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Steve Webb (00:00):
Hezekiah is a good
example for us.
This is the Lifespring! One YearBible coming to you from
Riverside, California andpodcasting since 2004. I'm your
OG Godcaster. Steve Webb. It'shistory Tuesday, our reading
will be Second Chronicles 29through 32. The website is
Lifespringmedia.com. and contactinformation will be at the end
(00:21):
of the show. Before we read,let's pray. Our Heavenly Father,
we thank you for our timetogether and we pray that You
would bless this time. Teach usLord as we read, I pray this in
Jesus name, Amen. All right,let's begin.
Second Chronicles chapter 29.Hezekiah began to reign when he
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was 25 years old, and he reigned29 years in Jerusalem. His
mother's name was Elijah, thedaughter of Zechariah. and he
did what was right in the eyesof the Lord according to all
that David his father had done.In the first year of his reign.
In the first month, he openedthe doors of the house of the
Lord and repaired them. Hebrought in the priests and the
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Levites and assembled them inthe square on the east and said
to them, hear me Levites nowconsecrate yourselves in
consecrate the house of theLord, the God of your fathers,
and carry out the filth from theholy place for our fathers who
have been unfaithful, and havedone what was evil in the sight
of the Lord our God, they haveforsaken Him, and if turned away
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their faces from the habitationof the Lord and turned their
backs. They also shut the doorsof the vestibule and put out the
lamps, and if not burned incenseor offered burnt offerings in
the holy place to the God ofIsrael. Therefore, the wrath of
the Lord came on Judah inJerusalem, and he has made them
an object of horror ofastonishment and of hissing as
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you see with your own eyes. Forbehold, our fathers have fallen
by the sword, and our sons andour daughters and our wives are
in captivity for this. Now it isin my heart to make a covenant
with the Lord the God of Israel,in order that his fierce anger
may turn away from us. My sonsdo not now be negligent, for the
Lord has chosen you to stand inHis presence, to minister to
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him, and to be his ministers andmake offerings to him. Then the
Levites arose may have the sonof a May sigh and Joel the son
of Azariah, of the sons of theKohathites and of the sons of
Moray Kish, the son of AB die,and as Araya the son of GIA Hala
Lal at of the Gershonites Joah,the son of Zima and Eden the son
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of Jolla, and of the sons of Lze fan shimmery and ju will
enter the sons of asefZechariah, and Matt Denia. and
of the sons of HeMan, Jia huel,and shimmy I, and of the sons of
Judah, luthan, Shemaiah, andEzio, they gathered their
brothers and consecratedthemselves and went in as the
king and commanded by the wordsof the Lord, to cleanse the
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house of the Lord. The priestswent into the inner part of the
house of the Lord to cleanse it.and they brought out all the
uncleanness that they found inthe temple of the Lord into the
quarter of the house of theLord. and the Levites took it
and carried it out to the brookKidron. They began to consecrate
on the first day of the firstmonth. and on the eighth day of
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the month, they came to thevestibule of the Lord. Then for
eight days they consecrated thehouse of the Lord. and on the
16th day of the first month,they finished. Then they went
into Hezekiah the king and said,We have cleansed all the house
of the Lord, the altar of burntoffering at all its utensils,
and the table for the Showbreadand all its utensils, all the
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utensils that King Ahazdiscarded in his reign, when he
was faithless, we have madeready and consecrated and
behold, they are before thealtar of the Lord. Then Hezekiah
the king rose early and gatheredthe officials of the city and
went up to the house of theLord. and they brought seven
bulls seven Ram's seven lambs,and seven male goats for a sin
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offering for the kingdom, andfor the sanctuary and for Judah.
