17, 18. (a) How do some in Israel react to Jehovah’s pronouncements, but what is the general response? (b) How do events today resemble those of Hezekiah’s day?

¹⁷ Isaiah now says: “In that day earthling man will look up to his Maker, and his own eyes will gaze at the Holy One of Israel himself. And he will not look to the altars, the work of his hands; and at what his fingers have made he will not gaze, either at the sacred poles or at the incense stands.” (Isaiah 17:7, 8) Yes, some in Israel heed Jehovah’s warning pronouncement. For example, when Hezekiah sends an invitation to the inhabitants of Israel to join Judah in a celebration of the Passover, some Israelites respond and travel south to join their brothers in pure worship. (2 Chronicles 30:1-12)

¹⁸ What of today? Israel was an apostate nation. Hence, the way Hezekiah tried to help individuals in that nation to return to true worship reminds us of how true Christians today try to help individuals in the apostate organization of Christendom. Since 1919, couriers from “the Israel of God” have gone through Christendom, inviting people to share in pure worship. (Galatians 6:16) Most have refused. Many have mocked the messengers. Some, though, have responded. They now number into the millions, and they delight in ‘gazing at the Holy One of Israel,’ being educated by him. (Isaiah 54:13) They abandon worship at the unholy altars​—devotion to and trust in man-made gods—​and eagerly turn to Jehovah. (Psalm 146:3, 4) Like Isaiah’s contemporary Micah, each one of them says: “As for me, it is for Jehovah that I shall keep on the lookout. I will show a waiting attitude for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.”​—Micah 7:7.