2 Kings 18 (Part 2)

Any Questions?

Last Time, We Saw Hezekiah Become King of Judah

He is One of the Greatest Kings Judah Ever Had

He was Like David

He Began Leading a Great Reform in Judah

1st, He Restored the Levitical Priesthood

2nd, Through the Restored Priesthood, He Restored the Temple

3rd, He Restored Temple Worship

4th, He Restored the Passover Celebration

He Didn’t Just Invite All of Judah to Worship at the Temple…

And Celebrate the Passover

He Invited All of Israel

(All Who was Left of Northern Israel Anyway)

2 Chronicles 30:21–27 (NIV)

21 The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great rejoicing, while the Levites and priests praised the Lord every day with resounding instruments dedicated to the Lord.

22 Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites, who showed good understanding of the service of the Lord. For the seven days they ate their assigned portion and offered fellowship offerings and praised the Lord, the God of their ancestors. 23 The whole assembly then agreed to celebrate the festival seven more days; so for another seven days they celebrated joyfully.

24 Hezekiah king of Judah provided a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep and goats for the assembly, and the officials provided them with a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep and goats. A great number of priests consecrated themselves. 25 The entire assembly of Judah rejoiced, along with the priests and Levites and all who had assembled from Israel, including the foreigners who had come from Israel and also those who resided in Judah.

26 There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. 27 The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place.

The Passover & Feast of Unleavened Bread…

Was Finally Being Celebrated the Way it was Supposed to Be

People were Celebrating the Occasion Together with Great Joy

It hadn’t Been this Way Since the Days of David

Any Questions?

When Celebrations & Worship is Restored…

The People are Once Again in Fellowship with God & Each Other

And When People are in Fellowship with God & Each Other…

The Next Natural Thing to Happen is:

They Begin Turning Away from Their Past Sins

2 Chronicles 31:1 (NIV)

1 When all this had ended, the Israelites who were there went out to the towns of Judah, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. They destroyed the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin and in Ephraim and Manasseh. After they had destroyed all of them, the Israelites returned to their own towns and to their own property.

I Think We Still See this Same Cause & Effect Today

When We Give God Our Allegiance, Praise, & Devotion…

And Assemble with Our Community to Celebrate, Edify, & Encourage One Another…

What will Naturally Follow from that…

Is Repentance, Transformation, & Holiness

Next, King Hezekiah Sets Up God’s Ordained System…

For Providing for the Tribe of Levi

When Israel 1st Entered the Promised Land…

All the Tribes were Allotted a Portion of Territory…

Except for the Tribe of Levi

The Levites were in Charge of Caring for the Tabernacle/Temple Duties

God’s Plan for Them was to Live Off of the Tithes & Offerings of the Other Tribes

Numbers 18:19–24 (NIV)

19 Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to the Lord I give to you and your sons and daughters as your perpetual share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord for both you and your offspring.” 20 The Lord said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them; I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites. 21 “I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the tent of meeting. 22 From now on the Israelites must not go near the tent of meeting, or they will bear the consequences of their sin and will die. 23 It is the Levites who are to do the work at the tent of meeting and bear the responsibility for any offenses they commit against it. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. They will receive no inheritance among the Israelites. 24 Instead, I give to the Levites as their inheritance the tithes that the Israelites present as an offering to the Lord. That is why I said concerning them: ‘They will have no inheritance among the Israelites.’ ”

Hezekiah Next Moves to Restore this System…

For the Care of the Levites

2 Chronicles 31:2–21 (NIV)

2 Hezekiah assigned the priests and Levites to divisions—each of them according to their duties as priests or Levites—to offer burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, to minister, to give thanks and to sing praises at the gates of the Lord’s dwelling. 3 The king contributed from his own possessions for the morning and evening burnt offerings and for the burnt offerings on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals as written in the Law of the Lord.

Like David, King Hezekiah Led By Example…

By Contributing to the Offerings for the Priests, Himself

4 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.

6 The people of Israel and Judah who lived in the towns of Judah also brought a tithe of their herds and flocks and a tithe of the holy things dedicated to the Lord their God, and they piled them in heaps. 7 They began doing this in the third month and finished in the seventh month. 8 When Hezekiah and his officials came and saw the heaps, they praised the Lord and blessed his people Israel. 9 Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the heaps; 10 and Azariah the chief priest, from the family of Zadok, answered, “Since the people began to bring their contributions to the temple of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare, because the Lord has blessed his people, and this great amount is left over.”

11 Hezekiah gave orders to prepare storerooms in the temple of the Lord, and this was done. 12 Then they faithfully brought in the contributions, tithes and dedicated gifts. Konaniah, a Levite, was the overseer in charge of these things, and his brother Shimei was next in rank. 13 Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismakiah, Mahath and Benaiah were assistants of Konaniah and Shimei his brother. All these served by appointment of King Hezekiah and Azariah the official in charge of the temple of God.

14 Kore son of Imnah the Levite, keeper of the East Gate, was in charge of the freewill offerings given to God, distributing the contributions made to the Lord and also the consecrated gifts. 15 Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah and Shekaniah assisted him faithfully in the towns of the priests, distributing to their fellow priests according to their divisions, old and young alike.

16 In addition, they distributed to the males three years old or more whose names were in the genealogical records—all who would enter the temple of the Lord to perform the daily duties of their various tasks, according to their responsibilities and their divisions. 17 And they distributed to the priests enrolled by their families in the genealogical records and likewise to the Levites twenty years old or more, according to their responsibilities and their divisions. 18 They included all the little ones, the wives, and the sons and daughters of the whole community listed in these genealogical records. For they were faithful in consecrating themselves.

19 As for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who lived on the farmlands around their towns or in any other towns, men were designated by name to distribute portions to every male among them and to all who were recorded in the genealogies of the Levites. 20 This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. 21 In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.

When You’ve Got a Righteous Leader…

Who Leads By Example…

The People will Follow Their Example & Commands

The People of Judah Gave Extremely Generously to the Levites…

Probably in Large Part Due to Seeing Their King Do the Same

Hezekiah was a Wonderful King

He Did What was Good, Right, & Faithful

He Obeyed God’s Laws & Commandments Wholeheartedly

And He was Blessed By God for it

Invitation

King Hezekiah Led Great Reforms in Judah

1st, He Restored the Levitical Priesthood

2nd, Through the Restored Priesthood, He Restored the Temple

3rd, He Restored Temple Worship

4th, He Restored the Passover Celebration

He Brought Worship of God Back

He Brought Holy Fellowship & Communion Back

And this Worship of God & Holy Fellowship & Communion…

Led to Repentance & Sanctified Living

2 Chronicles 31:1 (NIV)

1 When all this had ended, the Israelites who were there went out to the towns of Judah, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. They destroyed the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin and in Ephraim and Manasseh. After they had destroyed all of them, the Israelites returned to their own towns and to their own property.

What We Worship & Who We Spend Time with…

Greatly Impacts the Kind of People We Become…

And the Way We Live Our Lives

This is Why it’s Good to:

Study the Scriptures

Pray

Be Thankful

These Things Keep Us Thinking about & Worshiping God

This is Why it’s Good to:

Assemble with Our Christian Community

Spend Quality Time Building Relationships with Our Siblings in Christ

These Things Keep Us in Holy Fellowship & Communion

Whenever We Live Worshipful Lives…

And Fellowship with Other Disciples…

It Becomes More & More Instinctual to Reject Sin…

And Devote Ourselves to Good Works

2 Chron 32:1–23 Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah also is recorded in 2 Kgs 18:13–19:37 and Isa 36:1–37:38. The Chronicler provides fewer details than those accounts.