He has set-apart forever: and serve YHVH your Elohim, that the fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you.
9 For if you repent again to YHVH, your brothers and your children shall find mercy before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for YHVH your Elohim is full of unmerited favour and mercy, and will not turn away His face from you, if you make repentance to Him.
10 So the postal runners passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even to Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them.
11 Nevertheless some from Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.
12 Also in Judah the hand of Elohim was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the King and of the rulers, by the word of YHVH.
13 And there were assembled at Jerusalem many people to keep the feast of Matzoth in the second month, a very great congregation.
14 And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense they took away, and cast them into the brook Kidron.
15 Then they killed the Pesach on the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and set themselves apart, and brought in the burnt offerings into the House of YHVH.
16 And they stood in their place according to the commandment, according to the Torah of Moshe the man of Elohim: the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received from the hand of the Levites.
17 For there were many in the congregation that were not set-apart: therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the Pesach for everyone that was not clean, to set them apart to YHVH.
18 For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the Pesach otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah made prayer for them, saying, YHVH is good and He will pardon everyone,
19 That prepares his heart to seek Elohim, YHVH Elohim of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the Holy-Place.
20 And YHVH listened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.
21 And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of Matzoth seven days with great rejoice: and the Levites and the priests gave praise to YHVH day-by-day, singing with loud instruments to YHVH.
22 And Hezekiah spoke comfortably to all the Levites that taught the good knowledge of YHVH: and they did eat throughout the feast seven days, offering peace offerings, and making confession to YHVH Elohim of their fathers.
23 And the whole congregation took counsel to keep another seven days: and they kept another seven days with rejoice.
24 For Hezekiah King of Judah did give to the congregation a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the rulers gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests set themselves apart.
25 And all the congregation of Judah, with the Priests and the Levites, and the entire congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, had rejoice.
26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David King of Israel there was nothing like it in Jerusalem.
27 Then the Priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to His Holy dwelling, even to the heaven.
Hezekiah did not make the part up about the captives being restored to the land if the people return to Yahweh. Moses wrote about this in the Torah.
Let’s Read the opening verses of Deuteronomy Chapter 30:
Deu 30:1 MKJV And it shall be when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and when you shall call them to mind among all the nations where Jehovah your God has driven you,
Deu 30:2 MKJV and shall return to Jehovah your God and shall obey His voice according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, with all your heart, and with all your soul,
Deu 30:3 MKJV then Jehovah your God will turn your captivity. And He will have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the nations where Jehovah your God has scattered you.
Deu 30:4 MKJV If you are driven out into the outermost parts of the heavens, Jehovah your God will gather you from there, and He will bring you from there.
Deu 30:5 MKJV And Jehovah your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. And He will do you good, and multiply you above your fathers.
Deu 30:6 MKJV And Jehovah your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed, to love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
2Chronicles – Chapter 31
Hezekiah Organizes the Priests
1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel that was present went out to the cities of Judah, and broke the images in pieces, and cut down the Asherim, and threw down the idol temples and the altars out of all Judah and Benyamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.
2 And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the Priests and the Levites after their divisions, every man according to his service, the Priests and Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to serve, and to give thanks, and to give praise in the gates of the tents of YHVH.
3 He appointed also the King’s portion from his substance for the burnt offerings, for the morning prayer and Evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the Shabbats, and for the New Moon, and for the set feasts of Yahweh, as it is written in the Torah.
4 Also he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the Priests and Levites to them, that they might be encouraged in the Torah of YHVH.
5 And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the First Fruit offering corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the fields; and the Tithe of all things they brought in abundantly.
6 And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the Tithe of oxen and sheep, and the Tithe of the Holy things which were set-apart to YHVH their Elohim, and laid them up by heaps.
7 In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month.
8 And when Hezekiah and the rulers came and saw the heaps, they blessed YHVH, and His people Israel.
9 Then Hezekiah questioned the Priests and the Levites concerning the heaps.
10 And Azariah the head priest of House of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the House of YHVH, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for YHVH has blessed His people; and that which is left is in this great storage.
