Well, we made it. This is our tenth and final lesson of this ten part series on first and second Chronicles. There's a lot of content. If you made it this far, I'm very pleased by that.
I hope you've been enjoying it. There's been a lot of content here, ten lessons on the books of Samuel, ten on the books of Kings, ten on the books of Chronicles. There's a lot going on, so hopefully you've done all of that, and I kudos to you. That's gonna help you.
I hope in your prayer life and even when you get to the Pearly Gates, that'd be awesome. So here we are in this great crescendo of Second Chronicles. We're looking at chapters 29 through 36 entitled, This Failed Reforms and Exile. Because we do have some really good reforms as we have before right in the past and a couple of lessons here with like Jihosothoth, Azadi's various kings who did well.
I always give those guys like an A- or a B+, we're gonna see some really significant, pretty hopeful reforms under Hezekiah and Josiah. Of course, they're the two most famous Reformer kings ever. But they fail. They don't really work.
They don't really convert the people for a variety of reasons. And they end up going into exile, which is what the last chapter is all about. But we're gonna end on hope for sure. Just like Second Kings ends on a note of hope, which I will review that with you quickly.
This book here, Second Chronicles, also ends on a note of hope, which of course is good. You don't want to end on just misery. You're at the end of Nehemiah. We'll talk about that in the Bible study.
So in the case, let's begin here. Looking at chapter 29, we'll talk a lot about almost two pages of notes here, almost half of our time, looking at King Hezekiah. So where we left off in the last lesson was his father, A-Haz, was an absolute jerk. He was so bad.
He didn't even repent at the end of his life. A-Haz, in my opinion, A-Haz is the worst of all the kings. And not because other kings that we're gonna see later on, Manasseh was kind of worse than him in terms of his stacking up sin. But A-Haz didn't repent.
He was just really bad through and through. Rejected all of the advice, not just so much advice, but commands and direction of Isaiah. We talked about that a little bit. So that's Hezekiah's father.
So when Hezekiah comes to the kingship in 729 BC, he reigns at a pretty good time. Right? 729 to 686. That's a pretty good stretch right there.
We have four chapters dedicated to Hezekiah because he's that significant for the chronicler. More chapters are dedicated to Hezekiah in the books of chronicles than any other king. I should say, David, of course, in Solomon, that's different. But after Solomon, Hezekiah has the most airtime, the most dedicated content for him.
And as always in the notes where I put where the parallel passages in kings are, which I'm not gonna repeat here for, you can check that in the notes after yourself. He's phenomenal. Alright, so we, let's just read a couple of verses here and there's a lot to say. So in chapter 29 verse 1, He says, Hezekiah began to reign when he was 25 years old, and he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem.
His mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zachariah. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord according to all that David his father had done. I want to stop there for right now. I just really quickly just struck me here.
I just want to emphasize once more that nine times out of 10, the queen mother is always mentioned here because the queen mother is significant. The king never sits with his, with his, one of his wives at his right hand. Not to say that one of his wives, his favorite wife or whatever, doesn't walk around the palace or the royal court with him. But it's always the queen mother who has real rule.
And you see that at the beginning of, of first kings with the story of Solomon. So I don't want to rehash all that. I talked about it before, but just understand here for Catholic typology or biblical typology, Christian typology, that the queen mother is really significant and that connects with Jesus. And of course, Mary, what Catholics believe about Mary as the queen of heaven and earth is one bajillion percent biblical.
So I just want to point that out. What I really want to zero in here is kind of close, close the quick little reminder there, the closer the parentheses. It says here that he had done according to all that David, his father had done. He was righteous as David, his father was righteous.
That is the best compliment you can possibly receive. You can possibly receive and get as a successor of David here. So David is the gold standard of righteousness. Not that David didn't sin.
He did. He committed a couple of really big whammies. But David's contrition was sincere. He felt true compunction and desire to make restoration for his sins.
So we won't rehash all of that stuff. But I just want to say David is the gold standard and he always is. Like especially if you read the books of kings, everyone is always compared to David. Did such and such a king do as David his father had done or did he not do as David his father had done?
So in the southern kingdom of Judah, David is always that that lynch pin, that benchmark here. So that means here that Hezekiah is one of Judah's greatest kings. He really definitely is, as I'm going to share with you a number of different examples, he did what David's father had done. And there's multiple times where we're going to see he echoes David in his liturgical reforms and his religious zeal in his trust in God.
