Seal of God: Difference between revisions

The promise of the Passover that disasters pass over is not limited to the time of the Exodus. The Passover was also effective in the time of Hezekiah about 800 years after the [[Exodus]]. Hezekiah was the thirteenth king of the southern Kingdom of Judah. After the unified Kingdom of Israel was divided into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah, the Passover was not celebrated for a long time. As soon as King Hezekiah acceded to the throne, he had the ruined temple repaired<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.studylight.org/study-desk.html?q1=2+Chronicles+29%3A2-3&q2=&ss=0&t1=eng_n84&t2=eng_kjv&t3=eng_nas&ns=0&sr=1&ot=bhs&nt=wh&hv1=1&b=verse&d=3 |title=2 Chronicles 29:2–3 |quote= }}</ref> and decided to keep the Passover by the admonition of the prophet [[Isaiah]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.studylight.org/study-desk.html?q1=2+Chronicles+30%3A2&q2=&ss=0&t1=eng_n84&t2=eng_kjv&t3=eng_nas&ns=0&sr=1&ot=bhs&nt=wh&hv1=1&b=verse&d=3 |title=2 Chronicles 30:2 |quote= }}</ref> He sent couriers not only to the southern Kingdom of Judah, but also to the northern Kingdom of Israel, and invited them to the Passover. The people of the northern Kingdom of Israel had not celebrated the Passover for more than 250 years since the first King Jeroboam made idols and had the people worship them.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.studylight.org/study-desk.html?q1=1+Kings+12%3A25-29&q2=&ss=0&t1=eng_n84&t2=eng_kjv&t3=eng_nas&ns=0&sr=1&ot=bhs&nt=wh&hv1=1&b=verse&d=3 |title=1 Kings 12:25–29 |quote=}}</ref> Since they did not know about the Passover, they mocked and ridiculed the couriers.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.studylight.org/study-desk.html?q1=2+Chronicles+30%3A1-10&q2=&ss=0&t1=eng_n84&t2=eng_kjv&t3=eng_nas&ns=0&sr=1&ot=bhs&nt=wh&hv1=1&b=verse&d=3 |title=2 Chronicles 30:1–10 |quote= }}</ref> Eventually, only the people of Judah and some of the people of the northern Kingdom of Israel, who humbly accepted the words of the couriers, gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.studylight.org/study-desk.html?q1=2+Chronicles+30%3A11-12&q2=&ss=0&t1=eng_n84&t2=eng_kjv&t3=eng_nas&ns=0&sr=1&ot=bhs&nt=wh&hv1=1&b=verse&d=3 |title=2 Chronicles 30:11–12 |quote=}}</ref><br>Three years later, the Assyrian army surrounded Samaria, the capital of the northern Kingdom of Israel. Assyria was a powerful kingdom that conquered the Mediterranean coast and part of Asia Minor. Three years after the siege, [[Samaria]] was captured, and millions of people were killed, and hundreds of thousands of people were taken captive.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.studylight.org/study-desk.html?q1=2+Kings+17%3A4-6&q2=&ss=0&t1=eng_n84&t2=eng_kjv&t3=eng_nas&ns=0&sr=1&ot=bhs&nt=wh&hv1=1&b=verse&d=3 |title=2 Kings 17:4–6 |quote=}}</ref> Around 721 B.C., the northern Kingdom of Israel was completely destroyed. The [[book of 2 Kings]] explains that the fundamental cause of the destruction of the northern Kingdom of Israel was because they violated God’s covenant.