The Greater Reset
Notes
Transcript
1 Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done.
1 And 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.
26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. 27 Then the priests, the Levites, arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard; and their prayer came up to His holy dwelling place, to heaven.
20 Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God. 21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered.
The world that we live in: turbulent economic times.
Political unrest - Rowe V Wade, the protests which we pray don’t turn violent.
Are we at the end of the pandemic, are we coming out of this Corona virus or are we still in it?
War in Ukraine. Lithuania’s involvement Could this lead to World War III?
The Great Reset
WEF - “urgently build the foundations of our economic and social system for a fairer, sustainable and more resilient post-COVID future”.
There are conspiracy theories around the Great Reset , it is a scheme of the global elites to move us into a one world government - and it is possible..
Whatever this Great reset maybe, these global elites are providing human solutions to what is really a spiritual problem ---- sin, the world system and the work of Satan.
True hope is found in God. We will Trust in the Lord and not in men!
Israel and Judah (map and background)
Hezekiah was king. After his father Ahaz.
Similarities, the kingdom next to Judah, Israel was overrun by the Assyrians, they are wondering are we next to be invaded? Assyria, wanted to take over the nations of the world at that time, send their people into exile, intermarry with them — something like their own version of the GREAT RESET.
The leader of the nation Judah, did not turn to their own selves, and their strength, he did not turn to other countries for help, he did not offer diplomacy with the invading country---- He turned to the Lord His God.
Hezekiah: Before we tackle the problem from outside, let us deal with the problem within us! We have to go through a reformation.
Three major reforms of Hezekiah:
1. He cleansed the nation from idolatry.
2. He reached out to the lost and preached to them.
3. He restored true worship and reestablished the covenant with God.
Hezekiah cleansed the nation from idolatry.
5 and said to them: “Hear me, Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place.
6 For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the Lord our God; they have forsaken Him, have turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the Lord, and turned their backs on Him.
consequences of sin.. many have fallen by the sword and led captive..
Hezekiah’s father Ahaz, filled their land with pagan worship… and idolatry.
Idolatry - the worship of idols or excessive devotion to, or reverence for some person or thing.
Idol — can be any graven image carved by man.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
You shall not bow to them or serve them!
More complete definition of an idol - is anything that replaces the one true God in our lives. (money, your house, your career, sports… can be self) What is the first thing you check on your phones after waking up in the morning? (bank account, or investments, latest news, social media --- self, my story— what about God’s story?)
Break down the idols of your life and cleanse yourself of them! It is actually a cleansing of the heart.
Who do you love the most? Money --- the love of money...
2. Hezekiah reached out to the lost and preached to them.
5 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.
6 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 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.
7 And do not be like your fathers and your brethren, who trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, so that He gave them up to desolation, as you see.
8 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.
9 For if you return to the Lord, your brethren and your children will be treated with compassion by those who lead them captive, so that they may come back to this land; for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn His face from you if you return to Him.”
The runners --- They went out and made a proclamation to the neighboring country - Israel, to those who were left behind and not taken captive.
Many rejected the invitation.. some laughed at them in spite of their wretched situation. but there was a remnant from some of the tribes who humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem...
3. Hezekiah restored true worship and reestablished the covenant with God.
14 They arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and they took away all the incense altars and cast them into the Brook Kidron. 15 Then they slaughtered the Passover lambs on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought the burnt offerings to the house of the Lord.
Worship according to what God had commanded. They kept the passover and the feast of the unleavened bread.
Old Testament commandments and traditions. But they did not fully follow the prescribed way of the sacrifice — there were violations… easy to miss this..
Biblical Typology - is a study of types, or more simply symbols that are used to represent something else.
Old Testament strict rules on who administers the worship, cleansing and the number of days.. explain how these were all broken with the worship in the time of Hezekiah and YET THEIR WORSHIP WAS ACCEPTED BY THE LORD.
explain..
20 And the Lord listened to Hezekiah and healed the people.
Biblical Typology - Covenant Worship in the time of Hezekiah was a type of New Testament Covenant Worship in Jesus of which the foundation is the love and the grace of God!
THERE WAS A SPIRITUAL REVIVAL!
26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. 27 Then the priests, the Levites, arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard; and their prayer came up to His holy dwelling place, to heaven.
THIS IS THE HOLY GREAT RESET
Biblical Typology - is a study of types, or more simply symbols that are used to represent something else.
Hezekiah is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. But what the Lord Jesus brought into our lives is not just reformation, it is transformation.
The Lord Jesus...
Cleanses and sanctifies us by His Spirit.
Reaches out to the lost and preaches to them. (we are the modern day runners of the Lord, expound)
Established a better covenant and true worship.
Outcome: The people are delivered from destruction.
Next Sunday - Great Test. The invading army finally arrived at their doorstep.