And that's why you've got so many chapters, I think dedicated to Hezekiah because over and over again, he's kind of like a new David figure. But he's also a new Solomon figure, especially because of all the work that he had done for liturgical reform and establishing the temple and setting up the Levites for worship. So he basically what's going on here, he's echoing the glory days of David and Solomon, not just in terms of material prosperity or you know, social, economic, political independence. There is that of course, but the focus remember here for the chronicler in this religious interpretation of the Judean kings and Judean history under the kings is are the kings righteous.
Do they focus on worship? Do they establish the people of Israel as a liturgical empire as we've been talking about over these past 10 lessons, right? So this is everything that Hezekiah did. You really can't overestimate his role.
In fact, I have here a quick quote from your Catholic and arch of the Old Testament, which says in the books of Kings, Josiah, which we'll talk about, I guess, page three of our notes here. Josiah is the ultimate reformer king, but Hezekiah is second to him. In chronicles, this relationship is reversed. Hezekiah's reign and his reforms are the benchmark of the sons of David and Josiah comes in second.
I think that's kind of interesting there and I'm kind of working out some personal theories which I don't really feel comfortable sharing yet because I haven't baked them there. They're still in the oven for a while. But why is that King's emphasizes Josiah over Hezekiah? But in chronicles, that emphasis is reversed.
That's very fascinating. I'll take it to prayer, see what comes up in your mind. So what does He do then? So these two verses introducing the king is pretty significant.
So what are some examples of His righteousness and His faithfulness and fidelity? Well, first, right off the bat, as you would expect here, He cleanses the temple. He opens the temple up. He restores the Mosaic covenant with the people in chapters 29 verses 1 through 19.
I'm gonna have to be selected by the way of which verses I read here with you just because otherwise this lesson will be four hours. But this is the point. Right off the bat, He did what David's father had done. So He focuses on worship and Mosaic fidelity, right?
Not just for himself, but for all the people. And also remember that He has His father who is so evil. Remember at the end of chapter 28, He closed down the temple. It seems to be the case, right?
He shut the gates. People couldn't come in worship or He had dedicated the temple to one of the false pagan gods or the Assyrians or Edomites or all the gods that He had worshiped. It was so bad, this is a great contrast. A has shut the system down because He rejects the Lord and doesn't worship the Lord.
But then Hezekiah reopens everything and brings the people back to God. That's the big contrast here between Him and His father. And not only that, He's going to restore temple worship, but not just for Judah, but for all Israel. That's definitely echoing David's zeal.
I forget which lesson it was by now. But remember I shared with you probably multiple times at this point how all of that expression, all Israel, is very important because David is the king of all Israel and David and his son Solomon brought all Israel into covenant worship of God. And so it's very, very fitting here that Hezekiah as a new David and a new Solomon is bringing all Israel to participate in this worship. And He's also making or at least directly, you might have to make sin offerings, not just for Judah, but for all Israel.
So we read a few verses here. Let's go all the way down to chapter 29 verse 20. He says, then Hezekiah the king rose early and gathered the official to the city and went up to the house of the Lord. And they brought seven bulls and seven rams and seven lambs and seven he goes.
Seven is always the number of covenant. So I think the point here is that remember it is the number of covenant. It's not the number of completion. If seven is the number of completion, it's always related to the covenant, right?
Covenantal completion or covenantal fidelity or infidelity for that matter, right? So all of these animals, seven, seven, seven, seven all over the place is because He wants to restore God's covenant with His people or really bring the people back to covenant fidelity with God. That's better said. All right.
So seven versions of rams and lambs and bulls and he goes for a sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. And he commanded the priests and sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the Lord. So they killed the bulls and the priests received the blood through it against the altar and killed the rams and their blood was thrown against the altar and killed the lambs and their blood was thrown against the altar. Kind of echoes of Sinai right there in Moses, slaughtered all those animals and threw the blood against the altar too.
Then he goes for the sin offering were brought to the king of the assembly and they laid their hands upon them and the priests killed them and made a sin offering with their blood on the altar to make a tome for there it is all Israel. All right. Because the role of the king is to be a mediator really a son of God for all the tribes of Israel. It goes on one more verse here for the king commanded the burn offerings and sin offering should be made for all Israel.
