Hezekiah - Purification: 2 Chronicles 29

2 Chronicles 29  •  8 min. read  •  grade level: 11
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2 Chronicles 29
This chapter and those that follow bring out the character of Chronicles, compared to that of the book of Kings. Indeed, Kings does not speak of the re-establishment of the worship, of the purification of the temple, or of the reorganization of the Levitical priesthood; Chronicles, by contrast, presents these measures as the only condition by which the kingdom of the son of David, and Judah itself, as a people, could subsist. Also, in Chronicles judgment is stayed or suspended each time the worship is reestablished, even after the reign of Ahaz appeared to have deprived grace of any possibility of going on with its ways toward Judah and the house of David.
We do not find a single word in the book of Kings concerning that which is contained in 2 Chronicles 29:3-31:193He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them. 4And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street, 5And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. 6For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs. 7Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel. 8Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes. 9For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. 10Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us. 11My sons, be not now negligent: for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense. 12Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites: and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalelel: and of the Gershonites; Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah: 13And of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and of the sons of Asaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah: 14And of the sons of Heman; Jehiel, and Shimei: and of the sons of Jeduthun; Shemaiah, and Uzziel. 15And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord. 16And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron. 17Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the Lord: so they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end. 18Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the showbread table, with all the vessels thereof. 19Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the Lord. 20Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. 21And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the Lord. 22So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar. 23And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them: 24And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel. 25And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the Lord by his prophets. 26And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. 27And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel. 28And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. 29And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped. 30Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped. 31Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the Lord, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the Lord. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings. 32And the number of the burnt offerings, which the congregation brought, was threescore and ten bullocks, an hundred rams, and two hundred lambs: all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. 33And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep. 34But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them, till the work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests. 35And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings, and the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the Lord was set in order. 36And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly. 1And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the Lord God of Israel. 2For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month. 3For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem. 4And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation. 5So 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 Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written. 6So 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 of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see. 8Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you. 9For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him. 10So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them. 11Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem. 12Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the Lord. 13And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation. 14And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron. 15Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the Lord. 16And they stood in their place after their manner, according to the law of Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received of the hand of the Levites. 17For there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified: therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passovers for every one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the Lord. 18For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good Lord pardon every one 19That prepareth his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary. 20And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people. 21And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness: and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the Lord. 22And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites that taught the good knowledge of the Lord: and they did eat throughout the feast seven days, offering peace offerings, and making confession to the Lord God of their fathers. 23And the whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven days: and they kept other seven days with gladness. 24For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the congregation a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests sanctified themselves. 25And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced. 26So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem. 27Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven. 1Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities. 2And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites after their courses, every man according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the tents of the Lord. 3He appointed also the king's portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the Lord. 4Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the Lord. 5And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly. 6And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the Lord their God, and laid them by heaps. 7In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. 8And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord, and his people Israel. 9Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. 10And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the Lord hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store. 11Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of the Lord; and they prepared them, 12And brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things faithfully: over which Cononiah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother was the next. 13And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, were overseers under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the ruler of the house of God. 14And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the porter toward the east, was over the freewill offerings of God, to distribute the oblations of the Lord, and the most holy things. 15And next him were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their set office, to give to their brethren by courses, as well to the great as to the small: 16Beside their genealogy of males, from three years old and upward, even unto every one that entereth into the house of the Lord, his daily portion for their service in their charges according to their courses; 17Both to the genealogy of the priests by the house of their fathers, and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their charges by their courses; 18And to the genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, through all the congregation: for in their set office they sanctified themselves in holiness: 19Also of the sons of Aaron the priests, which were in the fields of the suburbs of their cities, in every several city, the men that were expressed by name, to give portions to all the males among the priests, and to all that were reckoned by genealogies among the Levites. (2 Chronicles 29:3‑31:19). Kings elaborates much more than Chronicles on the king of Assyria's attacks, which in Kings have a significant bearing from the prophetic point of view. An even more impressive feature is that Chronicles does not say a single word about the capture of Samaria by Shalmaneser or the transportation of the ten tribes to Halah; in a word, it does not mention the final rejection of Ephraim. Indeed, what could be said about it here? From its beginning the history of the ten tribes had been characterized by their abandoning their relationship with God and His worship and substituting idols for it; according to the principle of Chronicles this state of things was from its origin condemned unremittingly. Not for one moment could God have said of Israel what He said of Judah: "There were good things found in Judah."
Thus the reign of Hezekiah is not contrasted with the state of the kingdom of Israel here, so much the more since during the reign of Ahaz, as we have seen in the preceding chapter, more faith and obedience was found in Israel than in Judah. Here God brings out the contrast between Hezekiah's reign and that of Ahaz. If God's grace had not had in view His promises and their fulfillment in the future, Judah would have been undone at that very moment. The fact that the worship of Jehovah had been abolished and that the doors of the temple had been closed took away from Judah any reason for subsisting as the people of God. Hezekiah is raised up: immediately everything changes. Deep darkness is suddenly followed by light radiating from the sanctuary through its opened doors: "[Hezekiah], in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of Jehovah, and repaired them" (2 Chron. 29:33He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them. (2 Chronicles 29:3)). Then he assembled the priests and the Levites, and he whose father had committed these abominations, without breaking the commandment "Honor thy father," openly confesses the sin committed: "Our fathers have transgressed, and done evil in the sight of Jehovah our God, and have forsaken Him and turned away their faces from the habitation of Jehovah, and have turned their backs" (2 Chron. 29:66For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs. (2 Chronicles 29:6)). This denial of God had had as a consequence wrath, destruction, the sword, and captivity (2 Chron. 29:8-98Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes. 9For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. (2 Chronicles 29:8‑9)), but how terrible must have been the condition which called for such judgments! "They have shut up the doors of the porch": no more entrance into God's presence to worship Him! "[They have] put out the lamps": deepest night there where the Spirit's seven lamps ought to have shed their full light. "[They] have not burned incense": no more intercession before the golden altar or before the mercy seat. "[They have not] offered up burnt-offerings in the sanctuary to the God of Israel": no more offering on the brazen altar to make the one approaching God acceptable. In a word, it was the abolition of all worship in Israel!
