2 Chronicles 29

2Ch 29:1, 2.

HEZEKIAH'S

GOOD

REIGN.

1. Hezekiah began to

reign, &c.--(see on

2Ki 18:1).

His mother's name, which, in

2Ki 18:2,

appears in an abridged form, is here given in full.

2Ch 29:3-11.

HE

RESTORES

RELIGION.

3. in the first year of his reign, in the first month--not the first

month after his accession to the throne, but in Nisan, the first month

of the sacred year, the season appointed for the celebration of the

passover.

he opened the doors of the house of the Lord--which had been closed

up by his father

(2Ch 28:24).

and repaired them--or embellished them (compare

2Ki 18:16).

4, 5. the east street--the court of the priests, which fronted the

eastern gate of the temple. Assembling the priests and Levites there,

he enjoined them to set about the immediate purification of the temple.

It does not appear that the order referred to the removal of idols, for

objects of idolatrous homage could scarcely have been put there, seeing

the doors had been shut up

[2Ch 29:3];

but in its forsaken and desolate state the temple and its courts had

been polluted by every kind of impurity.

6, 7. our fathers have trespassed--Ahaz and the generation contemporary

with him were specially meant, for they "turned away their faces from

the habitation of the Lord," and whether or not they turned east to the

rising sun, they abandoned the worship of God. They "shut up the doors

of the porch," so that the sacred ritual was entirely discontinued.

8, 9. Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and

Jerusalem--This pious king had the discernment to ascribe all the

national calamities that had befallen the kingdom to the true cause,

namely, apostasy from God. The country had been laid waste by

successive wars of invasion, and its resources drained. Many families

mourned members of their household still suffering the miseries of

foreign captivity; all their former prosperity and glory had fled; and

to what was this painful and humiliating state of affairs to be traced,

but to the manifest judgment of God upon the kingdom for its sins?

10, 11. Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord

God--Convinced of the sin and bitter fruits of idolatry, Hezekiah

intended to reverse the policy of his father, and to restore, in all

its ancient purity and glory, the worship of the true God. His

commencement of this resolution at the beginning of his reign attests

his sincere piety. It also proves the strength of his conviction that

righteousness exalteth a nation; for, instead of waiting till his

throne was consolidated, he devised measures of national reformation at

the beginning of his reign and vigorously faced all the difficulties

which, in such a course, he had to encounter, after the people's habits

had so long been moulded to idolatry. His intentions were first

disclosed to this meeting of the priests and Levites--for the agency of

these officials was to be employed in carrying them into effect.

2Ch 29:12-36.

THE

HOUSE OF

GOD

CLEANSED.

12-19. Then the Levites arose--Fourteen chiefs undertook the duty

of collecting and preparing their brethren for the important work of

cleansing the Lord's house. Beginning with the outer courts--that of

the priests and that of the people--the cleansing of these occupied

eight days, after which they set themselves to purify the interior; but

as the Levites were not allowed to enter within the walls of the

temple, the priest brought all the sweepings out to the porch, where

they were received by the Levites and thrown into the brook Kedron.

This took eight days more. At the end of this period they repaired to

the palace and announced that not only had the whole of the sacred

edifice, within and without, undergone a thorough purification, but all

the vessels which the late king had taken away and applied to a common

use in his palace, had been restored, "and sanctified."

20-30. Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of

the city--His anxiety to enter upon the expiatory service with all

possible despatch, now that the temple had been properly prepared for

it, prevented his summoning all the representatives of Israel. The

requisite number of victims having been provided, and the officers of

the temple having sanctified themselves according to the directions of

the law, the priests were appointed to offer sacrifices of atonement

successively, for "the kingdom," that is, for the sins of the king and

his predecessors; for "the sanctuary," that is, for the sins of the

priests themselves and for the desecration of the temple; "and for

Judah," that is, for the people who, by their voluntary consent, were

involved in the guilt of the national apostasy. Animals of the kinds

used in sacrifice were offered by sevens, that number indicating

completeness. The Levites were ordered to praise God with musical

instruments, which, although not originally used in the tabernacle, had

been enlisted in the service of divine worship by David on the advice

of the prophets Gad and Nathan, as well calculated to animate the

devotions of the people. At the close of the special services of the

occasion, namely, the offering of atonement sacrifices, the king and

all civic rulers who were present joined in the worship. A grand anthem

was sung

(2Ch 29:30)

a great number of thank offerings, praise offerings, and freewill burnt

offerings were presented at the invitation of the king.

31. Hezekiah . . . said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the

Lord, come near--This address was made to the priests as being now, by

the sacrifice of the expiation offerings, anew consecrated to the

service of God and qualified to resume the functions of their sacred

office

(Ex 28:41; 29:32).

the congregation brought in--that is, the body of civic rulers present.

34-36. the priests were too few, . . . wherefore their brethren the

Levites did help them--The skins of beasts intended as peace offerings

might be taken off by the officers, because, in such cases, the carcass

was not wholly laid upon the altar; but animals meant for burnt

offerings which were wholly consumed by fire could be flayed by the

priests alone, not even the Levites being allowed to touch them, except

in cases of unavoidable necessity

(2Ch 35:11).

The duty being assigned by the law to the priests

(Le 1:6),

was construed by consuetudinary practice as an exclusion of all others

not connected with the Aaronic family.

for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than

the priests--that is, displayed greater alacrity than the priests. This

service was hastened by the irrepressible solicitude of the king.

Whether it was that many of the priests, being absent in the country,

had not arrived in time--whether from the long interruption of the

public duties, some of them had relaxed in their wonted attentions to

personal cleanliness, and had many preparations to make--or whether

from some having participated in the idolatrous services introduced by

Ahaz, they were backward in repairing to the temple--a reflection does

seem to be cast upon their order as dilatory and not universally ready

for duty (compare

2Ch 30:15).

Thus was the newly consecrated temple reopened to the no small joy of

the pious king and all the people.