Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1911-06-08
HEZEKIAH'S
GREAT PASSOVER
School Lesson for June IL, 1911
Specially Arranged for This Paper
LESSON TEXT Chronicles 30.

LESSON TEXT Chronicles 80.
MEMORY VERSES-1S-2o.
GOLDEN TEXT-"Man Looketh on the
Outward Appearance, but the Lord Look
eth on the Heart.-1 Sam. 1877.
TIME-Beecher's Dates for the Access
sion of lothian, Ahaz and HeZekiah are
B. c. 754, 73S and 72s, Hoshea becoming
king Of Israel in B. G.. 726. Hastings
gives the dates as B. c.. 749, 741. 727 and
(Hoshea) 730.
PLACE-The temple in Jerusalem.
PROPHETS-Hosea, Micah and Isaiah.
Hezekiah was the good son of a bad
father, Ahaz; and Ahaz was the bad
son of a good father, Jotham; and
after the good Hezekiah came his bad
son, Manasseh. But there must have
been reasons back of these seeming
contradictions. In Hezekiah's a
n may have been his mother, Abijah
the daughter Cor granddaughter OF
Zechariah. Twenty-Five Zechariahs
are mentioned in the Bible. This was
not the author of the book Of proph-
ecy, but nay hav been the prophet
who had SO much influence over King
Uzziah.
Hezekiah did that which was right
In the eyes of the Lord. Gods ap-
proval Is the only wise goal for a king,
a president or the humblest citizen.
It is the fatal defect in most forms of
government that this over-rule of God
is ignored.
Hezekiah began his reign by doing
the thing that plainly needed most
to be done first. He found the Tenn
pie, b sacred meeting place Of God
and man, with It's doors closed by
Ahaz, It's lamps out, its affairs cold, its
floors and hangings covered with dust
and dirt. Therefore the young king
summoned the priests and Levites to
the court on the east of the Temple
opposite the closed porch or entrance,
and in a frank and noble address de-
clared his conviction that all the ma
tional woes had their origin in a neg
lect of the worship of Jehovah, and
his determination to make a new COW
enant with the Lord. Then he babe
them, as their first task, to cleanse
the Temple thoroughly.
The Second Step the Worship and
L dA0O." 1AuS q (A0 Q410SlS duO LIZ
vites alone had been purified. Now
the royal house and the people were
to be formally ~reconciled to Jehovah.
How was this done? Hezekiah gath
cred the chief men of Jerusalem, who
brought bullocks, lambs, rams, and he
goats for a sin offering, even of each.
The city rulers laid their hands upon
the animals, thus identifying them
selves with them. Then the priests
killed the animals and sprinkled their
blood before the veil in the Holy
Place and upon the altar of incense,
pouring out the remainder t the
base of the altar of burnt offerings in
the court before the Temple. The fat
Of the offerings was burned on the
altar OF burnt offerings, and the flesh
was afterwards eaten by the priests.
It was a mark Of the new national
feeling that arose during Hezekiah's
reign that this Offering and those that
followed were not made for Judah
alone, but for the Northern Kingdom
as we'll.
The Third Step, the Wide Invi
tation.-What was-the next step In
the great reform? The holding of the
national feast Of remembrance oil
Gods goodness, the passover. This
first month of the year, Nissan, CORE
spending to our April; but because
not enough of the priests had beer
purified and because of the time re
quired to gather the people, it was de
cided that the exigency warranted the
-postponement to the next month, Iyal
or May. AS the reform had wideneG
from Hezekiah to the priests and LIE
v1tes, then to the chief men of Jeru
salem, then to the whole congrega
ton of citizens, the next step was t.
extend it to the entire nation, from
Beer-sheba, even to Dan.
The Fourth Step is the Grea
Passover.-What further publication
was needed before the passover coul(
be celebrated? Jerusalem was full O.
heather affairs I'm every corner" ant
these were torn down and the frag
ments cast into the Kidron.
The Fifth Step is the Generou,
Giving.-What other illustration o
their cal did the people give whe,
the passover was completed?' Thei
new ardor for Jehovah blazed out in
burning indignation against the fou
; idols which they had been w%orshiping
1t was as when Peter the Hermi
I aroused whole m%ultitudes to the wild
est enthusiasm for the rescue of tn,
Holy Sepulcher, or even the dou
Scotch Lowlander blazed up like Al
l excitable Celt at the initiative Of Jen
ny Geddes. How much more hes
. fiery Orientals? Jerusalem had beel
freed from idols; why should tn
country districts still be polluted?
Thus the people swept like a foo
over Judah and Benjamin and tn
~neighboring Ephriam and Manasset
! They broke the heather Images" O
pillars, cut down the groves" or pole
set up as symbols of the ~licentiou