11 Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare rooms in the House of YHVH; and they prepared them,
12 And brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things faithfully: over which Chonaniah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother was the next.
13 And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozavad, and Eliel, and Jismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, were overseers under the hand of Conaniah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of Hezekiah the King, and Azariah the ruler of the House of Elohim.
14 And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the gatekeeper toward the east, was over the free-will offerings of Elohim, to distribute the offerings of YHVH, and the most set-apart things.
15 And next were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the Priests, in their appointed office, to give to their brothers by divisions, to the great as well as to the small:
16 Beside the males, from three years older and upward, even to everyone that enters into the House of YHVH, his daily portion for their service in their duties according to their divisions;
17 Both to the Priests by the house of their fathers, and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their duties by their divisions;
18 And to the genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, through the entire congregation: for in their appointed office they set themselves apart in set-apartness:
19 Also of the sons of Aaron the Priests, who were in the fields of the suburbs of their cities, in every city, the men that were designated by name, to give portions to all the males among the Priests, and to all that were counted by genealogies among the Levites.
20 And this did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and did that which was good and right and full of truth before YHVH his Elohim.
21 And in every work that he began in the service of the House of Elohim, and in the Torah, and in the judgments, to seek his Elohim, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.
After the feast, the people of the tribes of Israel that attended, removed the Temples and Ashtaroth Poles of Idol worship in the northern lands of Benjamin, in Ephraim and as far as Manasseh. Hezekiah organized the Priests and the Levites back into the offices they belonged to and restored the Tithing according to Torah. Although it is not mentioned directly, Hezekiah would have restored the rest of the feasts as well. These feasts would continue from year to year. Part of the Torah of Yahweh is that the children of Israel must appear 3 times a year in the place that Yahweh shall choose to write his name: Let’s go read the commandment in Deuteronomy Chapter 16:16
Deu 16:16-17 MKJV Three times in a year shall all your males appear before Jehovah your God in the place which He shall choose: in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in the Feast of Weeks, and in the Feast of Tabernacles. And they shall not appear before Jehovah empty, but each with his gift in his hand, according to the blessing of Jehovah your God, which He has given you.
à Let’s go to Deuteronomy Chapter 12 and read about Yahweh’s chosen place of worship:
The Lord’s Chosen Place of Worship:
Deu 12:1 MKJV These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to do in the land which Jehovah, the God of your fathers gives you to possess it, all the days that you live upon the earth.
Deu 12:2 MKJV You shall completely destroy all the places in which the nations which you shall possess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree.
Deu 12:3 MKJV And you shall overthrow their altars and break their pillars, and burn their pillars with fire. And you shall cut down the carved images of their gods, and destroy their names out of that place.
Deu 12:4 MKJV You shall not do so to Jehovah your God.
Deu 12:5 MKJV But you shall seek to the place which Jehovah your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put His name there, even to His dwelling place you shall seek, and there you shall come.
Deu 12:6 MKJV And there you shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offering of your hand, and your vows, and your free-will offerings, and the first-born of your herds and of your flocks.
Deu 12:7 MKJV And there you shall eat before Jehovah your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households in which Jehovah your God has blessed you.
Deu 12:8 MKJV You shall not do according to all that we do here today, each doing whatever is right in his own eyes.
Deu 12:9 MKJV For you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which Jehovah your God gives you.
Deu 12:10 MKJV But when you go over Jordan and live in the land which Jehovah your God gives you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies all around, so that you live in safety,
Deu 12:11 MKJV then there shall be a place which Jehovah your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there. There you shall bring all that I command you, your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to Jehovah.
Deu 12:12 MKJV And you shall rejoice before Jehovah your God; you, your sons, your daughters, your menservants, your female servants, and the Levite that is within your gates (because he has no part nor inheritance with you).
Deu 12:13 MKJV Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see.
Deu 12:14 MKJV But in the place which Jehovah shall choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.
Deu 12:15 MKJV However, with all your soul’s desire you shall sacrifice and eat flesh in all your gates, according to the blessing of Jehovah your God which He has given you, the clean and the unclean, one may eat, as of the gazelle, and as of the hart.