and he commanded the priests,the sons of Aaron to offer them
on the altar of the Lord. Sothey slaughtered the bulls and
the priests received the bloodand threw it against the altar,
and they slaughtered the Rams intheir blood was thrown against
the altar, and they slaughteredthe lambs in their blood was
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thrown against the altar. andthe goats for the sin offering
were brought to the king in theassembly, and they laid their
hands on them, and the priestsslaughtered them and made a sin
offering with their blood on thealtar to make atonement for all
Israel. For the king commandedthat the bird offering in the
sin offerings should be made forall Israel, and he stationed the
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Levites in the house of the Lordwith cymbals harps inliers
according to the commandment ofDavid, and of Gad, the king,
seer, and of Nathan the prophet,for the commandment was from the
Lord through his prophets. TheLevites stood with the
instruments of David and thepriests with the trumpets. Then
Hezekiah commanded that the birdoffering the offered on the
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altar And when the burntoffering began, the song to the
Lord began also. and thetrumpets accompanied by the
instruments of David King ofIsrael. The whole assembly
worshiped and the singer sang,and the trumpeters sounded. All
this continued until the burntoffering was finished. When the
offering was finished, the kingand all who were present with
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him, bowed themselves andworshipped, and Hezekiah, the
king and the officials commandedthe Levites to sing praises to
the Lord with the words ofDavid, and a vase after the
seer. and they sang praises withgladness, and they bowed down
and worshiped. and then Hezekiahsaid, you have now consecrated
yourselves to the Lord, comenear, bring sacrifices and thank
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offerings to the house of theLord. and the assembly brought
sacrifices and thank offerings,and all who were of a willing
heart brought burnt offerings.The number of the burnt
offerings that the assemblybrought was 70 bulls, 100 grams
and 200 lambs. All of these werefor a burnt offering to the
Lord. and the consecratedofferings were 600 bowls and
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3000 sheep, but the priests weretoo few and could not flay all
the burnt offerings. So untilother priests had consecrated
themselves, their brothers, theLevites helped them until the
work was finished for theLevites were more upright in
heart than the priests inconsecrating themselves. Besides
the great number of burntofferings, there was the fat of
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the peace offerings, and theywere drink offerings for the
burnt offerings. Thus theservice of the house of the Lord
was restored at Hezekiah. andall the people rejoiced because
God had provided for the peoplefor the thing came about
suddenly.
Second Chronicles chapter 30.King Hezekiah, now sent word to
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all Israel and Judah, and hewrote letters of invitation to
the people of Ephraim andManasseh. He asked everyone to
come to the temple of the Lordat Jerusalem to celebrate the
Passover of the Lord, the God ofIsrael, the king, his officials,
and all the community ofJerusalem decided to celebrate
Passover a month later thanusual. They were unable to
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celebrate it at the prescribedtime, because not enough priests
could be purified by then, andthe people had not yet assembled
the Jerusalem. This plan forkeeping the Passover seemed
right to the king at all thepeople. So they sent a
proclamation throughout allIsrael, from Beersheba in the
south to Dan and the north,inviting everyone to come to
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Jerusalem to celebrate thePassover of the Lord, the God of
Israel, the people had not beencelebrating it in great numbers
as required in the law. At theking's command, runners were
sent throughout Israel andJudah, they carried letters that
said, old people of Israelreturned to the Lord, the God of
Abraham, Isaac Israel, so thathe will return to the few of us
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who have survived the conquestof the Assyrian kings. Do not be
like your ancestors andrelatives who will abandon the
Lord the God of their ancestors,and became an object of derision
as you yourselves can see. Donot be stubborn as they were,
but submit yourselves to theLord, come to his temple which
he has set apart his holyforever. Worship the Lord your
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God so that his fierce angerwill turn away from you. For if
you return to the Lord, yourrelatives and your children will
be treated mercifully by theircaptors, and they will be able
to return to this land. For theLord your God is gracious and
merciful. If you return to Him,He will not continue to turn his
face from you. The runners wentfrom town to town throughout
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Ephraim and Manasseh and as faras the territory of Zebulon, but
most of the people just laughedat the runners and made fun of
them. However, some people fromAsher Manasa and Zeb Ulan
humbled themselves and went toJerusalem. At the same time,
God's hand was on the people inthe land of Judah, giving them
all one heart to obey the ordersof the king and his officials
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who were following the word ofthe Lord. So a huge crowd
assembled to Jerusalem in midspring to celebrate the festival
of unleavened bread. They set towork and removed the pagan
altars from Jerusalem. They tookaway all the incense altars and
threw them into the KidronValley. On the 14th day of the
second month, one month laterthan usual, the people
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slaughtered the Passover lamb.This shamed the priests and
Levites so they purifiedthemselves and brought burnt
offerings to the temple of theLord. Then they took their
places at the temple asprescribed in the Law of Moses,
the man of God. The Levitesbrought the sacrificial blood to
the priests who then sprinkledit on the altar. Since many of
the people had not purifiedthemselves, the Levites had to
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slaughter their Passover lambfor them to set them apart for
