The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-06-09
Hiezekiah's Great Passover

outward appearance, but the Lord
iooketh on the heart--1 Sam, 1877.
The moral decline of Judah which
had stirred the heart of isaiah In the
reign OF uzziah continued through the
relghs Of lothian and Ahaz. Then
came a better king and better times.
| 1e2eklah tStrength OF Jehoyah'o was
twenty-five years of age when he as
cehued the throne. In 2 Kings 1875 it
! - SAID that he trusted in the Lord
A'hh OF israel. SO that after him was
none like him OF ali the kings of Ju-
gan nor any that were before him"
Much mas been made OF the fact tina [
iIts H,other Is mentioned by name but
! "hether this has any Significance can
not be determined We know that his
| iather, Ahaz. was terribly wicked; and
~ Is noticeable that the sacred writ
80 III speaking OF good man whose
/ lathef was bad, sometimes mention the
name of his mother, and that the moth
| el name is rarely mention under other
| circumstances. No stress should be
iald upon this however nor unan tho
| fact that his mother gave her son a
religious name. A woman, whether
good or bad, is apt to give her son a
good name.
When Hezelziah assembled the throne
the nation was trembling upon the
verge OF destruction. Apparently his
lirst act was to order the cleansing
/ ana reopening of the temple which had
been closed by his father Ahax.
1t required sixteen DAYS to cleanse
| the temple OF the accumulated rub-
| nlsh or years, and TO clean and polish
tue sacred vessels and make them fit
| ior service. When the work was fin
,shed the temple was formally opened
nS Hezekiah, and sacrInces were or
tsrea for All the people. There was a
great gathering Of the leading men
| OF the city and the hearts OF tn. peo-
pie were filled with Joy. First, there
was a n-offering for the king and
DIS family. for the TEN pie, priests and
LeFates, and for the peopie-an offer
l ing IN which the children OF Israel
We're taught to acknowledge their
SINS and throw themselves upon the
burnt Offering in which they dedicated
themselves wholly to the Lord. Dur.
/ ing TINS dedication service and during
Inc remaining services the temple
ehoir chanted psalms of praise Final
/ ~ when the people had confessed
their SINS and offered themselves unto
etod they made thank offerings or their
substance in token Of their gratitude
| 10 God, for his goodness to them. and
IN recognition of his right to ali they
nao. III was a great penitentiaf meet
ing in which, led by good king Heze-
hiah and inspired by the Spirit Of God
the people repented Of their sins and
turned unto the Lord and eonsecrated
| themselves To his service
but thus WAS Just beginning Let
us DO II again and let US do IL on A
! oieser scale; we can Imagine Heze-
Kan saying to his counsellors And
they began TO talk IL over "W-hat a
great thing it would be to draw all
isFael TO Jerusalem and have them
eohsecrate themselves to the Lord
All israel. our brothers OF the North
| erh Kingdom as we'll ase our own
people IT was happy suggestion
everybody thought, and somebody went
| lor the feast calendar. They found
| that the time for the feast OF the uass-
| over had just passed. but I, was re-
| called that the law provided that this
FEAST could be held month late ~ IL
was impossible to hold 1t at the regu-
lar time. II could not have been held
at the regular time as the temple had
not then been cleansed, and so the
matter was decided. and Hezekiah
gent out letters post haste throughout
the Ian dof Israel exhorting the people
To return unto the Lord and to come
10 Jerusalem to the feast OF the pass
over A great many people In the
Northern Kingdom laughed Hexekiah's
messengers to scorn but goodlg
number came, while the people OF
JIdah turned out en- wasse.
| The Lesson Text in Everyday Dress,
/ II was "a great congregation" that
can7e 10 the feast. says the acred
writer. And what an enthusiast
throng II was. Up and down the
streets the people swept. looking for
/ heather affairs, and when they had
cleansed the city of these ahomina-
lions. they busted themselves with
preparations for the feast, For some
reason the priests and Lsvites had
taken no interest in the AFFAIR. b;.t
now when they saw how far in the
near the people had left them they
were ashamed and fastened to their
places In the temple to perform their
duties. For some reason. too many
l.of the people who came had not p,iri.
| fed themselves as the law required
worshippers to do. but Hexekiah seeing
ttat they were sincere prayed to the
Lord to pardon them for their shot
comings, and the Lord heard him
| and healed the people" 1t was a
great feast and there was such JOY in
Jerusalem az the city had not known
since the time OF Solomon Indeed
the people were so happy that when
the time came for the feast to end
they determined TO keep II for another
week. And they kept 1t with glad
ness" Finally. at the end of four
teen days of joyful worship. tho priests
pronounced the blessing upon them
and the people returned to their homes
| in peace.
Questions To Bring Out the Meaning.
We have for our Lesson the story
of Hezekiah and his efforts to turn
his backslidden people back to the
Lord. VINO was Hezekiah? What
sort or man was his father? Was
Hezekiah the only man who succeeded
In life In spite OF the handicap OF a
bad father? What was the religious
| condition of Judah when Hezekiah
came to the throne? What great am
hilton burned in Hezekiah's heart
when he assembled the throne? (The
ambition to turn the hearts OF the
people back to Jehovah.) How did he
set about this great work. (Ses in
troductory paragraphs to the lesson.)
Note that he first called. together the
priests and Levites-the religious
leaders OF the people and stirred them
up to repent and return to the Lord.
Then he had them open the temple
and cleanse IT and re-inaugurate the
temple services. Then he sent out a
call TO Israel everywhere to return
to the Lord and to show their re--.
pentance by coming to the temple and
Joining in the celebration OF the feast
of the passover What was the feast
o1 mo fsstss@psY'y u fsX. fay 34eg.y FYow'
was 1t observed? How was the kings
call to repentance received? $50:
1o-12.) What did the people do when
they came to the feast (Vs. 40 Did
the religious leaders OF the nation en-