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THE KING’S BUSINESS
If we find in the Word something that we have not done of a long time, let us do it as quickly as possible. v. 6 . “So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all 'Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the LORD God (, the God)' of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and He 'will (that He May) return to the remnant of you, that are escaped (that are escaped of you) out of the hand of the kings of Assyria." Here we find again the old familiar cry, the con stant cry of God through prophets, apostles and Christ, “turn again” (cf. Tsa. 55:6, 7; Ezek. 33:11; Hosea 14:1; Joel 2:12-14; Matt. 3:2, 4, 17; Acts 2:38; 20:21). Men are ever wandering and God is ever calling them back to Himself and to His pardoning love. We forsake Him and in a sense He forsakes us, but He never ceases calling to us, “come back,” and when we return He returns. Is someone reading these lines who is wandering from Him? Come back and He will come back with all the old time love and tenderness, yes, with more than the old time love and tenderness. vs. 7, 8 . “And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which tres-. passed against the LORD God (, the God) of their fathers, /who therefore (so that he) gave them up to, desolation, as ye see. Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your .fathers were, (;) but yield yourself unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified foreverj (,) and serve the LORD your God, that the fierce ness of his wrath (his fierce anger) may turn away from you.” Men love to be like their fathers and like their brethren. It wounds our pride sorely to be forced to acknowledge that our fathers were all wrong. It is this that makes it so hard for the heathen, to renounce their heathen ism, for the Roman Catholics to renounce their Roman Catholicism. It is that that hjnders any great reformation that renounces the practices of the past “Our fathers did this,” the obstructionist always
17-20). They had, furthermore Scripture warrant for keeping the passover out of the regular time (Num. 9:9-13). Our God is full of condescension as well as compas sion, and knoweth our frame and takes account of our weaknesses. . Sometimes our children do not do precisely what we told them to, but we see that thère is an honest effort to do it, and failing in that they do it as nearly as possible*under the circum stances, and we are satisfied and pleased; and so is God under similar circumstances. But where exact obedience is possible, wse are to render it and we shall suffer if we do not render it (Deut. 12:32 ; 2 Sam. 6 : 6 , 7; Num. 4:15; 1 Chron. 13:12, 13). .But Hezekiah had not ventured upon this step without seeking counsel of others. Some men are so confident in their own opinions and that they are divinely led that they scorn to seek counsel of. others. This is not Biblical. (Prov. 11:14,; 15:22; Acts 15:6). The man who is most clearly led of God is the man who is most eager to know how God is leading others and is most patient in listening to their counsel. vs. 4, 5. “And thething pleased (was right in the eyes of) the’ king and (add, of) the congregation. So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep, the passover unto the LORÒ God (, the God) of Israel (add ,) at Jerusalem: for they had not done it of a long time (had not kept it in great numbers) in such sort as it was (is) written.” The fact that they had not done it for a long time would have seemed to many a good reason for not doing it now. You urge people to do- “as it is written,” and they answer, “We have never done it. in that way, and our fathers never did it in that way.” That is no reason for not doing it now. The question is not what we have done in the past, but what the Word of God bids us do.. To Hezekiah and his associates, the fact that they had not done it of a long time “as it' was written” was reason for making,haste to do it at once. So it should be with us.
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