the Lord. Most of those who camefrom Ephram, Manasa is a car in
Zebulon had not purifiedthemselves. But King Hezekiah
prayed for them and they wereallowed to eat the Passover meal
anyway, even though this wascontrary to the requirements of
the law. For Hezekiah said, Maythe Lord who was good pardon
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those who decide to follow Havethe Lord the God of their
ancestors, even though they arenot properly cleansed for the
ceremony, and the Lord listenedto Hezekiah his prayer and
healed the people. So the peopleof Israel who were present at
Jerusalem joyously celebratedthe Festival of Unleavened Bread
for seven days. Each day theLevites and priests sang to the
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Lord accompanied by loudinstruments. Hezekiah encouraged
all the Levites regarding theskill they displayed as they
served the Lord. The celebrationcontinued for seven days, peace
offerings were sacrificed andthe people gave thanks to the
Lord the God of their ancestors.The entire assembly then decided
to continue the festival anotherseven days, so they celebrated
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joyfully for another week. KingHezekiah gave the people 1000
bulls and 7000 sheep and goatsfor offerings, and the officials
donated 1000 bulls and 10,000sheep and goats. Meanwhile, many
more priests purifiedthemselves, the entire assembly
of Judah rejoiced, including thepriests, the Levites, all who
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came from the land of Israel,the foreigners who came to the
festival, and all who lived inJudah. There was great joy in
the city for Jerusalem had notseen a celebration like this one
since the days of Solomon, KingDavid's son, then the priests
the Levites stood and bless thepeople, and God heard their
prayer from his holy dwelling inheaven.
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Second Chronicles chapter 31.When the festival ended, the
Israelites who attended went toall the towns of Judah,
Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh,and they smashed all the sacred
pillars, cut down the Asherahpoles, and removed the pagan
shrines and altars. After this,the Israelites returned to their
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own towns and homes. Hezekiahthen organize the priests and
Levites into divisions to offerthe burnt offerings and peace
offerings and to worship andgive thanks and praise to the
Lord at the gates of the temple.The king also made a personal
contribution of animals for thedaily morning and evening burnt
offerings, the weekly Sabbathfestivals, the monthly New Moon
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festivals, and the annualfestivals as prescribed in the
law of the Lord. In addition, herequired the people in Jerusalem
to bring a portion of theirgoods to the priests and Levites
so they could devote themselvesfully to the law of the Lord.
When the people of Israel heardthese requirements, they
responded generously by bringingthe first share of their grain,
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new wine, olive oil, honey, andall the produce of their fields.
They brought a large quantity, atithe of all they produced, the
people who had moved to Judahfrom Israel, and the people of
Judah themselves brought in theties of their cattle, sheep and
goats, and a tie of the thingsthat had been dedicated to the
Lord their God, and they piledthem up in great heaps. They
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began piling them up in latespring, and the heaps continued
to grow until early autumn whenHezekiah and his officials came
and saw these huge piles, theythank the Lord and His people
Israel. Where did all this comefrom? Hezekiah asked the priests
and Levites at as Araya the highpriest from the family of ze doc
replied, since the people beganbringing their gifts to the
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Lord's temple we have had enoughto eat and plenty despair. The
Lord has blessed his people andall this is leftover Hezekiah
ordered that storerooms beprepared in the temple of the
Lord. When this was done, thepeople faithfully brought all
the gifts, tides and other itemsdedicated for use in the temple.
kohner, nya the Levite was putin charge assisted by his
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brother shimmy. I, thesupervisors under them were Joe
Heil as his idea Nathan AssaHill jerem off jhaza Bad a Lyle
is mkhaya may have and Binya.These appointments were made by
King Hezekiah and as Araya thechief official in the temple of
God, quarry son of him now theLevite, who was the gatekeeper
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the east gate was put in chargeof distributing the voluntary
offerings given to God, thegifts and the things that had
been dedicated to the Lord isfaithful assistance where Eden
Minya men, Joshua Shamea andMariah and check Anya. They
distributed the gifts among thefamilies of priests in their
towns by their divisions,dividing the gifts fairly among
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old and young alike. Theydistributed the gifts to all
males three years old or older.Regardless of their place in the
genealogical records. Thedistribution went to all who
would come to the Lord's templeto perform their daily duties
according to their divisions.They distributed gifts to the
priests who were listed by theirfamilies and the genealogical
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records, and to the Levites 20years old or older, who were
listed according to their jobsand their divisions. Food
allotments were also given tothe families of all those listed
in the genealogical records,including their little babies,
wives, sons and daughters, forthey had all been faithful in
purifying themselves. As for thepriests the descendants of
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Aaron, who were living in theopen villages around the towns,
men were appointed by name todistribute portions to every
male among the priests and toall the Levites listed in the
genealogical records. In thisway, King Hezekiah handled the
distribution throughout allJudah, doing what was pleasing
and good in the sight of theLord his God. In all that he did
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in the service of the temple ofGod, and in his efforts to
follow God's laws and commandsHezekiah sought his god
wholeheartedly. As a result, hewas very successful.
