“For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and your sons will find compassion before those who led them captive and will return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.” (2 Chronicles 30:9, NASB)
I love to study the kings of Israel and Judah. Their actions before God have consequences, both on a personal level and a national level. While the Northern Kingdom of Israel had no good kings, the Kingdom of Judah had some good kings and some bad kings. Since the kings of Judah were in the line of Messiah, this means that there were some bad apples in Jesus’ ancestry.
King Hezekiah was good in the eyes of the Lord. A partial quotation is in the passage above. Hezekiah tried and largely succeeded in turning Judah back to the Lord. At the time, Israel had been conquered by Assyria and sent into exile. Hezekiah thought that if Judah were to repent that their brothers and sisters might be restored to their land. “For the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”
This is important on a personal level as well. We are all sinners. But there is no sin too great to turn us away from God’s love. He will forgive. All we need to do is to ask for His forgiveness, and turn our lives over to Jesus. It’s why God sent His Son to the earth!
Thanks for the post. Will read on…