Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-05-11

merciful, and will not turn His face
from you, if We return unto Him." 2
ChrOn. 800.
HeZekiah was one of the most in
teresting characters in the Old Tes
lament. His outstanding character
is attested by the fact that he is
mentioned by the Jewish historians
as being one of the three kings who
lived up to his privileges as a serV-
ant Of God; David and Josiah being
the other two. There are other in.
teresting facts about his life, how
ever, that contribute to the fascina.
ton Of his story. His father (Ahaz)
was only twelve years old when he
was born, and his son was only
twelve years old when he (Manasseh)
came to the throne. If Hezekiah
was possibly the best king of Judah,
Ahaz was the Worst-unless it was
Manasseh. Certainly Hezekiah had
the worst father and the worst son
known to the royal time. Not a very
potent argument for the influence of
heredity so far as spirituality is con-
cerned. AS one old saint put it,
however: MY fathers piety cannot
be entailed, and that is so much the
worse for me. Neither can my i'm
plety be transmitted by heredity,
and that is 50 much the better for
my son." No, God means every
man to stand alone, and stand or
TALL as his relation to Jesus Christ
may be. All we can do for our chill
dren is to teach them by precept
and example to know Jesus Christ
as Savious, Lord, and Life; and then
trust to the promises of God con-
corning them. The final decision
must be left to them.
Hezekiah's reign was marked by
| many notable things that contrib
uted to the making of his life as one
OF the most interesting in history.
He was a contemporary of Isaiah
and of Micah; both of whom had a
| great influence on his life. In the
sixth year Of his reign the northern
Kingdom of Israel held before the on.
slaughts of the powerful Assyrian
kings, Sargon being the final sue.
cessful invader. Eight years later
was the invasion of his own king
dom bby Sargon's successor, Sen
/ nacherin, whose complete rout has
been immortalized by the English
poet. In that same year his serious
illness was rebuked in answer to
prayer and the application of a fig
poultice, and it's otherwise fatal ter
| mination stayed. And in that same
year also the embassy from Nero
dach-Baladan was received and be-
came the occasion for Isaiahs proph-
ecy that it should result in Judah's
captivity to Babylon (Which came
120 years later.
Another interesting fact in his
life was that apparently he had no
son to succeed him; and that if this
is true, when he became so i'll that
his death was foretold, the line of
David would have been broken, and
Gods promise of a Messiah as the
son of David would have failed. &cg
course, he may have had a son who
died afterWard. AT any rate, his son,
Manasseh, who succeeded him, was
not born until three years after this
illness.
Hezekiah's success as a construc-
tive statesman also marks him as a
most interesting character. He in
herited from his father an impoVer-
lshed treasury; an undefended from
tier; an oppressed peasantry, and
! oVerburdensome taxation to pay an
nual tribute to his fathers con-
querors. Ahaz was so impious that
the Holy Spirit has pointed the fin
ger of scorn at him, saying: This
is that AhaZ!'
He had broken down the affairs of
God; had put on the fire on the al
tar; had desecrated the temple, and
closed it's doors; had degraded the
priests, and had gone so far into
idolatry that he had made his own
children to pass through the fires
burning to Moloch.
For Hezekiah to come to the
throne amid such surroundings and
then fortify his cities, encourage his
people, muster a great army, accu-
mulate vast wealth; conquer the age
long enemies of his people (the Phil
istines), and throw off the bitter
yoke of the most powerful nation
in the world then was no small feat,
and entities him to a place in Jul
dah's hall of fame.
The Great Revival
The event, however, that marked
Hezekiah's reign as the most nota
BILE of all was the great revival that
occurred in the early part of it.
The chronicler says that in the first
year, the first month, and the first
day of his reign, he began the work
Of cleaning UP the tmeple, consecrat-
ing the priests, and establishing
again the worship of God in the
temple of God. The details of this
are given in the 10th chapter and
constituted the preparation for the
great passover feast about which
our lesson treats today. 1t took two
weeks to remove the filth from the
holy place. Then they offered a sin
offering for the king, the sanctuary,
and for the people.
The burnt offering represented
the complete dedication of them
selves to God. "And when the burnt
offering began, the song of the Lord
began also Then thank offerings
were brought in such abundance
that the Levites had to be called in
to assist the priests, the work be-
the thing was done suddenly" 1t
was a coup d. etat. In newspaper
language, it was a scoop.
How did this all come about? How
could Hezekiah do all Of this on the
first day of the first month of the
first year of his reign? Well, it was
because under Isaiah's ministry he
had been preparing for it. If you
will compare 2 kings 1862, III, 6:1S,
1, 10, you will discover that HeZe-
kiah was co-reX with his father for
at least two years before Ahaz died.
During that time he was making his
preparations, so that on the first day
of his reign as sole king he was able
Hour To DAycC