That's a big deal my friend. That's a really big deal here. If you haven't these righteous kings have not. We'll see this with Josiah later on.
Have they haven't forgotten about what's going on in the North? In fact, I should point out right now I was going to do it later. We'll do it now that his Akiah was one in the south the king in the south who was reigning when the Assyrian army destroyed the North. So he witnessed firsthand with the consequences of sin are its exile its separation from God its separation from the land because really God and the land kind of come and in hand it's very typological for God in the promise and heaven.
Right. I talked about that a ton in other Bible studies like Joshua for example. So in any case he saw all of this stuff happen up north and now he's making sin offerings for all Israel including those 10 northern tribes that are now in captivity and they've been squished and killed and starved and exiled. That's fantastic.
What a great role of being a mediator for all the people here. That's awesome. So that is what he's doing here as he begins this probably because of again the year 722. I don't know if I just mentioned that or not.
So the next step here in making a tome it for all of Israel is to invite all of Israel to worship God. And so he's very famous for this incredible Passover and 11 bread feast. He celebrates it with such incredible devotion in chapter 30. And that's a big deal here because Passover, you know Passover is with a great feast established at Exodus and there are Exodus names with this yet again.
Right. So in going back to celebrate Passover which again Josiah will do after him that's basically saying you know remembering God's deliverance of his people. Right. And understanding that God will deliver all of his people and bring them back from the lands where they have been scattered and they will come back and worship him again.
Passover is the great feast of deliverance. I mean obviously all the feasts have some aspect of deliverance and province of God. The Passover is very much an Exodus celebration with unleavened bread. So just to remember unleavened bread is always like the second half of the coin, the other side of the coin because Passover celebrated and then unleavened bread is for one week.
They would celebrate God's provision and deliverance and whatnot and they would have unleavened bread in their homes for one week again echoing the hastily flitched they had to leave Israel. All right. So without all that said here, I've got a quote for you again from the Caligiano National Testament which says Has a kind of great Passover celebration, holy and omitted in Kings is truly the high point of post psalamomonic Judean history. At this event, all of Judah together with significant representation of the Northern tribes join in temple worship according to the Mosaic Covenant under the righteous leadership of the son of David.
All right. So we're developing this theme here of how over and over again, he is trying to bring the Northern tribes with Judah into worshiping God in the temple, echoing the Mosaic Covenant, restoring the Mosaic Covenant. In fact, there really are so many connections here. I decided I didn't really have the time to go through all of these because Dr.
Han's book on Chronicles, which is in your suggested reading, I quoted all the time here. He's got a lot of different themes that he unpacks for many pages, page 174 to 180. So if you're reading that book while you're listening to these lessons, that'd be awesome. I hope you're doing that.
But you can focus on those chapters here and you really get the sense here of what Hisakiah is doing is trying to bring people back to Mosaic worship, which is great. All right. So we already saw a number of different times under Azar, Jehoshaphat, that faithful immigrants from the Northern Kingdom did move south. Not a lot.
It's a very small faithful remnant, I think. All right. So various points in their history after Jeroboam set up those wretched two golden calves and set up his own priesthood and his own liturgical calendar and all that kind of stuff. You did have faithful immigrants move down south at various points.
But here, Hezekiah is purposely seeking them out again to restore them. Let's go down to chapter 30 verse 1. Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah and wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh. The two tribes of Joseph, right, under the two strongest tribes.
In fact, the northern kingdom was called the Kingdom of Ephraim. So he sent to Ephraim and Manasseh that they should come to the house of the Lord of Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the Lord of Israel. For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to keep the Passover in the second month. For they cannot keep it in its time in the first month because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient number.
Nor had the people assembled in Jerusalem. And the plan seemed right to the king and all the assembly. So they decreed to make a proclamation, again, throughout all Israel from bearish of Aude Dan, right, basically from the entire territory of the north, that the people should come and keep Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, for they had not kept in great numbers as prescribed. So just stop there really quickly here.
So Hezekiah is seeking out his people to restore them to God. That's fantastic. This is a huge deal here that goes beyond what Azzan Johusphat and others have done in the past. So as this next quote here says from the Catholic study bible, Hezekiah looks to reunite all the 12 tribes, the northern Israelites, as well as the southern Judeites.