Second Chronicles chapter 32.After all that Hezekiah had so
faithfully done snacker him kingof Assyria came and invaded
Judah, he laid siege to thefortified cities thinking to
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conquer them for himself. WhenHezekiah saw that's an accurate
had come and that he intended towage war against Jerusalem. He
consulted with his officials andmilitary staff about blocking
off the water from the springsoutside the city. and they
helped him they gathered a largegroup of people who blocked all
the springs and the stream thatflowed through the land. Why
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should the kings of Assyria comeand find plenty of water they
said, Then he worked hardrepairing all the broken
sections of the wall andbuilding towers on it. He built
another wall outside that oneand reinforced the terraces of
the City of David. He also madelarge numbers of weapons and
shields. He appointed militaryofficers over the people and
assembled them before him in thesquare at the city gate and
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encouraged them with thesewords. Be strong and courageous.
Do not be afraid or discouragedbecause of the king of Assyria
in the vast army with him, forthere is a greater power with us
than with him. With him is onlythe arm of flesh, but with us is
the Lord our God to help us andfight our battles. and the
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people gain confidence from whatHezekiah that king of Judah
said. Later when snacker of kingof Assyria and all his forces
were laying siege to Lake ish hesent his officers to Jerusalem
with a message for Hezekiah kingof Judah and for all the people
of Judah who were there. This iswhat's inaccurate king of
Assyria says on what are youbasing your confidence that you
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remain in Jerusalem under siege?When Hezekiah says the Lord our
God will save us from the handof the king of Assyria. He is
misleading you to let you die ofhunger and thirst, did not
Hezekiah himself remove thisGod's high places at altars
saying to Judah and Jerusalem,you must worship before one
altar and burn sacrifices on it.Do you not know what I and my
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predecessors have done to allthe peoples of the other lands?
Were the gods of those nationsever able to deliver their land
from my hand? Who have all thegods of these nations that my
predecessors destroyed? has beenable to save his people from me?
How then can your God deliveryou from my hand? Now do not let
Hezekiah deceive you and misleadyou like this? Do not believe
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him? For no god of any nation orKingdom has been able to deliver
his people from my hand or thehand of my predecessors? How
much less will your God deliveryou for my hand Synack ribs
officers spoke further againstthe LORD God and against his
servant Hezekiah. The king alsowrote letters ridiculing the
Lord the God of Israel, andsaying this against him, just as
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the gods of the peoples of theother lands did not rescue their
people from my hand. So the Godof Hezekiah will not rescue his
people from my hand. Then theycalled out in Hebrew to the
people of Jerusalem who are onthe wall to terrify them, and
make them afraid in order tocapture the city. They spoke
about the God of Jerusalem asthey did about the gods of the
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other peoples of the world, thework of human hands, King
Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah,son of Amon has cried out in
prayer to heaven about this. andthe Lord sent an angel who
annihilated all the fighting menand the commanders and officers
in the camp of the Assyrianking. So he withdrew to his own
land and disgrace. and when hewent into the temple of his God,
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some of his sons, his own fleshand blood, cut him down with a
sword. So the Lord savedHezekiah and the people of
Jerusalem from the hand of sonAkram king of Assyria, and from
the hand of all others, he tookcare of them on every side, many
brought offerings to Jerusalemfor the Lord and valuable gifts
for Hezekiah king of Judah. Fromthen on, he was highly regarded
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by all the nations. In thosedays, Hezekiah became ill and
was at the point of death, heprayed to the Lord who answered
him and gave him a miraculoussign. But Hezekiah his heart was
proud and he did not respond tothe kindness shown him.
Therefore the Lord's wrath wason him and on Judah in
Jerusalem, then Hezekiahrepented of the pride of his
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heart, as did the people ofJerusalem. Therefore, the Lord's
wrath did not come on themduring the days of Hezekiah
Hezekiah had very great wealthand honor and he made treasuries
for his silver and gold and forhis precious stones, spices,
shields and all kinds ofvaluables. He He also made
buildings to store the harvestof grain new wind at Olive oil.
