Latest / The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal / 2 Chronicles 30:13-27 - There's Joy in Worshipping God

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2 Chronicles 30:13-27 - There's Joy in Worshipping God · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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  Speaker 1: Life Audio.
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  Speaker 2: Hi there, guys, Welcome and good morning. Thank you so
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  Speaker 2: much for tuning into the Bible Explain podcast on this
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  Speaker 2: absolutely lovely morning. We're gonna finish out Second Chronicles chapter
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  Speaker 2: thirty today and talk about the Passover celebration in Jerusalem.
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  Speaker 1: We'll get into it in just.
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  Speaker 2: A second, and as usual, before I begin today's episode,
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  Speaker 2: here is a quick word from a sponsor. Okay, we're
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  Speaker 2: gonna read Second Chronicles thirty thirteen through twenty seven, and
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  Speaker 2: we'll finish up this chapter today talking about this revival
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  Speaker 2: that takes place in Jerusalem and how this revival shows
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  Speaker 2: that people are the most joyful when they're actually doing
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  Speaker 2: what they're created to do. So let's go ahead and
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  Speaker 2: read Second Chronicles thirty thirteen through twenty seven. As usual,
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  Speaker 2: I'll be reading from the Web or the World English Bible.
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  Speaker 2: Grab a cup of coffee, and let's read this together.
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  Speaker 2: Many people assembled at Jerusalem to keep the feast of
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  Speaker 2: unloven bread in the second month, a very great assembly.
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  Speaker 2: They arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem.
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  Speaker 2: And they took away all the altars for incense and
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  Speaker 2: threw them into the brook Kidron. Then they killed the
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  Speaker 2: Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month. The
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  Speaker 2: priests and the Levites were ashamed and sanctified themselves and
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  Speaker 2: brought burnt offerings into Yahwei's house. They stood in their
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  Speaker 2: place after the order. According to the law of Moses,
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  Speaker 2: the man of God. The priests sprinkled the blood which
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  Speaker 2: they received on the hand of the Levites, for there
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  Speaker 2: were many in the assembly who had not sanctified themselves. Therefore,
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  Speaker 2: the Levites were in charge of killing the Passovers for
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  Speaker 2: everyone who was not clean, to sanctify them to Yahweh.
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  Speaker 2: For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephrium,
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  Speaker 2: menasse Isakar, and Zebulin, had not cleansed themselves. Yet they
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  Speaker 2: ate the Passover other than the way it was written,
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  Speaker 2: for Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, may the good
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  Speaker 2: Yahweh pardon everyone who sets his heart to seek God Yahweh,
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  Speaker 2: the God of his fathers, even if they aren't clean.
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  Speaker 2: According to the purification of the sanctuary. Yahweh listened to
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  Speaker 2: Hezekiah and healed the people. The children of Israel who
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  Speaker 2: were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unlevened bread
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  Speaker 2: seven days with great gladness. The Levites and the priests
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  Speaker 2: praised Yahweh day by day, singing with loud instruments to Yahweh.
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  Speaker 2: Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who had good
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  Speaker 2: understanding in the service of Yahweh. So they ate throughout
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  Speaker 2: the feast for seven days, offering sacrifices of peace, offerings,
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  Speaker 2: and making confession to Yahweh, the God of their fathers.
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  Speaker 2: The whole assembly took counsel to keep another seven days,
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  Speaker 2: and they kept another seven days with gladness. For Hezekiah,
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  Speaker 2: king of Judah, gave to the Assembly for offerings one
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  Speaker 2: thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep, and the princes gave
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  Speaker 2: to the assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep,
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  Speaker 2: and a great number of priests sanctified themselves. All the
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  Speaker 2: Assembly of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and
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  Speaker 2: all the assembly who came out of Israel, and the
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  Speaker 2: foreigners who came out of the land of Israel who
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  Speaker 2: lived in Judah rejoiced. So there was great joy in Jerusalem.
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  Speaker 2: For since the time of Psalomon the Sun and Dayvid,
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  Speaker 2: King of Israel, there was nothing like this in Jerusalem.
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  Speaker 2: Then the levitical priests arose and blessed the people. Their
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  Speaker 2: voice was heard, and their prayer came up to His
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  Speaker 2: holy habitation, even to Heaven.
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  Speaker 1: On Monday.