His desire to reach out to Judah separated brethren and to heal their divided family of Israel is also underscored in chapter 30 verses. Well, I would just write that actually. Chapter 30 verses 1 through 12 as we're talking about. Okay, excuse me.
All right. So he's exercising his priestly role. Remember that the king of David is a priest in the order of Melchizedek. We saw that before that you can't, the kings can't usurp the Levitical duties.
They have kind of their own separate duties as a royal priestly figure. So here he's exercising his role, calling all the faithful immigrants to come down and return to the Lord and find forgiveness, which is something that's going to be really important for everyone left in the land of north. They're going to, they're under Assyrian siege. And you got to kind of do the weeds here to find out it.
Is it right before the Assyrian sheaves are right after the siege? But still the northern kingdom are realizing that they are being punished for their infidelity. So as the guy says, come on down. All right, come on down and turn back to God.
One more quick quote. Full restoration of the northern tribe scattered and exiled to distant lands depends on a collective act of repentance. That's so important. You got to repent individually, but you also have to repent as a people.
Repenting individually, repenting as a people, both are crucial here. Sadly, only some northerners, I'll keep reading here for you in the text for a second. Only some northerners keep the call, but others scoff at the idea of worshiping in Jerusalem. So on that point, let me go on here from verse 6.
This is always the case. You always have some people who repent a faithful remnant, other people scoff. That's kind of par for the course, sadly. So let's keep going over six.
So, curriers went throughout all of Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes as the king had commanded, saying, Oh people of Israel, return to the Lord. This is this collective act of repentance that we talked about in this quote here. So, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, or Jacob. That he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hands of the kings of Israel.
Of Assyria, I beg your pardon. So you've escaped from the hands of the kings of Assyria. You witnessed this entire thing happen. Your kingdoms destroyed.
Return to the Lord. Don't be like your fathers and your brethren who were faithless to the Lord God of your fathers, so that he made them a desolation as you see. Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord. Come to a sanctuary which he has sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God that his fierce anger may turn away from you.
For if you return to the Lord, that Hebrew word is shu, a lot to say. Talk about that in the books of the prophets here. Shuv, S-H-U-V, it's Meninolia, it's repentance. It's a 180 turn, right?
Turn your back on sin and turn towards God. So return to the land. The Lord your God is gracious and merciful. It will not turn away his face from you if you shu, to him return to him.
So verse 10, the curios went from city to city, throughout all the country of Ephraimim and Assas, far as Zebulun. But they laughed them to scorn and mocked them, and only a few men of Asher and Manassas and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. The hand of God was also upon Judah to give them one heart, to do with the king and the princess commanded by the Lord of the Lord. So I really can't overstate what a great gesture this is.
You know, exercising his royal priestly role to invite the faithful unto the north, to come back and to be part of God's kingdom. Remember that's an over-underlining theme in these books, the kingdom of David is God's kingdom. So if you return to David, if you return to Jerusalem, you are effectively returning back to God. And in the sense that all these various, few men it says here, a small remnant from these various tribes, come back to Judah, the king is truly king over all of Israel.
So it is true to say to emphasize, yes, he is king of Judah, because we have the split kingdom, the king of the north, the king of the south, but David and his heirs will always be the kings of all Israel, and as much as those faithful in this return. I think that's really important to keep in mind here. And I think also this is the type of Jesus, of course, Hezekiah, and as we're going to see Josiah as well. These are typological figures of Jesus Christ.
Did Jesus also go through all of Zebulun and the northern territories, some area, right? Did Jesus go to the remnant of the northern kingdom here? I mean, at this point, 750 years after they were destroyed. But did He go to them and preach repentance and call them to come back and worship the one true God?
Of course He did, right? So Jesus is definitely a new Hezekiah figure. What Hezekiah is doing, trying to restore all the 12 tribes, is precisely what Jesus does in his ministry as well. More on that one is the state of the gospel.
That's going to be awesome. Hey, this is Doc Nick. Thank you so much for listening to this course sample. If you enjoyed it and want to listen to the entire lesson, please become a student over at Scriptureandtradition.com where you can listen to this entire course, but also all the other courses that we have available in the S&T audio library where you can listen to them on demand, however, and whenever you want.
So thank you so much. God bless you and keep setting your Bible.