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and he made stalls for variouskinds of cattle and pens for the
flocks. He built villages andacquired great numbers of flocks
and herds, for God had given himvery great riches. It was
Hezekiah, who blocked the upperoutlet of the guy Han spring and
channeled the water down to thewest side of the city of David.
He succeeded in everything heundertook. But when envoys were
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sent by the rulers of Babylon toask him about the miraculous
sign that had occurred in theland, God left him to test him
and to know everything that wasin his heart. The other events
of Hezekiah his reign and hisacts of devotion are written in
the vision of the prophetIsaiah, son of Amos, in the book
of the kings of Judah in Israel.Hezekiah rested with his
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ancestors it was buried on thehill where the tombs of David's
descendants are. All Judah andthe people of Jerusalem honored
him when he died, and Manasa hisson succeeded him as king.
Hezekiah was a remarkable King,wasn't he? His father was a
house who reigned before him andhe was one of the most evil
kings of Judah. If you've beenlistening along, no doubt you
remember him and the heinousthings he did, including
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sacrificing his own children,that Hezekiah was such a good
king is certainly noteworthy aschapter 29 Verse two says, He
did what was right in the eyesof the Lord just as his father
David had done. Of course, inbiblical language, David as his
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father is another word forancestor here. Bible commentator
G. Campbell Morgan said ofHezekiah his mother was a bida,
the daughter of Zechariah,probably the person mentioned by
the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah Atwo as a faithful witness. This
possible friendship of hismother for the Prophet combined
with a certainty that up to thistime he had been under the
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influence of Isaiah his ministrymay account for Hezekiah his
action on coming to the throne.Whatever the reason for his
devotion to following God, hewas a welcome contrast to his
bio dad Ahaz with new say, Thankyou for the courage that was
necessary for Hezekiah toreverse the course of Judah,
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pagan altars, idols and templeswere destroyed. The bronze
serpent that Moses had made inthe desert in numbers 21 Nine
was also destroyed because thepeople had made it into an idol.
We read about that in SecondKings 18 for the temple in
Jerusalem, whose doors had beennailed shut by Hezekiah zone
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father was cleaned out andreopened. The Levitical
priesthood was reinstated inSecond Chronicles 29 Five, and
the Passover was reinstituted asa national holiday Second
Chronicles 30 verse one, andinstead of Hezekiah, being
canceled, like he probably wouldbe today, revival came to Judah
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and God blessed him. Beloved, Ibelieve that Hezekiah is a good
example for us. He knew that hisnation had watered far from God
under the leadership of hisfather Ahaz. and when he had the
opportunity, he boldly made thechanges necessary to make things
right. Even confronted thetemple priests who had been
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entirely derelict in theirduties. He told him to clean out
the temple and sanctifythemselves, the temple and
everything in it. Each of us cando our part to make things right
with God. We can pray daily forthose in all levels of
government. No matter where youlive in the world. We can pray
for our pastors, that they willhave the courage to say and do
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what is right in the eyes of Godin the pulpit. We can make our
voices heard. We are called tobe salt in light, beloved, ask
the Holy Spirit to giveopportunities to make a
difference. I guarantee he'llanswer that prayer. and then
when he does it, we need to havethe courage to follow his
leading. Revival can begintoday, beloved, it starts when
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God's people cry out to Him, andthen have the courage to follow
his leading. Revival often takescourage, doesn't it? You have a
comment or question? Contactinformation will be at the end
of the show. Or if you've got amodern podcast app, comment via
boostagram Right now, tomorrowwill be Psalms Wednesday. Our
reading will be chapters125-127.
(24:28):
This show's pre recorded becauseI'm out of town, but I still
want to hear from you. If you'vegot a comment, a question a
prayer request or a praisereport, send them to me, send to
boostagram or to leave a voicemessage call the Lifespring
family Hotline at plus1-951-732-8511 Or for prayer
requests and praise reports. Youcould go to
(24:48):
prayer.lifespringmedia.comThere's a forum there you can
fill out and also if you want toremain anonymous, you can do
that. and for comments orquestions go to comment dot
Lifespringmedia.com and you canfind it box there to type in
whatever you want to say. andlast, my email address is Steve
at Lifespring media.com.
(25:15):
Thanks to Sister Denise andMichael Haner Scott Snider,
Jason Paschall and SR Brittaneyfor their time and talent, and
today Jason Paschall did ourshow art. Thanks, Jason. and
thanks to you for taking mealong with you today. I can't
wait to see you when I get back.Until then, may God bless you
richly. My name is Steve. Bye.
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