And there was yet more: The sanctuary itself, God's dwelling place in the midst of His people, was defiled (2 Chron. 29:15-1715And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord. 16And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron. 17Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the Lord: so they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end. (2 Chronicles 29:15‑17)). Thus, the Lord who was still waiting patiently before His glory should leave all these abominations had dwelt in the midst of this defilement! Oh! how cleverly Satan had succeeded in his plans! To banish God from before the eyes of the people — to suppress the people from before the eyes of God, who could not tolerate an unclean, idolatrous nation — to remove the altar of atonement: the only means of renewing relations with Jehovah — to take away His glory as the Son of David from the future Messiah — the enemy seemed to have conclusively achieved all this. But the enemy is fooled once again in his expectations, as he always will be. The Creator of all things shows that He can also create hearts for His glory. His grace goes to work and produces Hezekiah. What zeal the Holy Spirit kindles in the heart of this man of God! Without losing a single day he undertakes the work of purification and finishes it on the sixteenth day of the month. The first condition of this work was to sanctify themselves. This is what the Levites, the priests, and those engaged in the service of the sanctuary did. Indeed, how could they purify anything at all if they were defiled themselves? This work demanded meticulous care: no uncleanness, not even the least, could be tolerated: the priests must be able to say: "We have cleansed all the house of Jehovah." All the vessels must be in proper condition, and everything which Ahaz had profaned during his guilty reign must be sanctified and placed before the altar, for water was not sufficient, although it was inseparable from the blood of the victim; that is, purification was inseparable from expiation.
After the purification of the sanctuary we find the sin offering (2 Chron. 29:20-3020Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. 21And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the Lord. 22So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar. 23And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them: 24And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel. 25And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the Lord by his prophets. 26And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. 27And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel. 28And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. 29And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped. 30Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped. (2 Chronicles 29:20‑30)). It is offered: 1) for the kingdom; 2) for the sanctuary; 3) for Judah. The essence of this purification was the sprinkling of blood, and it is the same for us: "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." This sprinkling is done on the brazen altar, the only place where God and the sinner meet, where God can in the same stroke judge and abolish sin. According to the desire and mind of the king, the work of purification extends far beyond the limits of Judah, "because for all Israel, said the king, is the burnt-offering and the sin-offering" (2 Chron. 29:2424And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel. (2 Chronicles 29:24)). Hezekiah was the first king since the division of the kingdom who desired that all Israel, purified, should come up to Jerusalem to worship there. If the deportation of the ten tribes had taken place at that moment, their poor remnant would have drawn out the same sympathy from Hezekiah's heart. He desired to see Israel reformed and united around the sanctuary so that they might come and worship God at Jerusalem; and in this he represents the character of the future King according to God's counsels.
After propitiation is accomplished it is possible to offer praise to the Lord. It is rendered "according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and of Nathan the prophet"; only there is added that "the commandment was of Jehovah through His prophets" (2 Chron. 29:2525And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the Lord by his prophets. (2 Chronicles 29:25)). Always in this period of Israel's history prophecy takes the first place in directing the people. Then "the instruments of David" are employed and the "trumpets of the priests," announcing a new era, resound from the moment the burnt offering begins. The burnt offering was the offering whose sweet savor rendered one acceptable and well-pleasing before God.
How could the instruments of praise refrain from ringing out all together at that very moment? The king and those with him bow themselves, full of joy, and command the Levites "to sing praise to Jehovah with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer." In every detail we see a strict returning to the inspired Word of God.
The sanctuary, the kingdom, the priesthood, Judah, and all Israel having been cleansed by the blood of the sacrifice, and henceforth consecrated to Jehovah (2 Chron. 29:3131Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the Lord, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the Lord. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings. (2 Chronicles 29:31); cf. Ex. 28:4141And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office. (Exodus 28:41)), Hezekiah invites them to draw near. We are almost present at a scene approaching the one described in Hebrews 10:19-2219Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21And having an high priest over the house of God; 22Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19‑22): a scene which is the happy consummation of the whole Epistle. All the worshippers are accepted by God according to the value of the burnt offering; only here one sees how this service was defective and defective exactly in that aspect where one had a right to expect completion. The priests were too few and the Levites had to replace them in order to flay the burnt offerings, "for the Levites were more upright in heart to hallow themselves than the priests" (2 Chron. 29:3434But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them, till the work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests. (2 Chronicles 29:34)). Exactly the opposite occurred in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah; there, there were too few Levites. In any case, that which both the one and the other did was a great evil which can easily apply to present day Christianity. Either the worshippers — the priests — are too few, resulting in the ministers — the Levites — occupying their place and carrying out functions which properly do not belong to them; or on the other hand, when there is some intelligence in worship worshippers are numerous, whereas ministers show much indifference about discharging their task.
"And the service of the house of Jehovah was set in order. And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people; for the thing was done suddenly" (2 Chron. 29:3636And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly. (2 Chronicles 29:36)). Thus, according to the precious teaching of Chronicles, grace alone, by the powerful action of the Holy Spirit, had prepared the king and acted in the heart of the people to produce this restoration.