Conflict is a good thing.
There is no story without conflict.
We’re skipping over two more kings of Judah because there really isn’t much conflict in their lives. The first was good…he had a good mom. The next was bad and reaped what he sowed.
We’re getting to the life of one of the top 3 most impressive kings in the history of Judah. We’ll be focussing on him for the next several lessons.
Let’s look at the life of Hezekiah.
2 Chronicles 29
Hezekiah became king when he was 25 years old and he reigned for 29 years. His mother’s name was Abijah, daughter of Zechariah. Since his mother was mentioned, you know the next verse is important
He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.
2 Chronicles 29:2
His father Asa did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Hezekiah made it right. In the first month of the first year, he re-opened the doors of the temple. He called on the priests and the levites to consecrate themselves and the temple. They started the first day of the first month and in 16 days they had finished consecrating the temple.
It was revival… and there’s a curious footnote here that re-occurs throughout history.
v. 34 the Levites had been more conscientious in consecrating themselves than the priests had been.
When God starts to move on a people to turn them back to himself, he starts in the lives of the willing few…the rest catch up later.
The service of the temple was reestablished..
Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly. 2 Chronicles 29:36 (NIV)
Hezekiah wasn’t done there. He wanted to revive the Passover.
We know the passover was celebrated when the children of Israel came out of Egypt (Exodus 12:21-28). Joshua celebrated it again when they entered the promised land (Joshua 5:10). Josiah had the people celebrate the passover and 2 Kings 23:22 records that it had not been done during the time of the judges or the kings up to that point.
Hezekiah wanted to do what was right. It was in the book, it had to be obeyed. He called the people together to celebrate.
Remember what I said about the priests not being as conscientious as the levites about consecrating the temple? The same sort of thing happened with the passover.
Family heads should kill the passover lamb, but many who came along weren’t consecrated so the Levites did it for them. That’s not what it was designed to be, the celebration is for the family, not the kingdom. A holy person was not supposed to take the place of spiritual head of the family. But people were excited and wanted to celebrate the passover together…
…and we get a glimpse of something amazing…
Even under the law we see evidence of grace.
Most of those who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not purified themselves. But King Hezekiah prayed for them, and they were allowed to eat the Passover meal anyway, even though this was contrary to the requirements of the Law. For Hezekiah said, “May the Lord, who is good, pardon those who decide to follow the Lord, the God of their ancestors, even though they are not properly cleansed for the ceremony.” And the Lord listened to Hezekiah’s prayer and healed the people. 2 Chronicles 30:18–20
Why do we see grace here?
Grace was not shown when Uzziah pridefully tried to burn incense before the Lord – he became a leper.
Grace was not shown when Amaziah bowed down to worship idols he had captured – he reaped what he had sown.
Grace was not shown when Joash murdered the son of his mentor – he became the first king of Judah to be assassinated.
Why is grace shown here? (It’s misplaced…it was for after the cross)
Why didn’t Hezekiah’s forefather’s experience grace like he did?
Let’s answer the second question first.
Even under grace, we have what is called the unpardonable sin. Jesus said:
Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”
Mark 3:28-29 (NIV)
That’s scary stuff. Let’s understand the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
The role of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit convicts (John 16:8), comforts (John 14:16), empowers (Luke 4:14; 24:49; Romans 15:19; Acts 1:8) and teach and reminds us all things (John 14:26). There are about 65 other things we can find in Scripture…but this isn’t the place to unpack them all.
It’s enough to say, if we resist the Holy Spirit’s conviction, comfort, power or teaching, how can we ever repent to receive forgiveness?
If you are beyond repentance are you beyond forgiveness.
Hezekiah’s forefathers were beyond repentance.
We have to watch that we never get there.
That’s a sober thought. That’s why when we take communion, it can never become a form. We need to examine our hearts and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth.
We cannot resist his prompting and excuse sin in our lives.
Let me give you an example of excusing sin in our lives.
Truth at the wrong time can get us into trouble.
If anyone loudly blesses their neighbour early in the morning,
it will be taken as a curse. Proverbs 27:14
An MIT linguistics professor was lecturing his class. “In English,” he said, “a double negative forms a positive. However, in some languages, such as Russian, a double negative remains a negative. But there isn’t a single language, not one, in which a double positive can express a negative.”
A voice from the back of the room piped up, “Yeah, right.”
There are two truths when placed together and said at the wrong time become negative.
Nobody’s perfect
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23
God will forgive
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
It is great to bring these truths together when someone is repenting, wanting forgiveness and ready to change their life. They are not resisting the Holy Spirit.
It is damnation to bring these truths together when someone is contemplating sin. Why? Because they know the good the ought to do, but don’t want to do it.
When you look for a loophole you are resisting the Holy Spirit.
Hezekiah was doing the exact opposite. He wasn’t looking for a loophole out of a law, he sought grace for people when they could not keep the law. He understood Faith takes precedence over ritual.
Faith taking precedence over ritual resonated with the heart of God…
And the Lord heard Hezekiah’s prayer and healed the people. 2 Chronicles 30:20
God loved Hezekiah’s motivation. Hezekiah was removing obstacles from people who wanted to seek the Lord.
Jesus did the same thing when he cleared the temple. The money changers were in the court of the gentiles. That’s where we would have to go if we wanted to worship God before the death and resurrection of Jesus. He took a whip to them 2 times – Synoptic gospels tell us one time was at the start of his ministry, John tells about the time he did it the last week before his crucifixion. It so incensed him that people who were seeking God would be kept from God.
Do you keep others from seeking after God?
You do when you resist the Holy Spirit.
The writer of Hebrews tells us:
Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies Hebrews 10:26-27 (NLT)
John the Baptist told the self-righteous pharisees that came to him to:
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Matthew 3:8 (NIV)
You can’t live your life like everyone else does. You are the called-out ones, the ekklesia, you can’t resist the Holy Spirit, you need to keep in step with him.
Never forget…
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:25 NIV
Keep your motives for grace in line with God’s will.
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