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  Speaker 2: We talked about the first portion of this chapter where
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  Speaker 2: Hezekia decided he wanted to keep the Passover celebration for
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  Speaker 2: the first time in generations. It actually says at the
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  Speaker 2: very end of the chapter, we just read that a
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  Speaker 2: Passover celebration was not kept like this since the days
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  Speaker 2: of Solomon. So this was something very very special that
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  Speaker 2: took place. And this Passover celebration wasn't just for the
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  Speaker 2: people of Judah. It was for Israel entirely. Anybody who
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  Speaker 2: was left in northern Israel after the Assyrians came in,
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  Speaker 2: they were invited to this feast. Now, a lot of
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  Speaker 2: them did not come to the feast. They actually criticized
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  Speaker 2: it and made fun of it and mocked it. But
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  Speaker 2: there were a few men and women that came down
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  Speaker 2: to Judah to actually celebrate this Passover feast. And starting
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  Speaker 2: in verse thirteen, it says many people assembled at Jerusalem
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  Speaker 2: to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month,
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  Speaker 2: a very great assembly. So a bunch of people are
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  Speaker 2: now in Jerusalem. And the first thing they do, it says,
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  Speaker 2: they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem,
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  Speaker 2: and they took all the altars for incense and threw
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  Speaker 2: them into the Brook Kidron. Now the Brook Kidrin, we've
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  Speaker 2: talked about that brook a handful of times. That was
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  Speaker 2: like the idole dumping ground. Whenever a new king that
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  Speaker 2: was actually loyal to Yahweh started reigning on the throne,
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  Speaker 2: he would take all the idols that the previous kings
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  Speaker 2: had made and he dumped them in the Brook Kidron.
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  Speaker 2: This tradition started back in the days of King Aesa
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  Speaker 2: with Ace's reform. So that is the first form of
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  Speaker 2: worship that the Israelites do when they're celebrating the Passover.
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  Speaker 2: They come down to Jerusalem and they say, you know what,
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  Speaker 2: we are dedicating ourselves to God. This is what we
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  Speaker 2: want to do, and they go and take all of
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  Speaker 2: the altars that were strewn around Jerusalem, likely to foreign gods.
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  Speaker 2: Because don't forget who the previous king was. He was
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  Speaker 2: King a has pretty much the worst king in Israel's history,
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  Speaker 2: and a has introduced so much idolatry into Jerusalem and
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  Speaker 2: Judah as a whole. So a lot of these altars
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  Speaker 2: to foreign deities were built by King a Has that's
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  Speaker 2: talked about a couple chapters ago. So now the people
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  Speaker 2: and King Hezekiah are behind getting rid of all of
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  Speaker 2: these alters and actually taking the time to dedicate themselves
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  Speaker 2: to Yahweh. This is one of the few times we
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  Speaker 2: see revival in Israel's history, which is unfortunate because revival
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  Speaker 2: didn't come very often and it didn't last very long
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  Speaker 2: when it did come. Actually, God talks about that in
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  Speaker 2: Hoseiah six, verse four. He says Ephraim, what shall I
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  Speaker 2: do to you Judah? What shall I do to you?
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  Speaker 1: Fear?
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  Speaker 2: Love is like a morning cloud, and like the dew
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  Speaker 2: that disappears early. Whenever revival came, you know, the people
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  Speaker 2: were really gung ho about God. They would dedicate themselves
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  Speaker 2: to God and God would accept them. You know, we're
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  Speaker 2: going to read this passage today about how God truly
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  Speaker 2: did accept his people, but he knew it was not
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  Speaker 2: going to last for very long. Their love was like
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  Speaker 2: a mourning cloud that's there one minute and gone the next,
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  Speaker 2: or like the morning dew, where it's there until the
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  Speaker 2: sun rises and it dries it all up, and this
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  Speaker 2: was one of the times when it actually did come
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  Speaker 2: the people truly wanted to rededicate themselves to Yahweh. And
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  Speaker 2: here's something else I want to mention about this that
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  Speaker 2: I think is really good, not just the fact that
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  Speaker 2: revival is finally happening in Israel, but that Hezekiah himself
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  Speaker 2: was willing to go against the religion of his father.
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  Speaker 2: And that is not something that a lot of people
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  Speaker 2: are willing to do, to go against their parents like that.
