Chapter 13.
HOW PEKAH DIED BY THE TREACHERY OF HOSHEA WHO WAS A LITTLE
AFTER SUBDUED BY SHALMANESER; AND HOW HEZEKIAH REIGNED INSTEAD OF AHAZ;
AND WHAT ACTIONS OF PIETY AND JUSTICE HE DID.FJAJ 9.65
1. ABOUT the same time Pekah, the king of Israel, died by the treachery
of a friend of his, whose name was Hoshea, who retained the kingdom nine
years' time, but was a wicked man, and a despiser of the Divine worship;
and Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, made an expedition against him, and
overcame him, (which must have been because he had not God favorable nor
assistant to him,) and brought him to submission, and ordered him to pay
an appointed tribute
Now, in the fourth year of the reign of Hoshea, Hezekiah,
the son of Ahaz, began to reign in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was
Abijah, a citizen of Jerusalem
His nature was good, and righteous, and
religious; for when he came to the kingdom, he thought that nothing was
prior, or more necessary, or more advantageous to himself, and to his subjects,
than to worship God
Accordingly, he called the people together, and the
priests, and the Levites, and made a speech to them, and said, "You
are not ignorant how, by the sins of my father, who transgressed that sacred
honor which was due to God, you have had experience of many and great miseries,
while you were corrupted in your mind by him, and were induced to worship
those which he supposed to be gods; I exhort you, therefore, who have learned
by sad experience how dangerous a thing impiety is, to put that immediately
out of your memory, and to purify yourselves from your former pollutions,
and to open the temple to these priests and Levites who are here convened,
and to cleanse it with the accustomed sacrifices, and to recover all to
the ancient honor which our fathers paid to it; for by this means we may
render God favorable, and he will remit the anger he hath had to us."FJAJ 9.66
2. When the king had said this, the priests opened the temple; and when
they had set in order the vessels of God, and east out what was impure,
they laid the accustomed sacrifices upon the altar
The king also sent
to the country that was under him, and called the people to Jerusalem to
celebrate the feast of unleavened bread, for it had been intermitted a
long time, on account of the wickedness of the forementioned kings
He
also sent to the Israelites, and exhorted them to leave off their present
way of living, and return to their ancient practices, and to worship God,
for that he gave them leave to come to Jerusalem, and to celebrate, all
in one body, the feast of unleavened bread; and this he said was by way
of invitation only, and to be done of their own good-will, and for their
own advantage, and not out of obedience to him, because it would make them
happy
But the Israelites, upon the coming of the ambassadors, and upon
their laying before them what they had in charge from their own king, were
so far from complying therewith, that they laughed the ambassadors to scorn,
and mocked them as fools: as also they affronted the prophets, which gave
them the same exhortations, and foretold what they would suffer if they
did not return to the worship of God, insomuch that at length they caught
them, and slew them; nor did this degree of transgressing suffice them,
but they had more wicked contrivances than what have been described: nor
did they leave off, before God, as a punishment for their impiety, brought
them under their enemies: but of that more hereafter
However, many there
were of the tribe of Manasseh, and of Zebulon, and of Issachar, who were
obedient to what the prophets exhorted them to do, and returned to the
worship of God
Now all these came running to Jerusalem, to Hezekiah, that
they might worship God [there].FJAJ 9.67
3. When these men were come, king Hezekiah went up into the temple,
with the rulers and all the people, and offered for himself seven bulls,
and as many rams, with seven lambs, and as many kids of the goats
The
king also himself, and the rulers, laid their hands on the heads of the
sacrifices, and permitted the priests to complete the sacred offices about
them
So they both slew the sacrifices, and burnt the burnt-offerings,
while the Levites stood round about them, with their musical instruments,
and sang hymns to God, and played on their psalteries, as they were instructed
by David to do, and this while the rest of the priests returned the music,
and sounded the trumpets which they had in their hands; and when this was
done, the king and the multitude threw themselves down upon their face,
and worshipped God
He also sacrificed seventy bulls, one hundred rams,
and two hundred lambs
He also granted the multitude sacrifices to feast
upon, six hundred oxen, and three thousand other cattle; and the priests
performed all things according to the law
Now the king was so pleased
herewith, that he feasted with the people, and returned thanks to God;
but as the feast of unleavened bread was now come, when they had offered
that sacrifice which is called the passover, they after that offered other
sacrifices for seven days
When the king had bestowed on the multitude,
besides what they sanctified of themselves, two thousand bulls, and seven
thousand other cattle, the same thing was done by the rulers; for they
gave them a thousand bulls, and a thousand and forty other cattle
Nor
had this festival been so well observed from the days of king Solomon,
as it was now first observed with great splendor and magnificence; and
when the festival was ended, they went out into the country and purged
it, and cleansed the city of all the pollution of the idols
The king also
gave order that the daily sacrifices should be offered, at his own charges,
and according to the law; and appointed that the tithes and the first-fruits
should be given by the multitude to the priests and Levites, that they
might constantly attend upon Divine service, and never be taken off from
the worship of God
Accordingly, the multitude brought together all sorts
of their fruits to the priests and the Levites
The king also made garners
and receptacles for these fruits, and distributed them to every one of
the priests and Levites, and to their children and wives; and thus did
they return to their old form of Divine worship
Now when the king had
settled these matters after the manner already described, he made war upon
the Philistines, and beat them, and possessed himself of all the enemy's
cities, from Gaza to Gath; but the king of Assyria sent to him, and threatened
to overturn all his dominions, unless he would pay him the tribute which
his father paid him formerly; but king Hezekiah was not concerned at his
threatenings, but depended on his piety towards God, and upon Isaiah the
prophet, by whom he inquired and accurately knew all future events
And
thus much shall suffice for the present concerning this king Hezekiah.FJAJ 9.68