Deu 12:16 MKJV Only you shall not eat the blood. You shall pour it on the earth like water.
Deu 12:17 MKJV You may not eat inside your gates the tithe of your grain or of your wine or of your oil, or the first-born of your herds or of your flock, or any of your vows which you vow, or your free-will offerings or the heave offering of your hand.
Deu 12:18 MKJV But you must eat them before Jehovah your God in the place which Jehovah your God shall choose; you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite within your gates. And you shall rejoice before Jehovah your God in all that you put your hand to.
Deu 12:19 MKJV Take heed to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live on the earth.
Deu 12:20 MKJV When Jehovah your God shall make your border larger, as He has promised you, and you shall say, I will eat flesh, because your soul longs to eat flesh; you may eat flesh, whatever your soul desires.
Deu 12:21 MKJV If the place which Jehovah your God has chosen to put His name there is too far from you, then you shall kill of your herd and of your flock which Jehovah has given you, as I have commanded you, and you shall eat in your gates whatever your soul desires.
Deu 12:22 MKJV Even as the gazelle and the hart is eaten, so you shall eat them. The unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.
Deu 12:23 MKJV Only be sure that you do not eat the blood. For the blood is the life. And you may not eat the life with the flesh.
Deu 12:24 MKJV You shall not eat it. You shall pour it on the earth like water.
Deu 12:25 MKJV You shall not eat it, so that it may go well with you and with your sons after you, when you shall do what is right in the sight of Jehovah.
Deu 12:26 MKJV Only your holy things which you have, and your vows, you shall take and go to the place which Jehovah shall choose.
Deu 12:27 MKJV And you shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of Jehovah your God. And the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of Jehovah your God, and you shall eat the flesh.
Deu 12:28 MKJV Be careful to hear all these words which I command you, so that it may go well with you and with your sons after you forever, when you do the good and right in the sight of Jehovah your God.
Three times a year Yahweh’s people Israel shall appear before him in Jerusalem, where He chose to put His name. The Offerings for the feasts and the tithing are considered Holy and have to go to Jerusalem. All slaughtering of animals that were not Tithings, vows or set-apart to Yahweh had to be done at the Temple entrance, unless Jerusalem is too far, then it can be done at the gate of the city as it is mentioned in verse 21. I am not going into details in this study. What we need to understand is that Yahweh’s chosen place of worship was where he wrote His Name, which is Jerusalem. Not under every green tree and high place or the idol temples where the people wanted it to be.
I want to bring forward again Deuteronomy Chapter 30
Deu 30:1 MKJV And it shall be when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and when you shall call them to mind among all the nations where Jehovah your God has driven you,
Deu 30:2 MKJV and shall return to Jehovah your God and shall obey His voice according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, with all your heart, and with all your soul,
Deu 30:3 MKJV then Jehovah your God will turn your captivity. And He will have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the nations where Jehovah your God has scattered you.
And if we refuse? When was the last time read through the book of Revelation? Now is a good time to revise it.
The tribe of Judah, under King Hezekiah managed to find grace and mercy from Yahweh and rather than being destroyed as per prophecy, the House of Judah was restored and flourished again. But things did not go so well for King Hosea and Samaria and those who refuse to return to Yahweh. 3 years after these events, in the 4th year, the King of Assyria attacked Israel and besieged Ephraim and took many of the people of Israel captive and took them from the land of Israel and brought his own people to rule over Samaria and the lands of Israel. Maybe things would have been different if King Hosea joined in this feast in Jerusalem.
But regarding the prophecy of destruction on Jerusalem, Yahweh knows the end from the beginning and prophecies are not time bound. The future can be a long time from when the prophecy was given. Ephraim fell in the 9th year of the reign of Hosea, which was the 6th year of king Hezekiah. But for the house of Judah, the consequence for the sins of Judah for what happened during the times of King Ahaz was still to come and in the 14th year of King Hezekiah, the king of Assyria encamped the fortified cites of Judah.
We will carry on with this study next week and read about King Hezekiah’s trust in Yahweh for salvation.