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  Speaker 2: But Hezekiah was so dedicated to God and to bringing
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  Speaker 2: the people back to God that he didn't care what
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  Speaker 2: his family might think. You know, even though his father
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  Speaker 2: had died at this point, that doesn't mean that his
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  Speaker 2: family had all died. You know. Hezekiah was a relatively
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  Speaker 2: young man when he became the king, so it's very
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  Speaker 2: likely that his family was all still alive other than
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  Speaker 2: his father. Yet Hezekiah was willing to go against his
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  Speaker 2: family for his love for God. That's talked about in
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  Speaker 2: Luke chapter fourteen. This is what Jesus says in verse
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  Speaker 2: twenty six. He says, if anyone comes to me and
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  Speaker 2: doesn't disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers and sisters, yes,
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  Speaker 2: and even his own life. He can't be my disciple.
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  Speaker 2: So that's Jesus saying that a true disciple is going
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  Speaker 2: to follow Jesus before he follows anybody else, even his
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  Speaker 2: own family, even his own life. Not following your own
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  Speaker 2: will or the will of your husband or your wife,
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  Speaker 2: or your parents or your children, but following the will
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  Speaker 2: of God first. And that's what Hezekiah did honestly in
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  Speaker 2: Second Chronicles thirty. So he is definitely a character to imitate,
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  Speaker 2: for sure. So after throwing all the altars into the
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  Speaker 2: brook kid, it says they then killed the passover. In
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  Speaker 2: verse fifteen, the priests and the Levites were ashamed and
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  Speaker 2: sanctified themselves and brought burnt offerings into Yahweh's house. Now
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  Speaker 2: you'll remember us talking about how the priests and the
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  Speaker 2: Levites unfortunately were not really in tune with God very
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  Speaker 2: much before this point. They sort of were complacent. They
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  Speaker 2: didn't really follow the Old Testament laws. It actually says
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  Speaker 2: that they didn't work on sanctifying themselves, and we'll talk
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  Speaker 2: about what sanctification is in just a second, but they
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  Speaker 2: didn't really do anything that God truly told them to do.
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  Speaker 2: They were complacent, maybe a little bit lazy, and maybe
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  Speaker 2: also unknowledgeable about the laws of God, so they didn't
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  Speaker 2: do what God told them to do. But now in
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  Speaker 2: this verse it says that they were actually ashamed. So
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  Speaker 2: something was happening here in Jerusalem. There was a true movement,
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  Speaker 2: a true moving of the Holy Spirit among the people,
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  Speaker 2: because everybody was kind of unified. You know, there was
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  Speaker 2: a true heart movement happening at this time. I don't
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  Speaker 2: know if you've ever felt something like that before. Maybe
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  Speaker 2: you've gone to a Christian conference or a revival or
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  Speaker 2: a youth event or something where you really felt the
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  Speaker 2: moving of God like in that event, and you just
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  Speaker 2: feel so on fire for God. You are so excited
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  Speaker 2: to be with all of these people just worshiping God together,
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  Speaker 2: and there's a true heart change that you feel. That's
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  Speaker 2: what's happening here in Judah. These people were genuinely feeling this,
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  Speaker 2: genuinely wanting to turn to God. After the Levites sanctified themselves,
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  Speaker 2: it says that they stood in their place after their
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  Speaker 2: order according to the law of Moses, the man of God.
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  Speaker 2: So they're finally going back to the laws and reading
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  Speaker 2: them and seeing what God wants them to do. So
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  Speaker 2: the priests sprinkled the blood which they received of the
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  Speaker 2: hand of the Levites. For there are many in the
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  Speaker 2: assembly who had not sanctified themselves. Therefore, the Leevi were
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  Speaker 2: in charge of killing the passovers for everyone who was
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  Speaker 2: not clean, to sanctify them to Yahweh. So the Levites
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  Speaker 2: had to be clean for the people who were not clean.
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  Speaker 2: It mentions in verse eighteen that there was a lot
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  Speaker 2: of people actually that weren't clean, for a multitude of
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  Speaker 2: the people, even many from Ephrium, manassa Isekar and Zebulin
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  Speaker 2: had not cleansed themselves. Yet they ate the Passover other
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  Speaker 2: than the way it is written now, this verse honestly
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  Speaker 2: shows the level of ignorance that the Israelites had at
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  Speaker 2: this time, because they're eating the Passover meal without sanctifying
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  Speaker 2: themselves first, without making themselves clean before God. And this
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  Speaker 2: was a problem because they weren't following the laws of God,
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  Speaker 2: yet still eating the Passover. And you might be like, well, Jen,
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  Speaker 2: what's the idea of sanctification or making yourself clean?
