2 Chronicles 29
2 Chronicles 29 covers the process in which Hezekiah, the 13th king of the kingdom of Judah, led the purification of the temple in Jerusalem and the restoration of worship in his first year on the throne. Hezekiah’s religious reform focuses on rebuilding the temple and worship, which had been left desolate during the reign of the previous king, Ahaz. This chapter can be divided into the enthronement of King Hezekiah and his vision (vv. 1-2), the command to purify the temple (vv. 3-11), the temple-cleaning work by the Levites (vv. 12-19), the restoration of worship and sacrificial offerings (vv. 20-36)..
1verseHezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
2verseHe did that which was right in the LORD’s eyes, according to all that David his father had done.
3verseIn the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the LORD’s house and repaired them.
4verseHe brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them together into the wide place on the east,
5verseand said to them, “Listen to me, you Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD, the God of your fathers, and carry the filthiness out of the holy place.
6verseFor our fathers were unfaithful, and have done that which was evil in the LORD our God’s sight, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs.
7verseAlso 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 to the God of Israel.
8verseTherefore the LORD’s wrath was on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has delivered them to be tossed back and forth, to be an astonishment and a hissing, as you see with your eyes.
9verseFor behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.
10verseNow it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, that his fierce anger may turn away from us.
11verseMy sons, don’t be negligent now; for the LORD has chosen you to stand before him, to minister to him, and that you should be his ministers and burn incense.”
12verseThen 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 Jehallelel; and of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah;
13verseand of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah;
14verseand of the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.
15verseThey gathered their brothers, sanctified themselves, and went in, according to the commandment of the king by the LORD’s words, to cleanse the LORD’s house.
16verseThe priests went into the inner part of the LORD’s house to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the LORD’s temple into the court of the LORD’s house. The Levites took it from there to carry it out to the brook Kidron.
17verseNow they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the LORD’s porch. They sanctified the LORD’s house in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.
18verseThen they went in to Hezekiah the king within the palace and said, “We have cleansed all the LORD’s house, including the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels, and the table of show bread with all its vessels.
19verseMoreover, we have prepared and sanctified all the vessels which King Ahaz threw away in his reign when he was unfaithful. Behold, they are before the LORD’s altar.”
20verseThen Hezekiah the king arose early, gathered the princes of the city, and went up to the LORD’s house.
21verseThey brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. He commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the LORD’s altar.
22verseSo they killed the bulls, and the priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. They killed the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They also killed the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar.
23verseThey brought near the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly; and they laid their hands on them.
24verseThen the priests killed them, and they made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, to make atonement for all Israel; for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.
25verseHe set the Levites in the LORD’s house with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet; for the commandment was from the LORD by his prophets.
26verseThe Levites stood with David’s instruments, and the priests with the trumpets.
27verseHezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the LORD’s song also began, along with the trumpets and instruments of David king of Israel.
28verseAll the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished.
29verseWhen they had finished offering, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped.
30verseMoreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praises to the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. They sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.
31verseThen Hezekiah answered, “Now you have consecrated yourselves to the LORD. Come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the LORD’s house.” The assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and as many as were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings.
32verseThe number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs. All these were for a burnt offering to the LORD.
33verseThe consecrated things were six hundred head of cattle and three thousand sheep.
34verseBut the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings. Therefore their brothers the Levites helped them until the work was ended, and until the priests had sanctified themselves, for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.
35verseAlso the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings and with the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the LORD’s house was set in order.
36verseHezekiah and all the people rejoiced because of that which God had prepared for the people; for the thing was done suddenly.
Hezekiah’s Resolve and Worship Reform
King Hezekiah is described as a person who “did what was right in the sight of the LORD” from the moment he came to the throne, and in his first year, in the first month, he begins by opening the doors of the temple and repairing them (vv. 1-3). He gathers the priests and Levites, consecrates himself and the people, and commands them to cleanse the temple (vv. 4-11). He acknowledges that because of the wicked acts of the previous king, Ahaz, the temple had been defiled and the relationship with God had grown distant, and he sets out earnestly to restore it.
Ritual Cleansing of the Temple and Communal Participation
In accordance with the king’s command, the Levites clean the temple both inside and out and drive all that is unclean out into the Kidron Valley (vv. 12-16). After completing the schedule lasting 16 days, they report that the temple is again ready to be dedicated to God (vv. 17-19). Through this process of communal participation, they demonstrate the restoration of holiness and an example of obedience.
Restoration of Worship and Communal Praise
The king and the leaders present various offerings to God, including wholehearted burnt offerings and sin offerings, as well as thanksgiving offerings (vv. 20-24). They also join in worship together with the Levites and all the people, praising with songs and playing instruments (vv. 25-30). Through the offerings and praise, the severed relationship with God is restored, and the scene shows the entire nation enjoying the joy of spiritual awakening.
Meditation Points
- Take time to focus your meditation on the fact that even in an age when Hezekiah faced a crisis, he set restoring the temple and worship as his top priority.
- Pay attention to the obedience and dedication until the leader and the community stand before God with one heart, and to the joy that comes as a result.
- Consider how cleanliness, obedience, thanksgiving, and praise come together in the restoration of the relationship with God.
Try Applying It to Yourself
- In my own life, reflect on how I manage “the temple”—that is, the place and time to come before God’s presence—in a way that is clean and orderly.
- Check whether there are any areas where I need to make a decision, not to worship that is centered on form, but to restore a true relationship with God.
- In my life in the community and within my faith, I can ask myself whether I have the attitude of obedience and dedication in the role I am responsible for.