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  Speaker 1: And why did God require that?
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  Speaker 2: Well, to answer the first question, sanctification just means to
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  Speaker 2: set yourself apart, to make yourself different, to make your
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  Speaker 2: yourself holy in front of God, to make yourself clean essentially.
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  Speaker 2: And God required that because he wants his people to
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  Speaker 2: be clean, to be holy, to be set apart, and
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  Speaker 2: that's why God put the laws in place that he did,
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  Speaker 2: specifically when it came to eating the Passover LAMB. Now,
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  Speaker 2: a lot of these laws regarding sanctification for the Passover
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  Speaker 2: were kind of like analogies. For example, one of the
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  Speaker 2: rules was that you had to remove all the leaven
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  Speaker 2: out of your house, so all the yeast essentially from
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  Speaker 2: your house must be discarded every year before the Passover,
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  Speaker 2: and that was because leaven signified pride, so you're supposed
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  Speaker 2: to remove the leaven out of the house to show
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  Speaker 2: that you're removing the pride from your heart. But also
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  Speaker 2: there was just a health reason for that too. You know,
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  Speaker 2: yeast goes bad after a while, and a lot of
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  Speaker 2: the laws that God put in place was actually protecting
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  Speaker 2: the health of his people as well. Interestingly enough, so
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  Speaker 2: there was a lot of sanctification laws that God put
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  Speaker 2: in placefically before the Passover was supposed to happen. For example,
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  Speaker 2: some of the laws were the men that participated in
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  Speaker 2: the Passover had to be circumcised to show that they
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  Speaker 2: were people of God. Another law was that they couldn't
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  Speaker 2: take the Passover meat outside of the house. They had
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  Speaker 2: to basically eat it with their families. And obviously that
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  Speaker 2: would build a bond between you and your family as well,
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  Speaker 2: if you're eating the Passover meal together. And then there
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  Speaker 2: were some other rules about, you know, how your clothes
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  Speaker 2: needed to be clean, how you shouldn't be touching carcasses beforehand,
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  Speaker 2: or you know, dead bodies beforehand. But you're supposed to
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  Speaker 2: make yourself clean physically as well in the sight of God.
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  Speaker 2: But unfortunately, the Israelites from the northern tribes of Israel
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  Speaker 2: were so ignorant of God's laws that they went ahead
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  Speaker 2: and just ate the Passover without knowing that they were
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  Speaker 2: supposed to make themselves clean before eating it. However, Hezekiah
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  Speaker 2: ends up praying for all of these people. It says
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  Speaker 2: right here that Hezekiah prayed for them, saying made the
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  Speaker 2: good Yahweh pardon everyone who sets his heart to seek
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  Speaker 2: God Yahweh, the God of his fathers, even if they
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  Speaker 2: aren't clean. According to the purification of the sanctuary and
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  Speaker 2: God listened to Hezekiah's what it says, and he healed
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  Speaker 2: the people, And that shows right there that the laws
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  Speaker 2: were actually secondary to the heart. God cares about the
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  Speaker 2: heart first, and all of these people from the northern
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  Speaker 2: tribes of Israel, their hearts truly were trying to seek God,
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  Speaker 2: but they didn't understand the Old Testament laws unfortunately, so
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  Speaker 2: they ended up breaking a whole bunch of them before
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  Speaker 2: the Passover. But God still ended up forgiving them because
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  Speaker 2: He knew what their hearts were, that they truly wanted
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  Speaker 2: to worship God in spirit and in truth. So God
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  Speaker 2: forgave them. And it says that he healed the people,
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  Speaker 2: probably talking about not necessarily physical healing, but healing the
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  Speaker 2: sin of the people. It says the children of Israel
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  Speaker 2: who are present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unlove
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  Speaker 2: and bread for seven days with great gladness. And it
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  Speaker 2: also says that the Levites and the priests praised Yahweh
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  Speaker 2: day by day, singing with loud instruments to Yahweh.
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  Speaker 1: So worship was back.
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  Speaker 2: Worship had been shut down as long as a has
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  Speaker 2: was the king, but now it is back, and it
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  Speaker 2: is better than ever. It says, Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to
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  Speaker 2: all the Levites who had good understanding in the service
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  Speaker 2: of Yahweh. So that versus interesting because it kind of
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  Speaker 2: proves that there were only a few Levites. There were
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  Speaker 2: not very many. It was a minority of Levites who
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  Speaker 2: actually understood how to worship Yahweh, and so Hezekiah really
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  Speaker 2: encouraged those particular Levites. He was like, good job with
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  Speaker 2: actually understanding God's law and making sure that everybody else
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  Speaker 2: understands God's law as well. Because not all the Levites,
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  Speaker 2: as we've discovered before, like on Monday we talked about this,
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  Speaker 2: not all the Levites or the priests really cared about
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  Speaker 2: the things of Yahweh. There is only a slim minority
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  Speaker 2: that did, which is why Hezekiah makes sure to really
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  Speaker 2: encourage those particular Levites to keep doing what they're doing,
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  Speaker 2: it says. So they ate throughout the feast for seven days,
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  Speaker 2: offering sacrifices of peace, offerings and making confession to Yahweh,
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  Speaker 2: the God of their fathers. So there was a lot
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  Speaker 2: going on for this celebration. It wasn't just the Passover,
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  Speaker 2: but people were truly turning their hearts back to God.
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  Speaker 2: The people were coming and making confessions. They were giving
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  Speaker 2: peace offerings to God. A peace offering would happen after
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  Speaker 2: the sin or the guilt offering to basically make peace
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  Speaker 2: with God. And that was the offering where the people
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  Speaker 2: could keep part of the animal. So some of the
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  Speaker 2: animal was given to God, and then a portion of
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  Speaker 2: it was given to the priest, and then another portion
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  Speaker 2: was given to you and your family. And peace offerings
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  Speaker 2: symbolized fellowship with God once again, because you're almost like
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  Speaker 2: sharing a meal with God, if that makes sense. And
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  Speaker 2: this was all going so well. The people were so
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  Speaker 2: excited that they actually decided to do this for another week.
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  Speaker 2: That is how strongly the people felt about this. They
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  Speaker 2: didn't want it to end. I remember going to the
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  Speaker 2: Winter treat last year with my youth group, and I
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  Speaker 2: felt that way. You know, it was only a weekend,
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  Speaker 2: but it was really one of the most impactful weekends
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  Speaker 2: I had ever had as an adult or a teenager.
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  Speaker 2: You know, the messages actually spoke to me as well,
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  Speaker 2: even though they were four teenagers. Man, that guy was
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  Speaker 2: a good speaker. And not to mention just the worship
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  Speaker 2: and the fellowship I had with all of the students.
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  Speaker 2: It was just so much fun. I did not want
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  Speaker 2: it to end, and unfortunately it did end. But I
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  Speaker 2: can imagine if there was a possibility for me to
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  Speaker 2: do another week at that camp, I absolutely would have
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  Speaker 2: done it. And that's how everyone was feeling. In verse
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  Speaker 2: twenty three, it says the whole assembly took counsel to
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  Speaker 2: keep another seven days, and they kept another seven days
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  Speaker 2: with gladness. So they didn't do this out of obligation.
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  Speaker 2: They did it out of gladness. They wanted to do this.
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  Speaker 2: There was a true movement, a true revival happening here,
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  Speaker 2: and Hezekiah helped with all of this, it says in
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  Speaker 2: verse twenty four, for Hezekiah, the king of Judah, gave
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  Speaker 2: to the assembly for offerings one thousand bulls and seven
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  Speaker 2: thousand sheep, and the princes gave to the assembly a
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  Speaker 2: thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep, and a great number
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  Speaker 2: of priests sanctified themselves. So first and foremost, Hezekiah and
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  Speaker 2: the princes gave gifts to the people. They gave gifts
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  Speaker 2: of animals that the people could use as either burnt
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  Speaker 2: offerings or sacrifices, or even peace offerings. If they didn't
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  Speaker 2: have enough animals to continue on for another week. Hezekiah
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  Speaker 2: and the princes gave gladly to the people, and they
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  Speaker 2: gave thousands of animals to all of these people, probably
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  Speaker 2: enough so that each family in Jerusalem got an animal
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  Speaker 2: that they could sacrifice or use as a peace offering.
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: And not to mention, all of the priests were really
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: on board with this as well. The priest is said
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: in great number sanctified themselves. So I think what that
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: means is that the priests also their hearts were turning
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: back to God. Initially they might not have had hearts
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: for God, but now they do. Now they see what's
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: happening in Jerusalem and they feel moved by it as well.
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: They see this revival taking place, and they are excited,
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: and so they finally sanctify themselves on the second week.
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: Or it could be that they sanctified themselves again to
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: do all of this all over again the next week,
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: because they could have had to sanctify themselves twice. But
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: whatever the case, the Levites were doing it with a
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: glad heart. They were excited to see all of this
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: taking place, and so they sanctify themselves. It says all
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: the Assembly of Judah with the priests and the Levites,
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: and all the assembly who came out of Israel, and
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: the foreigners who came out of the land of Israel
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: and who lived in Judah rejoiced. So even the foreigners
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: were taking place in all of this, and that was
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: not against God's law. By the way, the foreigners could
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: always partake in the feasts of the Jews, but in
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: order to do that, they did have to follow the
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: same laws as the Jews. For example, in Exodus twelve,
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: verse forty eight, it says, when a stranger lives as
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: a foreigner with you and would like to keep the
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: Passover to Yahweh, let all his males be circumcised, and
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: then let him come near and keep it. He shall
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: be as one who is born in the land, but
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. Now we do
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: know that there were a lot of foreigners living in
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: Jerusalem and Israel because the Hebrew people never fully took
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: the land for themselves, so the Canaanites actually lived among them.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: But what's really cool about this Passover celebration is it's
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: actually encouraging the foreigners living in the land to follow
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: Yahweh Israel for the first time kind of ever is
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: doing what God called them to do, being a light
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: to the other nations, being an example, worshiping Yahweh the
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: way they should be. And so the foreigners were actually
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: celebrating the Passover feast as well, and this was something
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: that never happened Verse twenty six. There was great joy
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: in Jerusalem. For since the time of Solomon, the son
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: of David, King of Israel, there was nothing like this
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: in Jerusalem. So what like two centuries before the people
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: celebrated the Passover to this extent, but they hadn't celebrated
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: it since then. Hezekiah brought the Passover back and the
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: people celebrated it with great joy. We were created to worship.
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: That is why every single person worships something. We can
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: either worship God, or we can worship creation, or we
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: can worship something that is man made. But everybody worships something.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: But when you focus on the person you're truly supposed
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: to worship Yahweh, that is when you have the most
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: purpose and the most fulfillment because you're actually fulfilling this
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: deep desire that God put inside you. And that is
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: how the iSites and the Judites are feeling during this
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: Passover celebration, this innate purpose and joy just being in
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: God's presence, and that's why there's great joy in Jerusalem,
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: it says in verse twenty seven. Then the levitical priests
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: arose and blessed the people. Their voice was heard, and
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: their prayer came up to His holy habitation, even to heaven.
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: So the priests finish out the two weeks doing a
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: traditional blessing for the people before they go back home.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: And I'm going to guess that the traditional blessing was
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: probably that one from Numbers, which is the Lord bless
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: you and keep you, and make his face shine upon
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: you and give you peace. But regardless of what blessing
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: the priest gave the people, God heard it. It says
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: their voice was heard by God and their prayer went
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: up to His holy habitation, even to heaven. So the
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: moral of the story is that when people worship God,
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: he hears them. All, right, faith listeners, Before I close
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: up the episode with a little note of encouragement for you,
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: here is a quick word from a sponsor. Well, faithful listeners,
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: I hope you enjoyed today's episode learning about the Passover
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: celebration that the people finally did after several centuries I
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: guess of not performing any Passover celebration. The people are
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: finally back to the place that they should be. The
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: covenant they made with God so many years prior to
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: this has been renewed and there is revival in Israel
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: once again. But unfortunately, revival never lasts very long, and
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: that's the downside to this story. So we will get
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: into that on a later date. But for now, we
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: can take comfort in this passage knowing that when we
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: come to God, when we worship God, he hears us.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: And also it's a fulfilling thing for us.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: It is something that we were made to do, and
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: God hears us when we get back to our roots
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: in Him. All righty, Faithfu listeners, have a fantastic and
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: wonderful rest of your day. I'll see you guys tomorrow
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: for an episode from Hebrews Until tomorrow morning.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: Happy listening, and God bless.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: I just want to take a second to thank the
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: team at Life Audio for their partnership with me on
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: the Bible Explain podcast. In fact, if you go to
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: lifeaudio dot com you will find dozens of other faith
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: centered podcasts in their network, they've got shows about prayer,
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: Bible study, parenting, and more.